After the return of starting point guard Dennis Schröder, the Los Angeles Lakers defense has gone from solid back to elite even as they miss their star defender Anthony Davis. A big reason why the Lakers have been an excellent defense without Davis in the lineup has been the leadership and defensive play of LeBron James, who is playing some of the best defense we’ve seen from him in quite a long time.
Last season the arrival of Davis was the obvious reason why the Lakers defense was so great, but with Davis missing games even before this current absence, James has been an instrumental part of the league’s best defense over the past two seasons. His communication, strength, size, and preparation all help to get the Lakers into the right place. After last night’s win over the Golden State Warriors in which they made life a living hell for Stephen Curry, Kyle Kuzma started a social media campaign for LeBron James to make All-Defense.
Retweet for @KingJames all defensive team ❗️
— kuz (@kylekuzma) March 1, 2021
With performances like the last two nights against Curry and Damian Lillard, as well as holding Nikola Jokic to his worst game of the season earlier this year, people are rightfully taking notice of what LeBron’s impact has been on defense. Recognition on the All-Defensive team seems like a very reasonable reward for his impact.
