Andrei Kirilenko says Kobe, Durant are harder to guard than LeBron

Andrei Kirilenko is known as one of the most versatile defenders in the NBA, and the guy has a 7’4 wingspan, so that comes as no surprise. He left Minnesota with assumed money on the table to sign for a contract worth just over a million dollars a year. He will add much needed depth on the wing for a talented Brooklyn Nets team.

Since he faces the toughest defensive assignment every night, his opinion should be viewed as as close to fact as an opinion can be. So, if LeBron is the best player in the league, he is the toughest to guard right? Not exactly, according to what he told the New York Post:

"“For me, personally? I would say Kevin Durant and Kobe [Bryant], because they’re very motivated to play with the ball,” Kirilenko said. “LeBron is way unselfish, and he will pass it as soon as the guy is open.“Kevin and Kobe, unless the guy is wide open, like wide open and ready to shoot, they will keep going at you. They’ll keep going at you. That’s why it makes it harder to play against those guys.”"

It would make sense to say that Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant are the toughest. As he says, they will be doing everything possible to get the ball in the basket, and LeBron is usually going to make the better basketball play. This is definitely an interesting take, but I’m sure he’d like playing with LeBron more than those other guys.