LeBron James’ Athleticism During His First Cleveland Stint
August 9, 2025
LeBron James’ Athleticism During His First Cleveland Stint
50 comments
He is pretty athletic
This LeBron is averaging 35 in todays league
He was just dunking on ppl like nothing
The most entertaining and fun to watch version of lebron
INSANEEEEEEEEEE Freak of Nature in 09 and ‘10. Imagine if this Bron had Miami Bron’s artillery of tools…not sure Kobe would’ve went back to back those 2 years
Nasty…as a cavs fan still hate the entire LA era
Jason Richardson just had to 360 that with Bron on the floor. Lol
A Jamario Moon sighting? Wild.
During the time, no one had seen anything like him ever. Greatest of his generation by a wide margin
He was a frustrating shooter back then, but god damn he was fun to watch.
His speed for his size was insane
I feel like LeBron has an argument to be the greatest transition player on both sides of the court. I know there’s more to transition offense than fastbreak dunks and I know that transition defense isn’t always about chase-down blocks….but they help. LeBron has to be the most dangerous fast-break scorer we’ve ever seen (only compounded by his elite passing) and his chase-down blocks feel superhuman.
It just doesn’t make sense for a guy that big to move that fast.
Young LeBron played like an NBA Jam character. He looked like he jumped on a trampoline in some of the dunks in this clip.
I remember watching these early years and thinking he should just drive and dunk every possession. Made it look so easy!
The craziest ones are when he drives away from the rim to near the side of the backboard, winds up and dunks it over 1-2 contests. In the NBA. Against grown male professional athletes. Entirely not normal.
Also jelly dunk???? Ref do something.
LeThrowItDown
He’s still doing all that stuff at only like a 10% drop off in explosion.
Remarkable how durable and healthy he was and always has been considering he flew around the court and in the air like he did at that size.
Every dunk is boom and every block is a blow! Lebrons explosive leap is unparalleled.
Block on J Rich’s 360 dunk attempt was diabolical
His second go around in Cleveland was kinda wild too. I feel like it was 2017 when he was just dunking on everyone and we got lebronto
Peak Bron was insanely athletic.
His fast breaks dunks are absurd.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
2009 and 2010 Bron would so damn feast to see in today’s game. That athleticism + speed + strength combo would just be nutty. Those versions of Bron in a league with higher pace and more spacing would be a sight to behold.
Show me the Heat days. Those were his best.
I can understand why Cleveland fans felt a part of their soul get ripped out when Lebron decided to get some rings in Miami
He just completely broke the Pistons spirit in that 2007 series.
The years before he got his jumpshot he was just attacking that rim like it did something to him.
I always liked their older jerseys. They don’t do many throwbacks to these iirc
Insane
Could tell me that video playback speed was set to 1.5X and I’d believe you
Just a straight monster the greatest to ever do it
Bro really played through 4 different TV resolutions
That much athleticism in that big a body is crazy
It’s crazy watching him still doing the chase down blocks in his 40’s
this why i don’t like when announcers say things like “he still dunks like he’s 24 years old” or whatever. like i understand the sentiment, what hes doing today is impressive as hell but what he was doing back then in terms of athleticism, was insane.
Hey this guys pretty good
From the perspective of this video,
“He’s pretty ok with those chase down blocks, one day he’ll get a good block being a pivotal moment in a season.”
And now, look how that has worked out for him!
His first stint with Cleveland was truly the reason I started watching the NBA
That one legged take off is truly special.
He’s infinitely faster than everyone on the floor. And these are the best of the best athletes the world has to offer
Nephews never saw this guy. They think LeBron was always 36
I’ve been alive nearly 50 years. I’ve never seen anyone like him.
Goat
Oh my goatness
Never forget this weird play, where LeBron appeared to jump like 50 inches off the ground.
If he dunked that it would’ve ushered in the apocalypse or something.
even more amazing this guy became a 40% 3P shooter on HEAVY attempts
That second clip, dunking from the dotted line double clutching through 2 defenders? Absolutely inhuman.
People gonna try to lie to you and say MJ or Vince were more athletic/had better highlights. These highlights don’t look real.
These are good, but I think the best part of back then was how he was able to literally get from one end of the court to the other, or drive in against like 3-4 people with such ease and still dunk it over them while being held.
