Former NBA player Chandler Parsons says he feared guarding Kevin Durant more than LeBron James

After former Heat player Mario Chalmers said “nobody fears LeBron James” anymore at the beginning of the week, a lot has been said about the all-time greatest NBA scorer and how his intensity on court has worn down in recent years. 

The latest to discuss the issue was Chandler Parsons, who played 9 seasons in the NBA, as he was interviewed last night by Michelle Beadle on a Fan Duel TV broadcast. Even though he considers Chalmers comments “were blown out of proportion”, he believes he understands what he was trying to say.

Chandler Parsons says he feared Kevin Durant more than LeBron James: https://t.co/ow4j9LEelV

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 22, 2023

“I’m buying what he’s saying because he’s not like hating on LeBron at all, they are close friends,” Parsons said. “What he was trying to say, that I think was blown out of proportion, is that there are harder matchups 1 on 1.”

For the 34-year-old, he can think of many other great players he would fear guarding more than James. “Like when I was playing I feared guarding Kevin Durant more than I feared guarding LeBron James,” he admitted. “Just because of his ability to score. The way he can break you off, even if you play great defense he can shoot over you. LeBron is more passive, he gets off giving the extra pass and he’s less aggresive.”

However, the former Rockets foward did not want to fuel controversy and made sure he wasn’t misunderstood by his statement. “But let’s not get it twisted, there’s fear when you see this man coming down Hill on you, or even when you are going for a layup you know he’s coming behind you to block your play above the blackboard.

“I think Mario just meant like MJ, Kobe, KD or like Steph, these guys come in at your neck every single time, almost disrespected you. LeBron isn’t like that, he likes to get his teammates involved, a little bit more passive, he enjoy facilitating more than scoring. So I think that’s what he meant, there is not arguing what great of a player.”

 Co-host Eddie González believes players nowadays are tougher than in the 90s

Fan Duel TV’s co-host Eddie González not only agreed with Parsons, but added more depth to the conversation, stating he considers basketball athletes in the modern era are even scarier than players in the past.

Take a look at the 34-year-old’s full interview on last night’s Fan Duel TV broadcast:

.@ChandlerParsons and @bansky share their thoughts on Mario Chalmers saying nobody fears LeBron like they did MJ 👀#RunItBack with @MichelleDBeadle pic.twitter.com/M5BaZd4BnI

— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) March 21, 2023

“I think it’s a great perspective,” González said about Parsons remarks.”When I talk to more players about stuff like this, it reminds me about Kobe (Bryant) or Kyrie (Irving) and just like their skill level, and the difficulty of their shot making.

“Whereas me on the couch as a fan,” the co-host said. “If they were that scared of Mike (Jordan) in the 90s, and you guys tell me that was the toughest era of basketball, somethings not adding up.”

González went all the way to say he also buys what Chalmers expressed about LeBron, saying that teams usually have a game plan against James, and even though it doesn’t always work, at least it’s different than how no strategy could stop Kobe Bryant, as an example.