Bradley: Kyrie is the hardest player to guard and it's 'not even close'

Real recognize real.

Avery Bradley is widely celebrated as one of the best defenders in the league, but even he had to tip his cap to the impossible task of guarding Kyrie Irving.

Bradley showed Irving some love through a Twitter Q-and-A as part of his introduction to the Detroit Pistons.

Irving and Bradley have both spent their entire careers in the Eastern Conference, so they're intimately familiar with one another. They have also faced one another twice in the playoffs, with the most recent meeting taking place in May.

Irving averaged 25.8 points on 62.2 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent from deep in Cleveland's 4-1 series win over the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.