Bonn1997 wrote:

mrKnickShot wrote:Lebron James to me is hands down the best defensive player in the NBA. He can guard all 5 positions, can shut down MVP guards like D Rose when it counts and can completely take a team out of its offense.

He was great against Melo yesterday with fronting him and being extremely physical. I hope Melo can find a way to score on him in game 2.

I still LOVE TYSON but I think Lebron wins this (or should).

Well you've been outvoted 38 to 1!

Let me retract a bit ... Chandler definitely deserves consideration I just think that Lebron deserves it possibly more than him.

Here is a good article that I just found:

http://hoopspeak.com/2012/03/lebron-james-for-defensive-player-of-the-year/

"During a March 4th loss to the Lakers, ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst tweeted the following: “On road trip LeBron has guarded: Marcus Camby, Pau Gasol, Earl Watson, P. Millsap, G. Wallace, Kobe, Metta & Steve Blake to name a few.”

With Miami’s already questionable front line further depleted by the loss of Chris Bosh for a few games, the league’s most physically gifted, technically proficient, and mainframe intelligent defensive player enthusiastically accepted diverse assignments that nobody else in the league would even be asked to take on. In their loss to the Lakers, James exerted the maximum amount of energy several possessions, battling Pau Gasol for position while Kobe Bryant was busy stabbing Shane Battier in the eye with jump shot daggers. With Wade having a poor all around game, struggling to find offensive rhythm and continuously forcing the issue on defense (to the point where it looked as though he really didn’t want to play, and maybe he didn’t), it was a game where LeBron seemingly had to do everything on both ends of the court. Yet Robo-Bron didn’t show the slightest bit of fatigue. Instead of the traditional expectations that come with a small forward getting overpowered by a seven-footer, LeBron played like a tiger eating a giraffe for lunch."

And yes. I did vote for Lebron