By now, it’s clear that LeBron James is a one-of-a-kind player in the NBA. Fresh off his 22nd season in the league, which saw him turn 40 years old along the way, James is still one of the best players in the NBA, as evidenced by his selection to the All-NBA Second Team. It may seem easy for him on the court, but there’s no doubt that the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is putting in a lot of work behind the scenes to keep his body in tip-top shape.
James has been dominating the NBA for over two decades now, and that’s not by coincidence. The superstar forward has been putting in the work needed to excel for years now, and according to one of his former teammates, Mario Chalmers, he witnessed James take things to another level when they would go out to clubs during their time together with the Miami Heat.
Mario Chalmers Shares LeBron James Club Story
Selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft, James entered the league with expectations that few players have ever been subjected to. He has ended up surpassing those expectations, though, racking up a laundry list of accolades, highlighted by his four MVP Awards and four NBA Finals victories.
James crossed paths with Chalmers during his four-season stint with the Heat, with the duo winning a pair of championships together. Chalmers played a big role in the backcourt for these Miami squads, and taking the floor alongside legends like James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh clearly had a big impact on him and his desire to get better.
There were things that Chalmers wasn’t willing to do, though. One thing involved getting treatment on his body when guys from the team would go out to clubs together. That may seem like an obvious thing to not do at the club, but not to James, because according to Chalmers, LeBron was getting treatment on his body even when he went out to the clubs.
“I tell people this all the time, Bron will really get treatment if we was in the club,” Chalmers said on “Nightcap.” “He would literally have something on knees or something on his back inside the club. Once somebody is doing that, that’s a real dedication to just be in the club with treatment … He always got something that’s recovery, making his body recover.”
LeBron James Still Going Strong in 2025 with the Lakers
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty ImagesLeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
Even at the age of 40, James has remained an All-NBA talent for the Lakers. This past season, he averaged 24.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 51.3% from the field for Los Angeles. While that helped the team earn the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, they ended up crashing out of the 2025 NBA Playoffs in the first round after the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated them in five games.
Retirement questions continue to linger around James, but all signs point to him returning to play at least one more season. Assuming he does that and opts into the player option in his contract, Los Angeles’ front office will be dead set on finding a way to build a championship contender around him and his new superstar teammate, Luka Doncic.
