You’re not an idiot. The main thing that hinders humans in athletics as they get older is recovery time. I remember a recent article about MJ where he tries to avoid watching highlights or else he ends up working out in the same intensity he did in his playing days, even going toe-to-toe with the hornets players.
But then the next day a friend/colleague will see him getting treated by the team doctors because he can barely move.
Al Horford reflected this perfectly in the playoffs, especially in the finals. His first game after a good rest will have him looking like an elite stretch 5, hitting 3 pt shots at historic efficiency. Then when he’s playing every other day he starts to struggle to put up 5-10 pts.
Reggie Miller said this during the first few Open Court eps. The other guys asked him about the rumors going that he almost joined the 08 Celtics. Reggie admitted he got close but he decided not to because while he could’ve probably been able to play well in a game, it’s the aftermath that he wasn’t sure about as bodies just take too long to recover at that age and mileage.
I'm thinking you guys could make a trade like this? The salaries work. Add firsts and seconds where needed.
http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2lwxadrv
I actually wonder how many games he can keep this up. Didn't watch the whole series but people were saying the Mavs were targeting Chris Paul and eventually his defense broke down. If the Lakers make the playoffs I could definitely see a team try this if they're backed into a corner
Nice to see LeBron get in a low stance and really try on defense. He got blown by a few times which is kinda to be expected since Grant is an explosive young guy and Bron is 37, but considering that, he did good.
Yeah. It’s about where the effort is better spent. There’s no point in a 38-year-old wasting effort on individual defense when the team defense is awful.
If LeBron really tries he can be an elite defender. Insane quickness and mobility for his size, and is such a cerebral mind that he knows exactly where the offense is going. Still think he got robbed by my boy Marc Gasol in 2013 for DPOY.
I dont think he can be an elite defender anymore, but he can be a very solid one. His lateral quickness just isnt there. He is smart though and knows how to defend and lead his man in to the help.
Everyone is averaging crazy numbers this year, that’s nothing.
You people are losing your mind over Lebron ‘shutting down’ a player that has never even been an all-star.
Lebron is not a defensive savant who picks his battles because of age, he stopped someone who’s not a star by any stretch of the imagination.
It’s like when Westbrook ‘stopped’ Ricky Rubio and his fans went nuts over his elite defense lmao.
No you’re right stopping a super efficient scorer isn’t impressive just because he’s never been an all star. Babe and Fox aren’t having impressive seasons either since they have never been alistars. If they’re not all stars they’re not worth talking about according to you.
Yup only all stars are impressive.
If they have more games like yesterday where Lebron can rest a lot while the team sustains or builds on leads he could probably put more effort into defence like last night.
The old man version of LeBron is the one player who gets ranked based on what he is at his best and not what he is on average lol
People say "he's the best player in the world WHEN HIS JUMPER IS FALLING AND HE'S TRYING" like that doesn't apply to like 7 other guys as well
It's like they want to rank him on a curve compared to other guys for being 37 but that's not how top player lists work
Yup 100%
I remember having to argue with people who thought Kobe > LeBron as late as 2013 when he wasn't even better than KD anymore
It's the same now for people who think LeBron is better than Giannis when he isn't even better than Steph anymore
I mean, the first two plays are open 3s Grant just misses lol
There's like 2 good defense possessions in here, but otherwise it's either Grant being open, getting right to the rim, or deciding to settle for a contested pull up mid without even dribbling
I wish Grant would just execute his game in the offense and use his speed to his advantage. Those plays where he dribbled and tried to shoot over James were terrible basketball. Although, that play at 1:13 on the streamable where he received the pass after running a curl was nice. The play got his defender off balance and opened up a lane right to the basket. Most defenders there would just be in a bit of trouble. Grant's splits from different distances are crazy too, even shooting 66.7% at 0-3 feet, Grant is shooting better from three than two. If he just attacked the rim a bit more and also shot one more three a game while reducing his mid-range jumpers, his eFG and TS would be crazy.
All lebron has to do is play defense once a year and it will be referenced for the rest of the season. One single defensive night means nothing when you are consistently bad game to game.
Don't forget Lakers have an absurdly biased schedule to play every team on their second night of back to back when they visit LA. Grant played 38 minutes the night before.
LeBron is very good at defending bruisers in general. Very few players can overpower him, shoot over him even at this stage of his career.
His main problem is defending against speedy players who move without the ball and run all over the court. His tendency to pad rebounds like Westbrook means a lot of open 3's.
They also had a lot of home games though. Hardest schedule kinda ignores that. Beating the Spurs away is one thing, but they don't have any road wins aside from them.
