LeBron James believes the NBA has reached a turning point where relying on isolation basketball is no longer enough to consistently win.
In his view, the league has evolved past one-on-one dominance, with defensive schemes now built to smother static possessions and force the ball out of any single player’s hands.
James shared that perspective during a recent episode of Mind The Game, where he sat down with Steve Nash to unpack how offenses and defenses have changed over the past several seasons.
The conversation quickly gained traction, especially given the Los Angeles Lakers‘ strong run and the presence of Luka Doncic as a central figure in their attack.
“We didn’t have this many defenses and nuances of how to play defense vs. iso, isolated players back, I would say 5-to-7 years ago,” James said.
“Now, there’s so many different ways to get the ball out of a guy’s hands. If he’s just sitting there isoing on the wing, you can flood the whole side and bring another guy to the elbow. You could literally run a guy and just go trap him, and now you got three defenders.
“That’s the game right now, it’s the numbers game. How can you start the blender? Is the blender being started with the pass and cut? Is it what the Miami Heat are doing? Or is it what the Lakers are doing where we start a lot of our plays with pick-and-roll because we have such a dynamic pick-and-roll player in Luka?”
A critique of Doncic?
Some listeners were quick to interpret James‘ comments as a subtle critique of Doncic, long known for his comfort scoring in isolation.
But that reading overlooks the broader point James was making. Isolation is no longer the foundation. It is a counter, something to deploy once the defense has already been stressed.
Doncic, for all his reputation as an iso scorer, fits neatly into that philosophy. He is at his most dangerous when defenses are already in motion, especially in pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop situations where his vision and patience force rotations before he ever looks at the rim.
The tough shots he takes often come after he has already bent the defense out of shape.
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