Luka vs. Lebron: A biomechanical perspective

Luka is more collapsed than Lebron and yet Lebron is the one who's about to retire

The NBA fans out there are probably aware that the playoffs are in full swing.

And as a Lakers (and particularly Luka) fan I’ve been watching all of their games.

Today before the game started the commentator mentioned something interesting. He said that the Lakers head coach, JJ Redick, said that Lebron has the lowest body fat ratio in the team at 41 years old.

And of course he then went on to attribute that to the discipline and intensive workout routines that Lebron has maintained over the years.

I of course do not agree with any of that.

I think he would have had more or less the same body fat if he’d done no special workout routine and wasn’t even a professional athlete.

In fact… he’d probably even have a better body because he wouldn’t have worn down his teeth as much.

And the reason he has the lowest bodyfat in the team is very simple… he, by far, had better biomechanics than anyone in that Lakers team. The guy was an absolute beast in his prime.

But the point I want to make is a bit different today…. I want to discuss why Luka Dončić is considered the younger ‘future of the franchise’ despite being more collapsed than Lebron.

First let’s talk a bit about Luka Dončić

So i’m a huge fan of Luka Dončić.

Why?

Because he’s such an amazing scorer (probably the best in the NBA) despite being a pretty shitty athlete.

The guy has the biomechanics of perhaps a college player but definitely not someone on the All-NBA first team.

What is amazing about the guy is how he has taken an almost analytical approach to playing basketball. More so then anyone i’ve ever seen in my ~40 years of watching basketball.

He gets his defender with their weight on the wrong foot and creates just enough space to get his shot off.

Or he changes speed on his drive to the basket to get his defender to drop off him just enough to lay it in.

The guy pretty much never gets blocked despite being slow and not jumping very well. And this despite the fact that he shoots A LOT and teams are often throwing double teams with their best defenders at him.

I just find him so unique. Kind of an “anti-Michael Jordan” haha.

Luka is considered the future of the Lakers because he is younger than Lebron

Luka is only 27 years old right now.

Which is considered to be in your ‘prime’ in the NBA.

Lebron on the otherhand is 41.

So everyone refers to Luka as the future and Lebron as getting ready to retire.

This despite the fact that Lebron is in my view far more athletic than Luka still.

And athletic ability tends to correlate very strongly with biomechanical structure in my experience.

So in a way… Lebron is actually YOUNGER than Luka from a biomechanical perspective.

Which is something that is further supported by his better stamina, jumping ability, flexibility, strength, etc.

Lebron in his prime (~15 yrs ago)

So is there any true advantage to being younger?

This is the next question you should be asking.

Does Luka have any true advantage over Lebron due to the fact that from an age perspective he is younger?

And the answer is yes, but not in the way you would think.

You see…. Lebron’s game very much depended on his athletic ability. His ability to jump out of the gym and go right around or even through people with his quickness and strength.

So the fact that he has declined biomechanically means that he is now playing at only a shadow of the level that he was playing at in his prime. And this despite the fact that he’s still biomechanically ‘superior’ to Luka.

Luka, on the otherhand, developed his game being biomechanically inferior. And so he’s able to operate at his peak level despite being ‘more collapsed’ than Lebron.

Therefore in a way Luka has the advantage that he can continue to play at around his peak level for another 10-15 years whereas Lebron would probably have become too much of a shadow of his former self in a year or two to not retire.

And so pride and media pressure will probably push Lebron to retire in a year or two.

But some interesting things to think about

Basically what i’m saying is that Lebron will probably retire in a year or two despite being biomechnically younger than Luka who is in his prime.

But the only reason for that is the type of game they play. Lebron depended a lot on his athletic prowess whereas Luka never did.

Now if Lebron were to able to develop the type of game that Luka has (ie. using his body very smartly and changing speeds to create shots) than in my view Lebron probably still has more years left in him in the NBA than Luka does.

And that is even without a mouthguard or any knowledge of biomechanics.

Because I don’t think ‘aging’ actually exists in reality. Which is something I explained here:

I don't think aging exists

What we call ‘aging’ is just biomechanical collapse. And if someone is less collapsed than someone else then the reality (in my view) is that if all other things were equal… they have more years of playing pro ball ahead of them than the more collapsed person.

Closing thoughts

Today i’m trying to draw your attention to a different way of looking at athletes’ careers.

It’s not about age because age doesn’t exist.

Only biomechanical collapse exists.

But you’ll still see athletes (eg. Lebron) retire ahead of more collaped ones (eg. Luka) because typically their peak performance depended on athleticism far more.

If, however, that person understood all of this then hypothetically all they would have to do is successfully adopt a different style of game that works for their level of biomechanics.

Which is actually exactly what a lot of pro athletes do in the twilight of their career.

Or of course they could just wear a flat mouthguard to sleep and hypothetically extend their career forever. Hahaha