If LeBron Trains for a year what does the point spread have to be for you to take him over Bryan Clay in the Decathalon?

Lebron is fast for a big guy in the NBA for like 30-40 feet distances, but he's not as fast as the point guards (although sometimes it looks like he's faster than he is because he has such a long reach), and the PG's couldn't do as well as these times you mention for 100, 400, 1500, and hurdles.

10.43 for 100m? Try 12.

49.08 for 400m? Try 55 or 56.

5:10 for 1500m? Barely cracks sub-6. He'd be dying on that last lap.

110h in 14.7? Mid-pack? You seriously think Lebron is going to beat half the decathletes in the hurdles? Try 16 or 18.

Buckaroo Banzai wrote:

He'd need to use a seriously strong pole at 250+ pounds. I don't know if they even make anything he could use.

Trey Hardee is 6'5" and 210 lbs, so I bet they could find LeBron a pole. Whether he could use it successfully even after a year I doubt.

I think the story is that Trey took up track when he got cut from the basketball team - lack of quickness I assume. Anyway, I think LeBron would be about as good a decathlete as Trey was a basketball player. They just take a different combination of physical gifts.

There is absolutely no way LeBron scores 1000 points in "each" of the throws. You do realize that 1000 points in SP is 18.4m, discus is 56.2m and javelin is 77.2m.

Bryan Clay holds the decathlon world record in the discus with a throw of 55.87m, therefore LeBron would have to break a world record to do this. You are out of your mind if you think this can be done A) easily B) after training for only a year.

I see it going more like this:

100m- 10.85 (894) LeBron is an explosive freak and is 6'7". If he can be taught how to block start and accelerate through the first 40m of the race his stride length and frequency will be enough to take him the rest of the way.

LJ- 7.60m/~25' (960) LeBron is used to converting horizontal speed into vertical jumping ability. Ever seen him take off from the free throw line and dunk? Enough said.

SP- 16.3m (870) Given that at least one collegiate decathlete throws over 16m annually and they are much smaller/less explosive I can see LeBron, with just average technique throwing pretty well.

HJ- 2.13m/~7' (925) For the same reason as the long jump he will be good at this event. Converting speed to vertical jumping ability will come natural for him. I bet he clears it in a cannonball over the bar.

400m- 52.0 (725) This will be a challenge for someone who has never felt this type of pain or ran this distance. With the right coaching and a years worth of training, his strength and athleticism will serve him well, but 400m is a long way for 260lbs to move.

110h- 15.5 (790) If he has even an ounce of flexibility in him he will have no problem getting over the hurdles since he is 6'7". Even with poor technique he is strong enough to 3 step between hurdles and fast enough to run a decent time.

DT- 50m (870) This event will come natural to him. He's used to spinning and pivoting on one foot from playing basketball. His wingspan and strength will make this baby fly. Anything over 50m will require some serious technique which he won't have the time to perfect.

PV- 4.45m/~14'6" (746) Just let him cap a 16' pole, tell him to run fast, jump, and hang on.

JT- 55m (663) This event is a struggle for most pro decathletes as it is. This is a motion he rarely does as an NBA player. His strength and wingspan will help him here.

1500m- 5:15 (476) Yes he is in great physical shape, but basketball shape and running shape are two very different things. Lets not forget he is purely an explosive athlete and he weighs 260lbs, this will be a struggle.

LeBron Total: 7919

Clay PR: 8832

I would only bet on LeBron if he was getting 1000.

you have GOT to be kidding wrote:

10.43 for 100m? Try 12.

Dude, if Brian Oldfield can outrun an elite female sprinter, so can Lebron F'ing James, the biggest athletic freak in a sport full of athletic freaks.

What do elite females run? Like 11-flat, right? No way Lebron is slower than 11. His sport is built on being explosive. He basically does plyometrics every day of the week with all the jumping he's doing. Concede the sub-11, come on.

LeBron would definitely break 11. I bet he could challenge Tyson Gay for fastest American.

Have any of you idiots ever sat courtside at a Cavs game and seen this man up close? I would give Clay a LEAD over LeBron and Clay would f***ing lose. Because LeBron wins, that's what he does. To the f***tard who called LeBron overrated, hello? Have you been watching the playoffs? Kobe is showing that he is overrated, LeBron is dominating the shit out of everyone without being a huge ball hog like Kobe.

