Mind the Game - Mailbag: LeBron on Prime LeBron and The Rise of Austin Reaves

Episode Date: December 9, 2025

Today’s very special episode of Mind the Game features LeBron James and Steve Nash answer YOUR questions. They cover questions about Austin Reaves progression as an NBA player, when LeBron and Steve believe their own peaks were and appreciating Derrick Rose. Plus they spend a little time shouting out Steven Adams and the offensive rebounding boom of The Houston Rockets.We’re so grateful to our fans for sending in these amazing questions. Subscribe and follow Mind the Game wherever you get your podcasts. Peace!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Coming up on this episode of Mind the Game. Today, Mailback. We got great questions from a lot of people on Instagram, YouTube, X, and everything. Steve, what was the most surprising challenge as a head coach, and would you ever pursue it again? What do you think contributed to the growth of AR? So he came into the season a lot healthier, but also just the confidence. I hope dearly people have not forgot about Derek Rose. What game were you most on fire? NBA Jamstile.

This episode is presented by the all-new Alexa Plus. Your smart, proactive assistant now understands your style and anticipates what's next. Whether you need help finding a meaningful gift or planning a fun night out, you can enjoy a personalized experience. based on your preferences. Say the word, and Alexa delivers across Echo, Fire TV, and more. Learn more at Amazon.com slash new Alexa. All right, we're back. Another episode of Mind the Game.

Today, Mailback. Okay. You jump right to it? Yeah, let's jump right to it. We got great questions from a lot of people on Instagram, YouTube, X, and everything. So go ahead, Steve, started us off, and then we're going to just, you know, ping pong it back to each other. Beautiful. Okay, here's one.

Ali Phipps on IG said what year would you both say was the peak of your careers? Oh wow, that's a great question. What year was the peak? It's tough. For you, do you feel like everything blends into one? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's my peak, I don't know. If you asked me what I feel like was my best season that I had, I felt the most complete

as a basketball player, I would say, 2018, 2017-18 season, I felt like I could do no wrong out there on the basketball floor. Offensively, defensively, I felt no flaws in my game. I felt like every time I stepped out on the floor, I really could do everything. everything I wanted to do all three levels defensively guard all three levels I mean I still feel that way but it was just it was just another level of that you

know in 2017 18 you know with the team that we had and you know and and so it was just yeah that that that season right there I felt like that was probably my most complete you know season I played all 82 games I believe that year and then if you You include the playoffs. I played over 100 games. I didn't miss one game that season. So a lot of factors winning in that. Yeah, I mean, I would say there was more than that year

where you could do no wrong on the basketball. I'll accept your answer. Oh, I'll accept your answer. For me, it's a tricky one. I would think actually the year after my MVP's, So 4-505-0607, I think, was like raw box score numerically in my best year. I felt in total command. But it's tough.

Like when you dive into like the advanced stats, you know, it could be a totally different answer. But like I felt like that was the year I had the most kind of met, the most just juice for it and skill and acumen and command. So that would probably be my year, I would say. Nice, nice. All right, from Andrew Mesquita on Instagram, LeBron. Please tell us how good Derek Rose was pre-injuries

through all the battles you've had with him on the court. I feel like folks forget how great he was in Chicago. Listen, Andrew Mosquita, I hope, and I hope dearly, people have not forgot about Derek Rose. one of the most explosive players that I've ever played, one of the most competitive players I ever played. Injuries suck. They really do.

And he's one of those examples. We have a lot of examples in our sport, obviously, over the years since this game has been introduced. But the battles that I had against D. Rose when I was in Miami, when I went back to Cleveland, The guy, I think he's the youngest, if people don't know, he's the youngest MVP in our league's history. And what he meant for the Chicago Bulls, he meant even more for the city of Chicago in whole. And he's a legend, he's a great, and we all love Derek Rose.

If you have ever played basketball, have ever been a part of our league, everyone, there's not one bad thing people can say about Derek Rose. So he was an unbelievable competitor. So we love Derek Rose, man. Very, very well said. What a player, leader. Had a great, I thought also, like, you know, we know the explosiveness. We know he could score. We know he became, I think, an excellent playmaker.

But he had a great kind of, he had a great poise about him, too. You know, I think he was the way he led his teams was, you know, was you could tell the guys followed him. They loved him. They cared about him. And that connective tissue is so important. So other than his people. peak being shortened by injury, you know, his level was all time.

