Whenever we speak about the Los Angeles Lakers, the conversation mostly revolves around Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, or LeBron James. But we don’t often talk about Marcus Smart and his defensive contributions. The former Defensive Player of the Year brings a different kind of edge, and his contagious energy was rather crucial in the Lakers’ recent wins.

The Lakers secured a crucial 127-125 win over the Denver Nuggets. While Luka Doncic led the Lakers with a 30-point triple-double, many people were simply awestruck by LeBron James‘ commitment in the final minute of regulation time. The 41-year-old made a full-extension dive to grab onto a loose ball, which saw the game roll over to overtime.

Following the win, James Worthy credited Marcus Smart for bringing out this side of LeBron. “Marcus Smart, man, he’s a godsend for us. Never seen LeBron dive on the floor like that until Marcus Smart showed up,” Worthy stated on the Lakers’ broadcast post the win.

To put things into perspective, the Lakers rank 20th in the league in defense (115.9 DEFRTG), but Smart has been great individually. He ranks third in the league this season in charges (18) and second in steals for the Lakers.

Recently, in the win against New Orleans, Smart threw his body on the line multiple times against a physically imposing Zion Williamson. He took repeated hits, absorbed pressure, and yet stood like a rock and slowed down the Pelicans in the process. That defensive mindset, hustle is spreading through the rest of the roster and likely sparked LeBron to dive for a loose ball with 54.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers down by one.

Besides LeBron, Doncic and Reaves have also been following Smart’s lead. Reaves is fifth overall with 14 charges drawn, and Doncic sits tied for seventh with 12. And Smart’s impact was so monumental that following the win, even Lakers head coach JJ Redick couldn’t stop raving about James throwing his body on the hardwood to secure a loose ball.

“I told him after the game, in 23 years of watching you play in the NBA and the three years I watched you play in high school, I never saw you make a full-out extension dive like that, and he said, ‘You’re right, I’ve never done that.’ It’s awesome. I know he’ll feel that tomorrow. That’s a winning play,” Redick said.

Also, while it was the first time we saw LeBron going for a full-extension dive, it is not the first time across his long and illustrious career that LeBron has attempted to take part in loose-ball scrambles. It is just that on most occasions, it didn’t end up well for him.

Remember in 2015, when LeBron showed his desperation to keep the ball in play and dove past Serge Ibaka and collided with a female fan who was sitting courtside? It was a nasty collision, and the game was halted as the lady was stretchered out of the arena. He also has prior experience of injuring himself in such scrambles.

A loose ball early in the second quarter of a 2021 game against the Atlanta Hawks sparked one such incident. Hawks forward Solomon Hill went all out and dove for the ball as LeBron James was also chasing after it. The Lakers star’s hustle showed how much he wanted possession, but it didn’t work out. LeBron suffered a high ankle sprain as a result of Hill’s dive rolling into his leg. Eventually, it was not a serious injury, but LeBron held a grudge against Hill for a long time.

Now, it seems like James is becoming more forthcoming and is ready to embrace a new role, which is set to help the Lakers in their playoff push. Furthermore, it is clear now that the Lakers’ major defensive collapse against the Bulls wasn’t only because of LeBron James.

More nuances to the Lakers’ defense than just LeBron James

Even though the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Chicago Bulls 142-130, JJ Redick wasn’t overly happy with the outcome. The defense abruptly reverted to what appeared to be a matador routine, allowing the Bulls to get whatever they wanted. Before this, the Lakers had just put together three consecutive games of respectable defensive performances, and the fact that it was also LeBron James’ first game back from injury, which naturally raised some eyebrows, didn’t help either.

However, blaming the 130 points allowed solely on LeBron misses the wider picture.

For starters, Marcus Smart wasn’t available. That mattered more than one might think, since his absence forced the Lakers to go back to a lineup setup they had deserted earlier in the season. When the Lakers made the decision to move Smart into the starting lineup and shift Rui Hachimura to the bench unit, it gave their defense a much-needed boost. Without the veteran guard in the lineup, things were bound to change. 

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Also, now is probably not the time to shift blame. While the Lakers have stepped up their defense majorly, there are still many aspects to improve. The main area HC Redick also wants to see improved is the ability of the low man.

“Just the consistency of our low man you know,” Redick said. “We’re one of the worst teams at defending the rim. That’s not on our bigs, that’s on everybody. So we’ve had stretches, I thought, if you look at our good defensive games, our low man’s really active, our low man is giving paint consequences.”

Well, the next test comes against the Rockets, and everyone will be eager to see how every player on the roster adapts.