Jason Kidd (Age 38) Great Defense on LeBron - 2011 NBA Finals

Kidd's defense on LeBron was phenomenal in the 2011 Finals. He didn't consistently guard LeBron until Game 4, but once he did it was a huge reason the Mavs turned the series around.
In spite of being heavily undersized and with a huge athletic mismatch, Kidd stripped LeBron several times and forced him into several misses. Kidd's defense on LeBron in the Finals, along with his defense on Kobe in the WCSF, further cemented his status as the 2nd best defensive PG of all-time after Gary Payton

[@HampETX903]

Bron fans tryna get this video taken down 😂😂😂

[@moa3821]

getting handled by a point gaurd....jason kidd has phenomenal hands defensively

[@JoseLopez-cl6lt]

No guys he was gaurded by jj barea!!!!

[@Amzingred]

Same way he handled Kobe in the WCF

[@buzzvideoz1822]

Jkidd one of the OG tripledouble machine.. unlike the stat padders of today.

[@msytuser]

No one respects abuser and drunk driver jason kidd

[@tyshawn5983]

@@msytuserthat has nothing to do with what he does on the court lol

[@josecarranza7555]

Jason Kidd beat up his wife.

[@KyleJ_15]

Kidd dared Lebron to shoot the 3 all series

[@absolute618]

Shouts out to This Mavs Squad. Veterans is why the league is still poppin

[@howudoingjonathan]

This 2011 Dallas Mavericks team did an amazing job of taking away what Bron does best. First, you throw away multiple bodies at him whether it was Marion, Kidd, or Stevenson to harass bron and try hard not to send a second defender at bron because of his ability to find an open man with a bullet/cross the court long pass. Second, when it comes down to pick n roll coverages you primarily take away straight line drives to the basket by having a big 7 foot big man Tyson Chandler drop and force bron to take long 2’s or pass to his teammates. In short, 2011 Lebron James didn’t have a consistent jump shooting and lacked post moves in the post so all the mavs really had to do was take away his passing lanes and play mind games.

[@foreignkamikaze]

Damn wtf u went into full detail

[@mstrariel]

The Mavs gets their payback from 2006 finals after winning the NBA Championships

[@tyshawn5983]

@@mstrarielyeah. Took about 5 years but they did it

[@KS-jn7bs]

Kidd should've never been able to stop LeBron in this series. Hell, friken JJ Barea locked him down IN THE POST!!! Like WTF?!?!? It always baffled me how LeBron played so great against the two best defensive teams in the league in Boston and Chicago, yet played so poorly in the Finals against Dallas.

[@brianhill2171]

+Kevin Surur Dallas was great on D with Chandler, Kidd, Marion, an several other good defenders

[@KS-jn7bs]

TheBDHShow The 76ers, Celtics and Bulls were all better defensive teams, though..

[@brianhill2171]

Kevin Surur It's weird everyone remembers those Mavs for being a great offensive team but relative to the league they were a better defensive team, ranking 8th in O rating and 7th in D rating. They really weren't an elite team, only 8th in the league in net rating (rating is points per 100 possessions)

[@KS-jn7bs]

TheBDHShow Yeah, I get you. It's funny because I was in the 9th grade at the time and told people that Wade was better than LeBron. They all disagreed and then the '11 Finals happened.

[@moa3821]

+Kevin Surur choking does that

[@satatay23]

The addition of Kidd to a team makes the team better, Lebrons addition of players to the team makes the team better.

[@X02Overdose]

satatay23 Thank you!

[@geordiejones5618]

Kidd like played a guy who led two teams the Finals in back to back years and lost. Glad he got this ring even if it meant my favorite player losing. Kidd was there too. Him and Lebron would have been amazing teammates.

[@Imbopeep]

There playstyles don’t match. Lebron will never be successful with a point guard who plays like Kidd. Firstly who’s gonna be the primary ball handler out of the two? Both can’t off ball, both aren’t great shooters. Only thing I’ll say is they would make one hell of a defensive team with the right pieces behind them

[@legendarywiimaster]

@@ImbopeepI mean give then the right coach and it will work

[@sicnarf6971]

It wasn’t just the mavs defense. Anyone can see lebrons body language. He don’t want it

[@kennethwalls341]

He doesn't play good off ball

[@lioninthesun]

Jason kidd is a top 5 pg of all time for his defense and offense

[@neversleeps2543]

This is some tough footage for bronheads. Couldn’t be Jordan.