Yes, sir. All right. The next one. At Flix 2013 on YouTube. Steve, what was the most surprising challenge as a head coach and would you ever pursue it again? I don't think I would pursue it again. You know, it was a unique situation where they came to me and said they, you know, could use my help with this group and was I up for it.

And so that was a great moment, a great journey. You know, unfortunately, we were always hurt. Our big three played 16 games together in over two years. So we never really got to see the finish line in a lot of ways. But it was a great experience. What did I learn? You know, one of the things I think that I didn't realize before coaching, there's a lot, there's a lot.

But one of the things that I think was interesting was, as a head coach in today's NBA, you are like, in a way, CEO of a startup in that you're bringing in a new system and culture to like 60 people it's not just 12 players first of all there's 15 players and two to two two wins right right there's nine coaches so including you there could be nine 10 11 coaches who knows on a staff there's five in the video room right there's 10 on the performance team you know physios trainers strength conditioning coaches sports science and you have the front office. You have to be in lockstep with the GMs, assistant GMs. There's an analytics

department. There might be three, four, five people in the analytics department that you're constantly interfacing with. So you add it up. If there's 50, 60 people, you know, there's a lot more management skills that come into it, especially maybe as a young coach trying to build something. You end up putting out a lot of fires or trying to be connective tissue or spending your time than things that you didn't necessarily expect when you accept a coaching position. So I think that's something that in today's MBA has made coaching unlike it's ever been in any era. I think it's made it more difficult in many ways.

Even though you would think by having more people it's gotten better, I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think when teams get themselves cemented, they build that culture, they build that system, the flow can make it easier and you have more brains, you have more human capital. as you are building it and trying to settle in what is our best system, what is our best process, how can we build out our, all the different departments, performance, Alex, all those things. You know, I haven't even mentioned players very often, right? So, like, there is a lot going on.

You add to a player development. I think that's probably where I would say I was unaware of how tricky that balance was and how much time that took. So basically, Steve, no, is not going back to coaching guys. No, this will be the last, the run of mind the game to coach. It ends with JJ. All right, we got a guy, I think it's a guy, it could be a guy or girl, but off IG at 856.

Dot, D-Y-L underscore. Asked to both of us, what are some of the best lessons you've learned from basketball that you apply in everyday life? Man, that's all, I mean, we say this a lot. Sport teaches us so much about life. Like, you and I both learn so much from being in the fire. I think we learn, like, we want our kids to play sports because we know what they'll learn being on a team

or having to, in an individual sport, having to stick to a routine and game playing, winning, losing, collaborating. So for me, the things that jump out, just sports in general, and then you talk about playing at the highest level. Sports in general, I think you learn character. You learn, you know, to be reliable for people to depend on you, for you to, you know,

know what it means to work hard and work for the team. I think when you get to the highest level and you're in the arena, as they say, and everyone's ready to critique or the pressure or the lights are brightest, you learn about resilience. You learn about being classy in defeat. You learn about getting up the next day, licking your wounds and doing it even harder. like that resilience I think for me I think that's the biggest thing is being able to accept your successes and failures in the same vein never too high never too low stay with your process and stick to the script so that that for me is something I can transfer to other

areas in my life yeah yeah I piggyback what you just said on the process just like you know understanding the process and you know being patient understanding that things just not going to happen overnight you know and you have to work towards whatever that is. You know, you can, in basketball, you know, working towards one to be great, you know, and you can accommodate to life and, you know, understanding that relationships does not just happen overnight. It's about every day applying and every day working towards it, you know.

And for me, as, you know, being a leader of so many different franchises in my career and so many different men, you know, understanding that how to get the most out of players, you know, and being able to understand that the communication that you have with one player doesn't mean that you can communicate that to get the most out of this player the same way. And, you know, I've been able to use that type of leadership into my household of now having kids, understanding, you know, Brani and Bryce and Zuri, they're all different. Yes, they're all my kids, but how I talk to Bronny may be different to how I talk to Bryce. How I talk to Zuri may be different from how I talk to Brony if I want to get the most out of them.

And so, you know, sports has allowed me to kind of use, you know, my, you know, I guess leadership and my, you know, where I've been in my career to kind of take some of those things into my household as well, but also just understanding that, you know, it's all about the process. And you can't just think it's going to happen overnight. You have to, you have to go through things. Like we've been, we talk about, it almost comes up in every episode about how the best teacher in life is experienced, you know. And that's how you learn from it. That's how you learn from it. It's a great, great answer. It's just funny, right?

