Through his first 11 years in the league, Philadelphia 76ers guard J.J. Redick has played against countless opponents on the court.
In a recent piece by Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype discussing the top current defensive players, the 33-year-old singled out both San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard and Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown as the toughest defenders he faced this past season.
“Kawhi Leonard is awesome. In terms of individual defense, he’s probably as good as it gets in terms of his versatility and ability to guard multiple positions. He can guard anyone – small and big. A guy who did a great job [defending me] last year was Jaylen Brown. Avery [Bradley] was hurt the first time we played them, so Jaylen guarded me in Boston and he just did a great job of sticking with me. He has the length, he’s strong and he’s athletic.”
Leonard has developed the strong reputation as being arguably the best individual defender in the league with a pair of Defensive Player of the Year awards to his name in his first six seasons. He also has three NBA All-Defensive First Team selections and an NBA All-Defensive Second Team nod. He possesses the unique combination of size and defensive awareness that make him an effective player on that end of the floor.
In that same piece, other notable players such as Washinton Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall and Portland Trail Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard mentioned Leonard with that prestigious honor.
Meanwhile, Brown has quickly made his mark in the league as a strong defender in his first season with the Celtics despite playing in a limited role in 17.2 minutes per game. This is quite a compliment given that Brown is coming off his first campaign in the league and showed some potential in the second half of the season to develop into a key contributor for Boston moving forward.
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