Through the Los Angeles Lakers' first seven games of the season, superstar forward LeBron James is playing great defense.
James wasn’t his usual self on defense last season for the Lakers because of his groin injury. Now that he's healthy again and has Anthony Davis by his side, LeBron looks engaged on defense and that spells trouble for the rest of the league.
One NBA executive has been impressed with James' defense, but he also wonders “how long” The King can keep this up since he turns 35 in December and has so many miles on his body:
“He's playing defense—and at a high level,” the executive told Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. “We haven't seen him play on that side of the ball with this level of intensity for several years. I wonder how long he'll be able to keep it up?”
Per NBA.com, James has a defensive rating of 96.4 points per 100 possessions, which balances quite well for the Lakers given his 111.3 offensive rating. Last year, he finished with a 107.6 defensive rating and a 109.6 offensive rating.
In early September, Davis said he’s going to hold LeBron accountable on defense this season. So far, whatever Davis is doing is working.
Along with his strong defense, James has been a monster on offense as well. The four-time MVP and three-time champion is averaging 26.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 11.1 assists.
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