For the past several seasons, Denver Nuggets wing Andre Iguodala has been readily identified as one of the best defenders in the NBA. Those skills earned him a spot on the 2012 Olympic team, an All-Star spot last season, and a strong reputation as the sort of player who can lock down an opponent's leading perimeter scorer.

However, defense tends to get short shrift in mainstream NBA analysis, to the point where it's hard to quantify and qualify exactly what it is that Iguodala does so well. Thankfully, we now have a must-read piece to help us understand. Matt Moore of Eye on Basketball spoke with Iguodala about his defensive approach and had him narrate several possessions in which he matched up against the league's best scorers. The results are fascinating, enlightening, and very much worth your time.

Above, watch and listen to Iguodala describe how he attempts to contain LeBron James. After the jump, check out some more highlights of Moore's feature.

A work of art holding a work of art. (Photo via Nina's Color Lab)

A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.

C: Nina's Color Lab. Nina Fike painted a portrait of Chris Bosh and his wife Adrienne holding their baby Jackson, volunteered to help with a Christmas party event the Boshes were throwing, and hand delivered the portrait to them. This has been NBA Painting News.

PF: Liberty Ballers. The Washington Wizards have been better than average since John Wall arrived, and much better (and much more fun to watch) than they were while he was working his way back from a knee injury earlier this season — they're playing faster, shooting better, scoring more and playing more efficiently all the way around. So why is Derek Bodner writing about that on a Philadelphia 76ers blog? Because it's important to remember the butterfly effect that a returning superstar can have on a not-so-great team, and it sounds like Philly's about to get its mercurially coiffed centerpiece back shortly after the All-Star break.

SF: Steven Lebron. Even before the three-team deal to import longtime Bryan Colangelo favorite forward Rudy Gay started picking up steam, Alex Wong was not especially thrilled with the direction of the Toronto Raptors, a path littered with "short-term fixes and band-aid solutions, most of which are to cover for management’s own mistakes." We're guessing he's even less thrilled tonight.

Steve Nash in 2004 (Getty Images)

Steve Nash returns to Phoenix tonight as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s “returned” to Phoenix before, as a member of the Dallas Mavericks back in 1999 on a night that saw him miss all three of his shots, but this turn is different. Nash was a member of the Suns between 1996 and 1998, but that turn saw him act as a reserve in back of a guard rotation that at various times featured Kevin Johnson, Sam Cassell, and Jason Kidd. Nash was traded to the Mavericks during the 1998 draft and played expertly for a team that never made it out of the Western conference playoff bracket. He came back to Phoenix during the 2004 offseason after signing a contract that would drive the blogosphere wild were the same set of terms and circumstances to arise today.

In 2013, he’s a member of the famous but struggling Los Angeles Lakers, attempting to make their way after losing 25 of their first 42 games. On the eve of his return to Arizona, CBS’ Ken Berger spoke with Nash in the midst of his purple and gold whirlwind of a season:

"I'm sure I'll be a little bit [nostalgic] when I get there," Nash said. "... I really haven't had a chance to think about it much. We'll see. I'm sure it'll be a very special night."

Even though the ovation greeting Steve will be extended and appropriate, this whole re-introduction is a bit of a surprise. NBA followers have been obsessed with the Lakers since the offseason, and Nash’s return to the court he once dominated seems like an afterthought. In August, we’d probably expect to lead up to the event with a few days worth of “Nash in Phoenix” recollections, but because the Lakers’ storyline changes every 48 hours, the return has been overlooked.

The Toronto Raptors are growing closer and closer to dealing for Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, in a seeming match made in heaven. It seems perfect to some that the Raptors would attempt to field the two most overrated players available from the 2006 NBA draft that aren’t named “Adam Morrison.”

On Wednesday, amid swirling rumors about Rudy Gay heading to the Toronto Raptors, ESPN’s Chad Ford threw this out in the midst of a midday chat:

Bryan Colangelo has loved Gay since his college days. He was seriously torn between Gay and Bargnani on draft night. I think he feels like if he unites them, the Raptors instantly get better.

To most, this noise acts as a signal that confirms how terrible a GM Toronto Raptors boss Bryan Colangelo is. That he was deciding on two of the more bleated-about players in both recent and 2006-inspired history with the first pick in that year’s draft. And it’s true, Colangelo has not been a good GM for Toronto.

Could a big enough check for charity get LeBron to enter the Dunk Contest? (AP/Mark J. Terrill)

LeBron James kind of gave us the ol' "bah humbug" just before Christmas when he told Fox Sports Florida's Chris Tomasson he'd never compete in the Slam Dunk Contest at the NBA's annual All-Star Saturday festivities. The Miami Heat star's announcement, in which James said he's "getting too old for that" sort of thing, effectively ended the seemingly constant "will he? won't he?" buzz that's followed James throughout his NBA career — which, it's worth noting, he stoked himself by saying he'd be up for the 2010 contest before later hemming and hawing and ultimately not doing it.

