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Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James didn't need trainers early into his legendary career in the NBA.
James uploaded a June 1 episode of his “Mind The Game” podcast to YouTube. He had co-star Luka Doncic and NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash on the show, talking about why young players should not need trainers early on in their careers.
“I didn’t have a basketball trainer until my 2nd, 3rd or 4th year in the NBA. My basketball training was just being on the court. Let’s just go hoop,” James said. “A lot of the skills coaches and trainers involved in these kids’ lives—they actually want to be more famous than the actual kid. They think they’re more important than the actual kid they’re training. Their motive is not pure. Like, they want to be on camera. They want to be recognized. They want to talk to the media.”
“Say, for instance, I train Luka for two summers and he has a breakout season. Now they want to do interviews with people—like, that’s not the f***ing objective, right? The objective is to help this kid get better. Help him see the game further than he did before. It’s not for you to be famous. And I think that also changed a lot of the landscape—kids not knowing the purity or the essence and the beauty of the game.”
“I didn’t have a basketball trainer until my 2nd, 3rd or 4th year in the NBA. My basketball training was just being on the court. Let’s just go hoop.”
LeBron James says kids don’t need to grow up working with ‘basketball trainers’ 🤔
(via @mindthegamepod)pic.twitter.com/64GCpGadGa
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 1, 2025
What lies ahead for LeBron James, Lakers
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It's noteworthy insight from LeBron James about how he approached the early years of his NBA career.
He learned a lot by just mastering the basics of the sport, which allowed him to expand his skillset and become one of the best in the league. Younger players who aspire to follow in his footsteps might look to be wary of trainers who may want to use them as promotion instead of actually helping them improve, as the Lakers star warned.
In the meantime, James is gearing for an offseason that will present intriguing questions. He has a player option for the 2025-26 season that will have him earn $52.6 million if he accepts it. If he declines, it is possible that he could sign a contract for two years with the second being another player option.
What will matter is the amount he would command. The Lakers look to make significant improvements to their roster after losing in the first round of the playoffs. Needing cap space to acquire high-value players, it is possible that James might take a pay cut to give himself one more shot at competing for a fifth NBA title.
