Metta World Peace’s Top 10 List of Most Difficult Players To Guard

The former Laker has five players on the list you might have never heard of

Metta World Peace knows a thing or two about guarding the best players in the NBA. He carved a niche for himself by containing some of the best in the world and was named the NBA’s defensive player of the year in 2004 when he was with the Indiana Pacers. 

But half of the players on the list you might not know, partly because they’re players he grew up playing against on the tough basketball courts of the Queensbridge projects in New York. 

World Peace made a list of the “top 10 hardest players I’ve had to guard” in no particular order.

1. Mike Chatfield-Queensbridge hustler(R.I.P)

2.Kobe Bryant

3. Strick-NYC legend(R.I.P)

4. Richard Hamilton 

5. Michael Jordan 

6. LeBron James

7. DP-NYC Legend 

8. Paul McPherson

9. Sharon Brown -NYC Legend

10. Junie Sanders-NYC legend

World Peace has long talked about the late Mike Chatfield, who he grew up defending on the streets of Queens, as the toughest player he’s had to guard even when he was playing in the NBA. Chatfield didn’t make the NBA and was killed at age 31. 

“Queensbridge baller/hustler/idolized in the hood,” World Peace said of Chatfield. “He was my No. 1.” 

Several other people on his list have died, including his friend and former teammate Kobe Bryant, whom he won the 2010 NBA championship alongside. 

“I didn’t say R.I.P. Kobe because it’s just too fresh to come to grips with Kobe’s not here,” World Peace said.

He gave plenty of accolades to Junie Sanders, another player from New York City. Sanders, who earned the street ball nickname “General Electric," played in the G-League for two years and also internationally. 

“He should’ve been pro,” World Peace said. “Everybody knew he should’ve been pro, back in 2004, 05, 08. All that. No way Junie was not in the pros. If you were in NYC and you went to Nike Pro City and you played against Junie, there’s no way in the world that he didn’t give you 30. Every year, I’m like, ‘When is he going to go pro? When is he going to go pro?’ That’s how you know in the NBA -- it’s how good you are, but sometimes if you don’t have the right representation, sometimes it’s hard to get in.”