Kings guard Ellis reveals which NBA player is the toughest to guard Originally appeared in NBC Bay Area Sports
Keon Ellis is known and appreciated for His defensive prowessBut even the Kings’ young point guard has endured challenges on that end of the court in the NBA.
After Emerging into Sacramento’s rotation and eventually the starting lineup for the latter part of the 2023-24 season, Ellis was often tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best player. While there’s no stopping some of the game’s biggest stars, Ellis did his best to limit what the world knows they’re capable of on the court.
But among the multitude of superstars the 24-year-old has had to face, who does he think is the toughest to defend? Before NBC Sports California’s Deuce Mason could answer the full question, Ellis didn’t hesitate to reveal his answer.
“Kyrie Irving is probably the hardest to guard,” Ellis said in a recent appearance on “The Deuce & Mo Podcast.” “Because for me, I’m most concerned about guarding guys that can shoot from deep. If you can shoot 3s at a high rate, it’s like, damn, because now I have to push up and I can’t use my wingspan.”
Ellis went on to explain how other explosive players, like Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, can affect the game in a number of different ways, but aren’t necessarily as reliant on the three-pointer, making them a little easier to defend.
But not with players like Irving, who can score at all three levels.
“But with a player like (Jalen) Brunson or (Steph) Curry, (Damian Lillard), you have to be in their airspace because any little bit of space makes their shot go up, and we know how those players can do that,” Ellis continued. “But Kyrie, he can shoot from the three-point line, but he can also get to his spot in the mid-range. He does something you’ve never seen. You think you’ve got it, but he just throws something up with his left hand and it doesn’t hit anything but the net.”
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While Ellis acknowledges what a nightmare it is to defend Irving, he will never forget the time he almost, almost, stole his wallet once.
“His hands are so good that he knows what he’s doing, he knows how to get to his spots,” Ellis said. “One time I almost stole it from him, almost. He threw a crossover, and I grabbed it and it could have gone out of bounds, but he thought I kicked it. He was like, ‘Did you kick it?’ I was like, ‘No, I almost stole it.'”
“If I had stolen it, it would have been a crucial memory for me.”
Fortunately for Ellis, he’ll have plenty more opportunities with the 2024-25 NBA season right around the corner.