Kwame Brown once took jab at LeBron James' longevity by highlighting his 10-year All-Defensive snub: "Kobe didn't just save his body for offense"
During an appearance on "Real Pro Ballerz" in January, former NBA player Kwame Brown took a jab at LeBron James' longevity. Brown compared James' approach to former LA Lakers teammate, Kobe Bryant.
According to the former lottery pick, Bryant dedicated his body to excelling on both ends of the floor, separating him from other great players.
Even on defense, Bryant was a productive player when healthy. In his career, he received 12 choices and was frequently named an All-Defensive player. The last time he was considered for an All-Defensive team was during the 2012-13 NBA season.
In contrast, James, though regarded as one of the best defenders, and being selected to six All-Defensive teams, hasn't been considered an All-NBA defender since the 2013-14 season.
This prompted Brown to brag about his former teammate while taking a shot at James.
"No matter how many stats they throw in front of us of LeBron [James], none of those things, from a basketball standpoint, we know that it was Kobe and MJ from a skill, from a read the defense, from a get to a spot. From no matter what your gameplan to stop me, I'm going to overcome it," Brown said (39:44).
"Kobe didn't just save his body for offense, just so he can win all the stat records. Kobe could have easily took off on defense and just won every stat record you can think about, but he didn't do that, he wanted to win championships and championships only."
Even though James hasn't been named an All-Defensive player since 2014, he has had some standout defensive performances. With a block on former Golden State Warriors star Andre Iguodala in 2016, the 6-foot-9 forward helped the Cleveland Cavaliers win the championship.
According to StatMamba on X, this season, James is holding All-Star players to 34% field-goal shooting and 23% from three.
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LeBron James' lack of a Defensive Player of the Year award bugs him
During an episode of "The Shop: Uninterrupted" in April, LeBron James was asked what award he hasn't won that bothers him.
"Defensive Player of the Year," James said. "I mean, that's the only award that I don't have in my house. It kind of stings."
James has finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year race twice. During the 2008-09 season, former All-Star Dwight Howard was given the award. The four-time champion had another chance during the 2012-13 season. However, Marc Gasol won that year. Since then, James has not finished in the top two in DPOY voting.
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