[@Th3Passerby]

Young Jason Kidd said MJ took it easy on him on their first matchup... 38 Years old Jason Kidd locked down the wannabe Mike Lebron James who was in his prime.

[@Th3Passerby]

@Mike Hawk 23, wanted to chase a ghost in chicago, ring chasing, wants to be the goat... Yeah that kind of stuff makes him look like he wants to be like mike

[@mrsky67]

Mike Hawk Yeah, but MJ never called himself the GOAT. Lebron has. That’s the difference. He’s chasing the actual GOAT which is MJ.

[@mrsky67]

Mike Hawk Muhammad Ali was not the Greatest, Sugar Ray Robinson was. Jerry Rice is extremely debatable. The difference is they won and proved themselves to be in the GOAT conversation. While some dude with a 3-9 Record in the finals randomly considers himself greater than Kareem, and MJ.

[@mrsky67]

Mike Hawk Exactly, and he failed to contribute time and time again to his team. 2007- Locked Down by a 34 Year old Bruce Bowen and swept despite having 3 guys on his team who were averaging 15 ppg. 2011- Let a 34 Year old man off the bench average more points, and had an 8 point game in the NBA finals. 2014- Gave up on his team after getting locked down by a 23 Year old. 2015- Got locked down by Iggy, and consistently choked in each of the 4th Quarters, 2017- Played atrocious defense all series, and gave up on his team. 2018- Gave up on his team in an elimination game and consistently collapsed under pressure in crunch time.

[@mrsky67]

Mike Hawk Wilt Chamberlain played against a team with 6 Hall of Famers in his career While Lebron had a Super team on the Heat, and 2 Hall of Famers averaging 20 and 30 ppg on the Cavs. That’s the difference

[@austin78993]

It just makes you wonder if LeBron really would struggle in the 90s. Look at the way Chandler is just guarding the rim up to the free throw line area. They just dared the Heat to shoot and it worked. Trying to score at the rim in the 90s must have been hard not just because of the size of the bigs, but the lack of shooting from your teammates. LeBron Did not wanna go in there with two 7 footers for whatever reason. One of the more bizarre series I've ever witnessed. He just doesn't trust his midrange game or 3 point game.

[@redskullz1249]

Plenty of teams tried that approach after the Mavs and Lebron beat them all. He choked in this series, no doubt about it. He wasn't ready. But he got himself ready and then went out and won 4 rings and couting.

[@LOL-ro9ef]

@@redskullz1249 49 win pacer team led by a 22 year old PG13% took the heat super team led by lebron to seven games. PG13% abused mvp lebron that series. Lebron not top 5

[@redskullz1249]

@@LOL-ro9ef Your user name is highly appropriate. Are you old enough to actually remember those playoffs? Roy Hibbert was the Pacer's best player and leading scorer in that series with 22-10 while being the centerpiece of Frank Vogel's league-best defense. PG13 scored 19ppg while letting Lebron score 29ppg. Yeah, sure sounds like abuse, the same way Clyde Drexler "abused" MJ in the 92 Finals and Payton "abused" MJ in the . LOL!

[@LOL-ro9ef]

@@redskullz1249 just jokes mate. kawhi leonard did abuse lebron in the 2014 finals. 33 year old bench player raped lebron in the 2011 finals after he created a super team while in his prime. 6'4 38 years old Jason Kid left over of the 90s locked down 6'8 260 freak of nature lebron in the finals. lebron from 2003 to 2010 only beat 1 50 win team in the playoffs (weak east) lebron had help in those years unlike what the narrtive say. lebron was shit against boston in 2008 yet it still went 7 games (a 37 win team atlanta hawks also took the celtics to 7 in 2008) lebron played like shit in the 2007 final yet every game was a close game. the cavs held duncan to 45% from the field (in the reguler season he shot 55%) tony parker abused lebron in the 2007 finals. 39 win boston took lebron super team to 7 games in 2012 35 win phily let by Iggy also took the old boston to 7 games and Iggy had much less help than lebron 42 win pacers took lebron to 7 games in 2013 55 win celtics with rookie jayson tatum and no kyire took the cavs to 7 games. in the 2011 playoffs vs boston Dwade was the best player on the heat not lebron. lebron is overated dude

