LeBron James has often been lambasted for his poor defense. The criticism has only gotten louder since he joined the Lakers and has peaked in the last couple of years. Nick Young recently added his two cents to the discussion on Gil’s Arena, making a wild assertion about the players James guards.
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The 40-year-old has six NBA All-Defensive selections on his resume, but the last one came over a decade ago in 2014. In December 2024, Sideline Sources reported that LeBron had the worst defensive rating in the league among players who average at least 30 minutes per game.
Talking to Kenyon Martin, Young said, “Bron ain’t doing nothing but guarding the a**est person on each team. The four man guarding the a**est person on each team. I’m sorry.” Young asserted that James guards the worst player on every team. He further believes there’s no good defensive matchup for the forward in this league.
As per the former Warrior, one player who could’ve been a good matchup for LBJ is Anthony Davis. However, these two played together since 2019. Now that AD is no longer in LA, he is reeling from an injury and isn’t slated to be back for a while.
“Bron ain’t doing nothing but guarding the a**est person on each team.”
Nick Young gets real on LeBron’s defensive matchups 🔥😂 pic.twitter.com/guiTdkCKAP
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) February 27, 2025
“It’s good though. To be at his age, he don’t need to,” Young added. While the criticism has some merit to it, it’s also worth noting that James has tried to turn things around over the last two months.
He has become a more dependable defender. It’s also slightly unfair to hold him to such a level on the defensive end at the age of 40. More importantly, LeBron doesn’t need to worry about guarding the opposition’s best wing when he has teammates like Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith, and Jarred Vanderbilt.
Redick claims LeBron James is doing great defensively
After the recent win against the Dallas Mavericks, JJ Redick shed some light on LeBron’s defensive prowess. Amidst all the criticism coming LBJ’s way, the Lakers head coach claimed that the superstar is out of this world with his defense.
He said, “Again, he defies what’s normal…This is not an exaggeration. If you watched our basketball team every night and you’ve watched our team now for the last six weeks or so, LeBron’s playing at an All-NBA defense level.”
Redick made it clear that people will continue to say what they want to say, but he knows, better than anyone, what he is getting from the 40-year-old.
“I think there was this perception of him at this age like conserving energy. No, there’s no conservation of energy on that end of the floor. He’s played elite defense now for a while,” Redick added.
LeBron will continue to remain the key to the Lakers’ fortunes as he prepares to take on rivals LA Clippers on Friday night next.
