NBA: LeBron James Hints At Becoming Different Beast This Season

One of LeBron James’ recent statements strongly suggested that he is bound to return to beast mode this season.

Evidently, James has been making a tremendous amount of effort on the defensive end this season. After contributing to the team’s solid defense in the first several games, “The King” cited one key factor as the driving force behind his improvement.

Through their first six games of the season, Los Angeles Lakers have the NBA’s best defensive rating. Aside from being a top-10 team in defensive rebounding and opposition points in the paint, they also top all teams in blocks per game (8.4).

A great deal of that success comes from the multi-talented Anthony Davis and the resurgent Dwight Howard, who has already proven his defensive abilities all throughout his career. Overall, their defensive improvement has truly been a team effort.

However, in one of his post-game interviews, James boasted about his significant improvement this season. According to James, he has been healthy enough to contribute more this season than in the past. He is also noted that his effectiveness defensively is just one of the impacts of a healthier James.

"I'm playing injury free. I'm not injured. My quick twitch is back. My speed is back, my strength is back," James told ESPN after the Lakers' 103-96 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.

"Playing with a torn groin last year, even when I came back it was still partially torn. It was difficult to be able to move and shift like I'm capable of doing that defensively," James added.

James continued by teasing about putting up more impressive numbers as he admitted that he “loves being challenged.”

"For me, I just take the challenge. I love being challenged. Coach [Frank Vogel] challenged me, AD [Anthony Davis] challenged me, I challenged myself.

More importantly, the 4-time MVP hinted at returning to his beast mode after revealing that he has finally achieved the type of athleticism he’s been working on in the past few seasons.

"I put a lot of hard work into my offseason by getting my quick twitch, getting my bounce back, getting my speed back, my reaction time back. My mind has always been there. That's what it's all about," James revealed.

Davis on the other hand, also acknowledged Lakers’ defensive improvement. According to him, the plan is to dominate the league defensively.

"Obviously we still have a lot to work on offensively, but we try to make sure that we strive on defense every game. We want to be the best defensive team in the league, and we'll be tough to beat," Davis said.