LeBron James praises Josh Hart, compares him to Draymond Green
· Yahoo Sports
Recently, LeBron James said on his "Mind the Game" podcast that he misses former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Alex Caruso "every single day." But there is another former Lakers teammate of his that fans would love to have back in a Purple and Gold uniform.
Josh Hart spent his first two NBA seasons with Los Angeles before being included in the trade that brought the team Anthony Davis. He eventually found his way to the New York Knicks, and he quickly became a fixture on a Knicks squad that is now one win away from the world championship after its stupendous comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday.
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James talked about Hart's versatility and will to win, and he even compared the guard's role to that of the Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green, who has won four championships alongside Stephen Curry.
“You got the wild card in Josh Hart, he’s like a wild card. ... He’s continued to get better and better,” James said on the latest episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast. “I was with him when he was young. I had the young Lake Show with him and BI (Brandon Ingram), and Lonzo [Ball], and Caruso, [Ivica] Zubac, I had the young guys. ... You just see Josh Hart continue to get better and better and better and he’s one of those few guys in our league that makes an impact and it doesn’t always have to be scoring.
“It’s the Draymond Green role where he gets you eight points, but it’s 12 rebounds. It’s seven assists. It’s diving for loose (balls), the stuff that doesn’t show up in the box scores. It’s that competitive will, and if you disrespect him he can obviously make shots as well. That coast-to-coast, left-to-right, right-hand finish. So it’s big time to see Josh kind of grow into the player that he’s in and he’s one of those guys like you said, we always talk about Alex Caruso a lot. It’s those certain guys that you can plug into any franchise, any team, and they’re gonna win because those guys just make winning plays.”
Hart averaged 12 points a game during the regular season, but he can drop 20 points on any given night. He did drop 26 points in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, but as James said, it is his overall play that makes the difference.
The guard averaged 7.4 rebounds a game during the regular season and 9.6 rebounds per game last season despite being just 6-foot-5. In Game 4 on Wednesday, he tallied six points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals as New York staged the biggest comeback in finals history after trailing the San Antonio Spurs by 29 points in the third quarter.
Hart is the type of two-way wing who possesses strong intangibles that the Lakers need to add to their roster in order to become legitimate championship contenders.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James praises Josh Hart, compares him to Draymond Green