One of the few NBA records or achievements that LeBron James could never attain in his career was the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award. But he finished second in the race on two separate occasions: 2009 (behind Dwight Howard) and 2013 (behind Marc Gasol).
Tony Allen, the former NBA champion who was also teammates with Gasol on the Grizzlies, recently sat down to record an episode of the ‘Chris Vernon Show.’ He came across Bleacher Report’s rankings for the 99 best defensive players of all time, where LeBron James was ranked 22nd ahead of Tony Allen, who was ranked 23rd.
“Yo Bron, stop it bro. You ain’t ever had to check nobody, bro, but everybody had to check Bron. His biggest defensive plays are the chase-down blocks. That’s his biggest thing, the chase-down blocks,” Allen said.
“But he was sayin he could’ve got Marc Gasol’s award. Cool, let me pull a seat up on something. When Marc won that award, everybody asked me that summer why I didn’t get that award. Man, I didn’t think not one time LeBron deserved that. If Marc didn’t get it, I should’ve got it.”
“To see him say for his legacy he should’ve got that award, I’m saying to myself, ‘bro, every game you came in, you was the hunted. You was the guy.’ All you did was a couple chase-down blocks a game. Name somebody that he had to lock up and get the win? You can’t think about that because everybody always is just trying to stop him. He ain’t had the time to be stopping nobody.”
“He’s so hyped up because of the chase-down blocks,” a frustrated Allen further added.
“I always saw chase-down blocks. I ain’t ever seen no fighting over the… Like I’ve never seen that. I only just saw him in the air. That’s no knock to him. Like I ain’t hating on him because I call him King, that’s LeBron.”
One of the hosts of the show asked Allen about James putting the clamps on Paul Pierce when the Cavaliers played the Celtics in the 2009 playoffs.
“He locked up Paul Pierce? We made that man go to Miami! The decision started. He didn’t shake our hands in that game. He didn’t shake nobody’s hands, and he dipped,” a triggered Tony Allen responded.
“That showed me he’s really emotional about this game, people’s stands and whatnot. Because you know damn well you didn’t try to lock nobody up. I know he’s just putting a narrative out there, but I disagree with that one… You ain’t no defensive player. You the GOAT in basketball but not defense.”
It could simply be that Allen is furious about LeBron James being named ahead of him on this list. But Allen’s point is also substantiated by the statistics of that season.
Marc Gasol, the winner of the award, finished the 2012-13 season with a 98.5 Defensive Rating (DRTG), and Tony Allen had a 98.4 DRTG for that season. Meanwhile, James had a 100.9 DRTG, which is interpreted as him allowing 100.9 points per 100 possessions.
Clearly, the numbers agree with Tony Allen. Do you think James is forcefully inserting himself in this narrative to make a stronger case for being the greatest player of all time? Let us know your opinions in the comments section.
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