There are some serious man-crushes on LeBron around here.

you have GOT to be kidding wrote:

Lebron is fast for a big guy in the NBA for like 30-40 feet distances, but he's not as fast as the point guards (although sometimes it looks like he's faster than he is because he has such a long reach), and the PG's couldn't do as well as these times you mention for 100, 400, 1500, and hurdles.

10.43 for 100m? Try 12.

49.08 for 400m? Try 55 or 56.

5:10 for 1500m? Barely cracks sub-6. He'd be dying on that last lap.

110h in 14.7? Mid-pack? You seriously think Lebron is going to beat half the decathletes in the hurdles? Try 16 or 18.

haha - I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Lebron James might be a little faster than a mediocre girls 100m runner.

10.43? Probably not without losing a lot of weight, but 12? Jesus.

Maybe not so much man crushes as there are foolish distance fanatics who know little about the decathlon. The last evaluation of Lebron's ability to score in the dec around 7900 is just about spot on. Save only the 1500. You gave him a time that the worst athlete on our track team can run with little training. Give the man some respect. Just because he weighs a cool 260 doesn't mean that he's going to struggle moving it around the track.

He happens to be very proportional, so 260 to him is just like Hardee at 210 or Karpov at 215 and all of those boys cruise around the track in under 4:40. Give the most athletic human being we've ever seen some credit in each event.

I would make the claim that in as little as a month I could coach Lebron to over 7500 points in the dec. He doesn't need to learn the jumps, the throws aren't tough to teach when as strong and as athletic as he is and I could have him over 14' in pole vaul in a week. I would suggest that he could pole vault 16' with relative ease.

As far as having poles for him to use, I've got everything he'll ever need solely because he could jump on the same pole Derek Miles jumps on.

In a closing statement, it makes me sick when distance people try to speculate about the rest of track and field.

your a fuccking idiot he wouldnt be even close to that

When's the last time you saw trey run under 4:40?

The way I look at it, clay is very similar to lebron in the 1500. Clay, also an explosive monster and proportional, regularly struggles to run 4:55. Maybe giving him 5:15 is a bit pessimistic but the lowest I could see him going is 5:05-5:10.

260lbs is 260lbs, yes he would probably ride a little leaner if this actually happened but 5:10 for a decathlete is not uncommon especially if it were lebron.

...better idea yet! How LeBron and his NBA pals take up 'Beach VolleyBall!'

They would mop up all them silly white boys and brazilians!

Of course, if they would ever be able to take the pay cut...rhetorical statement of course!

There's a strong likelihood Lebron couldn't even clear ten feet in the pole vault. He also might not master the Fosbury Flop in the high jump, and strong arm or not, the javelin is pretty technical.

you obviously have no clue what you are talking about.

A) he doesn't have to be able to flop to clear 7'

B) yes, the javelin is technical, but 55m is a shitty throw, so nobody is giving him too much credit.

C) jr high girls can clear 10ft in the pole vault. I will light my hair on fire if after one year of training LeBron couldn't pv 10 ft.

let me guess, you're a distance runner?

Ok, I concede to Are you a ritard. My 1000 pts. per throw was probably too ambitious, and all of your marks seem fair to me, except for the javelin. Very technique-intensive, but at the same time this is a man who is in the habit of making one-armed throws at long distances. I'd still take an 800 pt. spread.

I do also agree that he would be among the slowest of the decathletes in the 1500. If he were to train specifically for distance running, sure, he could run under 5:00. But there just aren't very many points available in the 1500 so there's no reason for him to cut down the muscle mass and build the endurance needed. Remember, the decathlon isn't about possible lifetime bests. It's about performing in 10 events in a given two days.

The pole vault remains a concern, but it's also true that he is pretty used to flinging his 260 pounds into the air under his own power. Get him a big stick and I could see the 14'. Not much more though, because he is a bit musclebound and may not have the flexibility to properly twist his body and launch off of the pole.

LeBron James could HJ 10 feet you f***ing morons.

No, I'm not a distance runner. And I can spell "retard." And unlike you, I don't have severe anger management issues and am not in need of extensive psychotherapy.

Give LeBron the rest of his athletic prime to train for the dec and I still doubt he'd ever reach 8000 points.

you must be a distance runner, only distance runners pull out play the smart card.

can you at least defend your 10ft pv projection?