NBA legend LeBron James has attributed the defensive side of his game to the influence of Mike Brown.
The 35-year-old is known to be dominant in the frontlines, but has also put in impressive defensive shifts when required.
Speaking on who inspired him to become an elite defender, the LA Lakers forward didn’t hesitate to name Brown.
He explained that the coach challenged him to improve the defensive side of his game during his stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I’d probably give a lot of credit to Mike Brown,” James said when asked to speak on the subject.
“He came in with a defensive mindset with a defensive strategy to Cleveland when he got the head coaching job. He told me he wanted me to be just as good as I was on the offensive end; he wanted me to be even better on the defensive end, and it started with a lot of communication.”
The three-time NBA champion said he embraced Brown’s defensive strategy because he wanted to assume leadership on the court.
“I wanted to take that next step in my career because I wanted to get better, and I wanted to compete for championships. I started to take that leadership as far as my communication being loud, speaking calls out, getting into the film session a little bit more—diving into that.
“Mike Brown was very high into watching film and breaking down our opponents and breaking down personnel, so give a lot of credit to Mike Brown putting that type of pressure on me, which I loved and became who I am today,” LeBron added.