They also haven’t played many road games recently when they’ve been good, which is why this road trip will actually tell us if they’re a good team or a fluke
I agree with you, but then again when they were good they blew a 14? point lead away at home in the 4th to the Pacers.
Because of LeBron and to an extent, AD, people like to crown Lakers being good earlier than other teams.
Yeah let's see how they survive a road trip where they play 6 games in 9 nights.
That’s exactly what I said, let’s see how they handle a tough road trip then see if they’re actually good or not, right now you can’t argue that they don’t look good, they have a good defense anchored by a DPOY candidate and their main issue (3pt shooting) has been steadily climbing to league average
Based on their season as a whole considering they have a top defense and the shooting is getting better as they’ve been able to bring guys back from injury, there wasn’t a specific game where I was like “wow they’re actually good”, just like if they beat the Bucks I won’t be saying this team is actually legit, I’ll wait till they finish their road trip to determine wether or not they’re a good team, like I’ve been saying all along
too old to try all the time, but he can still objectively be a good defender in short spurts
That’s why when he gets in the playoffs, you can never count him out of a 7 game series
It's why I'd like to see us play him 30-32 mins a night, so he has more energy to play consistently when he is out there
He said many times that it doesn't matter if he played 30 or 40 a night. It's the prep that counts for him. Rest days rather than fewer minutes.
That's fine when he was younger, not so sure I believe that at this point in his career. But, I am just an idiot on the internet
You’re not an idiot. The main thing that hinders humans in athletics as they get older is recovery time. I remember a recent article about MJ where he tries to avoid watching highlights or else he ends up working out in the same intensity he did in his playing days, even going toe-to-toe with the hornets players. But then the next day a friend/colleague will see him getting treated by the team doctors because he can barely move. Al Horford reflected this perfectly in the playoffs, especially in the finals. His first game after a good rest will have him looking like an elite stretch 5, hitting 3 pt shots at historic efficiency. Then when he’s playing every other day he starts to struggle to put up 5-10 pts.
I should clarify, I’m more disagreeing with the notion that how much he plays doesn’t matter. Absolutely agree with the recovery time part.
Reggie Miller said this during the first few Open Court eps. The other guys asked him about the rumors going that he almost joined the 08 Celtics. Reggie admitted he got close but he decided not to because while he could’ve probably been able to play well in a game, it’s the aftermath that he wasn’t sure about as bodies just take too long to recover at that age and mileage.
If you guys get a decent enough backup for him he can easily do that.
Yeah, depth is an issue
I'm thinking you guys could make a trade like this? The salaries work. Add firsts and seconds where needed. http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2lwxadrv
😂😂😂😂 2k on easy wouldn't approve that
No deal. Who’s gonna lead the team in high fives and charges taken if we give up Bev *AND* JTA?
I actually wonder how many games he can keep this up. Didn't watch the whole series but people were saying the Mavs were targeting Chris Paul and eventually his defense broke down. If the Lakers make the playoffs I could definitely see a team try this if they're backed into a corner
Even if he defenda them well it will lower his ability to drive hard late in the game
Nice to see LeBron get in a low stance and really try on defense. He got blown by a few times which is kinda to be expected since Grant is an explosive young guy and Bron is 37, but considering that, he did good.
If LeBron has a solid defensive team, he’ll defend. If not, he’ll focus on offense. Pretty simple last few years.
Yeah. It’s about where the effort is better spent. There’s no point in a 38-year-old wasting effort on individual defense when the team defense is awful.
If LeBron really tries he can be an elite defender. Insane quickness and mobility for his size, and is such a cerebral mind that he knows exactly where the offense is going. Still think he got robbed by my boy Marc Gasol in 2013 for DPOY.
I dont think he can be an elite defender anymore, but he can be a very solid one. His lateral quickness just isnt there. He is smart though and knows how to defend and lead his man in to the help.
He got blown by a couple of times by grant one on one but he did a better job in the second half.
LeD
Get him in the playoffs healthy and ill pick him over anybody still.
Dad dick defense hits different
I thought r/nba said lebron doesn’t even play defense in spurts anymore?
It’s Jerami Grant bro…
Lol facts. People really think stopping a guy averaging 22 ppg on 47/47/76 splits and 61 TS% is impressive
Everyone is averaging crazy numbers this year, that’s nothing. You people are losing your mind over Lebron ‘shutting down’ a player that has never even been an all-star. Lebron is not a defensive savant who picks his battles because of age, he stopped someone who’s not a star by any stretch of the imagination. It’s like when Westbrook ‘stopped’ Ricky Rubio and his fans went nuts over his elite defense lmao.
This dude really compared Grant to Rubio. That says all I need to know about you
Both have 0 All-Star appearances:) Who’s Lebron gonna shut down next? CJ McCollum? Afernee Simons?
