Media Robbed Lebron of History in 2012 and 2013
In 2012 and 2013, the NBA already told us who the real defensive experts believed was the best defender: the coaches. All-Defensive Teams are voted by the league’s 30 head coaches—people who build game plans, attack weaknesses, and know exactly who disrupts their offense. In 2011–12, those coaches didn’t just put LeBron on First Team…they made him the #1 overall vote-getter on the entire All-Defense ballot (53 points, 24 First Team votes). That’s the closest thing to coaches saying, “This is the best defender in basketball.” In 2012–13, coaches again rated LeBron at the very top—First Team with 52 points and 25 First Team votes—basically top-two in the league.
Now look at what the media did with DPOY. In 2012, media gave DPOY to Tyson Chandler, even though the coaches had him as a Second Team center. In 2013, media gave DPOY to Marc Gasol—yet the coaches didn’t even put him on First Team; they voted him Second Team with far fewer points. That’s the problem: the media often defaults to narratives and old archetypes (“rim protector = DPOY”), while coaches value what wins possessions: versatility, switching, recovery, anticipation, communication, and the ability to erase mismatches. That’s LeBron. He wasn’t just great—he was the most versatile defender in the game, the guy who could guard 1–5, blow up actions before they start, and be the “fix-it” defender that makes elite schemes possible. The coaches had it right.