Like, we, when you're a kid, it's so hard to understand, like, this is a, I want to be great at something. This is a 10 to 50 year commitment. Right, right, right. Like, they're like, well, I want to be good tomorrow. Yeah, right, right, right, right. Whereas it's like, no, to really, really be great at something and to kind of be in harmony with that,

that thing is like a long-term commitment in a slow burn so yeah i love your answer there thank you to our partner alexa plus you know in basketball the best plays happen when everything flows naturally that's exactly what i love about the all new alexa plus you're smart proactive AI assistant chatting with alexa plus is as easy as talking to a teammate. You can flow effortlessly between topics from checking your schedule to ordering groceries. It's like having a personal assistant that anticipates your every move. What really impresses me is how it puts thousands of services to

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Go to emirates.com to book your trip now. clip. This year, it's gone up every year, more or less, and this year, 27% offensive rebounding percentage league-wide, which is the highest since 2012. Have you noticed this trend? I didn't notice the numbers, but you do notice a lot more teams crashing, you know, trying to get extra possessions. And I think the reason is that because there are so many threes that's being shot now. You know, and there's going to be a lot. lot of long rebounds or a lot of, you know, you know, it's going to be a lot of miss shots. You know, there's the team shooting 40 and 50, sometimes, you know, at one point, you know,

Boston was shooting, you know, they got 60 of a game. And, you know, if you're shooting, you know, 35% of the team or if you happen to have a great shooting team and you're shooting in the 40s, that means there's 45% left of offensive reboundings to actually, you know, to take advantage of if you're able to get that, you know, so yes, you definitely, you can sense it down on the court that if you're not checking for your guy, you know, when a shot goes up, you know, then, and it's not just, it used to be just the bigs, you know, it used to be just the bigs and some, you know, some of the forwards, but now there's point guards running in there, you know, and there's two guards running there's

Everybody. Everybody is crashing and creating extra possessions. You know, it felt like five years ago even there was like two camps. There was like the teams that just got back, got back on the shot, trying to build their defense, not give up transition points. And there was the teams that crashed. And it felt a little bit more like it was personnel-based. Like do we have offensive rebounders? Let's go crash. Let's get extra possessions.

You know, if we don't have offensive rebounds, I don't know that we want to crash and give up transition opportunities or put people in a position where they can't get back. The analytics have been proving that offensive rebound can stop transition opportunities. One, you could give up a rebound and get an extra possession, therefore they don't get a transition, obviously. But two, it crowds that painted area, that runway I like to call it, for someone to get an outlet and start the break.

So I think what's happened is a lot of teams are recognizing, well, if it's going to help our defensive transition and it could give us extra possessions, and why not go for it. It feels like many more teams are going for, right? They're like, let's go. Now, maybe everyone has different rules. Like, you're not going for lost causes. Maybe the corner guys are running through the elbows.

Maybe certain guys just have the green light. But the numbers are going up. And it's been a huge part of Houston's play. The Knicks, Detroit, all great offensive rebounding teams. But Houston is the number one offensive team in the league right now. But on their first attempt, I think they're 10, 11, 12. They're somewhere like above average. But when you add into it that there are 37% offensive rebounding rate at the time of recording here today,

like that's insane. And Stephen Adams is getting over one in four offensive rebounds when he's on the court. So one in four misses, Stephen Adams is getting that thing. And so, and to go through like the analytics again is like our highest values are layups, you know, free throws, then offensive rebounds. because offensive rebounds lead to more layups, more free throws, or kick-out threes. Kick-out threes. So you can see the value of Stephen Adams to that offense when we don't really consider them an offensive player.

Right, right. And you understand that. I mean, you know as a competitor and you know as an opposing team that if you play Houston, one of the main focuses is Stephen Adams. You know, you try to. And how many cats can it go down there, right? The whole, you need the whole team plus the bench and the coaching staff and your security team to box him out. The strongest guy, oh my guy, he's ridiculously strong.

You can't box him out with two people. You need three or four guys around him. And then other guys get an opportunity, right? Because you've got to double, triple him on the glass. Like he puts himself in position where he can make a play on the ball even if three guys are trying to box him out. And so then, of course, drawing that much attention, the next one or two guys coming in has got a chance of that song. Incredible impact. I think it's a, you know, a pretty cool adjustment.

