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Tony Allen's surprising pick for hardest player to guard

Originally posted on Game 7 | By Anthony Amador | Last updated 5/25/21

Tony Allen had a long and storied NBA career where he developed a reputation as one of the league’s premiere defenders.

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant famously admitted that Allen gave him more trouble on defense than anyone else.

As such, many have wondered over the years: who did Allen find to be the most difficult offensive weapon to stop.

This week, they got their answer.

During a recent appearance on the Ryen Rusillo Show, Allen got brutally honest about the toughest ever player for him to guard – Dwyane Wade.

“Although Kobe is cold, big respects to Kob, but I just think when I used to against my hometown coworker D-Wade at the time, I thought he was always trying to go at my head,” Allen said.

“And I thought it was my duty to try and stop him. Boy, was he tough. He gets to that line, he slashed, he wasn’t just your typical superstar where he just catches it in the post or catch it on the wing and just go to work.”

Allen’s commentary on how difficult Wade was to stop is eerily similar to something Bryant said regarding the most difficult player in the league for him to defend.

At the end of the day, every strong defensive player in league history had that one guy who was his kryptonite – and clearly Wade was that man for Allen.

This article first appeared on Game 7 and was syndicated with permission.

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