Multiple people confirm Lebron does not have a quick first step

[imnew09]

He got the first crab step

[Myth]

Even LeBron knows this. It is the reason he backs up before driving at the hoop, rather than MJ would lets the D right up in him before blowing by. It actually shows that LeBron is pretty smart by backing up rather than trying something he wouldn't be great at.

[JohnMax]

OldSchoolBBall

Lebron has tremendous strength in his quads, and good strength in his calves, which makes him an all-time great leaper off of one foot with a running start (his quad strength is also why he's so fast in a straight line in the open court). However, I believe that 2-foot leaping, especially off a hop step (has Lebron ever done this in his career for a dunk?) is STRONGLY influenced by the proportion of fast-twitch muscle fiber you have as compared to slow twitch, as fast-twitch is for generating explosive movements. Jordan's quads and calves especially likely had a much higher ratio of fast-twitch muscles than Lebron, thus his "springyness" on two-foot and hop step leaps. It's also responsible for his insane first step, another thing which Lebron has lagged in over the years.

The amount of air Jordan was able to get off of 2-feet or a hop step with MINIMAL knee flexion, and how quickly he could get off the ground and get major air, is something I've never seen from another player. Honestly, young Kenyon Martin may have been the closest in terms of how quickly he could get up and get major air.

[outofstomach]

actually never noticed this, great thread unironically

[FultzNationRISE]

OldSchoolBBall

Lebron has tremendous strength in his quads, and good strength in his calves, which makes him an all-time great leaper off of one foot with a running start (his quad strength is also why he's so fast in a straight line in the open court). However, I believe that 2-foot leaping, especially off a hop step (has Lebron ever done this in his career for a dunk?) is STRONGLY influenced by the proportion of fast-twitch muscle fiber you have as compared to slow twitch, as fast-twitch is for generating explosive movements. Jordan's quads and calves especially likely had a much higher ratio of fast-twitch muscles than Lebron, thus his "springyness" on two-foot and hop step leaps. It's also responsible for his insane first step, another thing which Lebron has lagged in over the years.

The amount of air Jordan was able to get off of 2-feet or a hop step with MINIMAL knee flexion, and how quickly he could get off the ground and get major air, is something I've never seen from another player. Honestly, young Kenyon Martin may have been the closest in terms of how quickly he could get up and get major air.

Morant is similar and a lot of it simply has to do with bone mass. Dudes with slimmer bone structures naturally have more bounce, all other things being equal. Lebron is naturally thicc so he needs to build up momentum first and then he can launch himself. It’s like a helicopter vs a jumbo jet. They both get up there but in different ways. Once MJ started using enhancements and bulked up to the type of body Lebron has naturally, he used momentum more as well.

At the end of the day the “first step criticism” isnt even a criticism. The guy literally became the GOAT so who tf cares anyway.

[kawhileonard2]

Dwight Howard proved this when he beat him without HCA.

[Full Court]

He has one of the quickest flops in the league though.

[Im Still Ballin]

He has one of the quickest flops in the league though.

Just a bit of latency issues. Just a little of bit of lag.

[Full Court]

Just a bit of latency issues. Just a little of bit of lag.

Don't worry. I hear from a solid source that he's been working really hard in the off-season on reducing his lag time for flops.