UFC fighter tells on LeBron

[celticsclay]

The thing that bothers me with the Lebron PED allegations is the lack of proof - with the technology we have now, there should be something more concrete that another tarnished athlete saying the use the same guy while trying to get social media attention. IMO, it comes off as bitter opposing fanbases trying to throw stones because they have nothing better to do. Love him or hate him, he's been a relatively good representative for the league. The most "controversial" thing he's done in his career is The Decision and that raised a ton of money for charity. Other than that, he's scandal free and appears to be a solid family man.

Counterpoint:  Lance Armstrong.

I don't follow cycling at all so I'm not well-versed in the Lance drama. I didn't care then and I absolutely don't care now.

However, to your point: the evidence against Lance was there. It was provable.

To me, and this is completely my opinion, the tenor that the Lebron criticism has always taken on or the - "bias" against him - has nothing to do with him as a basketball player. No one is accusing Jokic or Doncic of using PEDs.

To go further: I've worked in physical therapy and sports medicine for 13+ years now. There's a player that gets my Spidey-senses going and it's not Lebron. I'm not saying he's absolutely clean because at the end of the day, I don't know. But there are guys playing through blatant side effects right now that fans aren't even clocking because they're hyper focused on Lebron.

Giannis?

[SHAQATTACK]

Bron skull shaped funny

[kraidstar]

The thing that bothers me with the Lebron PED allegations is the lack of proof - with the technology we have now, there should be something more concrete that another tarnished athlete saying the use the same guy while trying to get social media attention. IMO, it comes off as bitter opposing fanbases trying to throw stones because they have nothing better to do. Love him or hate him, he's been a relatively good representative for the league. The most "controversial" thing he's done in his career is The Decision and that raised a ton of money for charity. Other than that, he's scandal free and appears to be a solid family man.

Counterpoint:  Lance Armstrong.

I don't follow cycling at all so I'm not well-versed in the Lance drama. I didn't care then and I absolutely don't care now.

However, to your point: the evidence against Lance was there. It was provable.

To me, and this is completely my opinion, the tenor that the Lebron criticism has always taken on or the - "bias" against him - has nothing to do with him as a basketball player. No one is accusing Jokic or Doncic of using PEDs.

Jokic and Doncic look flabby in comparison to LeBron. If Jokic had beachball-sized shoulders like Dwight Howard I'd imagine he'd get more scrutiny.

Regardless, of course there is bias involved. I despise LeBron. I'm also pretty confident he abuses PED's. These things aren't mutually exclusive.

I'm a Pats fan and I know they broke the rules. Papi, who I consider a borderline Saint, likely used. It is what it is. I've been closely following sports for 30 years and it grinds my gears that an obvious juicer like LeBron has never gotten his comeuppance.

Yes, this comes from a place of Sports Hate. I felt the same way when Peyton Manning got caught with HGH at his house and the media swept it under the rug.

Nobody can take LeBron’s achievements away from him. But I'd like for there to be some context and transparency, like what we got with Bonds and Lance Armstrong.

[kraidstar]

The late aughts Chicago Bulls always struck me as suspicious. That team had Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon,  Hinrich, Deng, Gibson, Omer Asik, Boozer, Noah....

For a couple years it looked like they had a puncher's chance at a title. Then, by the early 2010's, almost every single one of those players had fallen off a cliff and was either out of the league or was riding the pine on an albatross contract. Pretty weird.

[Kernewek]

The late aughts Chicago Bulls always struck me as suspicious. That team had Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon,  Hinrich, Deng, Gibson, Omer Asik, Boozer, Noah....

For a couple years it looked like they had a puncher's chance at a title. Then, by the early 2010's, almost every single one of those players had fallen off a cliff and was either out of the league or was riding the pine on an albatross contract. Pretty weird.

[Jvalin]

Horford shares a LeBron story from Game 7 of the 2018 ECF. Everybody was gassed in the last minutes except LeBron who looked unaffected despite playing literally the whole game. Obviously, it proves nothing. Horford never implied that LeBron was on steroids. I just thought of this thread when I heard the story and wanted to post it here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyifjnZ8adw

[Donoghus]

That's just genetics & conditioning to me.  Some people just have way more in the tank due to a variety of reasons, none necessarily being performance enhancers

[Moranis]

That's just genetics & conditioning to me.  Some people just have way more in the tank due to a variety of reasons, none necessarily being performance enhancers

Yeah, I always think about Wilt in these discussions.  He averaged 48.5 mpg one season missing something like 50 minutes the entire season.  Bigger, stronger, faster, better conditioned, etc. than everyone else and he played before steroids were a thing for professional athletes. 

[Roy H.]

That's just genetics & conditioning to me.  Some people just have way more in the tank due to a variety of reasons, none necessarily being performance enhancers

Yeah, I always think about Wilt in these discussions.  He averaged 48.5 mpg one season missing something like 50 minutes the entire season.  Bigger, stronger, faster, better conditioned, etc. than everyone else and he played before steroids were a thing for professional athletes.

As an aside, aren't "bigger and stronger" generally less conditioned than smaller and lighter?  Not in the case of Wilt, where he was a world class athlete competing against many guys who were not.  But, in 2023, wouldn't muscle mass negatively affect somebody's conditioning, all other things being equal?

Perhaps I'm wrong on this.  I've always been under the impression that smaller athletes have more stamina.

[gouki88]

That's just genetics & conditioning to me.  Some people just have way more in the tank due to a variety of reasons, none necessarily being performance enhancers

Yeah, I always think about Wilt in these discussions.  He averaged 48.5 mpg one season missing something like 50 minutes the entire season.  Bigger, stronger, faster, better conditioned, etc. than everyone else and he played before steroids were a thing for professional athletes.

As an aside, aren't "bigger and stronger" generally less conditioned than smaller and lighter?  Not in the case of Wilt, where he was a world class athlete competing against many guys who were not.  But, in 2023, wouldn't muscle mass negatively affect somebody's conditioning, all other things being equal?

Perhaps I'm wrong on this.  I've always been under the impression that smaller athletes have more stamina.

This is generally true, but I think basketball is a bit of a different kettle of fish. It's a lot of stop-start activity (especially with how LeBron chilled on defence on those Cavs teams). Not just continuous movement.

[Moranis]

That's just genetics & conditioning to me.  Some people just have way more in the tank due to a variety of reasons, none necessarily being performance enhancers

Yeah, I always think about Wilt in these discussions.  He averaged 48.5 mpg one season missing something like 50 minutes the entire season.  Bigger, stronger, faster, better conditioned, etc. than everyone else and he played before steroids were a thing for professional athletes.

As an aside, aren't "bigger and stronger" generally less conditioned than smaller and lighter?  Not in the case of Wilt, where he was a world class athlete competing against many guys who were not.  But, in 2023, wouldn't muscle mass negatively affect somebody's conditioning, all other things being equal?

Perhaps I'm wrong on this.  I've always been under the impression that smaller athletes have more stamina.

I don't think that is true.  I mean sure body builder sized guys are burning too much energy to be able to last at high levels for long periods of time, but look at the sprinters, boxers, etc.  Those guys and gals, have lean muscular bodies.  An NFL RB would be a great example of the type of body structure we are talking about. 

Wilt was more unique because he was a 7 footer but he was also probably the best overall athlete the sport has ever seen.