During his heyday, Tayshaun Prince was one of the most feared defenders in the entire league. The four-time All-Defense forward played the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons, where he played an integral role in the team’s 2004 NBA championship. That year, the Pistons pulled off a major upset against a powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers side that featured Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone, Gary Payton, and of course, Kobe Bryant.
Prince battled Kobe on the basketball court for many years. The former Pistons defensive stud also had this same privilege against current Lakers superstar LeBron James. Having had the opportunity to go up against two of the greatest to ever do it, Tayshaun Prince has now revealed the major difference in defending Kobe and LeBron (h/t Advait Jajodia of The Sports Rush):
“They’re both different,” Prince said. “… With a Kobe it was a matter of don’t let him get to a sweet spot. He’s gonna be physical with you, he’s gonna try to wear you down, so once the fourth quarter comes he would get to those spots and everything else is butter.
“With LeBron, it was a matter of, you gotta fight through 150 pick and rolls throughout the whole game.”
Prince then went on to share how much he relied on scouting reports whenever he faced either of these two all-time greats. The 42-year-old admitted that while the scouting reports were useful, he also had to rely heavily on his “God-given ability” as a defender.
“So with Kobe it was a matter of – alright Kobe is 6’6″, I’m 6’9″ let me use my length,” Prince continued. “He’s starting to do these fadeaways, if I could just stay close, stay on the ground and jump and give good contest. I’ll bother him a little bit.
“With LeBron it was a physicality stand point. You know, beat you up, muscle to the rim, just be super physical. So the thing with LeBron, I could never get on the side of him. Always stay in front of him. The minute you get on the side, it’s over.”
Obviously, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James were two very different players. Tayshaun Prince is one of the lucky few that was able to battle these two giants on the court.
