After the Lakers made the Luka Doncic trade, their defense was widely expected to crater. Anthony Davis was named a First Team All-Defensive player last season and had been the linchpin of the Lakers defense ever since arriving to town. Max Christie was one of the team’s best wing defenders. And Doncic has a reputation as a poor defender.
It’s somewhat shocking then that the exact opposite has happened. Davis last logged a game for the Lakers on Jan. 28. In the 12 games since that date, Los Angeles has the best defense in the league per NBA Stats. They’ve been winning on the back of that strong defense, which was ranked 21st before the Doncic trade.
What has caused this startling turnaround? It’s been a combination of great coaching, excellent play from LeBron James, and a little bit of luck.
MORE: How Lakers honored Anthony Davis in return to L.A.
LeBron James, JJ Redick lead Lakers to elite defense
JJ Redick’s switch-heavy scheme
Redick has cited the importance of staying connected and putting forth maximum effort on defense. That’s certainly part of the equation, but there are also schematic changes that he is making to help the team defend at such a high level.
The biggest takeaway from the Lakers defense as compared to how they operated under Darvin Ham is in how frequently they switch on screens. That requires elite communication that Redick has emphasized, and it neutralizes some the weaknesses that players like Doncic have in screen navigation.
For context, this is the idea for the Lakers defense. Switch everything to take away off ball movement. Luka ends up on LaMelo, works to deny. Late clock Reaves and LeBron both show early help. pic.twitter.com/xomgVm3ka4
— Steve Jones Jr. (@stevejones20) February 20, 2025
The Lakers have also in some ways benefited from not having great center depth. They’ve been forced to play smaller, with Dorian Finney-Smith taking some small ball center units. That has allowed them to switch even more, given his versatility as a defender. He has been terrific in that role.
Jarred Vanderbilt is also capable of guarding multiple positions and the Lakers’ best point of attack defender. His return from injury at the end of January overlaps with the team’s meteoric rise on that end of the floor. That is not a coincidence.
Finney-Smith and Vanderbilt have been holding down the wing. Behind them, one of the smartest players in the league has been cleaning up things at the rim.
LeBron James, All-Defensive player?
It’s been a very uneven defensive campaign for LeBron this season. His effort somewhat understandably wasn’t where it needed to be at the start of the year given his age, and he was a part of the team’s early struggles. He’s started to ramp up considerably though ever since the middle of December (check out the data from NBA data viz account Sravan). He has been the most important part of the Lakers’ turnaround, and it’s coming at the right time.
“LeBron’s playing at an All-NBA defense level,” Redick told reporters after beating the Mavericks on Wednesday. “People may have perceptions of what he is as a defender. I watch it every night. He doesn’t get scored on in isolation if teams do try to target him. He blows plays up, he’s always in the right position, shifting, recovering.”
The numbers back up Redick’s observations. It’s too small of a sample to take too much from, but LeBron ranks in the 99.7th percentile of all defenders in isolation situations this season per NBA Stats. Opponents are shooting just 3-of-23 against him in those situations.
LeBron still has those bursts of great athleticism, but he isn’t the speed demon that he was while with the disruptive Heat back in his 20’s. He relies much more on positioning and terrific anticipation to get his steals now. He knows exactly where the ball is going.
Redick credited LeBron’s defense during crunch time of that Wednesday win, noting how he was rotating to be in the right spot in holding the Mavericks to just eight points during the final six minutes of the game.
JJ on the Lakers’ crunch time defense: “Our guys were just scrambling everywhere. And Bron was sort of the head of that.”
Bron’s still getting it done defensively at age 40. pic.twitter.com/M2fStGu7cS
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) February 26, 2025
LeBron hasn’t reached the level of an All-Defensive defender. But he is playing the best defense of any 40-year-old to ever play in the NBA, and it’s not particularly close.
This Lakers defense will come down a little bit
The new Lakers defense is good, but not to the level that it looks. They’re not going to be the best defense in the league post All-Star break.
Part of their success lies in a weak schedule. They’ve faced several of the worst offenses in the league, including the Wizards, Hornets, Blazers, Clippers, and Jazz twice. That soft schedule shouldn’t get too much credit. They have also taken on some of the best offenses like the Knicks and Nuggets, holding those powerhouses to respectable numbers.
Another piece of the puzzle is opponent shooting luck. League-average 3-point percentage this season is at 35.8 percent. Lakers opponents have been shooting just 32.6 percent during their current streak per NBA Stats. Generally speaking, teams missing 3’s is more a factor of luck than anything that a team is doing well. That percentage will climb up as the season continues.
Even though the Lakers are benefiting from some luck, they have been much better than they were at the beginning of the year. This is an improved unit with better schemes, more buy in, and underrated additions to the rotation. Their offense has been solid all year. Their defense catching up makes this a very dangerous team to face in the playoffs.
