The rules in today’s NBA combined with the supreme skillsets of today’s stars make it almost impossible to guard them effectively.
JJ Redick tried to do that for 15 seasons, with little success, and on First Take, he named the five hardest players to guard in the league today, although he only ranked them in alphabetical order.
“Nikola Jokic, we got 10 years of tracking data per Second Spectrum,” Redick said. “You know what the no.1, most effective play over the last 10 years is? A Nikola Jokic post-up this season. He leads the NBA in touches, his passing is on point. He is the guy for the Denver Nuggets.”
“No. 4, Joel Embiid. The leading scorer in the NBA. Mid-range assassin, scores in the post – but what makes Joel such a nightmare to guard is his ability to get fouled. He puts that ball in his left hand at the elbow, shoots the jumper, you put your hand in, he’s drawing a foul. 11 free throw attempts a game.”
“No. 3, Kevin Durant. You got 27 years of play-by-play tracking data. Kevin Durant (is) the only player to ever shoot 55% or more from the mid-range. He has done that three times in his career. Absolutely unstoppable in the mid-range, 7 foot, he’s going to shoot over you. I had to guard Kobe (Bryant) in my career, I feel like Kevin Durant is a little bit like Kobe, the defense doesn’t really matter. He’s either going to make it or he’s gonna miss it.”
“No. 2, Steph Curry. The amount of mental awareness, the mental exertion, the physical exertion of chasing him through screens. Able to shoot in the blink of an eye – but once he gets the ball, your work is not done, because he uses his dribble package, his hesitation to either shoot step-back threes or get all the way to the basket.”
“And no. 1 on the list by alphabet, Giannis Antetokounmpo. No. 1 in the league in fast break points, (and) no. 1 in the league in transition points, he is relentless in attacking the basket. He’s got a chance to be only the fifth player ever to average 30-10-5 in an NBA season.”
(starts at 1:55 mark):
Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo form quite a list. Jokic is averaging 24.9 PPG this season while shooting a ridiculous 63.4% from the field while Embiid leads the league with 33.3 PPG and shoots 54.5 from the field.
Durant has been injured for much of the season but he is still putting up 29.5 PPG on 56.6% shooting from the field. His former teammate Curry, meanwhile, is averaging 29.6 PPG while shooting 49.7% from the field and 42.8% from beyond the arc. Finally, Giannis is putting up 31.1 PPG and shoots 55.0% from the field.
Who Else Could Have Made The List?
It speaks to the talent level in the NBA though that you can include so many others here too. One can argue that LeBron James remains unguardable despite his age but the biggest exclusion is probably Luka Doncic.
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups said Luka is the toughest player to guard in the NBA and he is averaging 32.9 PPG on 49.7% shooting this season. Herb Jones also named Doncic as one of the toughest players for him to guard and Redick did have Luka in his honorable mentions, along with Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