[@redskullz1249]

@@LOL-ro9ef You've been upgraded to LMAO. Kawhi in the 2014 Finals: 17ppg, 6rpg, 2apg, 1.6spg Lebron in the 2014 Finals: 28ppg, 8rpg, 4apg, 2.0spg "Abuse" LMAO. Have a nice life mate.

[@tj5180]

best defender behind payton idk what could have happen if we seen prime kidd play with dirk

[@batfirt]

More titles. Probably does not lose to Miami the first time around.

[@dexarceo821]

Dirk with prime Kidd would mean back to back titles in '06 and '07. That version of Kidd can cover Baron Davis and help breakdown double teams. Devin Harris and Jason Terry were so lost during those series.

[@SDSOverfiend]

Mavs went big.. in a modified zone. LeBron couldn't bulldoze his way in. He couldn't shoot it down either.

[@TimTayl]

bronzzzzzze medal 2004

[@draymondgreenie7356]

Because he is a poor shooter

[@j2tyme285]

@@draymondgreenie7356 he didn't rely on shooting as much during that time doesn't mean he is a poor shooter and even then he still shot 47% that series which is efficient.

[@angelbowers2726]

How the mavs played defense in this series reminds me of how raptors played defense against the bucks last year. Dared Giannis to shoot all series and took away the drive forcing him to make the pass to open teammates who have to try and make plays

[@SDSOverfiend]

J Solid That’s not efficient. Melo gets bashed for it but LeBron gets a pass!? No not today.

[@blaqdiemenz]

Yo do you got Kidd defensive clips vs the thunder too?

[@Abdullah-ub9vt]

Great great defence

[@elliepetty2317]

lebron played like he was following a script.

[@eazyduzit-tr3nx]

Naw he plays passive at times in big moments.

[@tylerjohnson9795]

exactly what I was thinking. It was payback because the Mavs should've won in 06

[@Vinogoat]

has nothing to do with that lebron is just a great athlete but 1 on1 scoring he sucks.. Jason Kidd shut his ass down!

[@gloedup150]

The choke script

[@austin78993]

@@Vinogoat I agree. LeBron is an only take good shots player. Which is admirable, but he needed to be more aggressive and hit from long and midrange. He learned from this series and added that stuff to his game in his second stint in Cleveland and now LA. He still likes to play on the perimeter and get to the rim or dish, but his three pointer is much more consistent, he's more comfortable in the post, etc. Kidd knew he had the help defense and was just gonna move his feet and let him shoot from the perimeter. LeBron didn't trust his shot so he just deferred to Wade.

[@kevinjames60]

Jason Kidd had lebron on lock 🔐 😂😂😂

[@lovecherry1765]

Did the samething to durant and Kobe

[@kevinjames60]

@@lovecherry1765 Kidd never clamped Durant or Kobe. His TEAM beat them, but Kidd never clamped them individually

[@johnnybraxton5539]

Facts had kidd looking Gary Payton the glove

[@johnnybraxton5539]

LMFAOOO this guy is better than Jordan? Jordan would never freeze up like this passive

[@jagofjokester1127]

It very good especially it you don't gotta create pressure.

[@tyresejavin4160]

this is why it's important to be a 3 level scoring threat

[@omaidolor8929]

Which he became eventually

[@mrbigdaddyjoe79]

not really look at Jordan. Jordan was so great didnt need to rely on the 3.

[@mrbigdaddyjoe79]

@@omaidolor8929 LOL. Lebron is not a 3 point shooter.

[@okeythegoat2332]

@@mrbigdaddyjoe79he is 😂

[@batfirt]

All the MJ comparisons need to stop when there is footage out there like this on that False King. This series alone should have taken Lebron out of those comparisons.

[@j2tyme285]

If there was such thing as KZbin and social media mike would get crucified. Mj fans always want you to forget the 95 playoffs vs magic series where he choked or the supersonics series where he folded but his team was still good enough to win.

