LABron James Discussion: Olympics MVP

it hurts me deeply that Lebron is getting exposed like this on the biggest stage of the sport. Great numbers and overall efficiency, but clearly his role is not as the closer for his team on a consistent basis. it's great that he can summon that once in awhile against mediocre or limited teams, but teams with decent coaches are easily exposing the ways to beat us.

Hopefully we get Lebron a closer or the fellas develop quickly because he ain't it. Be nice to have a fully healthy squad too.

 

I understand he's not a great career free throw shooter, but we lose by 5 and that's how many he missed from the line. Even if he makes 2 more FTs tonight, it changes the complexity of the game.

I really need to see more FT shooting mini games after practice rather than these "around the world" 3 point games they continuously do.

How bout this? You can play that dumb a** game after you move off being the worst free throw shooting team in the league.

I hope Magic is prepping for another tongue lashing... This team needs to get admonished again in the worst way.

 

Yeah he absolutely needs to go back to 74-75% from the line ....

 

Teaching his son well.

 

Anyone else think that pep talk applies uncannily to lonzo.

 

Teaching him not to be a closer SMH

 

I've been trying to tell you! lebron needs more help!!!

 

THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T SIGN AGING STARS!!!!



The Back Injury Nobody is Talking About
And why L.A.'s Championship Window may be smaller than people think
Brian Windhorst
ESPN Senior Writer



Strategically after signing with the Lakers, NBA Legend and megastar Lebron James visited a thoracic spinal specialist regarding some mid back pain he was dealing with. His lower back pain and work with a former Navy Seal is well documented, but this was a new area that wasn't reacting to treatment. After signing the mega-deal for 4 years with the Los Angeles Lakers on the first day of free agency, he then decided to seek expert opinions on his condition that had been kept under wraps. Thoracic spine ailments are less common than cervical or lumbar spinal injuries/issues, but can be just as debilitating. The most common causes of spinal issues are:

• Muscle or ligament strain. Repeated heavy lifting or a sudden awkward movement can strain back muscles and spinal ligaments. If you're in poor physical condition, constant strain on your back can cause painful muscle spasms.
• Bulging or ruptured disks. Disks act as cushions between the bones (vertebrae) in your spine. The soft material inside a disk can bulge or rupture and press on a nerve. However, you can have a bulging or ruptured disk without back pain. Disk disease is often found incidentally when you have spine X-rays for some other reason.
• Arthritis. Osteoarthritis can affect the lower back. In some cases, arthritis in the spine can lead to a narrowing of the space around the spinal cord, a condition called spinal stenosis.
• Skeletal irregularities. A condition in which your spine curves to the side (scoliosis) also can lead to back pain, but generally not until middle age.
• Osteoporosis. Your spine's vertebrae can develop compression fractures if your bones become porous and brittle.

In athletes, strains and ruptures from repetitive use, poor technique, or traumatic impact usually play a role. However, with athletes such as Lebron James that seem to have ideal vertebral alignment, no specific history of traumatic spinal events to point directly to, or a medical history pointing to ruptured or bulging disks, the issues are often less common and more ominous. Those issues can include variations of skeletal irregularities, osteoporosis, deterioration of the vertebrae, and cancerous legions.

Lebron spent two months this last Summer with a dedicated health professional in tow evaluating every movement he made. Were these repetitive motion issues? Was it posture related? Would he need to adjust his game or preparation routine to compensate for the pain or limitations it might cause? Every part of his physical routine seemed impeccably planned and well structured, but one part of the routine was a relatively medical unknown to the new team dedicated to helping him. The cryogenics recovery methods were new, so they spend ample time evaluating the records, numbers of visits, and results of obtained data to evaluate the before and after benefits. For those new to cryogenic treatments for athletes:

What are the Benefits of Cryotherapy?

