The Philadelphia 76ers are 8-1 and first in the Eastern Conference after beating the Detroit Pistons 112-106 on Wednesday for their fifth straight win. Their defense has done more of the work than their offense. Through Wednesday, the Sixers were allowing 105.1 points per 100 possessions, second in the league, while scoring 110.5 per 100, which ranked 20th.

LeBron James, who joined the Sixers for his 24th season, is now part of the conversation about that defense. Analytics page Polymarket Hoops posted a stat that ranks him first in the league in opponent field goal percentage. Fans answered by praising his defense, two of them raising Defensive Player of the Year, while one fan doubted the figure.

Fans Weigh LeBron James’ Defense After Impressive Defensive Stat

Polymarket Hoops posted the stat Wednesday night, after the win in Detroit. By then, Philadelphia’s opponents had shot 31.8% from the 3-point range and 26.0% from mid-range this season, and the Sixers ranked fifth in opponent effective field goal percentage at 50.0%.

Through Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers, ninth in offensive rating, were the only top-10 offense the Sixers had faced. Four earlier opponents, the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, and Chicago Bulls, ranked in the bottom 10. The Polymarket Hoops post shifted the focus from the team to a single defender.

“LeBron James holds opponents to the lowest FG% in the NBA (27.5%),” Polymarket Hoops wrote. The post’s text did not specify a minimum number of defended shots, a date range, or the source of the figure.

This season, Philadelphia’s starting lineup, which includes James, has allowed 95.4 points per 100 possessions through Wednesday. That was third-best among the 20 lineups that had played at least 50 minutes.

Not everyone took the new number at face value. One fan wrote: “We just faking stats now I guess.”

Other fans embraced it. One answered with a nickname that casts the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as a defensive stopper: “LeStopper.”

Another fan went straight to the league’s top defensive honor, with the Sixers nine games into their season: “We’re finally getting that DPOY.”

One fan, replying directly to Polymarket Hoops, took the award talk a step further, tying it to how James is being used on the other end of the floor: “How crazy would it be if he keeps this up and he wins Defensive Player of the Year and it’s good because he doesn’t have to take so much of the scoring load … so he can use his energy to defend.”

That point about the scoring load lines up with the numbers. Playing beside Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid, James has taken on a smaller share of the offense.

His usage rate was 22.7% through Wednesday, down from 26.2% last season, which had been the lowest usage rate of his career.

He has averaged 4.4 minutes of possession per game, up from 3.8 last season, compared with 8.3 for Maxey, according to NBA tracking data. More of his baskets are coming off passes.

Last season, 53.9% of his field goals were assisted. Through Wednesday, that share was 69.0%, his highest in any season.

In the win in Detroit, hours before the Polymarket Hoops post, James had 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 33 minutes.

Another fan, posting the next morning, summed up this version of James with a comparison: “Bron regressed into Magic Johnson with elite defense.”

The Sixers get the Cavaliers again Friday night in Cleveland, in an Emirates NBA Cup game where they will go for a sixth straight win.