[@sekizo1728]

@@j2tyme285 mj aint a god we all know this but he was never bad enough to score 8pts in a finals, and in 95 jordan avg 31 points lol with pippen avg 19 and against the super sonics he avg 27 points with pippen avg 15. hard to compare to lebron whos getting shut down by 34 year old jason terry and 38 year old kidd. while jordan is against payton a dpoty guard and penny hardaway hard to compare, sure jordan didnt do as good as he usually does but he did not get outscored by a bench player

[@j2tyme285]

@@sekizo1728 the thing is for me he didn't get looked up or cooked by either of those players. Mavs ran a zone, it was a 1v1 type thing. And yes mj never had such a bad playoff/finals game but he definelty has had bad performances, and at the same time, mj was a score first so he was always gonna try to keep scoring even if he has a bad game. Bron will look to his teammates, which ultimately made it seem he like he was relying on them like he was scared. But this by no means disqualifies him, and the fact that he went to 7 straight after this confirms that.

[@j2tyme285]

@Jamal Greasy nah I'm just stating facts

[@j2tyme285]

@@sekizo1728 jordan had to worry about a smaller 6'4 guard recovering from an injury checking him only in the last 3 games. Bron had to worry about a whole zone defense keying in on him, with Marion a top defender all time checking him, a dpoy waiting in the paint, and Stevenson a great defender coming off the bench to check him. Jordan shot worse in those 3 games than bron did vs mavs, but scored more cause he shot more. In the magic series his 4th quarter collapse was just as bad, and the defense was not equal to what bron faced.

[@MrAwesomeMatty]

2:58 That could've been called as an Offensive Interference.

[@EllaXRob]

LeBalco James got destroyed by 5’11” JJ Barea

[@adarbrauner4913]

Ho much strenght does he have to run so much...

[@Kbrwsg]

Ima huge LeBron fan and have him as my goat but Jason Kidds defense here is just so beutifal

[@j0nival730]

b4 this....kidd locked durrant

[@dadaeverydays3968]

now JKidd back in the finals.... as Mavs Coach!!!!

[@user-pd5bd3lk8u]

Prof that 90s 2000s players defence is tough.. Lebron cant drive to the basket. Kid always strip the ball when he attempt to drive and shot.. Lebron is dominant today the cupcake era.

[@LOL-ro9ef]

Fax. Kid was drafted in 1994. Here he is 38 way past his prime and locking lebron down

[@tattsshirtoffblasted7924]

Y’all clearly see they packing the paint

[@FredyVergara]

Mavs fan here! Wooo ! 🔥 lebron smh lol

[@316lawdog]

LOCKDOWN.

[@wildcatselite1]

Woow.. this man let j Kidd keep him in check.. smh

[@FrYLocK41]

How can the "goat" in his absolute prime at 26 years old be clamped by a 38 year old point guard?

[@FrYLocK41]

@Jamal Greasy This is why when Bronsexuals claim that LeBron is the goat I just laugh it off

[@FrYLocK41]

@Jamal Greasy Ehh, I'd he's in the top 6-10 range. I respect your take though.

[@mrsky67]

Jamal Greasy I respect that list. Although I’d put Timmy a little higher

[@dynamic6645]

@@FrYLocK41 I can cherry pick moments when Jordan was getting outplayed too

[@FrYLocK41]

@@dynamic6645 Cherry pick a moment when Jordan got outayed an entire Finals series go ahead lol.

[@JPLGFun]

This explains why Lebron was having the worst finals ever. Kidd never let him get "in the zone". Good defense is never mentioned in most games.

[@TroyBrownTV]

@0:24 great read Lebron. Dude just didn’t shoot The ball

[@user-bh7dk5xc4n]

While looking at 38yo Kidd shut down LeBUM, I remember how MJ toying with the peak Kidd in 90s.

[@mrjohnnyk]

Watching this makes me realize how differently the game has been getting called 10 years later. Now a days at least half of these stops would have resulted in the officials blowing their whistles.

[@JayZone23]

this is the playoffs though. officials allow these contacts in the postseason especially in the finals.

