LeBron James Replacing Justin Gatlin or Tyson Gay Leaves Track and Field Community Fuming: “Sick of These Punks”

LeBron James might be one of the biggest stars in the country, but even fans have their reservations when it comes to speculating about the ‘King’s possibility of having a similar career in other sports. During his time with the Miami Heat, James won multiple prestigious awards of the highest order. And yet, not everyone thinks even prime LeBron could go toe-to-toe with other Olympic athletes.

The hot debate on stars from other domains being capable enough to lock horns with professional sprinters is something that evokes an equal amount of rage and ridicule from track fans. While NFL stars are still mostly considered with sympathy, fans seem to discard the 4-time NBA champ altogether.

In a post on X from earlier today, Rori Dunk shared the claims made by former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce. “@PaulPierce34 claims that 27-year-old LeBron could have been an Olympic sprinter,” reports the post as it went on to quote Pierce on his thoughts about LeBron being able to make the national team. 

“If he’s talking Miami LeBron, 100%. I’ve seen this up and close in person,” the post elaborates on Paul’s claims. However, considering the stacked talent pool that made it to the 2012 Olympics (when LeBron was 28) not everyone is on board with the possibility of James qualifying for Team USA. Among others, five-time Olympic medalist Justin Gatlin and three-time world champion Tyson Gay were both competing for the USA at the London Olympics, and fans opine that seeing LeBron replacing either of them would be a farcical thought to begin with.

On top of the USA’s sprinters, James would also have to face the Jamaican phenom Usain Bolt, who ran the 100m in 9.63 seconds to win gold. Naturally, the track loyalists are having a hard time picturing LeBron in the mix and pulling off an upset win over any of the above-mentioned sprinting giants.

The track community is enraged over the mere thought

“Sick of these punks disrespecting our sport,” commented one infuriated fan who thinks stars from other sports need to pay track athletes proper respect or get chewed out. In some cases, fans have often accepted the chance to see football stars like Tyreek Hill coming close to the sprinting icons. However, with LeBron, fans don’t seem to share a similar optimism.

Fans are also commenting on how Paul might be in over his head speculating that James could lock horns with track stars and casually record a victory in the sport which has the highest physical demands to do so. “lol they don’t understand what it takes to run 9.6,” commented the fan, who evidently finds the entire debate to be funny.

In track events, reducing the time by even 0.10 seconds is a tough task and professional athletes spend hundreds of hours trying to elevate themselves in search of a podium finish, and a netizen believes Pierce should have a better understanding of the prerequisites of the sport before going on to make comments as he commented: “Not a chance in hell.”

Last year, Noah Lyles faced severe heat from NBA fans when he took a dig at the NBA for calling their winners World Champions. The biggest stars of basketball, including the likes of Kevin Durant, retorted back with jeering comments, accusing the reigning men’s 100m world champ of suffering from jealousy. Now, a fan thinks Noah needs to swoop in on the latest debate and show the basketball stars their place once again as he commented, “Somebody get @LylesNoah in the chat bc these basketball fans are getting outta control.”

Another fan went a step further to claim that LeBron couldn’t even match the women’s top scores in the 100m dash as he wrote, “won’t even see sub 11.5.” To put things into perspective, the current women’s world record in the distance is 10.49, registered by the iconic Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. On the other hand, the USA’s current leading female sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson boasts a personal best of 10.65 seconds, miles behind Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah’s 10.54.

Do you align with what these fans have to say about LeBron’s meek possibility of being a professional sprinter? Or do you believe he could prove his worth if given the chance? Share your beliefs with us in the comments section.