LeBron James is one of the most intelligent basketball players of all time. Off the court, he changed the perception of athletes as businessmen, becoming the first active basketball player to become a billionaire. He also revolutionized player movement with his move to the Miami Heat in 2010, for better or for worse.
On the court, LeBron is a master of reading the court. He has an incredible memory which allows him to memorize his opponents’ plays and figure out patterns to attack from. This ability comes incredibly handy in the Playoffs, with various stories of LeBron narrating opposing plays out to his own teammates based on patterns the teams already ran.
One of the best stories of the same came from David Griffin, who served as Cleveland Cavaliers GM during the 2017 NBA Playoffs when the Cavs beat the Toronto Raptors. Griffin recalled how James put Patrick Patterson of the Raptors back into position by telling him he was supposed to set a pin-down for DeMar DeRozan.
Never forget when LeBron was beating the Raptors so bad that he started coaching them 😭 pic.twitter.com/MylYvjBfd5
— . (@OwnHimLeBron) July 10, 2022
William Lou of The Score passed along comments Griffin made about the situation during an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast.
“I was in the gym when I watched him on the floor against Toronto tell Patrick Patterson where he was supposed to go on the play they had called out of a timeout late in the fourth quarter,” Griffin said. “He was like ‘no Pat, you’re supposed to stand over there and set a pin down for DeMar (DeRozan) over here.'” (h/t Bleacher Report)
These stories of LeBron should make fans appreciate his greatness even more. While he was born with all the physical gifts needed to be an unstoppable athlete, he also had the intelligence and honed his basketball IQ over the years to become this lethal on the court. At the highest level of basketball, LeBron was out coaching other coaches in high-leverage playoff games through reads like these.
