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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

Former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert named the toughest players he had to guard in his career in a recent interview. The 32-year-old NBA veteran’s list included Kevin Durant, Tyreke Evans, and Kyrie Irving. Additionally, Shumpert also shared an intriguing encounter he had with Kevin Durant when the 33-year-old superstar played for OKC.

A former teammate of LeBron James, Iman Shumpert has played against the best competition in the league. In fact, he became a world champion with the Cavaliers in 2016, defeating the 73-9 Warriors team. However, Shumpert’s list of his toughest opponents doesn’t include Dubs guard Stephen Curry or his Cavaliers teammate LeBron James.

Iman Shumpert names Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as his toughest opponents

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Iman Shumpert didn’t hesitate to name the Nets duo Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant as the toughest opponents he had guarded in his career. In fact, he revealed in an interview how Kevin Durant once toyed with him on the offensive end.

Durant played for Oklahoma City Thunder back then. Shumpert tried to lock him down with his defense. However, the 2014 MVP would effectively use a ball screen to get past the 6’5″ guard.

As a result, Shumpert called out KD on his ball screen trick. In other words, he tried to guilt him for using screens to score all the time. Meanwhile, KD had had enough of it.

USA Today via Reuters

“‘Alright, Coach, get rid of the ball screen‘”, the 12-time All-Star yelled, according to Shumpert’s testimony. But the removal of the ball screen didn’t impact Kevin Durant’s scoring ability.

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As it turns out, the 6’10” former MVP started to torch Shumpert in isolation. “Took me over there to a iso, did some shot,” revealed the Georgia Tech alumnus. Later on, Shumpert got the opportunity to have a closer look at KD and Kyrie’s game during his stint with the Brooklyn Nets.

KD and Kyrie’s future in the NBA

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The NBA world has been buzzing with anticipation of a blockbuster Kevin Durant trade for a while now. The two-time NBA champion requested a trade out of Brooklyn some time ago.

Meanwhile, NBA rumors had predicted a potential reunion between 2016 world champions LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. However, that move is on hold after Kyrie decided to exercise his $36.5 million player option with Brooklyn.

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What do you think of Shumpert’s KD story? Comment your thoughts below.