LOS ANGELES – With the Los Angeles Lakers making the playoffs outright and clinching the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, talk has begun to sprout up about the Lakers’ possible championship chances. One reason why the Lakers are being mentioned such talks is because of their defense. And it’s been the oldest player in the league, LeBron James, who has taken the lead on the defensive end for the Lakers, according to head coach JJ Redick.

Following the team’s 140-109 win against the Houston Rockets in their final home game of the regular season, JJ Redick likened LeBron James’ role in the Lakers’ defense to a quarterback.

“Quarterback is an offensive position, but he’s the quarterback of our defense,” Redick said. “And a lot of that is his voice, his IQ.”

Redick brought up a play during the Rockets game where Austin Reaves was switched off on one of Houston’s bigs. Rui Hachimura ended up getting a deflection on the play, but Redick acknowledged how James immediately rushed over and covered for Reaves.

Reaves, who has played with James his whole career thus far, has also noticed the communication and energy that James has brought on the defensive end this season.

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“He is our vocal leader on and off the court. He leads by example. . .anytime he’s talking on the court. . .everybody’s locked in to what he has to say,” Reaves said. “And it’s big for us when he’s on the court talking like that because his IQ is so high. He’s seen a billion possessions in the NBA, he’s guarded every type of player that’s been in the NBA, seen every scheme. So if there’s someone to listen to, I think it would be him.”

James celebrated his 40th birthday earlier this season, and he’s officially the oldest player in the NBA. But aside from a groin injury that caused him to miss a few games back in March, he’s shown no signs of his age catching up to his play.

He appeared in 70 games at a little over 34 minutes per game. He finished the season averaging 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.0 steals with splits of 51.3 percent shooting from the field, 37.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

With the regular season now over, James and the Lakers will set their sights on their first round playoff series agains the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers will have homecourt advantage at least for this series.