Lebron a top 5 defender

 Over the past few years he has emerged as a top notch defender in the NBA.  If he continues developing at this pace he could be a DPOTY, but I don’t feel his overall resume has him up there with the all time greats.  If he played his whole career like he has in the playoffs this year he may be considered the best ever, but he hasn’t always been this good.  Maybe in 5 or 6 years he could very well be considered up there with them, but IMO he hasn’t played like this long enough to be up there….yet.

Top five of all time is a really really high standard. Definitely way too high for a guy who has never come close to leading the league for even one season in either steals, blocks or rebounds. But yes he seems to have become a better defender in the last couple of years and he was never bad. Shutting down Rose in the closing minutes of playoff games was an impressive thing to see. Note that they aren’t putting Lebron on Nowitzki in the final minutes in this series though. So let’s not all get carried away with the old "He can guard five positions thing." Last night when the game was on the line and everyone in the building knew the ball was going through the Big German, the Heat went with Haslem and not Lebron. So the Heat are going with a journey man guy instead of your "Top Five" defender.

I dont think he a top 5 at the moment. He has not put in enough years to be a top 5. Most great defenders have been great defenders for a while. Scottie, Mike, Russell, Hakeem, Payton. Who would you put Lebron ahead of in that group. Then there is  Mourning, Mookie Blaylock, Kidd, Artest, Ben Wallace, Bowen. the list goes on. Yes he locked Rose up but we are getting a little carried away. He has the potential to be top five, but he has work to do.

 Lebron being a great offensive player harms his chances to be a top 5 all time defensive player. He has to play such a big role in the offense he can’t focus so much on D. That being said, he has the physical and mental tools to be one of the best and already is a beast on D.

He is a top five defender in today’s game, but it is WAY to early to start talking all time. Just because he locked down on a guy 5 inches shorter and 80 pounds lighter, doesn’e make him an all time great. talk top me when he has the balls to guard Dirk.

 He is an incredible defender, but I am not sure that a non-big man can be called a top 5 defender.  LeBron does a lot of big man things, but he doesn’t have the pick and roll defensive responsibilities, helpside defensive responsibilities, and overall interior defensive responsibilities to be considered top 5 ever.  I would say that the best defender in the league right now is Dwight Howard, who, unlike LeBron, is pretty much solely responsible for his team’s defense being good, much less top 5.  LeBron is an elite defender, but he doesn’t impact the game as much on the defensive side as Howard.