“I’d Spy on Him”: Stephen A. Smith Wants LeBron James’ Secrets Amid NBA Injury Crisis

The season hasn’t even fully sunk in, yet the league is already breaking a sweat trying to keep its players healthy amid raging injury news making rounds on every corner. But not the near-42 LeBron James, though, who has missed just one game ever since his move to Philly, and has sent NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith into another spiral about that immaculate physicality.

“How is it that LeBron James is 42 years of age in his 24th year and he's healthier than most?” he said during the latest episode of the Stephen A. Smith show. “What the hell is he doing? Because whatever it is that he's doing to his body, could you tell us so we could do it, too? That's what I would be if I were an NBA player. I'd be like, "Yo, what you doing? What's your ingredient? … I'd spy on him.”

If lasting 24 long years in the league that tests your physical and mental strength every game isn’t a marvel on its own. After more than two decades in the NBA, LeBron James has had remarkably few major surgeries: LASIK in 2007 and removal of a benign parotid-gland tumor in 2009, despite recurring ankle, foot, groin, and back issues.

But a player of his caliber, with this level of injury-cleanness and durability, is what makes Smith want all the secrets.

“I want to figure out what the hell he's doing,” the analyst added. “I want to know his diet. I want to know his supplement protocol. I want to know his conditioning protocol. I want to know when he wakes up, when he goes to sleep, because the greatest thing that LeBron James, in my estimation, has ever achieved in his career is his repeated conditioning. Nobody takes care of their body better.”

Although Smith has a longstanding reputation for his exaggerated remarks, this one hits the mark.

The Timberwolves have Anthony Edwards out for 2 months due to an arthroscopic right knee surgery. Kawhi Leonard isn’t reuniting with the Raptors any sooner than late November due to a swollen left knee. The Jazz are playing without Jaren Jackson, who’ll take until mid-December to return from a torn MCL injury. And the list will definitely take a gigantic shape by the time the grueling schedule of 82 games comes to an end.

But even at 41, James’ physicality let him carry the Lakers to the second round of the 2025-26 NBA playoffs, in Luka Doncic's (grade 2 hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves’ (grade 2 oblique strain) absence, and still average 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6,2 rebounds.  

Per Smith, this is the unique greatness Bron has: to make a fortune and spend it on his body, something most NBA players don’t, resulting in these crucial injuries at clutch moments. In the worst-case scenarios, season- or career-ending ones.

So, going back to his initial claim about spying on Bron, maybe Smith could help the league manage the injury concerns using those secrets if he ever gets his hands on them.