Former NBA champion Tayshaun Prince was an elite defender while he was in the league. Being a 6’9″ small forward he was often assigned to guarding the opponents’ best players.
Recently he joined fellow former NBA champions Kevin Garnett and Isiah Thomas for a conversation. One of the subjects that was touched was Prince’s experience guarding Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
The former Piston, who now works as the NBA’s Vice President of Basketball Affairs, said that the two superstars are different in terms of what challenges they present for a defender.
Via Advait Jajodia of Sports Rush:
“So with Kobe it was a matter of – alright Kobe is 6’6″, I’m 6’9” let me use my length. He’s starting to do these fadeaways, if I could just stay close, stay on the ground and jump and give good contest. I’ll bother him a little bit.
“With LeBron it was a physicality stand point. You know, beat you up, muscle to the rim, just be super physical. So the thing with LeBron, I could never get on the side of him. Always stay in front of him. The minute you get on the side, it’s over.”
