“I Have Anthony Davis”: Privilege of 31YO Star Blinds LeBron James From One Key Problem of NBA’s Popular Strategy

LeBron James and JJ Redick’s new podcast has taken over the NBA World as two of the best of basketball minds in the business break down every detail of the game. The second episode of Mind The Game dropped on Tuesday, discussing the hardest actions to guard in basketball. While talking about a frequently used Guard-Center action, LeBron failed to recognize the flaw in guarding the play because of the privilege of having Anthony Davis as his teammate.

During the episode, JJ deemed the Inverted Pick and Roll one of the hardest plays to guard. The play resembles a traditional pick-and-roll, but the roles are reversed, where a guard sets a screen for a Big Man. Several elite Centers like Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo exploit the opponents’ defense using this play. LeBron revealed two ways to successfully guard the inverted pick and roll based on whether the Center is a shooter or non-shooter. However, JJ claimed LeBron’s way might not work every time because “Big guys are terrible at navigating screens.” King James agreed with the sharpshooter and revealed why he was oblivious to that flaw, “I have Anthony Davis. He’s a hybrid.”

Unlike many Centers in the league, Anthony Davis is great at navigating screens on defense because of his incredible basketball IQ. The 31-year-old Forward played the guard position when he was young and has the ability to guard all positions on the floor. So, LeBron rarely has a problem stopping the inverted pick and roll with Davis on the floor.

Even LeBron James and Anthony Davis fail at guarding the famous play at times

While LeBron and AD’s chemistry and high basketball IQ make them a perfect pair to guard plays like the inverted pick and roll, there are times when even they can do nothing to stop the play. JJ Redick pointed out during the podcast that Nikola Jokic ran the same play with Jamal Murray three times against the Lakers during the 2023 Western Conference Finals. Jokic’s incredible shooting and playmaking ability made it almost impossible for the Lakers to guard the action. LeBron James and Co. eventually got swept by the Nuggets in 4 games.

The inverted pick-and-roll is an unstoppable move if a team’s guard and big man have great chemistry and are having good shooting nights. That is why Jokic and Embiid are unguardable in this play. JJ Redick also has the experience of running this play with Embiid during his Sixers days. LeBron and AD might need to re-strategize about stopping this play before they face these elite Centers in the playoffs this year.

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