Load management isn’t something LeBron James is very interested in.
As long as he’s healthy, James will suit up and dominate, he told reporters Friday night after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 95-80 win against the visiting Miami Heat.
LeBron revealed that part of his rigorous offseason prep included pre-dawn workouts.
Per ESPN:
“If I’m hurt, I don’t play. If not, I’m playing,” James told ESPN as he knocked on the wooden façade of his locker after the Lakers’ 95-80 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. “That’s what has always been my motto.”
Load management is a hot topic in the NBA after James’ Staples Center cohabitant, Kawhi Leonard of the LA Clippers, sat out a nationally televised game for the second consecutive week Wednesday.
“LeBron’s healthy, LeBron’ll play. That’s all I’ll talk about,” James said. “I don’t talk about nobody else but me.”
James pointed to his experience shooting “Space Jam 2” this summer to explain his commitment to the Lakers.
“I shot ‘Space Jam’ for three months all summer. My call time every morning was at 6:30 in the morning, and I was in the gym at like 3:30, 4 o’clock in the morning before shooting for 12, 13, 14 hours,” James said. “So I just know how much I put into my craft, I know what the main thing is. Even when I was shooting the movie, I know what was most important. And that’s me getting ready for the fall, and I always had that in the front of my mind. So it’s just my personal pressure that I’m putting on myself. Which is, I don’t really believe in pressure much, but I believe in myself and I know what I’m capable of.”
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