Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler is widely considered as one of the best defenders in the league today. Recently, the four-time All-Defensive team member penned an article for The Players' Tribune, wherein he openly spoke about some of the most challenging players he's ever had to guard throughout his entire career.
Jimmy Butler starts things off with no less than Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.
When you talk about a combination of speed and athleticism, plus a combo of strength and explosiveness, you gotta start with LeBron. He’s one of the most dynamic players this league has ever seen. He can literally play every position on the court and be elite at all of them. That makes him a matchup nightmare because the smaller, faster guys can’t body up with him — he just overpowers them — and the bigger guys who can bang with him in the post aren’t quick enough to keep him from getting to the rim.
Also on Butler's esteemed list is Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
It’s like, he can post you up because he’s seven [feet]. He can dunk on you because he’s seven. And he can shoot over you — he’ll be like, “You’re there? Don’t care … still shooting.” And there’s nothing you can do about it.
Butler also included Durant's teammate, Kyrie Irving, as well as former MVP winner James Harden of the Houston Rockets, and three-time NBA champ Stephen Curry.
This could easily come out to be the Top 5 best offensive players of this generation, and coming from a first-hand perspective of an elite defender like Butler, one will find it hard to argue against the same.
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