Back In Cavs Uniform, LeBron Says Diet Wasn’t Because Of Basketball

LeBron James looked different. It was the wine and gold jersey and the headband he’s wearing, sure, but also his smaller arms and less rounded shoulders. In his first official press conference as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, James said his much-publicized weight loss “had nothing to do with basketball.”

Asked the motivation for his Spartan-strict diet at Cavs media day, LeBron claimed he adhered to it as just another way to challenge himself.

“It had nothing to do with basketball. I should have wrote a letter about that, too – to stop the speculation of why I did it. Every summer I challenge myself to do something different that’s outside the box…

“So I decided to do this particular diet this summer for two months. It had nothing to do with basketball; nothing at all. And once I set out a goal I like to accomplish it, and in the process I lost some weight, and then in the process stories came out…

“I’m 29 years-old and can still fly above the rim. I don’t need to lose weight to do that; not at this point in my career. The great thing about it is that I can see how can my body transform. So that as I get older in my career if I need to lose some weight or shed some weight, I can see where I can get down to.

?It had nothing to do with basketball. But it did make me quicker, so it helps our team.”

This is the fully-evolved James personified. The greatest players always find extra ways to push themselves to new heights and remain uncomfortable. LeBron simply used the Paleo Diet as means for motivation this summer, apparently unaware of the toll it would take on his formerly hulking physique.

Such an approach is one he learned during his time with the Miami Heat. James’s former coach Erik Spoelstra constantly stresses implementation of the “Growth Mindset,” an attitude that yields new creativity, understanding, and excitement by doings things differently than you had in the past.

That’s what LeBron’s diet and ensuing weight loss was all about. And as he says, the additional explosiveness gleaned from it was simply a happy coincidence.

What do you think?

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