Dwyane Wade Talks to B/R About the Toughest 1-on-1 Defensive Matchups

Last week at his Wade's World Weekend in Chicago, Dwyane Wade gave a little bit of his time for an interview. One of the things we got to talk about in our face-to-face was playing man-on-man defense. 

It's easy to speculate based on observations who the toughest players are to defend and be defended by. However, that's nothing compared to actually experiencing it first hand. So who better to ask than one of the NBA's premier players?

I asked Wade who the toughest players were to go against and these are the players he gave me. The first three are the toughest players to guard, and the last is the toughest guy to be guarded by. Trust me, you're probably not going to guess who that is. 

Kobe Bryant

Dwyane Wade responded before the question barely left my mouth. "Obviously Kobe Bryant," Wade said.

Bear in mind he wasn't ranking them. Based on the immediateness of his response though, I have to guess that if he were, Kobe would be the top of the list.

Kobe's offensive game is as complete as they come. Whether it's from behind the arc, inside the protected area or anywhere in between, Kobe has a litany of moves that are second to none.

Bryant might be getting older, but Wade sure still has respect for the man.  

Derrick Rose

Wade then gave me two more players with the first being Derrick Rose. For those that are wondering, no, I did not put him up to it. He offered this all on his own. 

He said of Rose—and the other player—when asked who kept him awake at night, "Rose and P***, those guys that are faster and quicker. It's a challenge to be guarding those guys that are smaller and quicker. It's a challenge for me."

Well, it's a good thing that you have LeBron James on your team isn't it, Dwyane?

Rose is one of the hardest players in the NBA for anyone to guard this year. Though truth be told, no player in the NBA scored more unassisted field goals than Rose, in large part because he is an absolute bullet to the rim. When he's healthy, no one can go from the arc to the circle with the ball quicker than Rose.

Chris Paul

In case you hadn't guessed it, that other smaller quicker guy is Chris Paul, arguably the best all-around point guard in the NBA. He has lateral quickness that is virtually unparalleled. It's little wonder that Wade, who isn't exactly slow, would have trouble staying in front of him.

Paul isn't the scorer that Rose or Kobe is, but that's partly because of the system he plays in. When the Hornets met the Lakers in the playoffs last season, Paul established that he can still take over the scoring when he needs to.    

Arron Afflalo

The player Dwyane Wade found to be the toughest to go up against was none other than Arron Afflalo. Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. 

Wade said:

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"For me personally, it's about my mindset. Obviously, you always feel you can take your man one-on-one. Can you make the play? Can you make the shot? Not many players are going to be able to stop you from being able to get to where you're going to get to. 

There's a lot of good teams, a lot of great team defenses. There's defenses that are going to harass you for the whole game and make your shots tough but you gotta make 'em."

"

So I asked him, individually, is there anyone who does a better job of harassing you?

"

"I respect a guy like Arron Afflalo from Denver. I respect him for not only what he does shooting the ball, but for what he brings to the game defensively. He's a tough guy, so he makes me bring my 'A' game. I'm going to focus my game."

"

Wade emphasized that all these matchups are the ones he looks forward to. "Those are the ones that I enjoy playing against," Wade said. "Those are the ones that challenge me."

I'm thinking they probably feel the same way about you, Dwyane.