LeBron James Feels Like He’s in His ‘Early 20s’ Again

There are a lot of miles on LeBron James’ body, but the 31-year-old says he’s never felt better.

James has activated his annual Zero Dark Thirty-23 mode for the Playoffs, and reports that he’s paced himself to the point where he feels like a young buck all over again.

LBJ finished ninth in the NBA with 111 dunks in 76 games this season:

“My body just feels great, that’s all,” James told ESPN.com on the Cavs’ final road trip of the season. “I’m happy and proud of the work that I put in and that’s just the byproduct of it. To be able to still be bouncing the way I’m bouncing and jumping the way I’m jumping — with all the minutes and all the games I’ve played over the years — I mean, it’s rewarding to know when you put in work and be able to get success.”

 

Last season, albeit in seven fewer games, James had 23 fewer dunks, and was 16th in the league in total slams. This season, James led the league in fast-break dunks with 59 and also grew his half-court total from 39 (42nd in the league) to 52 (32nd in the league). […] “I take pride in the fact that I put a lot of work into my game and to my body and obviously I know how many minutes I have on my body in my career and how many games I’ve played,” James said. “And for me to feel like I’m in my 20s again, early 20s, it’s a great feeling.”

 

“It was a tremendous dunk contest this year,” James said. “We save that for the young boys, for sure. I’ve never been really a dunk-contest guy. […] I did it in the McDonald’s [high school All-American] game, part of the reason because it was in my backyard. It was in Cleveland. So, it was fun, but I’ve always kind of been a guy that’s an in-game guy. I don’t play much one-on-one basketball either. I’m a five-on-five guy. I don’t really get involved in that.”