Getty LeBron James, Lakers
In year 17, Los Angeles Lakers point guard, LeBron James is playing very good basketball.
An Akron, Ohio native, James, 35, is chasing his fourth NBA championship.
He’s currently veraging 25.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 10.6 assists and 1.2 steals per contest for the Lakers who currently sit at 49-14 and are in first place in the NBA’s Western Conference.
Guided by head coach, Frank Vogel,the Lakers like the Los Angeles Clippers are a Western Conference favorite. They have tons of talent with names like Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, Dion Waiters, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and many other notables on their roster.
Over the weekend, Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach, Phil Handy discussed LeBron James on an Instagram Live interview with performance coach, Derek Rucker.
Handy is very respected in NBA circles and the degrees of separation that Handy has is quite impressive.
A two time NBA Champion as an assistant coach, Handy has been on the bench during five consecutive NBA Finals.
For those keeping score at home: four of Handy’s appearances were with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2015-2018 with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. Additionally, Handy was a an assistant coach with the Kawhi Leonard-led Toronto Raptors last season.
Below are notes from Handy’s conversation via Instagram Live:
Phil Handy on LeBron James’ strength and conditioning:
“That man is in YEAR 17 bruh! Season 17 and he out there KILLIN’. It’s just a testament to what he does and how he takes care of himself. People do not understand man, like – they say he spends half a million, a million and a half dollars…whatever, $1.5 million dollars on his body every year. That’s an incredible piece right there. And that dude is just like – it seems that he’s only getting better, right? The game is continuing to change; the game of basketball is the same. But I think the players are changing. The players are RAPIDLY changing. They’re faster, they’re bigger, they’re more skilled in the sense of – and when I say in the sense of more skilled, it’s in the sense of that guys are position less. The game is almost position less now. And it’s fun to be a part of it.”
Professionally, Phil Handy played for the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers during the pre-season. He also played in the Continental Basketball Association for the Omaha Racers, Grand Rapids Macker, La Crosse Bobcats and internationally in France, Italy, Germany, Spain,Israel,England and Australia.