Olympic Basketball 2012: LeBron James Will Dominate Spain Defense in Final

The Team USA men's basketball team has been dominant so far at the London Games, and LeBron James is part of the reason for that. The NBA champion should have no problem overwhelming the Spanish defense in the gold medal contest.

James is coming into this final game with games of 18 and 11 points against Argentina and Australia respectively—and he would have had more if both didn't become blowouts.

While James did log the most time on the court for the Americans in both of those contests, one could argue he took his foot off the gas once his team had no chance of losing. The Miami Heat star has been dunking on whoever he can find trying to block him during these games, and he'll do the same on Day 16.

Spain may prove to be James' hardest defense to break during this tournament, however, with Serge Ibaka and the Gasol brothers to deal with. The Spaniards have only allowed their opponents to score over 80 points in two contests during this Olympics tournament.

That stat is a bit misleading, however, when you consider Spain has not yet faced Team USA. The Americans are not your typical Olympic team, considering the amount of future hall of famers and current All-Stars on their roster.

James played against Ibaka in the NBA Finals this past year and has faced off against the Gasols on multiple occasions. The former Cleveland Cavalier knows what to expect from his biggest threats to posting a double-double type stat-line in this one.

Team USA has an embarrassment of riches to choose from, considering Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant are just some of the few other big names on this roster. Those names are another part of the reason that James hasn't been posting ridiculous numbers all tournament long, but his teammates realize he can if they need him to.

Regardless of his personal numbers though, James will have a significant impact on the final just by suiting up and taking the court. Spain realizes James is a player it must contain in order to pull off the upset, and focusing on him may lead to other opportunities for guys like Durant or Bryant.

The three-time NBA MVP is someone the Spaniards will need to stop, but won't be able to. James is having the best year of basketball in his career and has proven to be near-unstoppable in London.