On “Run It Back,” Parsons talked about defending James and Durant during his stint with Michelle Beadle and Eddie Gonzalez. He noted that defending Durant one-on-one is much tougher than James.
“There’s harder matchups one-on-one,” Parsons said. “When I was playing, I feared guarding Kevin Durant more than I feared guarding LeBron James. Just because of his ability to score in iso, the way he can break you off. The way you can play great defense, he can shoot over you. LeBron is more passive.”
Chandler Parsons added that players fear LeBron James more when he’s coming at you full speed on the break or downhill. Parsons even said that some players might be afraid when they’re attempting a layup and James is trying to chase them down to block their shot.
“He’s less aggressive, but let’s not get it twisted,” Parson said. “There’s fear when you see this man coming downhill at you or even when you’re going for a layup you know he’s coming behind to block your layup off the backboard, so there’s fear.”
It’s true that Kevin Durant might be a better one-on-one player than James. KD has more tricks in his bag, and his length makes him tougher to guard. James is a pass-first player despite being the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. He’s scarier when he’s running full speed trying to bulldoze opponents, though.
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JJ Redick defended LeBron James from Mario Chalmers’ comments about nobody fearing him. Redick read the definition of the word fear on a recent episode of “First Take” with Stephen A. Smith and Tim Legler. Fear is an emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, a threat that could cause pain.
Redick explained that James caused a lot of players to feel pain during his career. He noted all the players and teams “The King” beat to make ten NBA Finals and win four championships.
“LeBron James has been to the Finals 10 times in 19 seasons,” Redick said. “How much pain do you think he’s caused other players that have lost to him in the playoffs? I have the luxury because I get to talk to some oldheads on my podcast.
“I talked to DeMar (DeRozan) about his Raptors teams couldn’t get past the Cavs. I just talked to Al Horford about this. They lost five times to LeBron James in the East. There is some pain, some emotional pain inflicted by those losses.”
