LeBron and HGH

[Jon]

I know this is entirely unfair and has absolutely no proof; however, does anyone else have a feeling that LeBron is using/has used HGH or steroids?  I've thought this before, but was reminded again during an interview with him on ESPN before the game last night.  If you look at his skull size, much like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, it's gotten unnaturally wide and thick, particularly around the midpoint of his cheeks.  Furthermore, his ability to put on muscle from a very young age is practically unheard of.  Most 18-year-olds come into this league rail-thin and take years to put on muscle given their high metabolisms and constant cardiovascular efforts.  However, LeBron came in very thick despite both of these potential inhibitors, and has continued to put on large amounts of muscle and maintain his speed, despite playing nearly 40 minutes of NBA action per night. 

Again, by no means am I saying he unequivocally uses performance enhancing drugs, but in this age of HGH and steroids in baseball and football, would anyone be surprised to learn down the road that LeBron does them? 

[indeedproceed]

I think its pretty foolish to speculate on this, mostly because of what the NBA has to lose. Look at the MLB..the damage done when Bonds, Clemens and now A-rod all have been proven to use PED's. The NBA's ref scandal would seem like a improper recruiting call next to Lebron's PED scandal. This would dominate papers, blogs, sports television for weeks, and people wouldn't stop talking about it for decades. If we're thinking this, you know David Stern has thought about it, and you know he's looked into it. He's def not the type of guy to idly sit by while this situation could be going on. Sometimes you just have to trust that these guys aren't complete idiots.

[Scalablob990]

Reason #1- Why doesn't he tell people his real weight and stop this 250+ nonsense because not admitting his weight is suspicious looking.
Reason #2- Look at his upper body his Shoulders/Traps/Back/Chest/Biceps are HUGE, no player in the past looked like that and had that speed which leads to #3.
Reason #3- He makes TJ Ford look like a joke in a footrace and TJ's like what 160 lbs? When you have a 6'8 man outrunning a PG like a joke something is up.
Reason #4- He can play at *least*  48 minutes and not look winded at all. Last night in the 4th he was at the line and he barely had sweat on him and he looked ready to go another 3 quarters at least. (this fact people will argue the most)
Reason #5- He's been putting on about 10-20 lbs of muscle each year, and when he came into the NBA he wasn't CLOSE to what he looks like now, and you can't look at his weight from HS since all of the weight listings on him are lies. I'm an avid weightlifter and I can tell you that you reach a peak when you don't use supplements and need supplements to go further.
Reason #6- He outweighs Dwight Howard and Dwight is by no means a small guy. If Lebron played center even being 6'8 he'd be a great player due to his muscle mass.

People can argue all day with me on this but the man is using something, it might not be HGH, but he's not natural and that type of build will never BE natural by nature.

[Fafnir]

I think given what has happened in MLB and the NFL it is natural to question any athlete.

But we have no evidence, I don't think it is fair to throw an accusation at LeBron.

[SShorefan 4.0]

unfair speculation.

[Scalablob990]

I think given what has happened in MLB and the NFL it is natural to question any athlete.

But we have no evidence, I don't think it is fair to throw an accusation at LeBron.

What I listed are my opinions on it but i'm not going to be 100% ignorant and deny that he might NOT be using them, but in my mind it's a (1/6,000,000,000) chance he's clean.

[Jon]

I realize that's it's unfair, but let's keep three things in mind.

1) People would've been saying the same thing if I had made this post about A-Rod two months ago. 

2) He's athletically freakish in an inconsistent way: he's muscularly huge and quick. 

3) The Around the NBA Forum on CelticsBlog is hardly Sports Center.  So I don't think we have to be overly concerned about the "unfairness" of these accusations hurting LeBron. 

[Amonkey]

I don't know when Lebron started lifting weights, but when you start lifting weights for a long period of time (I am talking about years here), your body starts elevating the levels of testosterone naturally, leading to more muscle mass.  Theoretically, if a kid (11, 12 yrs old) started lifting weights for power (heavy sets), if timed right with puberty, those factors could result in a stronger, bigger person at an earlier age.  However, this can't be proven since it's not advisable for young kids to lift heavy weights because it may disrupt with the growth of bones so there aren't many research on this.

However, this is more of a speculation more than anything.  It's hard to tell if Lebron (or Oden) have used HGH, but I think the reality is that more muscle mass would result in a slower player and vertical leap would suffer.  Also, most likely there would be more injury since the growth of muscles in certain areas would be out of wack (less likely if done naturally).  I personally think that steroids works better in performances that don't need anything else besides quick power and strength (like sprinting, swimming, cycling- sports that doesn't need a lot change of direction besides quick powerful strokes).  Although there have been some minor cases of steroids in basketball, but not nearly close to the NBA.

PS. All this information was based on my Diet, Supplement and Performance class.

[Amonkey]

Just to be clear, I meant that in basketball, it would result in a slower player since there would be change of angles instead of running on a straight line.  Sprinters benefit because they are running a straight line, no change of direction needed.  The muscles used for power are mostly the major muscles and don't need the little ones used for balance and control.  Those are the muscles that usually end up out of wack because while the major muscles are strong and powerful, the little ones are not in harmony leading to strains.

[moiso]

He was pretty freaking big and fast when he was 17 years old though.  It's not like he went from Patrick O'Bryant to Dwight Howard.

[bostonfan23]

If there is any player in the NBA on steroids, there is no doubt in my mind it is LeBron James.

[xmuscularghandix]

If there is any player in the NBA on steroids, there is no doubt in my mind it is LeBron James.

or Mikki Moore

[Roy Hobbs]

Sure, Lebron could be using.  However, so could some of the less bulky athletes.  If the MLB scandal taught us anything, it's that *any* player can be using PEDs, not just those who look big. 

[Danimals]

Reason #4- He can play at *least*  48 minutes and not look winded at all. Last night in the 4th he was at the line and he barely had sweat on him and he looked ready to go another 3 quarters at least. (this fact people will argue the most)
Reason #5- He's been putting on about 10-20 lbs of muscle each year, and when he came into the NBA he wasn't CLOSE to what he looks like now, and you can't look at his weight from HS since all of the weight listings on him are lies. I'm an avid weightlifter and I can tell you that you reach a peak when you don't use supplements and need supplements to go further.

The only way #4 and #5 could be legit is if he took advantage of the fact that the pituitary gland hasn't begun reducing it's secretion of HGH (about 20% every decade after 20 years of age).

It may be possible for him to do it naturally.

A) HGH gets released with very intense excersize. His works-outs would have to be extremely intense. Creatine is legal and would help in this regard. Still, like you said, he would have to deal with the workout plateau in size and strength. Running 5 miles or so on off days, or at his young age, every day after working out, would help keep his endophins flowing, and boost his work out recovery and efficacy. If he were doing tons of suicide sprints until he dropped, this could also explain his stamina, speed, and quickness.

B) He would have to make sure to get his 9 hours of quality sleep in. (90% of HGH is normally released during sleep - during slow delta wave sleep of first 45 minutes.)

C) Proteins require an acidic digestive environment while carbs require an alkaline one. Acids and bases don't mix well. That most African Americans are lactose intolerant does not help either.

CONCLUSION) Given that he would have to be saturating his body with an insane of cabohydrates (think Michael Phelps) and tons of protein (for muscle gain) all the time - at least every three hours - in order to acheive the results that he has, it would be best not to stand behind LBJ.

The constant, thunderous explosion of flatulence would be down right LETHAL.

[KungPoweChicken]

What good is all his muscle when he can't stop Pierce from mopping the floor with him?