Lebron was above average defensively this season.

[coastalmarker99]

NBA.com has the numbers for box-outs, loose ball gathering, and deflections.

Guess what?

He’s middle of the pack there.

You can see for yourself.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle/

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/box-outs/

Also, would it surprise you to learn that when contesting shots, LeBron was in the upper upper percentiles for holding opponents below their averages?

205 players played at least 40 games and contested 9 shots per game.


1. Robert Williams III, held opponents to -7.0% below season FG%

2. Jarett Allen, -6.7%

3. Rudy Gobert,-6.5%

4. JJJ, -5.9%

5. Draymond, -5.5%

6. Mitchell Robinson, -5.4%

7. Bruce Brown, -5.1%

8. Thybulle, -5.1%

9. Horford, -4.9%

10. Jaden McDaniels, -4.9%

11. LeBron James, -4.7%

12. Bam Adebayo

You can see the entire list here: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PCT_PLUSMINUS&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*40:D_FGA*GE*9:PLAYER_NAME*E*

You can see how many shots they contested per game and you can see what the average field goal percentage of the opponents was.

LeBron: 12.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 42.2%, 46.9% vs. everyone else, -4.7 difference.

Durant: 14.0 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 42.2%, 46.3% vs everyone, -4.1 difference

Tatum: 11.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 43.0%, 45.9% vs. everyone, -2.9 difference

Smart: 10.7 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 45.2%, 45.5% vs. everyone,-.3 difference

Giannis: 13.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 44.5%, 47.9% vs. everyone, -3.2 difference.

Butler: 9.6 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 44.6%, 46.3% vs everyone else, -1.7

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PLAYER_LAST_TEAM_ABBREVIATION&dir=-1

Also, many would be surprised to see how effective LeBron was defending inside of 6 feet.

LeBron held opponents to 8.6% below their season FG% on shots under 6 feet

Would it surprise you to know that he held opponents below their season averages a better rate than did Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Zubac, Poetl, Porzingis, Ayton, and Bam Adebayo (40+ games played, 4+ FGs defended)

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6/?sort=PLUSMINUS&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*40:FGA_LT_06*GE*4&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

[Bronbron23]

NBA.com has the numbers for box-outs, loose ball gathering, and deflections.

Guess what?

He’s middle of the pack there.

You can see for yourself.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle/

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/box-outs/

Also, would it surprise you to learn that when contesting shots, LeBron was in the upper upper percentiles for holding opponents below their averages?

205 players played at least 40 games and contested 9 shots per game.


1. Robert Williams III, held opponents to -7.0% below season FG%

2. Jarett Allen, -6.7%

3. Rudy Gobert,-6.5%

4. JJJ, -5.9%

5. Draymond, -5.5%

6. Mitchell Robinson, -5.4%

7. Bruce Brown, -5.1%

8. Thybulle, -5.1%

9. Horford, -4.9%

10. Jaden McDaniels, -4.9%

11. LeBron James, -4.7%

12. Bam Adebayo

You can see the entire list here: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PCT_PLUSMINUS&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*40:D_FGA*GE*9:PLAYER_NAME*E*

You can see how many shots they contested per game and you can see what the average field goal percentage of the opponents was.

LeBron: 12.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 42.2%, 46.9% vs. everyone else, -4.7 difference.

Durant: 14.0 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 42.2%, 46.3% vs everyone, -4.1 difference

Tatum: 11.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 43.0%, 45.9% vs. everyone, -2.9 difference

Smart: 10.7 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 45.2%, 45.5% vs. everyone,-.3 difference

Giannis: 13.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 44.5%, 47.9% vs. everyone, -3.2 difference.

Butler: 9.6 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 44.6%, 46.3% vs everyone else, -1.7

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PLAYER_LAST_TEAM_ABBREVIATION&dir=-1

Also, many would be surprised to see how effective LeBron was defending inside of 6 feet.

LeBron held opponents to 8.6% below their season FG% on shots under 6 feet

Would it surprise you to know that he held opponents below their season averages a better rate than did Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Zubac, Poetl, Porzingis, Ayton, and Bam Adebayo (40+ games played, 4+ FGs defended)

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6/?sort=PLUSMINUS&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*40:FGA_LT_06*GE*4&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

Numbers can be deceiving. That's why eye test has a place still and anyone who watched games knows he wasn't above average defensively. He didn't rotate well, he didn't get back on defense and contrary to popular belief bron can't play 1-5. Teams were constantly taking advantage of the lakers having a 6'9 center. He constantly got abused in the post by the better bigs.

