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The 5 hardest players to defend in the NBA

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / reuters

5. LaMarcus Aldridge

It's easy to underrate Aldridge's game because he's not flashy. He rarely ends up on highlight reels because he doesn't hammer home high-flying dunks.

But overlooking Aldridge would be a mistake as he's undoubtedly one of the best power forwards in the game. 

It all comes down to his unmatched mix of size, quickness and skill. Aldridge has the size and post moves to score on anyone on the block. But he's also a lethal midrange threat, an improving 3-point shooter, and a willing passer on a team filled with 3-point threats.

4. Russell Westbrook

Unlike Aldridge, Westbrook routinely grabs headlines with triple-double heroics and sky-walking theatrics. He has carried the Thunder through an injury-plagued season and catapulted himself into the MVP discussion.

Westbrook's most admirable trait is his relentlessness. He overwhelms opponents with his unmatched aggression and athleticism. He drives furiously and turns every defensive rebound into a fast-break opportunity.

3. Stephen Curry

Curry's combination of ball-handling, innovative passing and otherworldly shooting ability is unfair. He's shooting over 40 percent on pull-up 3-pointers and he can virtually get them off against anyone, any time.

Defenses routinely double-team Curry on high pick-and-rolls in an effort to cut down on his lethal jumper. That means they prefer to play 3-on-4 on defense against everyone else than to play Curry straight up. He's that lethal.

2. James Harden

A high pick-and-roll with Harden and a host of shooters is the Rockets' pet play. And for good reason: it's nearly unstoppable.

Standing at 6-foot-6 and weighing 230 pounds, Harden is a load to handle for most wing defenders. When he gets downhill with a head of steam, there's almost no getting in his way. 

If teams don't step up on him, Harden will finish through defenders. If teams try to take a charge, Harden has the best euro-step in the game. And if anyone even lays a finger on him, Harden will throw up his arms and draw contact. He leads the league in both free-throw attempts and makes. Finally, if teams swarm him with extra defenders, Harden is the league-leader in assists leading to 3-pointers.

1. LeBron James

James is an anomaly, an outlier, an impossibility. Never, in the history of the game of basketball, has there ever existed a player with James's combination of size, athleticism, court-vision, play-making and pure scoring ability.

Look at James through the prism of history: he has the size of Karl Marlone, he passes like Magic Johnson, he scores from anywhere - on the block, with his shot, on drives - like Bernard King and he's a high-flying nightmare in transition like Dominique Wilkins. There has never been anyone like James.

Even the biggest knock against James - the supposed notion that he isn't "clutch" - is false. He leads the league in clutch points per game (4.9), on 49 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from deep. 

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