LeBron James Named the 2 NBA Players He Found It Toughest to Guard

NBA legend LeBron James once revealed who he believed were the two toughest people to guard during his career. James is widely regarded as one of, if not the, greatest players in basketball history alongside the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Despite having played against Bryant during the peak of his powers, in James’ mind he wasn’t the most difficult player to stop. While many would’ve been focused on trying to stop the veteran power forward, the 40-year-old has also had to be in the same position where he must defend some tough opponents. And he revealed that two gave him a bigger headache than anyone else.

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Responding to a question in a Twitter Q&A in 2014, James was asked by a fan who he believed were the toughest players to guard in the NBA. In response, he named Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks icon Carmelo Anthony and that years MVP winner, Kevin Durant.

Anthony was part of the same draft class as James, with the small forward being drafted to Denver as the third overall pick shortly after James was taken number one by Cleveland in 2003. He would finish his regular season career with an average of 22.5 points per game, and he won the 2012-2013 scoring title, finishing with an average of 28.7 PPG.

Finishing just behind him that year was Durant, who is still in the NBA aged 36, having just been traded to the Houston Rockets. The former Oklahoma City star is a two-time champion, having won the Larry O’Brien trophy during his stint with the dominant Golden State Warriors, and has a regular-season average of 27.2 across his career.

James is not the only one to admit to struggling against Durant either, as fellow Lakers history-maker Bryant also conceded that he finished his career unable to figure out how to defend the 6’11” forward.