LeBron James Wanted to Be the GOAT Since He Was 19, Reveals Long-Time Trainer, Describes “20-Year Marriage”

Mike Mancias has been LeBron James’s trainer since the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s early years in the NBA. The 48-year-old reflected on his long-standing relationship with the 39-year-old during an interview on the High Performance podcast. Mancias described how ‘The King’ trains to achieve his professional goals every single year.

His description reveals that LeBron has been dead-set on one specific thing from the very get-go, being a Champion.

Mancias called his relationship with James a “20 year marriage”. He then explained how he and the superstar athlete have always gotten the best out of each other.

In his words,

“It’s been a 20-year marriage. And our goals align because we know what the end result is to be. And that’s just to be the greatest, and to be a champion. And so, every day, we challenge each other.”

“You know, ‘You need to be the best athlete, you need to be the best basketball player. I need to be the best athletic trainer for you.’ And so, every day, we challenge each other.”

The interviewer then then asked Mancias another question – ‘What did LeBron James say his goal was when you first met him?’ The answer was “The Greatest of All Time”. Elaborating on this, the veteran trainer added,

“He was probably 19 or 20 years old when we had that conversation… I was only 24-25 at the time as well. You know, I’m only 8 years older than he is… So I said, ‘Okay, let’s do the research, you know? What others have done, what has failed for others? And so, let’s just learn from other people’s mistakes, and let’s build our one journey.’”

With each passing year, LeBron James’s case for ‘Greatest Player of All Time’ only seems to get stronger. Many even wonder if his leading Team USA to the gold medal in Paris has put him over Michael Jordan. However, the answer to this often varies from person to person.

To a large faction of the NBA community, LBJ is already the Greatest Player of All Time.

But James is still going strong at 39 years of age. If he can keep this up, perhaps it won’t be long until he is the unanimous pick for the GOAT title.