Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is nearing the end of his playing career as he enters his 22nd season and will be turning 40-years-old in December. Yet, he is still playing at an All-NBA level, which defies all odds as most aging stars are usually retired or not putting up enough production at this point.
A major part of his longevity is how James takes care of his body every offseason, spending as much as $1 million to recover and rehab, if necessary. After dealing with some nagging lower body injuries the past couple of seasons, James played 71 games in 2023-24, something that players should not be able to do at this stage of their careers.
Notably, James is known as one of the most physical players to ever play and continues to play that way to this day, granted in a smaller sample size. But retired NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski believes James would be a monster if he decided to play in the NFL, via Julian Edelman’s ‘Games With Names’ podcast:
“LeBron would’ve been an absolute monster on the football field… I really wish he tried out for the NFL.”
– Rob Gronkowski on LeBron James football potential. @RobGronkowski @KingJames @gameswithnames
? Full Episode: https://t.co/YVQUcv6G3g pic.twitter.com/bKmOajcfwt
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) June 25, 2024
Gronkowski brings up an interesting debate as James has contemplated playing football at previous points of his life. The four-time champion played in high school and was predictably dominant, using his size, athleticism and physicality to his advantage.
Now with limited years left in the NBA, this discussion will surely come up more frequently to ponder how an NFL career would have treated James. Nonetheless, LeBron loves football and enjoys watching and playing Madden to get his fix in. Perhaps when he calls it a career, James could open up about what positions interest him and how he would play in the NFL.
Anthony Davis reveals LeBron James is professional Madden player
Going back to the Orlando bubble in 2020, Lakers players were stuck inside their hotel rooms for a majority of the days outside of basketball festivities. However, they took advantage of that time inside by hosting a Madden tournament to continue to build team chemistry.
James is a huge competitor at whatever he does, but it was revealed by Anthony Davis that he did not fare well in that tournament. So as James does, he took that as motivation to get better at the game and Davis has since spoken out about his co-star becoming a professional Madden player, solidifying him with some of the best in the world.
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