Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is listed at 250 pounds and is probably actually a bit more than that. However, right now, he is well over that weight.
Since returning from his groin issue late last month, James has reportedly been playing at 280 pounds as a result of the injury messing with his conditioning program, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
This is incredibly significant, as the extra weight LeBron is carrying around will certainly take its toll as the season progresses, potentially gassing him earlier in games.
Since James returned on Jan. 31, he has been logging heavy minutes, averaging 36.8 minutes per game over the five contests in which he has played, which is actually above his season average of 34.9 minutes.
The problem is, with the Lakers currently 28-29 and out of the Western Conference playoff picture, the 34-year-old will likely have to keep playing big minutes for the remainder of the season, as they may very well miss the postseason without LeBron carrying a heavy load.
Since James returned on Jan. 31, Los Angeles has gone just 2-4, with one of those losses coming to the Golden State Warriors while James sat due to load management.
At one point this season, the Lakers were 20-14 and contending for a top-five seed in the Western Conference, but James then injured his groin during a Christmas Day win against the Warriors. Since then, Los Angeles has gone just 8-15 to fall out of the top eight in the conference completely.
Luckily for James, he will have the All-Star break to rest up, but it is going to be very difficult for him to drop this weight over the course of the final two months of the regular season.
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