Like the game is constantly evolving. We're constantly trying to find new ways and seeing the league kind of push these boundaries. You know, Houston at this moment, time of recording, you know, they're flirting with the highest offensive rebounding rate, you know, this century. So it is, and they're the number one offense. So obviously, a lot of these conversations are contextual. They're about personnel. Right, right, right. But I think seeing a league-wide jump is, is obviously.

It's always kind of fun to kind of dive in and see what's happening. Yeah, and let's see how it continues to unfold, you know, throughout the course of the season. And, yeah, but it's definitely, you know, to the start of the season, it's always great to see how, you know, new dynamics and what's happening in the league today, what's changed a little bit. So let's see how it continues to unfold. For sure.

Here's one from Nylon 25 underscore EIN slash X, or I guess that's from X maybe. after a month into the season, what do you think contributed to the growth of AR? Do you think this is his summer work? Or do you think that was right there when he left off and he just picked up? I just think AR has picked up exactly where he left off of confidence. He's also healthier this year than he was last year. And I know he kind of set out a couple games this year.

But last year he was dealing with a toe issue late in the season. So he came into the season a lot. but also just the confidence. Understanding that his role is going to continue to pick up, more usage rate, more responsibility. He's not just one of the guys. He's one of the guy, you know, on our team. And he wants that responsibility.

So, you know, I think the coach of staff and JJ knew it wasn't too far-fetched to give him more responsibility and he's just taking full advantage of it. The guy is a, he plays golf and he plays basketball. that's that's that's that's him he has time and he puts the work in and then he goes on a golf course and clears his mind and then he plays basketball and he clears his mind and I think you know the guy's just he's just a great dude man I'm I'm so happy for all this success so far in his career yeah I mean man that dude is fun to watch I'm curious like I'm so curious having not known him in high school or college like what this growth has been like I know he didn't get drafted but maybe he kind of in a way worked it out to not be drafted or maybe he was like a second round for that incredibly you know what I mean incredibly fun watch and a guy they can do it at all three levels and play make for teammates yeah it's just cool to see people

grow and get opportunities make the most of them and I also hear you can shoot a low score on the guy yeah yeah he's damn good I think we got I think we got time for two more I'll start I'll start off with this one okay oh this is a good one right here okay YouTube at from YouTube at okay how do you say this okay D-H Drew Castro 6401 Drew Kastoruri 6401 from YouTube for the both of us if you could take one skill set that the other has and added to your bag what will it be where do I start you want me to go first No, no, I'll go first.

Definitely your Hezzy pool, for sure, off the bounce, how efficient you was, no matter right hand, left hand, like just, you were so fluent with this with this Hezzy. Get right to the pocket. Yeah, it would be the ball handling into the Hezzy pool, for sure. That's not even a question when it comes to what I would take from you. Thank you. I mean, the thing that from your game that is just so far from mine is, just your athleticism like it like one of the greatest athletes movers size strength you know to

have that combination of speed agility strength coordination and then to be able to do all the stuff that you know to score to pass to dissect but so that that combination of athleticism what you could do in transition what you could do in bullyball what you could do with passing over people, like, you just added a whole matrix to the game that I could never even touch. I can never touch that with just those ability that you were able to then put into the game of basketball. It's one thing to be an elite athlete. It's another thing then to use your athleticism to affect the game in multiple ways, defense, offense, transition, passing, scoring, bully ball, downhill drives. Like that, man, like, I can't

What would you like to move the way you move? Oh, man. Don't make me blush. Thank you. Thank you. Don't make me blush. Wow, you're allowed to blush. I'm mind the game.

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Draft Kings, the crown is yours. All right, let me look. Should I think one more? How about this one? Lakers lead on X. Do you think you have to master the mid-range to be a reliable first option in the playoffs? No.

