Manila visitor Dwyane Wade bares his most difficult defensive matchups

MANILA, Philippines -- It is probably an understatement that NBA legend Dwyane Wade is one of the best defensive players to ever lace up a pair of basketball sneakers in the world. 

Wade, a three-time NBA All-Defensive second team member, uses his agility and timing to defend the opposing team’s best offensive player for the majority of his 16-year career. 

He also holds the most career blocks by a guard with a total of 1,060, which include the playoffs. 

Wade, however, named a few current NBA players who would give him trouble offensively. 

In an interview with reporters at the Shangri-La Fort Manila, Wade named a handful of superstars would give him trouble on the opposite side of the ball. 

“Well, I mean, a lot of guys. Some very talented, talented people in the NBA. I'm biased, but I have players that I like because of the way they approach the game,” Wade, who is in the Philippines as part of his TADHANA: Make Your Own Way Manila tour presented by Li-Ning and Toby’s Sports, said. 

He named Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell, Tyrese Maxey and Stephen Curry as those who would be difficult to guard. 

“Anthony Edwards first come to mind. I think he's a handful. You know, one thing that was so great about Kobe [Bryant] is that he didn't care about missing a shot. Like some guys, you can see them getting ahead if you get a couple stops or you get a couple misses,” he stressed. 

“And then you got those guys who are psycho and they would miss 15 shots and they don't care, they don't shoot the 16th shot. So guys like that, they're hard to cover. The guy who's not afraid to miss the next shot or shoot the next shot. And so I look at someone with the mentality that I feel like a tough cover because of his ability to play all levels,” he added.

For Mitchell, Wade said that he is “so low to the ground and he has obviously an effortless shot.” 

“But, he also has the same ability to have to be able to be explosive... So guys that can play each level, they're tough to guard. They're not afraid to, you know, to score 60 on you and they're not afraid to go 0-for-34. Those are psychos. And those are the toughest guys to guard,” he added. 

And while Wade looked like he finished his answer, he named Maxey and Curry. 

“Tyrese Maxey [looks like] a nightmare to guard. I wouldn't want to guard Tyrese Maxey. I feel like he's another version of a player like me. But a guy, once again, that's just so shifty, so explosive, can finish around the rim the way he can but also get to the 3-point line,” he emphasized. 

“Tyrese Maxey is another player like that as well.” 

He also cited Curry in his list, whom he underscored is harder to guard off-ball. 

“You can’t guard a guy who shoots the ball the way Steph Curry shoots the ball. He will turn and fling that ball from anywhere,” he said. 

“Yeah, the shot he hit in the Olympics [over Victor Wembanyama], who shoots that? You know what I mean? It's a bad shot, [but] you wanted him to shoot that,” he added. 

“But the hardest part about guarding Steph Curry is when the ball is out of his hand. That's very rare. The hardest part about guarding most guys is when they have the ball in their hand. When he gives the ball up, you’d be like, ‘Okay, let’s go.’” 

Wade spent 16 seasons in the NBA playing for the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

He is a three-time NBA champion, an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, a multiple-time All-NBA team member, a one-time Olympic gold medalist, an Olympic bronze medalist and is a two-time inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.