With LeBron James returning home tonight to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers now as a member of the Lakers, everyone has tons of questions. At least one of those has been answered before tip-off.
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew announced today to the media that guard David Nwaba will pick up the defensive assignment on James for tonight’s contest. Nwaba, a three-year pro out of Cal Poly, was signed by the team this offseason following James’ departure.
It’ll be the second time in the calendar year that Nwaba will square up against James in a matchup, the first coming back in March. At that time, Nwaba was a member of the Chicago Bulls and was not deterred at all by the challenge.
“I would hope so,” Nwaba told the Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson when asked if he indeed was checking the King last season. “It’s always a joy playing against one of the best players in the world.”
“It’s just a fun matchup,” Nwaba continued. “You want that opportunity to see where you stand.”
That confidence was surely something most players don’t possess when told that they’d have to track down LeBron for parts of a game. But James didn’t seem phased by Nwaba’s defense, dropping 33 points in a triple-double that also featured 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
While Nwaba didn’t start and only received twenty minutes, he had his fair share of looks at James’ greatness. Maybe he picked up a few things defensively that he can employ tonight. Given that the Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have realistically anyone else that can check James to any degree, David Nwaba will need to hold his own. That’s beyond a tall order, though; everybody knows what James brings to the scoring and playmaking table.
So the second crack at James comes for Nwaba, who will join a small-ball lineup for the contest against Los Angeles on Wednesday. Joining him in the starting five will be Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood, Cedi Osman, and Tristan Thompson.
It’ll be the first time that Nwaba will start this season for the Cavs, and the 24th start of his NBA career.