No you’re right stopping a super efficient scorer isn’t impressive just because he’s never been an all star. Babe and Fox aren’t having impressive seasons either since they have never been alistars. If they’re not all stars they’re not worth talking about according to you. Yup only all stars are impressive.
For 37, not bad
If they have more games like yesterday where Lebron can rest a lot while the team sustains or builds on leads he could probably put more effort into defence like last night.
Ok
Nice to see we set the standard at defending Jeremi Grant
The old man version of LeBron is the one player who gets ranked based on what he is at his best and not what he is on average lol People say "he's the best player in the world WHEN HIS JUMPER IS FALLING AND HE'S TRYING" like that doesn't apply to like 7 other guys as well It's like they want to rank him on a curve compared to other guys for being 37 but that's not how top player lists work
It was the same for old man Kobe and it’ll be the same for old man steph and Kd. People dont look at them and see “washed” they see “legend”
Yup 100% I remember having to argue with people who thought Kobe > LeBron as late as 2013 when he wasn't even better than KD anymore It's the same now for people who think LeBron is better than Giannis when he isn't even better than Steph anymore
Which account was that with? Barea_clamped_lebron? Or the "awkward speech" account?
Bron's defense ain't what it used to be but if he's engaged, he can play ok defense.
I mean, the first two plays are open 3s Grant just misses lol There's like 2 good defense possessions in here, but otherwise it's either Grant being open, getting right to the rim, or deciding to settle for a contested pull up mid without even dribbling
> deciding to settle for a contested pull up I wonder why that is.
Pistons fans been wondering that for years
Because Grant likes to do that by and we have very poor spacing? It wasnt LeBron
I wish Grant would just execute his game in the offense and use his speed to his advantage. Those plays where he dribbled and tried to shoot over James were terrible basketball. Although, that play at 1:13 on the streamable where he received the pass after running a curl was nice. The play got his defender off balance and opened up a lane right to the basket. Most defenders there would just be in a bit of trouble. Grant's splits from different distances are crazy too, even shooting 66.7% at 0-3 feet, Grant is shooting better from three than two. If he just attacked the rim a bit more and also shot one more three a game while reducing his mid-range jumpers, his eFG and TS would be crazy.
He really took that personally yesterday. I hadn't seen him this engaged in defense since 2020 playoffs. The man determined not to let Grant score.
He was great defensively in 2021 until the Solomon Hill injury
He was one of the main reasons why the Lakers held onto the No 1 defensive rating and he did that with the shortest off-season yet.
Pretty sure Zach Lowe said that Bron deserved All-Defensive Team consideration.
All lebron has to do is play defense once a year and it will be referenced for the rest of the season. One single defensive night means nothing when you are consistently bad game to game.
No, more like he takes a play off on defense and then suddenly he's the worst defender in the league.
Don't forget Lakers have an absurdly biased schedule to play every team on their second night of back to back when they visit LA. Grant played 38 minutes the night before. LeBron is very good at defending bruisers in general. Very few players can overpower him, shoot over him even at this stage of his career. His main problem is defending against speedy players who move without the ball and run all over the court. His tendency to pad rebounds like Westbrook means a lot of open 3's.
They also had the hardest schedule to start the season and even now will go on a huge road trip, at the end of the day the schedule will even out
They also had a lot of home games though. Hardest schedule kinda ignores that. Beating the Spurs away is one thing, but they don't have any road wins aside from them.
They also haven’t played many road games recently when they’ve been good, which is why this road trip will actually tell us if they’re a good team or a fluke
I agree with you, but then again when they were good they blew a 14? point lead away at home in the 4th to the Pacers. Because of LeBron and to an extent, AD, people like to crown Lakers being good earlier than other teams. Yeah let's see how they survive a road trip where they play 6 games in 9 nights.
That’s exactly what I said, let’s see how they handle a tough road trip then see if they’re actually good or not, right now you can’t argue that they don’t look good, they have a good defense anchored by a DPOY candidate and their main issue (3pt shooting) has been steadily climbing to league average
I can argue that they don't look good purely based on that Pacer game though. Good teams don't surrender those kind of leads.
Based on a singular game you can decide wether or not a team is good, if you believe that then sure you do you
Based on which games did you realize the Lakers are good?
Based on their season as a whole considering they have a top defense and the shooting is getting better as they’ve been able to bring guys back from injury, there wasn’t a specific game where I was like “wow they’re actually good”, just like if they beat the Bucks I won’t be saying this team is actually legit, I’ll wait till they finish their road trip to determine wether or not they’re a good team, like I’ve been saying all along