It looks like the Defense sliders might affect the way the AI decides to defend, according to this thread
It also could just be a specific team's tendency to play someone like LeBron tighter than most teams do. I think ACE allows for that.
I always noticed IRL how the Pelicans don't step out on Stephen Curry pick-and-rolls to keep him from shooting pullup threes. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I'd have probably thought it was totally unrealistic if I saw it in 2K.
If a coach can somehow justify a decision as extreme as not hedging on Curry, I think the same could be said about playing LeBron tight (which is basically the inverse). As long as it doesn't happen consistently across all teams.