I don't think you have to master the mid-game to be a reliable first option. But I do know that you cannot abandon. and in the mid-range in the postseason. And I know our, you know, throughout the course of the regular season, we want a lot of threes, layups, dunks, free throws, you know, but when the playoffs happen and the lanes

are even more packed than, you know, you're trying to manage the best shot that you can get to have a guy or a couple guys that can hit the mid-range at a very inefficient way. I mean, we saw what OKC did. last year in the post season. We saw what Indiana did. We see, you know, with Jalen Brunson and the Knicks

to be able to accomplish, you know, to have, you know, someone that can hit the mid-range shot in the postseason is a very, very efficient shot, you know, especially in the post season. So you don't have to, you don't have to be someone that master it to be the number one option. And I know we have Shay, who is definitely a number one option. But you, it's not definite, but you can't.

not abandon it, I would say. 100%. Yeah, I think it's the totality, right, of what you bring to the table. But to your point, like the mid-range has to be a facet of your game because people are trying to take away everything else. They're going to try to take away rim attempts, they're going to try to take away threes. So where's the space? It's going to be in opportunities to get to a spot in the mid-range.

You know, that's just the reality. They're going to run people off the line. They're going to funnel people inside the line. Then they're going to come to help. And we saw it, right? We saw the symbiotic nature of good teams is that they have players that create space for the best player. For the best player, if he's got to go one-on-one, his guy's going to be like, I'm not letting him get his rhythm and hit a three here.

So I'm going to get up until I'm going to force him inside the line and make him make something tough and contested. So at the end of the day, if your teammates make space for you and you have the skill to get to that, it's incredibly valuable in the playoffs. And almost like you said, necessary. There is no way around it, no matter what the analytics says, to be all three. It's just, it's very, very, very difficult. I mean, very few teams have been able to do that. You know, probably the closest would be the hard in Rockets teams that were

dangerously close to winning. But, you know, the midrange is such a, you know, inevitable part of good offenses. Absolutely. Great question. Great question. All right. Here's another question. From Dr. Dunks with four Zs on the week on X.

I mean, he's really talking to Ducks. What game were you most on fire, NBA Jamstile, and what's it feel like to be in the zone? The first thing that comes to my mind for you, and this may not be the one you think, is that Detroit playoff game. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, that's, what was that, 2006? No, I don't even remember.

It was 2006 or seven, I believe. Yeah, 2006 or seven. Early. Early in my career, yeah, I think I was just 21. I think I was just 21 or 22. Yeah, I was either 21 or 22, and that was the, what, 27 in the row, the last 29 out of 30, you know, in the Palace of Arbin Hills and Versa, unbelievable, talented team. I believe that team had went to, like, the conference finals, like, I don't remember, some astronomical number. I think it was like five, six straight times or something like that.

Can't remember, but they had so many great players. Great defense. defense, great complimentary players. They just had it all. And I don't know how young this person is, or how old this person is to ask this question, but they have to look up Bruce Leroy from The Last Dragon. I had this Bruce Leroy glow filling around me that night

that I could not even explain. Like the shots that I was making, I was taking shots that either I had worked on, but I didn't log enough hours with some of those shots. shots. Yeah, I've shot him before, but I didn't log enough hours to master them. But that night, I just, yeah, I had a Bruce Leroy glow, man. That's the best way I, that's the best way I can describe it. I was in the zone and I can't, if you ask anybody about what if, what does it feels to be like in the zone, it's the most, it's the most unexplainable thing. You can't

explain it. You just can't. I just had a feeling. I mean, that's a great, that's a great point. to explain. You just feel a connection to the ball, the floor, the net, the bucket, the game, like it just crazy confidence overcomes you. Which is a feeling, like you said. So, yeah, I would say for me, my career high was, I had 48 in a playoff game at Dallas. They were playing me to score, so I had kind of one-on-one all night. And this just says something more about me I think is that someone hit someone we lost the game playoff game in Dallas someone came up to me after like you know I don't know just someone backstage you played hoops it was like you had 48 in the last three minutes and you're

trying to pass every possession like so for me like I like to you know I like to score when my team needed it but I felt like I didn't need to always I didn't want to score a ton unless I had to score a ton in that moment I always wanted I I felt our team was healthier when it was a nice balance between scoring. But my whole game was built, I think, I mean, in a lot of ways, same as your game, with just different ways, like, on just paint pressure, rim pressure, just always a threat to get downhill. So for me, it was really about being aggressive. So sometimes you find those nights where you are in a zone, maybe you shoot a little bit more.

But I think we're both similar in that way that I don't think either of us went out there saying, like, if I get hot, I'm going for. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. more like just trying to play within the confounds of our team's needs. Mm-hmm. I agree. I agree. Thanks for watching, Mind the Game. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Remember to like, subscribe, or follow wherever you're watching. Thank you.