LeBron James names toughest defender he's ever played against
During his 22 seasons in the NBA, LeBron James has faced just about every imaginable defense and every good or great defender the league has had to offer. Like anyone else, he has had his moments where opposing defenses have gotten the best of him, but he has also made plenty of opposing defenses look weak and incompetent.
Thanks to his unprecedented longevity, he has played through multiple eras of NBA basketball, which means he has faced great defenders who have been out of the league for a while. On a recent episode of his "Mind the Game" podcast, he named the toughest defender he ever faced, and it was someone who hasn't played in a game since 2017: Metta Sandiford-Artest.
'Yeah, Ron Artest,' he said. 'Metta World Peace now. Really good with his hands, laterally was really good, strong as an ox. We played a game in my early years when he was in Indiana I mean, it was challenging for sure. One of the best defenders probably I've played against. I had to go straight back to my early days. Ron definitely had you like, OK this is what the league is about. OK, lets continue to lock in, this is a hell of a test for you as an 18-year old kid out of high school with a target on your back. I was like yeah, I love this. This is awesome.'
Sandiford-Artest was a first-round draft pick in 1999 by the Chicago Bulls, and other than the 2014-15 season, he remained in the league until the 2016-17 campaign. In his prime, he was a very physical and fierce defender who had great hands, and he was named to four All-Defensive teams and won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2004.
After his reputation went down in the gutter following the "Malice at the Palace" early in the 2004-05 season, he came to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 and got to team up with Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won the NBA championship in his first season with them, as he played a key role in slowing down Paul Pierce during the NBA Finals versus the Boston Celtics.
But Sandiford-Artest was much more than just a defensive specialist. He was that uncommon player who could lock down the other team's best guard or wing and drop 20 points on the other end. He had a career average of 13.2 points a game and went over 20 points per contest in two seasons.
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