Colin Cowheard: "Lebron James is the best defensive player ever"

[ManUp]

No love for Pippen? C'mon guys!

[guava_wrench]

I think people are just awed when he chases people down and blocks the shot from behind.

That is only #2 of what I like about him on D.

#1 is how he denies bigs position in the post. Strong and active. I don't think he or anyone can keep up that level of intensity though for an extended length of time.

[mctyson]

You guys know Colin Cowheard, that guy who looks like a soap opera actor on first take. Well he just said this. I really know for a fact that I (and probably a number of you on this blog) would be better at analyzing sports for a major network, than Colin Cowheard. I mean statements like this just show a general ignorance of the sport. And he gets paid for this. Needless to say Lebron James is not even the best defender in the game right now let alone with in the same stratosphere as KG, Bill, Hakeem, etc.

TP

[Lucky17]

Sports personalities can no longer make me too angry with stuff like that. I once joined a forum just so I could state in much more exact terms why I hated Jay Mariotti.

Man, I still dislike Jay Mariotti. Colin Cowherd is turrible, don't feed the trools.

Jim Rome, Skip Bayless, Jemele Hill, Steven A Smith, Jason Whitlock, Woody Paige...

They're all basically there to throw out ridiculous opinions to draw a reaction.  Some of them may have had some legit insight at one point, but their ability to make sense takes a backseat to their ability to inflame.

These people are much like the drunk, well-endowed, but homely girl in the bar at 2 AM: they'll say anything, and loudly, to get someone to pay attention to them.

[Mr October]

No love for Pippen? C'mon guys!

Pippen's defensive play was a thing of beauty. I'd take his D over Lebron's.

[thenotoriousjts]

I don't know how posting videos works on the forums but:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHpY1wmF5mc
Pierce owning LeBron always relevant.

[OmarSekou]

I've seen enough of Cowheard to know that he loves Lebron (or at least the character he plays on TV does) and purposely overexagerates anything having to do with him). I don't mind him making outlandish statements because I don't think he takes them seriously and he's cool with Beadle.

Lebron is among the best defensive players in the game today. And if you think that today's players are the best to have played I could see someone making that argument.

But talking about what Cowheard says only validates what he's saying. His job is to get you to talk about him or talk about sports.

[paintitgreen]

I'm guessing it's based on the idea that has been getting a lot of pub this year that Lebron can guard all 5 positions on the court given his body. That may be true. However, he doesn't guard all 5 positions particularly well. He can guard some point guards but not others. He can guard some big men but not others. And he is totally reliant on athleticism, the only time I really see him using timing and skill is on chasedown blocks. I just don't see him display his basketball IQ on that end. (For example, there's nobody else I'd rather have chasing a guy going for a breakaway dunk or layup; but if I had 1 guy back in a 2-on-1 break, I'd actually rather have Bird than Lebron back there.)

As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to guarding multiple positions, Pippen was better on ball or shutting down any wing scorer. I'd take him over Lebron just as the small forward on my all time All-Defensive team. And I'd say Artest in his prime was better than Lebron is right now at defending 3s and 4s because he knew (and still knows) how to use his strength and disrupt opponents way better than Lebron does. Same with Bowen. guava wrench is right that Lebron is making strides there, but it's just with brute strength. Artest used that strength but also did it smarter. And Bowen didn't have nearly the strength but could be effective against bigger players based solely on intelligence, leverage and timing.

Off the top of my head, I don't think Lebron even makes my Third Team All-Defense All Time:

First: C Bill Russell, PF Tim Duncan, SF Scottie Pippen, SG Sidney Moncrief, PG Gary Payton

Second: C Hakeem Olajuwon, PF Dennis Rodman, SF Ron Artest, SG Michael Jordan, PG Walt Frazier

Third: C Ben Wallace, PF Kevin Garnett, SF Bruce Bowen, SG Alvin Robertson, PG Dennis Johnson

Tough to leave out guys like KC Jones (made the Hall when it seems his major contribution to the Celtics dynasty was on ball defense but I never really saw him so can't justify putting him over guys I've at least seen highlights of), Cooper, McHale, not to mention all the elite centers like Robinson, Mutumbo, Ewing and Mourning.

Lebron might be better all time than maybe Alvin Robertson or DJ, but he's behind all those big men. Truthfully, I'd guess that nearly all the top 10 defensive players of all time are interior defenders - a strong big man can really just impact the game much more on that end than any perimeter defender can. In fact for my top 10, I'd take the 6 centers/power forwards on that list, Pippen, Robinson, Artest, and maybe Moncrief. And now just saying that, I have a hard time convincing even myself that Moncrief had more defensive impact than Ewing or Mutumbo.  Lebron ranks behind Duncan, KG, Wallace, Howard and Artest just among active players.