Now that LeBron James has signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, we can stop speculating about where he will wind up and start discussing his fit.
Playing with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown, James won’t be asked to do as much and has already talked about taking a secondary role, which is something he did for parts of last season in Los Angeles, deferring to Lakers’ guards Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. One former defensive stalwart believes that’s a good thing, at least on one side of the ball.
Tony Allen Calls Out LeBron James’ Defense
If someone can speak on defense, it’s Tony Allen. Allen was in the league for 14 years, playing for the Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, and New Orleans Pelicans, even winning a championship with the Celtics in 2008.
Allen was a three-time NBA All-Defensive First Team and a three-time member of the second team. Although he never won Defensive Player of the Year, Allen was considered an elite perimeter defender throughout his career.
Allen has some thoughts on the way James has defended over the last few seasons.
“We can make any scenario, they’re playing, let’s say OKC, do you think LeBron is starting out the game on KD to risk picking up two fouls?” Allen asked.
“No, he’s gonna stick Sefolosha. So you got 41 minutes of sticking Sefolosha, game gets tight late down the stretch and the last 2-3 minutes you get a chase down block here and there, and then you get the win, now you just 1st team all defense? I disagree.”
Allen went on to say that if he allowed people to light him up, he’d be sent back to the G-League. However, he said the goal, which he often achieved, was to keep the player he was guarding under their scoring average.
Allen also isn’t sure why people are mad about him calling out James’ defense.
“I don’t know what they got mad at,” Allen said. “We know LeBron James for 40k points and chase down blocks… They got made about defense in the league when they barely even play it. We don’t want to bring up his highlights from the past 3 years because it’s him in drop defense, it’s horrible now.”
Of course, at 41 years old, James is seeing a decline on both ends of the court, but there’s no doubt that James’ ability on defense has suffered. James once had the ability to be a lockdown defender, but that does not appear to be the case anymore.
For the 76ers, that may not be a big deal. At just 29 years old, Brown will likely be asked to defend the other team’s best wing, leaving James free to save energy for the offensive side of the ball. At James’ age, chasing young wings around the court is not a recipe for success.
