can we just give lebron his props? he's hands down the most versatile defender in the league.
This. I haven't really bothered reading all the posts, but how this thread is to 4 pages is beyond me.
Whether you like it or not, the dude has guarded 5 positions for stretches during the year. Did he guard each of them for 48 minutes? Of course not, but no one's even claiming that's the case. Could someone else hypothetically do it? Maybe. HAVE THEY ACTUALLY DONE IT? Not that I know of.
The reason Lebron's is so highly regarded as a defender, like Houston said, is because of his versatility. You have a significant advantage on defense when you have a guy who can switch on every pick and roll regardless of whether he's guarding the screener or ball handler, and it's not a blatant mismatch.
Ibaka saying this is borderline pathetic though, Bron is twice the defender Ibaka is