[@Kdar088]

@@JayZone23 exactly. This shows how differently the game is played, not called. Teams don’t get away with this that often because most teams have at least 3 good shooters at all times

[@Armando316]

Imagine Lebron against a prime MJ or a prime Gary Payton. He’d have horrible shooting nights.

[@benjzayb625]

lebron got no post play yet on this series ,spoelstra criticize him for it

[@DatPhatThe]

street name the kidd?

[@algladyou]

So Jason kidd and Jason Terry outplaued lebron. Lol

[@nbatalk714]

Kidd wanted his revenge from wen young bron took him vince carter and rj out in 2007

[@tj5180]

Lebron got locked up by a old white guy in the nba😂😭🤣

[@acto3837]

That old nigga also locked up Durant Kobe and Westbrook 😎

[@LOL-ro9ef]

@@acto3837 lebron is 6"8 260 and kid was drafted in 1994. How is a 90s player locking down an athletic beast like lebron?

[@fullmetal1766]

dont ever tell me lebron is top 10 this is pathetic he had no moves or jump shot then he still has none now

[@rafaelmeza725]

In all fairness, from an objective standpoint I'm not making any excuses but Kobe was not a 💯 percent in that postseason. He had a busted knee and a busted ankle and still played never made any excuses. LeBron's underwhelming performance in the 2011 finals will forever be a blemish on his career because you can't say he was injured or not a hundred percent. He just flat-out mentally choked in this series, let's just call it what it is. he had a hard time scoring on Jason Terry and Jj Barrera 😂🤣 still, in spite of all this got to give credit when credit's due Jason Kidd was one of the best point guards ever. Probably the second best defender of all-time at his position 😤🙌👍😎

[@eg7167]

Excuses. Kobe choked a 3-1 lead, missed the playoffs in his prime, and shot his team out of the finals in 2004

[@okeythegoat2332]

@@eg7167😂😂facts. Kobe got swept by the Mavs. I don’t want to hear it 😂too

[@mariowens7607]

🏄‍♀️🏄‍♀️🏄‍♀️

[@richieb3356]

LeBum

[@HansLotap]

Sloppy plays. what a shame

[@anacleto_da_god]

Jj and terry exposed #Leflop 😂😂😂😂😂

[@orgusschen2000]

LBJ like kid

[@raulramirez8515]

I wouldn't call that defense I love Jason Kidd but lebron was too scared to drive in on smaller people cuz now you look at him he doesn't care he's gonna bulldoze people no matter the size. I was happy that dirk got a ring tho he deserves it

[@jassnaj7443]

bs

[@alu030023]

dun no a shit about basketball

[@raulramirez8515]

+alu030023 what? Ur an idiot that's why lebron be posting up curry now cuz he don't care and he knows if he has a smaller player on him he has to take advantage. Dumbass ,U just don't want to admit it

[@boogieloo1831]

raul ramirez - Kidd played great position defense here especially considering he's 38 years old here. But with LBJ, since he's a pedestrian outside shooter, sagging off of him to prevent the drive and forcing him to shoot is the best defense - that's even more so true as Kidd is smaller and trying to body him up would be ineffective and he'd blow right by Kidd that way.

[@bigty390]

fuddyduddie1 u a dumbass LeBron choke

[@AnonYmous-gj1hw]

but he got schooled by Wade

[@justinboateng8728]

I woudnt call it great defense I just see an uninspired and very passive Lebron

[@bigty390]

fuddyduddie1 gtfoh LeBron blew this series

[@oj4499]

That is defense u fake nba fan

[@josephleon7125]

This is why he isn’t the GOAT. 🤣🤷🏻‍♂️

[@peewee3030]

James played uninspired the whole series. if he would of taken it seriously, then Miami would have killed dallas

[@mrsky67]

Lol stop. He just choked

[@heroinvrxther5826]

@@mrsky67 That’s basically what he said. Dumbass.

[@mrsky67]

@@heroinvrxther5826 No he said, Lebron wasn’t trying, when he just choked. He had a chance and failed. End of discussion

[@heroinvrxther5826]

@@mrsky67 Basically what he’s saying. He had a meltdown and if he played up to his standards, Miami would’ve killed Dallas. Dumbass.