Many NBA fans often forget how good a player Cuttino Mobley was back in the early 2000s. He’s one of the best second-round picks to ever play, averaging 16 points per game over an 11-year career. But what he was most known for was his strong defensive skills, as he matched up with NBA legends on a nightly basis.
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Guys like Carmelo Anthony, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, and more consistently haunted even the best of defenders in their prime, and Mobley was no exception. Mobley had the daunting task of trying to guard some of the best players to ever touch a basketball. It was a massive challenge that he had to overcome night in and night out.
When he thinks back on the job he was asked to do, Mobley remembers one player specifically for all of the physical pain he’d cause. It was none other than Melo.
“There was literally no night off for me. You know, Melo was a bully. He was going to beat you up, and afterward you’re like, ‘Damn, dog, my rib hurts. It wasn’t hurting before the game, though,’” Mobley said on Podcast P with Paul George.
Carmelo was notoriously known for using his body weight and size to create space for his shot. He’d go right into the chest of some players to knock them off balance, and before they knew it, he was raising for a jumper. Melo literally made a living off the move.
But it wasn’t just Carmelo that Mobley had to guard. He was constantly given the toughest assignment defensively.
“It was Melo one night, then it was Ray Allen, then it was Tracy McGrady, then it was Vince Carter, then it was Kobe Bryant. For me, I have to guard those guys. I’m not sitting there roaming around,” Mobley recalled.
Those are some of the best scorers in NBA history. Four of the five are top-30 in all-time scoring, and McGrady probably would’ve been too if he didn’t deal with so many injuries. Not only must it have been a challenge for Mobley, but it also had to be frustrating to always have to guard the other team’s best player.
Despite how he felt, though, Mobley knew he had to stay locked in if he wanted to stand a chance.
“When I played, I had to stay laser-focused because I knew somebody was trying to bust my a** the next night anyway,” he said.
Even after unpacking it all, Mobley admitted to PG that he thought what he was being asked to do wasn’t fair at times.
“I had to worry about really athletic, do everything two guards and threes. And Melo and Bryant come in, and like D-Wade. I’m like, this sh*t ain’t fair dog. This is the craziest thing in the world,” he added.
Regardless of the fairness, it turned Mobley into a solid defender who could stand his ground nightly. He averaged 1.2 steals per game for his career and even managed to mix in a block here and there.
When George asked Mobley where he learned the skills to be a two-way player, he referenced some of the players he watched growing up and in the league.
“I got this from Kobe and Aaron McKie, and Eddie Jones; they were all great defenders. You couldn’t play when we were younger if you couldn’t defend. They wouldn’t even pick you. So, it was instilled in me to compete, even if you were busting my a**.”
Even though Mobley never won a defensive award or made an all-defensive team, he was still viewed as a stout defender whom his coaches trusted. He was a bigger guard who played super physical and wasn’t afraid to throw around his weight. Some say that Mobley was one of the best post-up guards to ever play.
