Lakers’ LeBron James Confirms Wild Rumor: ‘I Love Challenges’

Four-time NBA MVP LeBron James has confirmed a report from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that he quit drinking alcohol at the start of the 2025-26 NBA season while rehabbing from a sciatica injury. However, the Los Angeles Lakers took it a step further by extending his dry spell into New Year’s Eve.

On the latest “Mind the Game” podcast, James revealed that temporarily giving up alcohol and desserts helped him fast-track his rehab process.

“I needed to give up something,” James said of his mindset during his 14-game absence at the start of the season.

“I had to sacrifice something. There are two things I love — drinking wine and eating chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I completely took it out.”

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LeBron James’ Love of Wine

James admitted he enjoyed his teetotaling, sugar-free lifestyle so much that he decided to maintain discipline for several more months.

“Once I got to December, I was like, ‘Oh.’ I kept going,” James continued. “I didn’t have my first drink and my first piece of dessert until New Year’s night.”

“So I ended up going basically two months.”

The NBA’s all-time scorer revealed the challenges he experienced in giving up his two biggest vices.

“[Giving up] the chocolate chip cookies were probably the hardest for me,” James said. “But the wine, too, because when I wasn’t playing and was a little stressed, maybe I wanted a glass here or glass there.”

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LeBron James Hitting His Rhythm

James also wanted to challenge himself and test his willpower.

“It was good to give my body a break, and also it was a challenge. I love challenges.”

James seemingly benefited from his disciplined rehab process, as the 41-year-old has been relatively healthy since the early part of the season.

“I was starting to round myself back into shape, and doing things that I couldn’t do throughout the summer because of the back issue, and things of that nature,” James said of his rehab. “So, wanted to kind of give myself the best opportunity to doing the things I needed to do on the floor.”

James has progressively improved both his production and efficiency since returning from his sciatica absence. After averaging a career-low 16.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in November, he saw a huge uptick in his numbers in Dec., Jan. and Feb. In the last six games before the All-Star break, James recorded four of his 10 double-doubles this season, averaging 22.3 points, 9.2 assists and 5.8 rebounds on 50% shooting.

With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves both expected to join a healthy LeBron James after the All-Star break, the Lakers seem primed to make a push for a top-three seed, especially given the injury concerns facing several of the top-ranked teams in the West.

The Lakers (33-21) will host the LA Clippers (26-28) in their first game after the All-Star break on Friday night.

Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan