Story breaks down his body language during interview with Larry King.
LeBron James Now this LeBron James free agency has finally come down to a science --- literally. ESPN's Cam Martin interviews Tonya Reiman, author of "The Power of Body Language" and she breaks down LeBron's interview with Larry King.
She watched LeBron's body language and noted his speech patterns following certain questions.
Reiman explained that several red flags jumped out in certain situations during the interview. She says she calculated LeBron saying "absolutely," 46 times. And it's a red flag because repetition tends to lead to deception.
Cam Martin: Larry King went on to ask LeBron, "You haven't made a decision [about where he will play next season] yet, correct?" And LeBron immediately responded, "Correct." When asked how close he was making to a decision, he looked to his right, touched his chin and said he's far from close. And then he started squirming in his seat. What do you make from this series of nonverbal cues?
Tonya Reiman: Here, I saw a very slight head nod which tells me on an unconscious as well as a conscious level, I don't think he actually knows where he's going. When Larry King starts saying, "Do you have any idea?" and you see that chin stroke, typically when somebody strokes their chin, that's contemplation. And then LeBron says, "I haven't begun to strategize," and you see three shoulder shrugs. I think he has begun to strategize. I think he has been strategizing for some time now. I can't believe given what I saw nonverbally that he hasn't been strategizing about it. So does he know where he's going? Has he made a final decision? My impression is no, based on the head movement up and down. Has he been thinking about it long and hard? Yes.
Cam Martin: What about where he said Cleveland has the edge to re-sign him? Do you think that's true?
Tonya Reiman: He said "absolutely, absolutely." I didn't think he was being genuine there. I felt like he was saying what he thought people wanted to hear.