The conversation surrounding the Defensive Player of the Year award has been reignited in a brand-new fashion. Recently, LeBron James expressed his regret over never winning the accolade, something that immediately stirred discussions about his defensive capabilities. In the process, Paul Pierce shared his very negative two cents on the Los Angeles Lakers star’s defense, refusing to acknowledge him at all for one all-importamt reason.
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During the latest episode of UNDISPUTED, Pierce initially outlined how the award had mostly belonged to the traditional big men. And the handful of non-big men who had won the award, like Gary Payton and Marcus Smart, had made their names as daunting defenders before they did so. As per the 2008 champion, James failed to qualify for either of these categories, which is why he failed to win this title.
However, Pierce did mention an even bigger contributor to the situation, while applauding the gameplay of the 39-year-old. “He was so good offensively when you look at his numbers you just never thought of him as a great defender…You never just thought about his defense because his offensive numbers overwhelmed you,” the 46-year-old mentioned.
Amidst the seeming harshness behind his statement, Paul Pierce’s words do contain a bit of truth too (no pun intended). Despite making it into the All-Defensive First Team five times and Second Team once, James failed to be in constant conversations for DPOY. Despite finishing as a runner-up twice (2009 and 2013 per Statmuse), the 20x All-Star never gained much support to win the award in the long run.
This captured how being too exceptional at scoring resulted in a stigma for James in his journey. It established his place in the history books of the NBA as the leading scorer of all-time, yet seemingly failed to properly portray all of his attributes.
LeBron James’s regret runs deep
In a recently release clip of The Shop: Uninterrupted, the 4x champion openly discussed his feelings on the award. Despite registering an illustrious career, the Lakers star missed out on ever winning this accolade. Expressing his regret, he stated, “I mean, that’s the only award that I don’t have in my house. It kind of stings”.
Following this, the 4x MVP shed light on how in 2013 he came close to winning the award before losing out to Marc Gasol. Reminiscing on the instance, James showcased his disbelief, mentioning, “The guy who won defensive player of the year didn’t even make first-team all-defense. How is that even possible?”.
This undoubtedly marks a forgettable aspect of James’ journey, leading him to doubt the credibility of the award. He seemingly failed to make peace with the defeats, providing a glimpse into his competitive mindset and displaying the sole reason behind his success.
