Skills Science: Three masterful plays from LeBron James against the Cavs
I detailed three exquisite plays from LeBron James in his masterclass performance vs his former team.
The Lakers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-108 on Monday night, extending their team-record road unbeaten streak to begin a season to 10-0. The star of the show was none other than the man, the myth, the legend LeBron James, who single handedly outscored the Cavaliers 21-19 in the fourth quarter.
Although every Lakers game right now is filled with an assortment of superb plays, and this victory was no exception, it’s only fitting that this skills science video focus squarely on LeBron’s incredible performance. Using my background in sports science, movement, and coaching, I dissected three elite LeBron plays and skills (and one special shout-out to a key contributor who receives a disproportionate amount of criticism) through the lens of biomechanics, movement patterns, basketball technique and the “mental side” of the game.
My goal is to produce these “Skills Science” segments after the majority of games this season (and ideally after each game — hey, a man can dream, can’t he?) and hopefully they provide a little more detail about the technical aspects of movement, skills and the game of basketball itself.
In the meantime, what were some elite skills, plays and details that stood out to you? Let me know in the comments below this post.
Dr. Rajpal Brar has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 1.5 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), and analyzes the Lakers from a medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and Laker Film Room. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.