Is Lebron James capable of guarding all 5 positions?

[Eric Cartman]

Lebron = great perimeter defender. Especially if they are point guard or small guards because of his quickest (excluding Jason Terry )

As for guarding 4's & 5's no way in hell. He doesn't like the pound & grind.

[TheMan]

Someone believes so....

I think it is better that I make a new thread about it since he is derailing the other one.





Of course this is also the same guy that says Lebron is the best non-PG passer ever and also says that Lebron James would be taken first in an all-time draft over anyone including the likes of Kareem, MJ, Russell, etc.

lol@picking him over MJ or KAJ...I wouldn't even pick LBJ over Magic.

[rodman91]

1-3 he can defend. 4-5, Body wise? Yes.But he lacks hustle,agression and fundamental to guard well.

[DrunkenDave]

lol@picking him over MJ or KAJ...I wouldn't even pick LBJ over Magic.

Jordan wasnt even 1st in his own draft. He wasnt even second. If you dont know their career before draft, James is a sure top 5 pick and Jordan isnt even top 10.

And not too many posters here seem to understand the op. Lets say it this way: he is more capable guarding any position than any other player in the league. (That doesnt mean best defender, player or anything.)

[arifgokcen]

1-3 he can defend. 4-5, Body wise? Yes.But he lacks hustle,agression and fundamental to guard well.

I dont think he lacks agression hustle.He certainly has understood fundementals of defense.So i am not gonna get into that part however he said its not fun banging with big guys.That shows even though he is most of the time bigger than the so called big guys.He just doesnt like the pound & grind as rodman91 said.

Lebron = great perimeter defender. Especially if they are point guard or small guards because of his quickest (excluding Jason Terry )

As for guarding 4's & 5's no way in hell. He doesn't like the pound & grind.

For those who actually says he is not capable of guarding 4-5 just look at the pictures i posted with howard right next to him.He is actually most capable heat player to guard those positions.He doesnt do it thats another topic.

[Pointguard]

If you can guard 80% of the position then its fair play to say he can guard the position. Centers are on self check these days anyway. Its not like great defending point guards stop Rose or Paul so expecting and off position to do it isn't fair. Great wings don't stop Kobe or Wade. Dwight Howard is the only center that's on the regular hard to guard list - tho, when a good defender is on him it's a very noticable difference. DMC and Bynum would be the only other one's capable of getting 20 on Lebron but they would be dead tired and playing half the game trying to keep up with Lebron. And when tired their basketball IQ's go down as well.

I do find it kind of ironic that the hardest position for Lebron would be the position he is built for, power forward. Aldridge, Gasol, Duncan and such play long and can adapt. You need hardcore fundamentals to handle a lot of PF's. But if Lebron is exposed to the fundamentals... yeah he could do it. He definitely could do it better than anybody right now.

To me Rodman had the greatest range - he guarded MJ and Shaq to the point Shaq slowed down and MJ made adjustments, which is amazing as most people couldn't affect their play at their own postions. His body type is similar to Lebrons - obviously Rod was more tenacious and better with the fundamentals. On the flip side Rodman doesn't have the weight, speed or athletism.

[TheMan]

Jordan wasnt even 1st in his own draft. He wasnt even second. If you dont know their career before draft, James is a sure top 5 pick and Jordan isnt even top 10.

And not too many posters here seem to understand the op. Lets say it this way: he is more capable guarding any position than any other player in the league. (That doesnt mean best defender, player or anything.)

But we do know their careers, MJ>>>>LBJ

Finally, LBJ has help and he got outplayed by Jason Terry in crunch time...gimme MJ all the time, brah.

[chips93]

Wrong. He had to guard Rondo at times because Mo and Parker were getting crushed in the playoffs.

where did isay he didnt guard rondo?

i said he tried, and he couldnt slow rondo down

[RRR3]

But we do know their careers, MJ>>>>LBJ

Finally, LBJ has help and he got outplayed by Jason Terry in crunch time...gimme MJ all the time, brah.

You're not getting it. We know MJ>LBJ because we have experienced both of their NBA careers (well not all of LBJ's but he won't surpass MJ, just like every other player) and can evaluate them. But LBJ would be taken above him in a draft because of his insane potential. People always say what seperated Jordan was the intangibles, etc. But they don't draft based on intangibles. Sure, Jordan was a superb athlete and had amazing potential coming out of college, but he wasn't even taken first or 2nd in his own draft. LeBron would be taken over him if no one knew how their careers would pan out. Would it be a wrong move? Of course, but it would happen unless the drafters had ESP. Hindsight is 20/20

[Phong]

If he was so capable of guarding all 5 positions why did he let Nowitzki, Terry, Marion and Barea take turn destroying the Heat in the Finals? He should have switched to guard whoever was hot.

[nightprowler10]

You're not getting it. We know MJ>LBJ because we have experienced both of their NBA careers (well not all of LBJ's but he won't surpass MJ, just like every other player) and can evaluate them. But LBJ would be taken above him in a draft because of his insane potential. People always say what seperated Jordan was the intangibles, etc. But they don't draft based on intangibles. Sure, Jordan was a superb athlete and had amazing potential coming out of college, but he wasn't even taken first or 2nd in his own draft. LeBron would be taken over him if no one knew how their careers would pan out. Would it be a wrong move? Of course, but it would happen unless the drafters had ESP. Hindsight is 20/20

Keep in mind that MJ was third because talented big men have always been hard to come by. I don't think it would be the case had MJ been competing with two swingmen for that #1 pick.

[2LeTTeRS]

If you can guard 80% of the position then its fair play to say he can guard the position.

Finally somebody gets it. Since when did CP3 going off on a guy mean he couldn't effectively guard point guards? Newsflash, even the best defenders can't shut down elite players. thats why their elite in the first place.

[SilkkTheShocker]

where did isay he didnt guard rondo?

i said he tried, and he couldnt slow rondo down

Actually he did slow him down. Thats when Pierce started going off on Moon/Parker.