LeBron James' New 'Training Day' Nike Commercial Shows Heart of a Champion

If LeBron James seems a little fatigued at some point this season, it'll be because he spent the summer doing his best Rocky Balboa impersonation.

No, LBJ didn't switch to a southpaw style or start mumbling his lines. But he did supplement his basketball workouts with lots of biking, running and swimming—always accompanied by a mob of fitness-minded followers.

You've seen LeBron running through the streets of South Florida, so I'll let you be the judge of whether he does a better job than Rocky did when he sprinted down the block in Philly.

Personally, I'm partial to the cheesy, old-school soundtrack. James is a pretty inspiring figure, but there's nothing like a synthesizer-heavy theme song to really push the inspirational quality of a training montage over the top.

James was coy when he told reporters during the preseason that he'd actually gotten better over the summer.

"

LeBron James on summer: “I got better. I’m a better basketball player than I was last year in every aspect.’’

— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 30, 2013"

Most sane observers rightly wondered how that was even possible. Well, if LBJ adopted some new training methods—including bike rides that stretch for something like 14 hours—maybe he unlocked the secret to new levels of fitness.

Here's hoping James releases a series of spots that mirror the old Rocky flicks.

I, for one, can't wait until we see him sprinting up a mountain in Russia, or lifting various 19th-century farm implements instead of weights. Better yet, maybe he can find an Apollo Creed lookalike so they can sprint on the beach together.

The possibilities are endless, really.

Of course, there's one key difference between LeBron's commercial and Sylvester Stallone's iconic boxing movies: Rocky was always an underdog, and we can't say the same for LBJ.

Now, if you'll excuse me, LeBron just sped past my office window on a Huffy. I'm going to see if I can catch him.