LeBron James: The Championship Starts With Your Health
LeBron James is available to start the season for the Los Angeles Lakers as they prepare for a championship charge.
LeBron James sustained a high ankle sprain towards the end of last season. It was one disruption of many that hampered the Lakers’ postseason.
“I’m back to 100 percent, as far as my ankle. I feel great heading into camp,” James told ESPN. “I’m super excited to get back on the floor and know the work that I’ve put in with my body and my game. And I’ll translate it to the court.”
LeBron James plans to ensure his availability throughout the year, and the Covid-19 vaccine is a crucial element of that.
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“You’re always trying to figure out ways that you can just be available and protect one another and put yourself in the best possible chance where you are available to your teammates, available to what we need to do on the floor,” LeBron James said Tuesday.
“The ultimate goal is to obviously win a championship. And it starts with, obviously, health as the No. 1 thing. We’re excited to know that we’ve given ourselves another opportunity to be available to each other, and that’s what it came down to.
The NBA is grappling with a vaccine issue ahead of the new season. James, though, articulates perhaps the simplest argument for an athlete to get the vaccine. It’s about availability.
A player’s career is short, their biggest asset is their consistent availability. It’s no surprise that a Lakers roster packed with veterans is mostly fully vaccinated.
Read: NBA In ‘Next Big Fight’ Over Covid-19 Vaccinations
Free agent signing Kent Bazemore says being a part of such an accomplished team was enough to dissuade his vaccine reservations.
“When the vaccine first came out, I felt like it was kind of forced on me, and I’m not a person who responds well to that, and it just kind of put this shell around me,” Bazemore said. “But I had a good call with Rob Pelinka, and he laid it down to me in the most fairly honest way that I ever heard. … To be on a roster with so many greats, especially during my era, it would be a hard opportunity to pass up.”
