LeBron James. 3x NBA Champion. 3x NBA Finals MVP. 4x Most Valuable Player. 13x NBA All-Star. 2x All-Star Game MVP. 11x All-NBA First Team. 2x All-NBA Second Team. 5x NBA All-Defensive First Team. 2014 All-Defensive Second Team. 2012 Defensive Player of the Year Runner-Up. NBA Rookie of the Year. 2008 NBA Scoring Champion. 7th ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER (as of Dec 30, 2017). 7 STRAIGHT NBA Finals Appearances. 2x Olympic Gold Medalist (Beijing 2008, London 2012). Along with a whole host of other accolades, LeBron will always be known as the man who lifted the curse in Cleveland. The Cavaliers became the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit, ending a 52 year title drought. In 2016, LeBron became the first player in NBA history to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals in a playoff series. James joined Jerry West and James Worthy as the only players to record a triple-double in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. In 2017, he became the league’s ALL-TIME leading playoff scoring leader, and was the first to average a triple-double in the Finals.

You know, a lot of people complain about LeBron’s defensive effort, and that’s all well and good, but have you ever felt fatigued after working out 6 days a week? My high school players sometimes do. Game day twice a week, practice the other days, day off on Sunday. People complain about workload…but imagine what it’s like to be playing the highest brand of basketball possible, to play at least 100 games every season your entire career practically, and to have made it to SEVEN STRAIGHT NBA Finals. Imagine the toll that can take on your body. Now imagine some people calling into question your defensive effort in what is more or less a meaningless game in January. Anyway. That might just be me, but I tend to give him a pass for lacking effort anytime outside of the Playoffs.

Something that has remained consistent about LeBron is his ability to make reads. That much is clear when he’s able to anticipate when to jump to block shots, or even time things out when he’s trying to do one of his signature chasedowns. What sometimes will go unnoticed is his ability to strip the ball clean. I’m not talking about his getting in the passing lanes (which he is also very good at), I’m talking about his ability to see a player coming down the lane and turning his body so he has the right angle to swipe at the ball. Poking the ball lose isn’t something that’s going to register as a steal or a block all the time (especially not HIS steal or block), but deflections disrupt rhythm and defenses thrive on that.

*Description from May 2017