At the beginning of the 2019-20 NBA season, I had the opportunity to watch the Los Angeles Lakers during their pre-training camp practice. The practice was taking place in Las Vegas. I got to the facility about 20 minutes before the players started rolling up.
Finally, the first bus arrived. Players like Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Javale McGee, etc.
I am sitting off to the side. The players are slowly walking over to some chairs. Some of them are looking at their phones; others are chatting it up with assistant coaches. I’m watching them very closely. About 6-7 minutes go by before the second bus arrives. LeBron James is one of the first to get off. He walks like a man on a mission.
He goes straight over to the weights that are off to the side. He quickly puts on his shoes. And starts getting massaged and stretched by a trainer. At this point, some of the players from the first bus still haven’t put their shoes on yet.
James gets stretched for about 5 minutes and then he starts lifting. Hits a little bit of shoulders and legs. After another 5 minutes, he is on the court. He heads straight to the hoop that Dwight Howard, McGee, and Anthony Davis are at.
They work on low post moves into finishes at the rim. One of the main things that I noticed first was that not a single one of them dunked the ball. They were all focused on their touch when finishing at the rim. They continued for about 15 minutes until the Assistant Coach Phil Handy called them into the middle of the court. They are all locked in to what the coach is saying.
When the practice starts, LeBron is meticulous as he goes through basic dribbling drills. This is when I first noticed one of the most impressive things that he did. As he was waiting for his turn in line, he would talk to his teammates. Joking with them and laughing with them. But when it was his turn, he flipped a switch and his smile faded. He locked in on the drill.
They proceed to practice for the next hour and a half. Going through various drills and competitions. Whenever James was in the middle of a shooting drill/competition, his face was locked in. There was a seriousness about it, almost as if no one could distract him. After he shot his 5-7 shots at a spot and a teammate took his place, he would go to the back of the line, look across the court to Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley, and then start talking trash to them. They would tell each other how many shots they made, how bad of shooters each of them were, etc. Typical trash talk.
James would be smiling and laughing; light and carefree as if they were playing a game with friends. But as soon as it was LeBron’s turn again, he locked back in like an assassin looking for his target. There was no time for trash talk, no time for laughing or joking, it was only about shooting the next shot.
This continues for the duration of the practice. Once the practice ends, the team comes in for a break. Once the team breaks, LeBron heads back to the weight room and continues lifting. After 10 minutes, he starts a cool down by stretching and getting massaged. 5 more minutes pass by and he quickly gets ice wrapped all around his legs.
And just like that, he is out of the gym and on the bus.
The biggest thing that I took from watching LeBron James is how little time he wasted. There was never a moment that he wasn’t doing something to get himself ready or to improve himself.
It gave me a clear picture of why he is one of the best players to ever do it and why, after 18 years, it was like nothing had changed. The best are the best not by accident. They manage their time.
I want to encourage you to start learning how to manage your time better. Plan your days out. Plan your workouts, homework, being with family and friends, and anything and everything you need to do during your day. There is always enough time in a day to do what you need to do if you really want it badly enough.
Oh and if you aren't sure what happened that season, the Lakers went on to beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
Coach Connor
CF Hoops
(Scott Ward, Golden Basketball Player Warriors Lakers Angeles Los, 04-07-2019,)
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