LeBron James was making his first tour of the Philippines recently, a Nike sponsored tour to boost his brand in on of the world’s real basketball hotbeds.
The tour was filled with the usual appearances and a few games. And he didn’t really say anything you wouldn’t expect, but one thing he said could be scary for the rest of the NBA.
“I’m still getting better,” LeBron said. “I don’t want to be the same player I was this past season, I want to come into this season a new, improved, better LeBron James. We’ll see what happens, man. But I will come back a better player.”
LeBron does work on his game in the offseason — he didn’t used to be able to hit threes, now he does at a 40.6 percent clip last season. He developed a post game. And there are always things that can be added to the mix.
Frankly, he is going to have to be a little better next season for Miami to complete a three-peat — the Pacers will be better with experience and depth (and Danny Granger), the Bulls get Derrick Rose back, the Nets added talent for a one or two year run, and the Knicks defense could be better as well. Miami needs a healthier Dwyane Wade, more out of Chris Bosh, more out of the role players and mostly more out of LeBron James to overcome that.