There’s very little doubt about LeBron James being the best player in the NBA, but it’s always interesting to find out the reasons why. The latest development in the investigation? James has a freakishly disturbing looking foot.

The toe is too low, the pinky toe is too high. Playing basketball for most of your life in tightly-tied pairs of shoes doesn’t do well for the looks of your fingers and your feet.

James obviously isn’t the only basketball player “suffering” from this condition. Football players, hockey players, soccer players, basketball and others all spend too many hours, too many days each year playing and practicing in shoes that aren’t in the right size (on purpose, obviously) are all prone to this situation. Rumors suggest that hockey players produce some of the more gruesome sights.

Is James better for it? Probably not. Being an athletic freak is the first and foremost reason for being the most dominant basketball player in the NBA over the last five-six seasons in the league. But it’s also his skills and improvement. His defending which has become arguably the best in the league. His long range shooting, turning into a 40% three-point shooter. There’s more than just physicality to him, there has to be.

Maybe part of the secret is having a nightmarish looking foot.