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Superstar
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9...ar-failture-35-point-games-more-espn-magazine
CHRIS BROUSSARD: Did you take any time off this summer?
LEBRON JAMES: I took one month off. We ended on June 20, and I started working out on July 20. I didn't do anything. It was hard. The challenge for me is that my mind wants to always be in the gym. But I understand that I have to give my body rest from all the pounding and everything I've been through the last two and a half years. So it's a fine line, man. But it's hard for me to sit down. It's hard for me to sit down when I know I could be doing something -- working on my game in the gym or going to the Wellness Center by my house back home [in Akron, Ohio] or just doing some conditioning, doing a Pilates session or whatever. I'm just always trying to keep the edge, man.
Your agent, Rich Paul, told me he thinks you're 85 percent of the player you can be. What percentage would you put on it?
I don't know the percentage, but I know I still have room for improvement. I feel I can improve on my shooting, on my ballhandling, on my low-post game. Since I started playing ball, I've only been in the low post for two years now, playing with my back to the basket. So that still needs a lot of improvement to catch up with the rest of my game. If it's something I feel like I don't do very well, I just try to come back and do it better.
Will you play more in the post this year?
Yeah. Absolutely. I think it's a dynamic that helps our team more than anything. We don't have too many conventional post-up guys. Obviously, CB [Chris Bosh] can get down there, but he's more of a spot-up, catch-and-shoot, pick-and-flair guy. D-Wade does a little bit down there as well. But it brought a new dynamic for our team when I started to change the pie chart of my game -- less perimeter and now adding a little bit more in the post.
A lot of people feel that you have to win five rings like Kobe bryant or six rings like Mike.
I don't think about that. That really doesn't mean much to me. I don't play the catching game. I'm not trying to catch Magic or catch Bird or catch Kobe. I'm into maximizing what I have while I have the opportunity to do it. I've played my first 10 years at a high level, and I'm trying to play my next 10 at a high level, or as high as I can be.
In a lot of people's eyes, you're not competing with Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, you're competing with MJ, and to a lesser extent, Kobe.
[Chuckles as the names MJ and Kobe are mentioned] Right ...
I mean, when you say you want to be the greatest of all time, Jordan is the one everyone thinks is the greatest.
Yeah, that's who everyone puts as the best. But you're always going to have arguments, no matter what. People are going to like Jordan, people are going to like LeBron, people are going to like Kobe and so on. Magic, Bird … But I don't really think about it too much and say, Okay, I want to catch MJ. I'm saying I want to be the greatest, and I think I have an opportunity to do it just because of my skill set and because I feel like I've got a lot of room to improve.
But I definitely look at MJ as the greatest. Without MJ, there's no me. He gave me hope. He gave me inspiration as a kid. I still watch MJ tapes to this day. I was watching Come Fly With Me and Jordan's Playground and His Airness on vacation earlier this summer. So I'm watching him all the time, trying to learn from him. I even watched a clip … It was funny. I watched a clip last night when he had 51 while playing for Washington, the game after he scored in single digits. He put up 51 on the Hornets. So ...
How often do you watch tape of other guys?
A lot. A lot. I watch Jordan more than anybody, for sure. But I'll watch tapes of AI [Allen Iverson] too. I don't take anything from AI. Well, I do -- his will. They say he was six feet, but AI was like 5'10½". Do we even want to say 160? 170? Do we even want to give him that much weight? And he played like a 6'8" 2-guard. He was one of the greatest finishers we've ever seen. You could never question his heart. Ever. He gave it his all. AI was like my second favorite player growing up, after MJ.
Do you wish you had more of a relationship with Jordan?
[Leans back pensively and starts smiling, as if he's not sure he should answer the question]Ahhh, I mean, I don't know. That's a trick question. I do. I do at times. You know, he's somebody who I looked up to, and I've never had a conversation with him about the game. I would love to sit down with him and just know exactly what he was going through and know what was his mind frame throughout all his special years. Throughout his pains -- you know, not being able to get past Detroit, then overcoming Detroit. Or asking him, "Why did you retire? What made you come back? What made you come back again?" You know, everything that we all think we know. Just kind of having a sit-down conversation.
[LeBron is seemingly done, winding down his thought. But then he pipes up, realizing there's more he wants to say. He gets louder, more animated.] And then also to hear him talk about me. I would like to know what he thinks about my game and ways I can get better. He probably thinks he can beat me one-on-one right now [laughing]. I know he probably thinks that. I know MJ definitely thinks he can beat me one-on-one right now.
Why do you think you guys haven't developed a relationship?
I think it's just being busy. Obviously, I'm busy. MJ has a lot going on. I don't know the reasons, but it's never been sparked. I've seen him at times. Of course, I've met him a few times. I went to his 50th-birthday party at All-Star weekend. I went to his party to show respect and pay homage to the greatest. I had a conversation with him there. Obviously, there were a lot of people there. But I don't know. I don't know.
When people think about the killer instinct, they always think of MJ and Kobe. Do people underestimate your killer instinct? People say you have it but not like those two. Do you think you have it like they do?
Ahh. I'll just put it this way, man. There are different ways to hunt. I watch the Discovery Channel all the time, and you look at all these animals in the wild. And they all hunt a different way to feed their families. They all kill a different way. Lions do it strategically -- two females will lead, and then everybody else will come in. Hyenas will just go for it. There are different ways to kill, and I don't think people understand that. Everybody wants everybody to kill the same way. Everybody wants everybody to kill like MJ or kill like Kobe. Magic didn't kill the way they killed. Does that mean he didn't have a killer instinct? Kareem didn't either. But does that mean Kareem didn't have a killer instinct? The same with Bird. That doesn't mean you don't have a killer instinct. Tim Duncan don't kill like Michael Jordanand Kobe Bryant, but I've played against Tim Duncan twice in the Finals and I know for sure he's got a killer instinct. So there are different ways to kill. MJ had a killer instinct for sure. But if people really think that MJ didn't talk to nobody and didn't smile on the court, they're crazy. They're crazy. I've seen him. I was watching a clip the other day of him blockingCharles Barkley, and they're laughing about the play -- on the floor. Right now, if I block Kevin Durant on the floor, or I block Carmelo Anthony and we laugh about it? Ahh, I'm going to get killed [laughing]. I'm telling you. But there are different ways of killing.
Do you think you'll change people's minds about that?
I hope. I hope. I hope people will see that there are different ways of winning. And I win by … I don't want to say doing it my way. I am doing it my way but not in a selfish way. I want to win by having fun and having a brotherhood around me where we all have the same goals -- and that's just going out and winning, man. When I'm having fun, I'm loving the game, and that's what brings joy to me. [Leans back and smiles] Every now and then my look comes out, though -- like Game 6 in Boston [2012]. People say, Why don't he do that all the time? [laughs] Man, I don't even … first of all, I have no idea why that look even happened. Somebody took a great photo. The camera was right on time, and he happened to get me when I was a little bit tired and I looked up. Bam! Now, it's The Look [laughs]. It's the LeBron Look. The LeBron Face [laughs]. It's cool, though. It's cool. Don't think for one second, though, that I'm not zeroed in on what I need to get done to kill my prey.
