LeBron James: I ran the 40 in 4.6 seconds
LeBron James says he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds last summer. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Apparently, Miami Heat forward LeBron James spends his offseasons preparing for the NFL Draft.
The Heat locker room’s televisions have been showing the NFL Scouting Combine this week and James was asked what he could run the 40-yard dash in.
He says he ran the 40 in 4.6 seconds last summer.
“I was just messing around, though,” James said, via ESPN.com. “No training.”
“It’s better than Manti Te’o, I’ll tell you that,” he said to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Te’o, the former Notre Dame linebacker, ran a 4.82 at the combine this week.
At 6’8″ and a reported 250 pounds, James could probably play tight end or receiver in the NFL. Only two tight ends ran faster at the combine than James’ reported 4.6.
Keep in mind when running a 40 using accutag which is an electronic belt around your waste, 4.6 is the time his actual waste crossed the line, so in realtime with him being 6'8 with reach its probably the equivalent of a 6 foot man running a sub 4.35.
If he ran 4.6 without training specific, he could easily with sport specific training run at least a legit 4.4 or4.3
Ol, i'm sure Ed Reed would love to see him coming across the middle ...As for the Tony Gonzalez comp ... Um No, ... Stop ...
one could argue that, at approx. 30 yards, running up and down a basketball court everyday for years is plenty of "training".
From end to end, LeBron is probably the fastest guy in the NBA, and he has to get 260 lbs up to speed. Tony Gonzalez is arguably the greatest tight end ever, but physically LeBron is superior in every way.
I ran it in 4.0 flat. Just messing around though. No training.
@nbacheapseats then unless you're an NFL running back or wide receiver, you're seriously wasting your time on this thread, since you'd be one of the fastest people on the face of the earth
@AaronDunckel It's sarcasm. You can't verify anything I just said any more than you can what LeBron said, no matter how much more or less plausible you think his claim might be. Arguing whether he did or didn't is pointless, as is this article.
@SteveRowFla @nbacheapseats @AaronDunckel Well I think nbacheapseats 's point is well taken.
And BTW , I ran the 40 in 3.85, no sweat. But I trained really really hard for it....
Would that me a better or a worse tight end than Gonzalez ?
I think that this fascinating question should be debated at length, with all the seriousness it so obviously deserve.
@nbacheapseats @AaronDunckel Instead of free cell phones, we really need to be giving out free sarcasm detectors...
Don't forget, he was all state the one year he played high school football (as a receiver)
Complete BS.
@CJ101 How?? I ran college track at a d-2 school and I ran a 4.56 in the 40 why can't one of the greatest athletes in the world run a 4.6?!?
@CJ101 lol how? Dude is a freakish athlete, probably overall one of the best on the planet. How is there any BS involved?
It's probably true. It's a fact proven that James is fast enough to defend -- with success -- the most athletic point-guards in the league (e.g. Derrick Rose, 2011 ECF). I don't know about James' long-speed in the context of football, but we can be pretty confident that his short-distance speed is just as freakish as rest of his physical attributes.
LeBron never misses an opportunity to tell us how great he truly is.
@RayIsBipolar They asked.
@RayIsBipolar dude.... the reporters ASKED him the question.... stop being ridiculous
@AaronDunckel @RayIsBipolar
not when he says he was just messing around and got a 4.6, that is called bragging.
Not to mention he then compares himself to be better than another athlete at the same time.
@schrodingerbox @AaronDunckel @RayIsBipolar lol are you serious? Most people running the 40 train specifically for that event. For example T'eo (who he refers to).... LeBron doesn't train for the 40 - he just ran it for fun and ran that time. Its a minor, slight brag, yes, but come on, but all hes really doing is providing a caveat that he COULD run a faster time, not really showboating about it.
he was asked a question and gave a fairly normal answer.... what more do you want?
@schrodingerbox @AaronDunckel @RayIsBipolar As for the player comparison, I don't think it qualifies as bragging for James to assert that he's faster than someone like Te'o.
That's just acknowledging a readily apparent fact.
Bro, your Tall Poppy Syndrome is showing.
@schrodingerbox @AaronDunckel @RayIsBipolar Where exactly does he say that he was 'just messing around'?
You seem to be assuming that James treats his off-season training in a casual manner.
Well, that's just incorrect. Ask Kevin Durant. They do it together, and by all accounts they don't just loaf about.
@schrodingerbox @AaronDunckel @RayIsBipolar Unless it's true. Then it's telling the truth.
@RayIsBipolar
Haters never miss an (unjustified) opportunity to hate.
James was asked a question, and he simply answered it. He didn't just volunteer the information. It was solicited.
Slow news day SI?