The NBA is full of talented players that have undergone body transformations throughout the years. Many players come into a league at a young age, allowing them to transform their bodies. Multiple players have become a lot stronger and dominant through these transformations. Below you will discover the craziest NBA basketball players body transformation of all time and you won’t believe the last one!
LeBron James
LeBron James is one of the biggest NBA players names in the sports world and is another player that went through a body transformation. LeBron was hyped up to be one of the greatest ever coming out of high school. He lived up to the hype but added a ton of muscle throughout the years.
Since joining the NBA, LeBron has gained between 20 to 40 pounds of muscle. His high level of strength is part of what makes him a nightmare to defend.
Kevin Love
Kevin Love is a player that changed his game and NBA body tremendously throughout his career. Love weighed 270 pounds and was a walking double-double coming out of the draft. Upon being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Love decided to lose weight to fit into the high-tempo offense.
He dropped down to 240 pounds and was a great fit with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. Love went on to win a championship and was a big part of it.
His transformation was very impactful and made him into an accomplished player.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Perhaps the most impressive NBA body transformation is Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis entered the league at 6’9 and weighed 190 pounds. Over the years, he has become one of the strongest players in the league. Giannis is now 6’11 and weighs 242 pounds.
He was able to accomplish this through his incredible work ethic. Giannis is one of the hardest-working players in the league.
This is a crazy transformation as he not only got stronger and heavier, but Giannis also got taller. He is one of the most dominant current NBA player in the league, and this transformation helped him get there.
Steven Adams
Steven Adams is known as one of the strongest players in the NBA, but he wasn’t always that way. Adams entered the league as a skinny center but quickly built a strong body. He is now one of if not the strongest players in the league and stayed around the same weight as he was coming out of college.
These players went through crazy NBA body transformations, and it will be interesting to see more in the future.
Mike Bibby
Mike Bibby not like every player in the NBA, he had one of the most surprising transitions of any player. The reason is his transformation came after his NBA career. Bibby was a skinny point guard during his career, but a photo in 2018 showed how built he became.
Bibby’s body transformation showed that you could get stronger even after a professional career in sports.
Joel Embiid
This season’s runner-up for the MVP award, Joel Embiid, didn’t start as a dominant big. Embiid was great in his rookie campaign despite injuries, but he was not the player he is today. Coming out of college, he weighed 240 pounds and is now 280 pounds.
While the weight gain is part of the NBA body transformation, that wasn’t the focus. Embiid had dealt with injuries that the trainers wanted to limit. They were able to accomplish this by utilizing his frame well. This has allowed Embiid to maximize his potential and is now one of the top players in the league.
Shaquille O’Neal
Shaquille O’Neal is the most dominant player ever, but many forget he was relatively thin at the start of his career. Coming out of the draft, O’Neal was 294 pounds and stayed around that weight during his time with the Orlando Magic.
When O’Neal joined the Los Angeles Lakers, he started to gain weight. During ‘Inside the NBA’, O’Neal revealed his weight during his championship seasons with the Lakers. Shaq said, “[The] First championship? 345. Second championship? 365. Last championship? 395. I was big that last championship.”
Shaq had one of the biggest transformations of any player, and it helped him become one of the best ever to play the game of basketball.
Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis was selected with the first pick and began to work on his frame. He entered the league at 220 pounds and worked on building strength through his first few seasons. Davis now weighs 254 pounds and has maintained a 10 per cent body fat.
His strength throughout his career has helped him become a top big in the NBA. Davis is a vital part of the Lakers, and his transformation helped him become the player he is today.
