LeBron James knows exactly how dangerous Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can be, and after the Lakers’ second-round playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, he made it clear that the reigning MVP deserves to be defended with the same urgency as Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“If you don’t treat him with the same level of respect that you treat Giannis with… When Giannis gets a rebound, everyone talks about get back and load to Giannis,” James said speaking on the latest episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast. “Get back, set the defense and load because if not, he’s punching gaps right away and he’s on the rim right away. You don’t look at Shai like that from a physical standpoint because you look at him and you’re like, well, he’s not 6’11”, he’s not bulky strong like Giannis, he’s not super physical like Giannis downhill.
“But, then you realize he absolutely is when you’re on the floor. He uses big shoulder, he uses off arm, he uses your speed against you when he has you backpedaling and now he’s using that against you. So, if you’re not back with two guys, three guys loading to the basket, loading to the basketball with Shai with the ball, he’s going to punch those gaps. He’s going to get to the rim and he’s going to finish or he’s going to get to the free throw line because now you’re off balance.
“You have to treat him with Giannis level of respect in the open floor and that’s just the first part. And then you have to account for him in the half court as well. But, you have to do that before he even gets started because he’s just that damn good.”
SGA now has two back-to-back MVPs, which is the same as what Giannis did in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.
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