Who are the best players in the NBA today at guarding Kobe Bryant one on one? We gathered a top ten list of who we think are the best at the impossible task of guarding Kobe Bryant. We did not say stopping Kobe Bryant! Nobody, I repeat Nobody can stop Kobe Bryant. But this is a list of the top 10 who can give him a difficult time.
- Bruce Bowen – arguably the best one on one defender we have in the league today. Quick feet, lenky, has Tim Duncan to protect the rim for him, and fouls all the time!
- Rip Hamilton – His biggest asset is that he makes Kobe Bryant work very hard running through screens on the defensive end. Small and undersized but makes up for it with effort. Also has a very good defensive team to help him out.
- Ron Artest – Big and physical. Ron ron takes away Kobe’s post up game with his size and strength. Forces Kobe to play from the outside. Struggles however to keep up with Kobe Bryant’s quickness.
- Josh Howard – A good defender with good size and great quickness and agility. Does a good job keeping Kobe Bryant in front him and forcing Kobe to shoot jumpers. Unfortunately for Josh, Kobe makes his jumpers!
- Andrei Kirelenko - Stands at 6’9″ with a seven footer type wingspan. Andrei is quick himself and can do a decent job at forcing Kobe to shoot jumpshots. He also forces Kobe to elevate more because of his length.
- Tayshaun Prince – Similar to Kirelenko with his length only not quite as quick. Tayshaun relies more on the defensive help of his teammates. But combined with Rip Hamilton does a decent job.
- Lebron James – Lebron with his size, strength, length, and athletic ability should be the best at defending Kobe Bryant. His problem is that he takes most of the game off defensively. He still belongs on the list however.
- Shane Battier – It seems like every once in a while Shane Battier plays a solid game defensively against Kobe. Sometimes he gets massive points scored on him too. So it just depends. But he’s a good defender and there’s nobody else to replace him on this list.
- Raja Bell – Not as good as he is hyped up to be, but nevertheless a “good defender” as quoted by KB24 himself. Quick feet, good hands, and very aggressive. His problem is that he is way too undersized.
- Stephen Jackson – People will probably be surprised to find him on this list. Captain Jack is actually a very good defender. And when he is assigned to guard Kobe he does a pretty good job.