Cryotherapy provides the following therapeutic benefits:

• Pain management: Cold packs increase pain thresholds and thereby reduce pain. Cryotherapy can be used in both acute and chronic pain.
• Decrease muscle spasms: Cold therapy reduces sensitivity of the muscle spindles and reduces pain. Thus, it helps to reduce muscle spasms.
• Reduce inflammation: Cold therapy slows the inflammatory response by reducing the release of inflammatory mediators.
• Edema management: Cold therapy reduces capillary permeability. As a result, cryotherapy helps to reduce edema as well as hemorrhage.
• Reduce spasticity: Muscle cooling has been found to reduce muscle stretch activity. Cryotherapy demyelinates nerves and reduces nerve conduction. This has been proven to reduce spasticity as well as fatigue in MS patients.
• Vasoconstriction: As cryotherapy lowers the tissue temperature, it acts as a vasoconstrictor. In the case of acute injury, this effect of cryotherapy along with elevation can stop bleeding along with easing pain.
• Relieve pregnancy back pain, muscle spasms, and cramps: Common pregnancy symptoms can be relieved using cryotherapy and is a safe alternative to medications.
• Reduce fever: Cryotherapy reduces fever by bringing the tissue temperature down. This has a significant impact on the physiological function of the body.
• Manage acute post-surgical conditions: In post-surgical conditions, ice packs can be used to manage pain, muscle spasm, and edema.
• Improve muscle fatigue: Athletes use ice packs during training or competitions. Cryotherapy chambers can also be used to recover from exercise-induced muscle injury or delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS).
• Induce temperature stress: Cryotherapy induces a short duration temperature stress to the body. The hormones released during stress — cortisol, adrenaline, and dopamine — increase the ability to withstand pain, fatigue, and hunger.
• Increase metabolism. After a session of cryotherapy, energy (calories) are used to reheat the body. It is hypothesized that during a three to five minute session, approximately 500 to 800 calories are burned.

While evaluating his cryogenic medical records, the team learned that on average Lebron used the services of a local lab up to 5 times a week at an annual cost of over $590,000. Once his team researched the cost of buying his own chamber, he had one installed in his home for approximately 1.1 million. With less than a 2 year payback, and an expected lifespan of the equipment for up to 15-25 years, this seemed to be a wise investment. However, what was lost with the use of a professional facility was oversight and monitoring.

Lebron confessed he fell asleep in his chamber (Nearly impossible to do for most people, but after over 1,000 sessions, the body can adapt) for nearly 10 minutes. The cryogenic chamber model he had installed is a top of the line commercial model of course, and unlike most chambers where there is only room for you stand, this chamber allows ample space for lying down. Despite the automatic timer shutting off after the maximum recommended 5 minutes of freezing time, if you do not exit the chamber, this model allows for continuous cooling for longer periods. Because Lebron also had a localized cryo pack on his back, he actually experienced a small amount of frostbite in his middle back.

Cryotherapy Side Effects

• While cryotherapy can reduce unwanted pain and nerve irritation, it sometimes can leave the tissue affected with unusual sensations, such as numbness or tingling.
• Cryotherapy can cause redness and irritation of the skin. But, these effects are generally temporary.
• If a localized cold pack or ice is left on the skin too long, it can cause integumentary damage (including frostbite in extreme cases). Therefore, localized cold therapy should never be applied longer than 30 minutes, and the skin integrity should be monitored during treatment.
• Whole body cryotherapy should not exceed five minutes (typical treatment sessions are two to three minutes). Whole body cryotherapy causes decreased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and lowered respiration. The patient’s vital signs and disposition should be monitored before, during, and after treatment. Oxygen levels inside the chamber should also be checked.
• The patient should ensure that all clothing and skin are completely dry when stepping into a cryotherapy chamber. Also, metal or jewelry should be removed. Last, sensitive body parts should be covered with a facemask, ear muffs, gloves, and socks or slippers. Burning of the skin or frostbite can occur when a patient does not follow proper protocol when entering a cryotherapy chamber.

