“My coaches would be blown away!” LeBron James reveals flipping plays at 8 years old

LeBron James was a highly-rated player right from high school.

“My coaches would be blown away!” LeBron James reveals flipping plays at 8 years old

LeBron James (image via LakerNation/X)

LeBron James’ understanding of the game and ability to run plays was noticed at a very young age such that his level of IQ shocked his coaches. He made this known while speaking to JJ Redick on the first episode of his newly launched podcast.

Speaking on the podcast, James asserts that his understanding of the game was basically a product of hard work or time spent in the gym but rather an inborn trait as a result of divine will. Highly evident in his younger years which according to him shocked his coaches at the time. 

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Ideally, most athletes are a product of hard work but in the case of the four-time NBA champion, he was on a different pedestal with kids his age. He said he understood how the game worked and how he could change it at the tender age of eight. 

James stated:

I could flip a play when I was eight years old. No matter if it was pass-and-cut, no matter if it was 'let's run flex but let's start on the left side,' no matter if it was just let's DHO drive and kick. I was doing that stuff when I was eight, nine years old and my coaches would just be blown away.
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There’s no doubt that LeBron James elevates the performance of the people around him and his high IQ it has helped him stay as long as he has in the league. This season he is averaging 25.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 8.0 APG with a field goal percentage of 53.1%.

LeBron James names a rival and teammate as player with the highest IQ

During an episode of James’ podcast, his co-host JJ Redick threw a question to James about the basketball player he believes possesses the highest IQ in the NBA. For a player who prides himself as a high IQ player, it was intriguing to hear who he called.

King James subsequently named Rajon Rondo a former rival as his pick for the highest-rated IQ player in the league.

James said:

Rajon Rondo, for sure. He has, he can process, flip, do things on the go, like, it is very weird for me that he is not coaching at a high level, I think it is because he doesn’t wanna do it. It is a lot. Who wants to deal with all these rich entitled guys all the time?

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James and Rondo faced each other numerous times in the early 2010s when James turned out for the Miami Heat and Rondo for the Boston Celtics. They ended up being teammates and James knows him well both as an opponent and as a teammate.

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