Thoughts on the new skinnier version of LeBron James?

A skinnier LeBron looking even thinner due to the Barry Bonds sized hat
 
A thinner LeBron dressed up as Usain Bolt

So both LeBron James and Dwyane Wade decided this Summer to lose some weight to hopefully prolong their careers. Wade isn't as big a story, since he basically ceased being NBA important a few years ago. The LeBron pics of his new skinny self are causing a lot of reaction. LeBron says he has given up carbs, which typically is a good way to lose the fat fast. LeBron though has never been fat/overweight. He's always just been a jacked, athletic specimen.

LeBron's offseason visual transformation is reminiscent of when Major League Baseball toughened it's performance enhancing drug policy and then all of a sudden a ton of sluggers appeared at Spring Training MUCH smaller and all of a sudden the crazy home run numbers declined dramatically. Overnight several All-Stars had just lost their skills.
LeBron we were used to (circa 2013). Will his game be noticeably different now that he has lost weight?

In the NBA their performance enhancing drug testing is a joke. You basically have to be an idiot to get caught, which former Dwight Howard teammates Rashard Lewis and Hedo Türkoğlu apparently were. O.J. Mayo is the other somewhat big name to get busted. If you think it's only the role players that are using, you need to come out of that sand.

The problem with having such a poor performance enhancing policy is that even clean players have to deal with accusations. There have been whispers about LeBron, Wade, and Howard. If they are dirty, they should be outed. But what if they are clean and actually built their bodies completely from hard work?

Take Stephen Jackson for example:

Stephen Jackson seems to be the “it” guy for NBA. An interview done by Janny Hu for the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that Jackson had a new regimen that he said would improve his performance on the court.

The interview proved to be revealing. The strength gain, the added weight, enhanced speed, and even the aggression is an indication that Jackson could be in steroids. Or is he?

It's still all hearsay at this time. So while LeBron's muscle loss could be a reaction to getting off the juice, it also very likely could just be due to his diet. I almost feel bad for LeBron that he has to hear the whispers. But on the flip side, if a star like him is using I totally hate the fact that they are getting away with it. Eventually the NBA will have a tighter drug policy. But when you look back at this era of basketball you'll never really know who achieved what cleanly.

Basketball wise, losing some weight is usually a good idea for veteran NBA players. Yes you might lose some strength, but the benefits towards your knees and possible added quickness outweigh that loss. My guess is LeBron will still be able to do everything he did last year. No one is going to overpower him at the small forward position. Also, his version of skinny is different than everyone else's version. We're not talking Reggie Miller here. Lastly, LeBron played quite a bit of power forward with the Heat. It's possible he will do the same in Cleveland, but there's also a chance he returns to mostly small forward minutes.

What are your thoughts on LeBron's speedy transformation?