Cavs’ LeBron James: I didn’t lose weight for basketball reasons

LeBron James went on a 67-day Paleo diet this offseason and experienced a significant weight loss.

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However, the reasoning behind the diet was not basketball-related, James said on Friday during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ media day.

"It had nothing to do with basketball. I should have wrote a letter about that, too, to stop the speculations of why I did it.Every summer, I challenge myself to do something different that’s outside the box. I stopped eating candy last summer, just no candy for a whole summer. Just to try to challenge myself to see if I can do it.So, I decided to do this particular diet this summer for two months. It had nothing to do with basketball, nothing at all. Once I set out a goal, I like to accomplish it.In the process, I lost some weight. Then, in the process, stories came out I did it because of this juncture in my career.I’m 29 years old, and I can still fly above the rim. I don’t need to lose weight to do that, not at this point in my career."

Still, even if it wasn’t his intention, this move very well could be beneficial for Cleveland because of the increase in speed LeBron will see from this, as James also acknowledged.

James was already one of the quickest players in the NBA, so it’ll be interesting to see just how fast he is this season after the weight loss. Needless to say, James and Kyrie Irving are going to have some fun on the fastbreak this season.

LeBron averaged 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game this past season with the Miami Heat. James signed with the Cavs this summer.

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