LeBron James has often been lambasted for his poor defense. The criticism has peaked in the last couple of years with the Los Angeles Lakers star being called out for many things, including the slow manner in which he tracks back after missing a shot. Some have pointed out that he gets blown a little too easily.
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Considering that the 40-year-old star has six NBA All-Defensive selections on his resume, this would come across as glaring. Then again, LeBron’s last All-Defensive selection came a decade ago, in 2014. Evidently, his defensive contribution has waned as he aged.
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. Nick Young recently gave his two cents on LeBron’s defensive contribution, or rather the lack of it, while talking on Gil’s Arena. The former Golden State Warriors star made a wild assertion about the quality of players James chooses to guard.
“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 told Kenyon Martin.
Young believes there’s no good defensive matchup for the forward in the league. The former Warrior added that one player who could’ve been a good matchup for LBJ is Anthony Davis. But the two have been teammates since 2019.
Young did cut LeBron some slack too. “It’s good though. To be at his age, he don’t need to,” he added. LeBron, on his part, has been trying to turn things around in the past two months or so, becoming more dependable on defense.
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However, it’s also slightly unfair to expect more from him 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.
JJ Redick claims LeBron James is doing great defensively
After the recent win against the Dallas Mavericks, Lakers head coach JJ Redick stated that the superstar is out of this world when it comes to defense.
“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,” said Redick.
The coach 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.
