Ron Artest was a monster defender who played against most of the greats. So his opinion is worth listening to.
We still talk a lot about Ron Artest, aka Metta Sandiford-Artest, for his exuberance and his marginal side in NBA. We must not forget that the boy was above all a fabulous defender who gave a hard time to all the great players who crossed his path. During a visit to Shannon Sharpe’s show, the 2010 champion with the Los Angeles Lakers talked about what made Michael Jordan the strongest player that anyone could defend against.
« Michael Jordan was almost as strong as LeBron James or me. People who played against him in his prime will probably tell you the same thing. I’ll compare it to the other greats I’ve played against.
When I played against Kevin Durant, it was early in his career. The way OKC was playing, he wasn’t ready for what I was doing. I’m glad I played against him then and not five years later. I couldn’t have beaten him.
I first faced LeBron when I was the reigning Defender of the Year and he was already amazing, but I had a lot of good games against him. Kobe must have put 40 points on me once. So did LeBron. But nobody ever scored 50 points against me. Even 44 points, I think…
I think Michael Jordan was a little bit better than those guys. In my opinion, he would have put 50 points on me a few times. I say that because even when I was in my prime, he scored 40 points against my team. He was old and I was an amazing defender. But he still scored 40 points. »
« MJ » was indeed on his two-season stint with the Washington Wizards when he crossed swords with Ron Artest at the time. As much as many people want to forget that « His Airness » played somewhere other than Chicago, not everything about what the icon did in DC was a waste of time, especially at that age…
