LeBron James knows exactly how dangerous Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can be, and after the Lakers second-round playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, he made it clear that the reigning MVP deserves to be defended with the same urgency as Giannis Antetokounmpo.If you dont treat him with the same level of respect that you treat Giannis with When Giannis gets a rebound, everyone talks about get back and load to Giannis, James said speaking on the latest episode of his Mind the Game podcast. Get back, set the defense and load because if not, hes punching gaps right away and hes on the rim right away. You dont look at Shai like that from a physical standpoint because you look at him and youre like, well, hes not 611, hes not bulky strong like Giannis, hes not super physical like Giannis downhill.But, then you realize he absolutely is when youre on the floor. He uses big shoulder, he uses off arm, he uses your speed against you when he has you backpedaling and now hes using that against you. So, if youre not back with two guys, three guys loading to the basket, loading to the basketball with Shai with the ball, hes going to punch those gaps. Hes going to get to the rim and hes going to finish or hes going to get to the free throw line because now youre off balance.You have to treat him with Giannis level of respect in the open floor and thats just the first part. And then you have to account for him in the half court as well. But, you have to do that before he even gets started because hes just that damn good.SGA now has two back-to-back MVPs, which is the same as what Giannis did in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.Related Article: Rob Pelinka Rejects Tanking Strategy For LakersREAD MORE: LeBron James on Why Victor Wembanyama Is So Special
