The Defenders’ View: Inside the Near-Impossible Job of Guarding Kobe Bryant
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On the eve of the 20th anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point outburst against the Toronto Raptors, several of the NBA’s most respected stoppers described to ESPN what it was like to line up against one of basketball’s most relentless scorers.
Tony Allen’s Baptism by Fire
Former Boston Celtics guard Tony Allen, a six-time All-Defensive selection, still remembers his first crack at Bryant on Feb. 22, 2005. Only 24 years old and appearing in his 54th NBA game, Allen fouled Bryant 16 seconds after tip-off, repeated the mistake moments later, and was disqualified after just eight minutes. “I was a deer in headlights,” he said.
The lesson reshaped Allen’s career. Before every future meeting with the Lakers star, he said he would “go home after practice, eat and rewind tapes of his moves,” fixating on Bryant’s fourth head fake in the post. Even with that preparation, Bryant averaged 25.8 points in 34 total match-ups (regular season and playoffs) against Allen, and the two split those games 17-17.
Shane Battier’s Data-Driven Duel
Shane Battier, a two-time champion renowned for meticulous scouting, treated every Bryant assignment like a personal lockdown. Friends knew not to disturb him “the day before or the day of a Kobe game,” he said.
The most famous encounter came on March 16, 2008, when Battier’s Houston Rockets entered with 21 straight wins. With Pau Gasol sidelined, Bryant launched 33 shots but finished with 24 points, while Battier used his trademark “hand in the face” technique. Despite the Rockets’ victory, Bryant still averaged 28.6 points across 37 regular-season games against Battier, including three 50-point nights.
Metta Sandiford-Artest on Bryant’s Mindset
Before teaming with Bryant for five seasons, Metta Sandiford-Artest (the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year) often drew the primary assignment on the Lakers star. “He wanted to kill everyone on the court,” Sandiford-Artest said, adding that Bryant’s ferocity never wavered, regardless of the opponent’s stature.
Jalen Rose and the 81-Point Night
Jalen Rose, then a Toronto guard, became a permanent footnote when Bryant scored 81 on Jan. 22, 2006—the second-highest total in league history behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100. Rose jokes that the Raptors “held him under a hundred,” but what struck him most was Bryant’s silence. “He wasn’t running around thumping his chest. He didn’t say a word,” Rose recalled.
Rose also admitted sliding his foot under Bryant’s landing space during Game 2 of the 2000 NBA Finals while playing for the Indiana Pacers—an act that would now be a flagrant foul. Bryant missed one game and returned to win his first championship.
The Mental Chess Match
Defenders said Bryant’s approach varied nightly. Some evenings he was distant and icy; other times he would open with a friendly greeting that, according to Allen, was “a layup” into a scoring barrage. Battier preferred no conversation at all, fearing the psychological ploys of a player Allen called “the most confident, cocky and arrogant.”
Whether opponents prepared with hours of film or specialized hand placements, the consensus remained: Bryant’s combination of skill, will and calculation left even elite defenders searching for answers—and, in Allen’s case, fresh warm-up shirts for sweaty palms.
Source: ESPN
