“He Wasn’t Unguardable”: Antoine Walker Opens Up About 16 Y/O LeBron James in Summer Runs With Michael Jordan

To say that LeBron James is a nightmare for his opponents and is an unguardable player wouldn’t be too big of a stretch. In his prime, LBJ was arguably one of the biggest threats in the league. But what about a 16-year-old LeBron? Was he a problem?

When LeBron appeared on Travis Kelce’s podcast, he talked about those summer pickup games and claimed that he was “unguardable” against the vets. So when former Heat power forward Antoine Walker recently appeared on Run It Back, Lou Williams used the opportunity to get clarity on LBJ’s claim.

“Bron went out and said he was unguardable in those runs. What do you remember about those days?,” Williams asked.

“Well, he wasn’t unguardable,” Walker responded. The three-time All-Star said that LeBron used to step on the main court after the vets had gone through 4-5 high-intensity games. Despite that, the 16-year-old managed to leave an impression on them. But he wasn’t unguardable by any stretch of the imagination.

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Walker complimented LeBron for being able to hold his own against some of the game’s greatest players. He said, “He played kinda towards the end of the runs when he first came in, but you could see the potential.” While it’s still a compliment for a 16 YO, LeBron had his own set of issues with the pickup games.

Antoine Walker explained how the summer games worked

When Walker was in conversation with another NBA great on Two Cents Penny Hardaway, he talked about those summer runs. He revealed that Grover’s priority was to get his paying clients as much time as they could on the floor. He said, “It was hard for Tim to stick guys that wasn’t paying clients in the main room…that first seven to eight games, you know what I mean, where that good bump is going on.”

However, young LeBron couldn’t understand what was going on and why certain people were being prioritized over others. “I think Bron took it the wrong way. But it was really like a real stickler for Tim. He was real stubborn about that, about his paying clients had to, you know, play first,” he said.

LeBron misunderstood the system and thought that people were hating on him. Walker said, “I think Bron took it the wrong way, like we were hating on him. We didn’t want him to play.” That was obviously not the case, but it’s understandable how a talented youngster would’ve felt neglected for not getting enough time on the floor.