50 comments
He is pretty athletic
This LeBron is averaging 35 in todays league
He was just dunking on ppl like nothing
The most entertaining and fun to watch version of lebron
INSANEEEEEEEEEE Freak of Nature in 09 and ‘10. Imagine if this Bron had Miami Bron’s artillery of tools…not sure Kobe would’ve went back to back those 2 years
Nasty…as a cavs fan still hate the entire LA era
Jason Richardson just had to 360 that with Bron on the floor. Lol
A Jamario Moon sighting? Wild.
During the time, no one had seen anything like him ever. Greatest of his generation by a wide margin
He was a frustrating shooter back then, but god damn he was fun to watch.
His speed for his size was insane
I feel like LeBron has an argument to be the greatest transition player on both sides of the court. I know there’s more to transition offense than fastbreak dunks and I know that transition defense isn’t always about chase-down blocks….but they help. LeBron has to be the most dangerous fast-break scorer we’ve ever seen (only compounded by his elite passing) and his chase-down blocks feel superhuman.
It just doesn’t make sense for a guy that big to move that fast.
Young LeBron played like an NBA Jam character. He looked like he jumped on a trampoline in some of the dunks in this clip.
I remember watching these early years and thinking he should just drive and dunk every possession. Made it look so easy!
The craziest ones are when he drives away from the rim to near the side of the backboard, winds up and dunks it over 1-2 contests. In the NBA. Against grown male professional athletes. Entirely not normal.
Also jelly dunk???? Ref do something.
LeThrowItDown
He’s still doing all that stuff at only like a 10% drop off in explosion.
Remarkable how durable and healthy he was and always has been considering he flew around the court and in the air like he did at that size.
Every dunk is boom and every block is a blow! Lebrons explosive leap is unparalleled.
Block on J Rich’s 360 dunk attempt was diabolical
His second go around in Cleveland was kinda wild too. I feel like it was 2017 when he was just dunking on everyone and we got lebronto
Peak Bron was insanely athletic.
His fast breaks dunks are absurd.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
He’s so good.
2009 and 2010 Bron would so damn feast to see in today’s game. That athleticism + speed + strength combo would just be nutty. Those versions of Bron in a league with higher pace and more spacing would be a sight to behold.
Show me the Heat days. Those were his best.
I can understand why Cleveland fans felt a part of their soul get ripped out when Lebron decided to get some rings in Miami
He just completely broke the Pistons spirit in that 2007 series.
The years before he got his jumpshot he was just attacking that rim like it did something to him.
I always liked their older jerseys. They don’t do many throwbacks to these iirc
Insane
Could tell me that video playback speed was set to 1.5X and I’d believe you
Just a straight monster the greatest to ever do it
Bro really played through 4 different TV resolutions
That much athleticism in that big a body is crazy
It’s crazy watching him still doing the chase down blocks in his 40’s
this why i don’t like when announcers say things like “he still dunks like he’s 24 years old” or whatever. like i understand the sentiment, what hes doing today is impressive as hell but what he was doing back then in terms of athleticism, was insane.
Hey this guys pretty good
From the perspective of this video,
“He’s pretty ok with those chase down blocks, one day he’ll get a good block being a pivotal moment in a season.”
And now, look how that has worked out for him!
His first stint with Cleveland was truly the reason I started watching the NBA
That one legged take off is truly special.
He’s infinitely faster than everyone on the floor. And these are the best of the best athletes the world has to offer
Nephews never saw this guy. They think LeBron was always 36
I’ve been alive nearly 50 years. I’ve never seen anyone like him.
Goat
Oh my goatness
Never forget this weird play, where LeBron appeared to jump like 50 inches off the ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-kolNcY53s
If he dunked that it would’ve ushered in the apocalypse or something.
even more amazing this guy became a 40% 3P shooter on HEAVY attempts
That second clip, dunking from the dotted line double clutching through 2 defenders? Absolutely inhuman.
People gonna try to lie to you and say MJ or Vince were more athletic/had better highlights. These highlights don’t look real.
These are good, but I think the best part of back then was how he was able to literally get from one end of the court to the other, or drive in against like 3-4 people with such ease and still dunk it over them while being held.