NBA legend Steve Nash has a couple of ideas on how to improve the Los Angeles Lakers' defensive issues.
During a new episode of the Mind the Game podcast, Nash told co-host LeBron James that the Lakers should play more zone. Nash also said that the Lakers need more reps together as a defensive unit, which should come once everyone is healthy.
"My thing for you guys is just defense," Nash told LeBron. "How are you going to defend top teams for longer stretches?"
Zone defense might be the key that solves the Lakers' biggest problem
Nash asserted that once the Lakers get more reps together, they'll begin to understand where they are weak and strong defensively and be able to adjust accordingly.
Nash's suggestion about zone came with some discussion about LeBron's value as a roamer in zone defenses. Like an NFL safety, Bron has a knack for using his instincts to effectively guard space behind the point of attack, disrupting passing lanes and serving as an effective communicator to defenders in front of him.
Nash insinuated that the Lakers would benefit from using this talent of LeBron's more often through creative zone schemes.
Nash's idea of the Lakers using LeBron as a defensive hub ignores the somewhat inconvenient fact that James is 41 years old, which makes him not an altogether wise choice to build a defense around.
Then again, LeBron has proven well beyond a reasonable doubt that he's currently operating like someone in their mid-thirties (or younger!), and as long as Lakers head coach JJ Redick doesn't overburden James defensively, more LeBron-centric zone coverages would surely benefit the purple and gold.
Redick recently told the press that his team's offense impacts its defensive effort, noting that the Lakers play harder defensively when they exercise sufficient ball movement.
The idea here was that, when Lakers players other than Luka Doncic feel involved offensively, they are more willing to sacrifice themselves defensively in the name of winning basketball.
This only supports Nash's notion that more zone would help the Lakers. When it's properly deployed, an effective zone requires less physical labor but elite spatial and positional awareness. The Lakers have enough high-IQ veterans to embody that awareness, with James being the prime example.
With 28 games remaining in the regular season, Redick will need to implement a more zone-heavy strategy immediately if that's the direction he wants to take. A zone that isn't well-rehearsed and worked through in several game experiences is nothing but a Swiss cheese defense.