[Johnny32]

lebron still has elite two way ability even at his age. would have been all nba defense last yr before the injury he was 4th in nba's dpoy ladder. year before he defended everyone from lillard, mccollum, nurkic, harden, westbrook (let him shoot), jokic, murray, butler, bam in the postseason. had a better defensive rating than ad and equal dws (nerd stats). he can still defend but this season was lost and his role was score more out of necessity. he averaged 45 ppg in the lakers only wins since the all star break.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Tatum: 11.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 43.0%, 45.9% vs. everyone, -2.9 difference


BigShotRob told me he doesn't defend. Must be a misprint.

[Westbrook_Fan]

Another anti-Bron myth slayed :oldlol:


Lebron was as good or better than Prime Jordan this season and the haters just have to accept it

[Bronbron23]

lebron still has elite two way ability even at his age. would have been all nba defense last yr before the injury he was 4th in nba's dpoy ladder. year before he defended everyone from lillard, mccollum, nurkic, harden, westbrook (let him shoot), jokic, murray, butler, bam in the postseason. had a better defensive rating than ad and equal dws (nerd stats). he can still defend but this season was lost and his role was score more out of necessity. he averaged 45 ppg in the lakers only wins since the all star break.

He has the ability to be the best defender on the floor on any given moment but he can't do it consistently anymore while still being elite offensively. At his age and min he's required to play he has to save energy on the defensive end. Lakers have to build a team around bron with thus fact in mind. They need great defenders around him to make up for hus defensive deficiencies.

The other option is for bron to take a lesser role offensively and put more focus on playing elite defense. This would be the best path for winning but no way bron sacrifices his offensive stats for wins.

[RogueBorg]

Another anti-Bron myth slayed :oldlol:


Lebron was as good or better than Prime Jordan this season and the haters just have to accept it

Good story bro, who's he facing in the playoffs?

[Real Men Wear Green]

Another anti-Bron myth slayed :oldlol:


Lebron was as good or better than Prime Jordan this season and the haters just have to accept it

Lebron missed the playoffs this season which means basketball history will not care. James put up Jordan level statistics but guys like that are judged by more than statistics. James himself is extremely dissatisfied because his goal is championships. Unlike you he is aware of what will be important to his legacy. Has he aged better than Jordan did? Undoubtedly. But for guys like that a 30 ppg season that doesn't even get into the playoffs doesn't matter. James could have had a 33 ppg career average if he wanted. That's not his goal and never was. He would much rather have just averaged 25 and be the top seed.

Also you clearly don't know anything about Jordan's peak stats.

[StrongLurk]

And he was literally playing out of position for half the season. He can't guard true Centers at this stage of his career (although even at his peak on defense he was only good at guarding certain types of centers).

With that being said, the biggest issue this year was Lebron's LEADERSHIP. He was great on offense, average at best on defense (due to being a C too often), but probably had his worst year as a team leader. It was the intangibles and body language.

Of course, guys like MJ and Kobe had years/moments of bad leadership, but the Bron haters don't care. In fact, the Bron haters are pretty much bots at this point.

[Axe]

Lebron missed the playoffs this season which means basketball history will not care. James put up Jordan level statistics but guys like that are judged by more than statistics. James himself is extremely dissatisfied because his goal is championships. Unlike you he is aware of what will be important to his legacy. Has he aged better than Jordan did? Undoubtedly. But for guys like that a 30 ppg season that doesn't even get into the playoffs doesn't matter. James could have had a 33 ppg career average if he wanted. That's not his goal and never was. He would much rather have just averaged 25 and be the top seed.

Also you clearly don't know anything about Jordan's peak stats.
This makes me wonder that had he played more games in the outgoing season, maybe around 65 or more would his team have won more games that could have resulted to them entering the play-ins or playoffs? For as long as he's able to put up decent stats like he normally does. I know the team became dysfunctional since the westbrook acquisition, as well as some other more recent factors along the way but i think it's possible that they would have garnered a better record if that became the case.

[theman93]

Julius Randle finished ahead of Joel Embiid in diff %. Are you really prepared to say Julius Randle is a better defender than Joel Embiid?

Lebron hasn't been a good defender since Moby Dick was a guppy.

[Bronbron23]

Good story bro, who's he facing in the playoffs?

This:roll: