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Over the years, LeBron James has consistently done things on a basketball court that would make you think the game is glitching if you were playing 2K, and his career highlight reel is filled with ridiculous dunks, absurd passes, and chase-down blocks capable of making opponents regret picking up a basketball when they were a kid. There was once a time when being a “freak” was considered an insult, but it’s really one of the only ways to describe his incredible skill set.
The fact that James showed he’s capable of bleeding his own blood a few years ago put a serious dent in the theory that he’s actually a basketball-playing robot, but some of the superhuman things he’s done on the court make it seem kind of plausible. ESPN recently looked at how James manages to stay dominant after 15 years in the league, and there’s one story in particular that will make you question whether or not he’s actually from this planet.
Brian Windhorst opened his article by recapping some of James’ most notable physical achievements, including the time he reportedly gained seven pounds during a playoff game during his time with the Miami Heat:
In the past 15 years, stories about LeBron James’ body have become a bit legendary with teammates.
Seeing him turn his ankle nearly 90 degrees only to tighten his shoelaces and finish with a triple-double. Watching him show up four hours before a playoff game to get in a sweat-soaked workout, then play more than 40 minutes and score 40 points. And the topper: the time James gained seven pounds during an Eastern Conference finals game.
Some Miami Heat teammates saw the scale and attest to it in amazement. James himself just shrugs and calls it “weird as hell.” The truly wild part is that it was from 271 pounds to 278 pounds, though James is much lighter these days.
I’m sure there’s someone out there who could use a bunch of fancy science words to explain how James managed to gain that Will Smith movie that nobody liked while running up and down the court for the vast majority of an NBA game, but I am not that person.
For what it’s worth, a gallon of water weighs over eight pounds, and it takes around 3,500 calories to lose a single pound of fat (an NBA player reportedly burns about 400-700 calories depending on how much they play). While that doesn’t take into account the water weight lost through sweat, anyone who’s left a rec basketball game with a shirt that weighs four times what it did when you started playing knows that clothing will absorb a fair amount.
If James had his uniform on before weighing himself both before and after the game and crushed a gallon of various liquids during it, then I can kind of sort of see how this could be possible, but I still on the hunt for a legit explanation.