Kobe Bryant. LeBron James. Kevin Durant. These names often get tossed around when talking about the most unguardable players in the NBA. Tony Allen knows all about them, having guarded them all during his 14-year career. But one name you don’t expect to hear from one of the NBA’s best defenders is Kevin Martin. Allen claimed the former Kings guard was one of his toughest matchups, and he hated facing him.
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Hosting Derrick Rose on his Out The Mud podcast, Allen was quizzed about the hardest guys to guard outside recognized NBA stars. That’s when he launched into a rant about “lightskin” players, claiming he would always aim to “punk the sh*t out them” whenever he faced one.
“It’s funny you was saying about the lightskin cats. Cos normally when I run up on lightskin cats for sure I’m trying to punk the sh*t out them.”
The player that got the better of him most of the time was Martin. Allen revealed that his unorthodox game, along with the Western Carolina University product’s ability to get to the foul line left him exasperated. He told Rose,
“So this specific guy, Kevin Martin, he got an unorthodox shot, he get to the foul line, and I used to be like ‘shut your bi**h ass up’ in the game like I used to just be on his head. But then I found out he was really nice. He’d get to the line and had 30, I’d be on the sideline, so his game was so unorthodox to me, and I couldn’t really gather it.”
Allen was one of the NBA’s better defenders throughout his career, so for him to praise Martin’s game is a serious thing. However, as is the case with all defenders, Allen grew smarter with age, and by the time he was in Memphis, Martin’s game no longer seemed a mystery. Allen claimed he was able to perfectly shut the guard down later in his career.
Even Kevin Durant gave Tony Allen his flowers
A few days ago, Allen had Kevin Durant on his podcast, and the 2x Finals MVP revealed he dreaded matching up with the Grizzlies in Allen’s time. The “Grit and Grind” Grizzlies, as they were well-known throughout the league, posed a lot of problems for title hopefuls early in the playoffs, and KD attested to it as well.
Speaking to Allen and his fellow Grizzlies teammate Zach Randolph, Durant said,
“First of all, TA, cant screen him. and then if you did screen him, most of the time, you feel like ‘oh it’s just an open shot’ and this m**********r come in flying outta nowhere. and that’s just f**k with you mentally dawg!”
Of course, Durant and the Thunder got the better of the defensive-minded Grizzlies, boasting a 2-1 record when facing them in the playoffs.
