During a recent road trip in Orlando, LeBron James was playing golf when his ball rolled dangerously close to a body of water. An alligator started swimming towards him. James cautiously\u00a0crouched down and grabbed the ball.\u201dI ain\u2019t playing that s\u2014t,\u201d he said. \u201cHell no.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, as James stood by his locker in\u00a0Los Angeles after talking to the media, a reporter asked him if he was worried the alligator was going to eat him.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said, shaking his head. \u201cThe alligator should\u2019ve been worried about\u00a0me\u00a0eating\u00a0him.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a recent road trip in Orlando, LeBron James was playing golf when his ball rolled dangerously close to a body of water. AP<\/p>\n
James, who\u2019s arguably\u00a0the greatest basketball player of all-time, has found a new way to channel his competitive drive: Golf<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He regularly talks about the sport. He\u2019s constantly watching it. As he transitions into the sunset of his basketball career, his new obsession is slower, more technical and requires a completely different set of mental and physical skills than the one he has mastered over his unprecedented\u00a023 NBA seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cI told myself when I turned 40, I wanted to do something that\u2026was maybe uncomfortable or I\u2019ve never done in my life before,\u201d James said after finishing with his third triple-double of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the Lakers\u2019 120-101 win over the Wizards on Monday. \u201cI never played golf in my life before.\u201d<\/p>\n James, who turned 41 in December, is now a full-fledged devotee to the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n Back in January, when he described his incredibly rigorous game-day routine<\/a>, everything that wasn\u2019t centered around readying his body for tipoff was devoted to golf.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n He played PGA EA as he Normateced his legs for 45 minutes. He watched TPG on TV as he did activation exercises, treatment, rehab, stretching and lifting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that I\u2019ve really put a lot of time in,\u201d James said. \u201cI mean, I love the sport. I appreciate the sport. I love how difficult it is. And I love the challenge. So I look forward to just putting more work in over the course of however long it takes me. But right now I\u2019m having a hell of a time playing it.\u201d<\/p>\n James, who turned 41 in December, is now a full-fledged devotee to the sport of golf. Instagram\/@kingjames<\/p>\n James\u2019 newfound passion has also become a way for the Lakers to build chemistry, helping fuel a 15-2 run.<\/p>\n The Lakers have gone golfing together multiple\u00a0times this season. In Orlando last week, James played alongside Austin Reaves, Luke Kennard and Luka Doncic, who all teamed up against Lakers\u2019 coaches and trainers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing about what we did in Orlando is that we beat the s\u2013t out of the coaches,\u201d James said. \u201cAnd that was great.\u201d<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> Lakers coach JJ Redick said the sport has helped bring the team together.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good team-bonding thing,\u201d Redick said. \u201cFor our team, it\u2019s really hard in LA to, like, bond. \u2018You live in Manhattan Beach, you live in Calabasas, you live\u00a0in the Westside.\u2019 You\u2019re hours away, sometimes, from your teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cFinding tee times, being with each other for four hours where you can shoot the s\u2013t and not have to be in a high-pressure moment or on a team bus and kind of be away from the facility, I think it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n Austin Reaves and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers practice their golf swing before a game. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n The Lakers have been rolling and are in third place in the West. But on the golf course, they have varying skill levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reaves is a talented golfer. Kennard described him as \u201ca pro, basically.\u201d<\/p>\n Doncic is relatively\u00a0new to golf, but apparently he\u2019s a quick study. Reaves recently joked that he let Doncic win a hole in Orlando so the superstar could be in a good headspace to have another 40-point performance. Of course, Reaves then jokingly took a shot at his buddy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI rode in the cart with Luka for about five hours, so y\u2019all can feel sorry for me,\u201d Reaves said.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for James, his 6-foot-9, 250-pound frame helped him become the NBA\u2019s all-time leading scorer as well as a four-time champion and four-time MVP. But on the golf course, his build is both a blessing and a curse.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impressive what he can do,\u201d Kennard said of James. \u201cObviously, he\u2019s got the strength and the power to hit far and just the control. It\u2019s tough being like a tall, tall guy, just to play golf is pretty tough.\u00a0So, you know, you can tell he\u2019s been working at it, for sure. He hit some big-time putts for us to beat the coaches pretty well. It was good.\u201d<\/p>\n But on the golf course, his build is both a blessing and a curse.\u00a0 Instagram\/@kingjames<\/p>\n James is hooked.\u00a0<\/p>\n He spends his off-days under the sun. It\u2019s a mental reset. It\u2019s a challenge. When he\u2019s playing golf, he\u2019s not under the prying eyes of millions with the expectations of the world on his shoulders. He\u2019s just another 40-something-year-old working on his swing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI never believed in the bug,\u201d James said. \u201cPeople always talk about the golf bug. I never believed in it.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, he has it.<\/p>\n Golf is an outlet. It\u2019s meditative. It\u2019s a way for him to channel his incomparable discipline that has allowed him to become the face of the NBA for two decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a way for him to just let go. To spend time with his teammates, friends and loved ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n A reporter asked him if he could pick any two people to golf alongside, who would they be? Former President Barack Obama? Tiger Woods?<\/p>\n James shook his head. He then named his sons, Bronny and Bryce.\u00a0<\/p>\n Austin Reaves and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers practice their golf swing before the game against the Denver Nuggets on March 14, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi\/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n For James, golf has become his passion. And for the Lakers, it has become their secret sauce this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was all because of a decision James made on his 40th birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of lamenting that his basketball career was soon coming to an end, he decided to expand his universe.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was [golf] and chess,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve never played chess\u00a0as well, so that would be next. But right now I\u2019m locked in on golf.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t
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