LA Bird wrote:O_6 wrote:LeBron's defense on Giannis and Kawhi in recent games has really been eye opening. I think LeBron has a chance to change the narrative around his defense if he leads the Lakers past the Clips and Bucks while playing the kind of defense on Kawhi he did last night + the kind of D he played on Giannis the last time they faced off.
It's several years too late for that. The credit would probably go to Davis instead. The idea that LeBron stopped playing defense after leaving Miami has long set in and you will find even some of the better analysts like Zach Lowe and Nate Duncan say
that even though his 2016 season was one of his best defensive years. LeBron would need to be selected to All Defensive teams again for that tide to change but since the same people who are voting for the awards are the ones pushing the false narrative of him not playing D anymore, I find it highly unlikely that will ever change. LeBron missing out on All Defensive selection in 2015 (because Duncan was listed at forward) and subsequently 2016 has put a huge dent in his defensive reputation that he will likely never recover from regardless of how good he really is playing on defense. He actually had a solid defensive season last year and yet most people were trashing him like he was a Bargnani-level defensive sieve. It wouldn't surprise me if he gets snubbed of All Defensive selection this year despite being #3 in DRPM and being arguably the best defensive player on a top 3 defense.
The fact that he wasn’t all NBA defense in 2016 is a joke. You see the nonsense refrain “lebron hasn’t played defense since Miami” thrown around too often.
LeBron, 2016Top 3% in defending hand offs
Top 7% in defending in ISO
Top 12% in defending the pick and roll ball handler
Top 13% in spot up defense
Top 15% in defending off of screens
Top 16% in defending the roll man in pick and roll
Top 27% in post up defense
I’ve gone through quite a bit of tracking data and still haven’t found a player top 30% in every category let alone a teams primary offense initiator who’s 31 years old.
For 2016 comparisons:Kawhi, 2016
Top 2% in defending the roll man in pick and roll
Top 10% in defending the pick and roll ball handler
Top 17% in defending in ISO
Top 22% in defending hand offs
Top 25% in spot up defense
Top 29% in post up defense
Bottom 31% in defending off of screens
Draymond, 2016
Top 2% in defending off of screens
Top 11% in post up defense
Top 28% in defending in ISO
Top 25% in defending the roll man in pick and roll
Top 29% in defending the pick and roll ball handler
Top 34% in spot up defense
Bottom 43% in defending hand offs
Kawhi and Draymond were more impactful defenders, but neither had the offensive burden James did. The fact that LeBron can even be in same breath as these two defensively at his age is remarkable.
ISO defenseLeBron: .59 points per possession (PPP), 93rd percentile
Draymond: .68, 85th percentile
Kawhi: .69 PPP, 83rd percentile
Pick and roll ball handlerKawhi: .65 PPP, 90th percentile
LeBron: .66 PPP, 88th percentile
Draymond: .88, 27th percentile
Pick and roll roll manKawhi: .50 PPP, 98th percentile
LeBron: .70 PPP, 84th percentile
Draymond: .77 PPP, 75th percentile
Post defenseDraymond: .65 PPP, 89th percentile
LeBron: .77 PPP, 73rd percentile
Kawhi: .77 PPP, 71st percentile (numbers are rounded so James might have been at .772 and Kawhi at .768 or something)
Spot up defenseLeBron: .80 PPP, 87th percentile
Kawhi: .88 PPP, 75th percentile
Draymond: .91 PPP, 66th percentile
Off screens defenseDraymond: .45 PPP, 98th percentile
LeBron: .74PPP, 85th percentile
Kawhi: 1.05 PPP, 31st percentile
Hand offs defenseLeBron: .49 97th percentile
Kawhi: .72 PPP, 78th percentile
Draymond: .91 PPP, 43rd percentile
In his thirteenth season playing on a team that's otherwise not that good defensively, James quietly put together a great, great defensive season because he had to since his team really had maybe three other plus defenders. Unlike Kawhi and Draymond who were subpar in some categories, James was at worst in the 73rd percentile.
Green:Overall: 39.7 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 45.5%, -5.8%
KawhiOverall: 38.5 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 44.8%, -6.4%
LeBron:Overall: 38.4 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 44.7%, -6.3
Then lastly, LeBron’s crazy playoffs defense:LeBron 2016 playoffs defense:Overall: 31.9 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 45.9%, -14.0%
Threes: 24.1 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 36.7%, -12. 6%
Twos: 36.6 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 50.5%, -13.9%
<6ft: 37.9 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 61.3%, -23.5%
LeBron Finals defense:Overall: 31.6 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 47.9%, -16.3%
Threes: 29.0 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 39.6%, -10.6%
Twos: 33.3 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 53.6%, -20.3%
<6ft: 38.5 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 63.6%, -25.1%
LeBron defense In the finals’ last three games:Overall: 19.4 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 47.4, -28.4%
Threes: 12.5 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 40.7%, -28.2%
Twos: 25 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 52.4%, -27.4%
<6ft: 15.4 DFG%, opponents usually shoot 60.6%, -45.2