His team initially determined the frostbite was superficial, and it was easily treated and forgotten. However, the frostbite reached deeper than originally thought, and actually affected his T10 thoracic vertebra. What began as a dull pain assumed to be associated with a healing patch of skin was actually a deeper hidden issue. The bone itself actually began to die and decay from the frostbite, and it caused inflammation and pain to the surrounding areas.

There are experimental treatments on regeneration of bone density, several clinical trials on bone marrow related treatments, as well as using well known methods such as PRP and implanted stimulators to try to regenerate new growth of dead bone and or tissue. The danger of a compromised and decaying vertebra collapsing is very real, and the potential fallout of such an injury during competition or local area impact could be temporary paralysis, total paralysis, and possibly even death.

Lebron regularly strengthens the entire area around the injury daily, and he uses a spinal cord stimulator pack (As shown in the above picture) before and after games, and for up to 4 hours a day in an attempt to regrow new bone in this area. He has already received PRP treatment (No proven track record of results in spinal injuries), and continues monitored crygenic treatments to keep the inflammation down. The only known treatment at this point is to fuse both the T9 and T11 disks both above and below to stabilize the area from catastrophic collapse. However, such a surgery typically has a recovery period of over a year, and the limited range of motion caused would certainly end a professional career in any athletic sport.

The irony is not lost on Lebron James. He realizes that the very treatment that has probably been the single biggest ally in his recovery and extending his athletic prime may also have led to his eventual premature retirement. Every day he takes the court is a calculated injury risk with potentially devastating consequences. But based on his love for the game, a desire to join the all time greats atop the leaderboard in major statistical categories, and be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as the greatest to ever play the game, he powers on looking to squeeze every bit out of his athletic career that he can. He barrels into the paint drawing contact like a man possessed. He takes charges. He leaps through the air for slam dunks and lands with authority knowing that every time he falls back to earth could be his last.

For the ultimate competitor that puts in the work, feels healthy, plays healthy, the hidden injuries are the most dangerous. Having the resources to pour into your own rehabilitation and recovery, assessing the risks, and still choosing to play the game he loves despite the common sense that tells him to stop is simultaneously admirable and complete lunacy. The same qualities that make him the greatest to have ever played the game may also be his eventual undoing.

 

Trade Lebron. Who says no?

 

That doesn’t sound good at all. Hopefully it’s not as serious as it sounds, because if it is, retirement really needs to be in the forefront of his mind and sooner rather than later. Later for all the stats and records, he has a family and life to live outside of basketball.

You break the all time records but you end up in a wheelchair or worse. It ain’t worth it man.

 

we clown on clipps rep for trading biff after proclaiming his to be the goat clipper...how you think we'll be perceived if we traded james? i forsee no marque fa signing here going forward for the next decade

 

Yeah we got him for 4 years unless he retires, so....

 

Players have to find out about this stuff and already know it if it's in the press, so is anyone risking their career to come here if we gut the roster in a trade? HIGHLY risky if you ask me.

Has this affected the other player comments we've seen in the press?

 

we kept a dude through heart surgery and recovery. I'm sure the medical team is keeping an eye on this. You don't risk putting a guy on the floor that could end up paraplegic over a basketball game. I guess we trust the guys in place, but a collapsing vertebra in the middle of your back sounds kind of serious.

the crap storm that would hit if that happened during a game would be crazy

I seriously consider trading him in a major move. I think our talent is too good to ship out, and they are a poor fit next to an aging lebron. But if he gets a rod in his back, his career is over.

 

Considering the source.. either sirron hacked into Windy's cloud-drive or this is yet another epic troll job since the likes of Anon, cause I can't find this article anywhere online and Windy hasn't posted this (yet?) on Espn.

Sirron, you got some 'splain'n to do?

 

seemed legit



do you know how hard it was to write nice pretend things about lebron?



I needed an outlet Rooscooter. I thought if anyone would understand, it was you.

 

you are teetering the ignore list again