RealGM

Bill Russell
Bobby Jones
Hakeem Olajuwon
Dennis Rodman
Scottie Pippen
Kevin Garnett
Kawhi Leonard

Rank based on man defense against LeBron, as his primary defender.

Assumptions:
Peaks
Players from previous eras are given time to adjust to modern strategies
Each of the defenders will have an equal level of defensive support surrounding them

Also, this isn't meant to be a list of the best possible defenders on LeBron.

Would take the two bigs here in Russell and Hakeem. Paint protection as its own attribute is the most valuable aspect of basketball defense - let alone being able to thwart one of the 3 best rim scorers in league history. It's not like either would be deployed as a literal, man-to-man "LeBron defender" here - but taking away his rim pressure and down-hill attack off the ball is a hell of a way to 'defend LeBron'. Both also are more than functionally athletic and good enough horizontal movers to thwart James' towards-the-basket movement in theory.

rk2023 wrote:Would take the two bigs here in Russell and Hakeem. Paint protection as its own attribute is the most valuable aspect of basketball defense - let alone being able to thwart one of the 3 best rim scorers in league history. It's not like either would be deployed as a literal, man-to-man "LeBron defender" here - but taking away his rim pressure and down-hill attack off the ball is a hell of a way to 'defend LeBron'. Both also are more than functionally athletic and good enough horizontal movers to thwart James' towards-the-basket movement in theory.

Generally agree with this, but I meant to rank them in the situation of the bolded. How would their man defense against LeBron stack up compared to the others in the list. Don't consider their rim defense, except as it pertains to on LeBron while they are his assigned and primary defender.

Tomtolbert wrote:

rk2023 wrote:Would take the two bigs here in Russell and Hakeem. Paint protection as its own attribute is the most valuable aspect of basketball defense - let alone being able to thwart one of the 3 best rim scorers in league history. It's not like either would be deployed as a literal, man-to-man "LeBron defender" here - but taking away his rim pressure and down-hill attack off the ball is a hell of a way to 'defend LeBron'. Both also are more than functionally athletic and good enough horizontal movers to thwart James' towards-the-basket movement in theory.

Generally agree with this, but I meant to rank them in the situation of the bolded. How would their man defense against LeBron stack up compared to the others in the list. Don't consider their rim defense, except as it pertains to on LeBron while they are his assigned and primary defender.

I would go with Leonard or Rodman if the conversation is solely man defense, then. Best combination of lateral quickness and disruption on the ball.

The thing with lebron defenders is he can run pick and roll ridiculously to score on guys that can guard him well in the halfcourt through that, and he has a lot of ways to score. In the 2017 finals for example durant was even better than Iggy guarding him in isolation but bron scored a ton just utilizing ball screens

I Lowkey think there are multiple wings in history who could beat him 1 on 1

So bigs in general don’t work because regardless of how good they are or mobile they are even hyper mobile bigs can’t really navigate through ball screens like that if you have a guy who runs them well

Kawhi probably still I think

Rodman
Kawhi
Pippen
Jones
KG
Hakeem
Russell

I think Rodman/Kawhi/Pippen are 3 of the best Lebron defenders of all time, and the centers should be last if we're talking man to man defense. Not sure about Jones vs KG since I think Jones speciality is help D but I think he was still decent at guarding wings.

If it’s purely on 1 on 1, the thing about the 2 centers is that just locking him up would lessen their defensive value to the team. They are ~ guarding 5 guys on a big chunk of plays. So yeah, Rodman, Pippen, KG, Kawhai…don’t know enough about Jones. Another guy I think would give him trouble, and imo a very underrated defender, was Derick McKey.

I think the ideal Lebron defender changed a bit, as his game/body developed.

You needed someone with lateral quickness to guard him when he was young. From Miami forward, I think strength became increasingly important and speed less so.