The first time Mancias got up close and personal with LeBron, he knew the kid was special.
Athletic trainer Mike Mancias first met LeBron James in the 2003 Summer League in Las Vegas. Mancias was then a newly hired trainer for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and LeBron had just been drafted first overall in that year’s Draft.
Since the trainer was primarily focused on securing an NBA job, he admitted he knew little about LeBron aside from his reputation as a high school phenom. However, when he met the young star up close at the team hotel, he was immediately impressed.
“I was taken aback by him because he was, for an 18, 19-year-old kid, he’s this huge kid,” said Mancias. “And there’s a lot of tall kids, and you know, tall guys that come to the NBA. But obviously, this guy was just massive and well proportioned – just his shoulders, his back, and his legs were just really proportioned, and he walked in the door, and I was, ‘Oh, this guy’s special, this guy’s pretty special.”
Mike meets Batman
Since Mancias earned a full-time job as an assistant trainer, he and Bron met daily in the team facility, and because he was such a curious kid, they started talking and later gravitated toward each other. But it wasn’t until a few years later that they started working one-on-one.
That came in 2007 when LeBron invited Mancias to help him work out at his home the night before a Cleveland home game. Since Mancia didn’t have anything to do at the time, he accepted LeBron’s invitation.
“I drove over to the house, and I think it was Halloween night. And he opened the door, he was dressed as Batman. This giant Batman opening the door…So he changes, and we start doing the stretches and stuff in front of about 20 people at the house, and they’re all looking at me with these eyes, ‘Hey, don’t mess up the kid. That’s our guy. Make sure you don’t hurt him.’ And so that became the routine,” he added.
LeBron says he wouldn’t be here without Mancias
Since then, LeBron and Mancias have become inseparable. Their routine continued through the season, and the next. Four championships and four MVP awards later, their partnership remains stronger than ever and LeBron says he won’t be here today without his beloved trainer.
“There’s no way I’d be playing 20 seasons without him,” James said of Mancias, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It’s literally that simple. There’s no way I’d be able to still be playing at this level without him. I mean, he’s that essential to my game, to my performance, to everything that I do. To my mental. So, there’s no way. I mean, I could have got seven to 12 years of this. But 20? There’s no way without him.”
With his trusted athletic trainer by his side, it’s been an incredible journey for the Lakers superstar. Even as he approaches 40, King James continues to perform at an elite level, heading into his 22nd NBA season fresh off winning the 2024 Olympic tournament MVP award.
