Byron Scott spent 14 seasons in the NBA from 1983 to 1997 and got to play against a lot of incredible players during that time. As for who the toughest player to guard among them all was for Scott, that was the question asked to him on the Courtside With Marc podcast.
“The one that the Knicks had the most trouble with, too, Michael Jordan,” Scott said. “He was by far the toughest guy to guard, but also Reggie Miller was a tough guy ’cause he moved so well without the ball, and he was such a clutch player. I got the pleasure of playing with him in Indiana for a few years, too.
“Isiah Thomas was tough to guard,” Scott continued. “But a guy that doesn’t get a lot of notoriety, that a lot of people seem to forget, Rolando Blackman was tough. I mean, me and him had battles. He was just a tough 6’6″ two guard… Those four right there, they were tough.”
Scott came into the NBA a year before Michael Jordan did in 1984, and their careers basically overlapped. He got to witness almost all of the Chicago Bulls icons’ domination over the NBA.
Jordan has gone down as arguably the greatest scorer ever. He won a record 10 scoring titles and his career average of 30.1 points per game is the highest in NBA history.
Jordan wasn’t quite as brilliant as usual in matchups with Scott in the regular season, though. Over their 19 meetings, he averaged 28.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.2 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field.
As was the case for much of his career, however, Jordan stepped up his game in the postseason. He got to face Scott and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals and was brilliant in that series.
Jordan averaged 31.5 points on 56.7% shooting from the field over the first four games to put the Bulls up 3-1. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Scott injured his shoulder in their Game 4 loss and would play no further part in the series as the Bulls won in five games.
We get to Reggie Miller next and he put up 19.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game against Scott, while shooting 51.4% shooting from the field and 39.1% from beyond the arc. The scoring volume wasn’t there, but Miller was very efficient.
Isiah Thomas was the third name Scott brought up and the Detroit Pistons icon averaged 20.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 10.5 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in their regular-season meetings, while shooting 43.4% from the field. These two would face off in the 1988 NBA Finals as well, in which Thomas put up 19.7 points on 42.6% shooting from the field.
The Lakers won in seven games, but the Pistons got their revenge the following year by sweeping them in the 1989 NBA Finals. Scott played no part in the series, though, as he was sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Lastly, we get to four-time All-Star Rolando Blackman, who certainly does not get talked about today. Blackman averaged 16.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game against Scott in the regular season, while shooting 44.2% from the field.
These two had quite a few battles in the postseason, too. They faced off in four playoff series, with three of them coming in the 1980s. Scott’s Lakers won all three, but Blackman did put up 19.7 points on 50.0% shooting from the field for the Dallas Mavericks. He was a very good player, who has somewhat been lost to history.