Still, despite James' yuletide kibosh, an NBA lover has decided to take one more run at changing the King's mind. See, during All-Star Weekend 2012, James told ProBasketballTalk's Brett Pollakoff he might consider entering the dunk contest if the winner received a $1 million grand prize, because a check for $1 million is enough to make most people consider most things (including offering up their wives for one night of passion). So 28-year-old fan Chris Thomas decided he'd try to get that $1 million together ... with a bit of a twist:

Let's raise enough money to entice LeBron to enter the 2013 Dunk Contest. But instead of the money going to him, it will go to his charity, the LeBron James Family Foundation. [...]

Through GoFundMe, I will collect donations on behalf of LBJ's charity that are entirely contingent upon his participation in the 2013 Slam Dunk Contest. In other words, the only way everyone's donations are transferred to his foundation is if we get to see King James throw down Saturday night in Houston. If this idea falls on its face or if we are successful in raising a ton of money, but James is still unwilling to participate, all donations will be refunded. [...]

If this is successful everyone wins: the fans, the game of basketball and most importantly the LeBron James Family Foundation. There is certainly no guarantee even $1 million will convince him to participate, but let's raise enough money to make him an offer he can't refuse.

Seriously, Reggie Evans doesn't see the difference at all. (Getty Images)

The first time the Brooklyn Nets met the Miami Heat, the defending champs served a 30-point notice that a move into the five boroughs didn't necessarily mean a move into the East's elite. The second time they played, the Heat took over in the third quarter to end a five-game Brooklyn winning streak and kickstart a dismal December for the Nets that cost Avery Johnson his job. The Nets will get their final regular-season crack at taking down Miami on Wednesday, riding a 13-4 mark under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo and welcoming a Heat team that's looked a bit shaky at times en route to a 7-5 record in January; a win would draw Brooklyn within two games of the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

If that by itself sounds like high-enough stakes for Wednesday night's tipoff ... well, clearly your name isn't Reggie Evans. On Wednesday morning, the Brooklyn bruiser shared some thoughts on welcoming the defending champs with Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Chief among them: That they're not really "champs," and that their MVP isn't really anything to write home about.

The Heat is just another team and LeBron is just another player to Reggie Evans, who indicated Miami’s title run last season is diminished because the schedule was shortened.

“It doesn’t prove nothing,” Evans told the Daily News when asked what it would mean to beat the defending champs. “That was a lockout season.” [...]

“Our team is defending the Miami Heat. If our team has to defend one person, LeBron isn’t going to score nothing. … LeBron is no different from Joe Johnson or Andray Blatche. No different,” Brooklyn’s starting power forward said. “People need help (on defense). Some people don’t need help. Everybody has to be double-teamed, it doesn’t matter who you are. You just have to stop LeBron in transition.

“He’s quick in transition. If you look at Joe Johnson — Joe Johnson has two or three people trying to stop him. Whoever is guarding him.”

You're welcome. Also, this looks way cooler in Bullet Time. (Noah Graham/NBA/Getty Images)

You guys: The Los Angeles Lakers are BACK!

It's been hard to keep track of whether the Lakers were done or back this season, after they struggled to a 1-4 first start to the season, then restarted the season by firing Mike Brown, then staggered for like a month and a half of Season No. 3 under new coach Mike D'Antoni, then got consecutive Ws after D'Antoni lit the candle on Season No. 4, then dropped three straight that led Dwight Howard to break the seal on Season No. 5. But after three wins in a row, it seems very safe to say that the Lakers are now BACK. The latest proof: L.A.'s 111-106 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday, a game that saw Howard play aggressively in the paint on both ends (a team-high 24 points, five steals and four blocks), dusted-off forward Earl Clark continue to play well (20 points on 11 shots, 12 rebounds, four assists) ... and Kobe Bryant continue his transformation from scorer to facilitator.

After averaging more than 24 field-goal attempts and just 4.2 assists per game over a monthlong stretch that saw L.A. go 5-11, Bryant has switched up over the past three games, taking just 34 shots while dishing 39 dimes in the trio of wins, the most in any three-game stretch during his 17-year NBA career. As ProBasketballTalk's Kurt Helin noted, Kobe running the show while Steve Nash works off the ball, Clark and Antawn Jamison park in the corners to space the floor, and Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace sit on the bench stewing and brainstorming pranks wasn't exactly the vision hatched this summer, but it seems to be working — especially the "Kobe at point guard" part.

This, of course, doesn't surprise Kobe much. As he told reporters, including the Los Angeles Times' Melissa Rohlin, after the game, not only is he enjoying the shift, but he's pretty sure he'd be the best point guard of all time if things had broken a little different, and also that he is a very dated goth/electropunk savior:

After ripping off a 19-6 run over the final six-plus minutes of the second quarter to take a commanding lead over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Dallas Mavericks really wanted to get one more closing-seconds bucket — one last score to drive a stake into the home team's heart before halftime. But who would they turn to for that first-half dagger?

Would it be longtime leader Dirk Nowitzki? Or maybe O.J. Mayo, Dallas' top scorer on the season? Perhaps Darren Collison, who'd already scored a team-high 10 points in the second. And sure, Shawn Marion had missed his last four shots, but he'd gotten hot in a hurry in the first quarter; he could be worth a look. Or maybe you go with a Vince Carter drive, with Brandan Wright there to crash the offensive glass for a put-back.

[Related: LaMarcus Aldridge hits game-winner vs. Mavs (video)]

So who'd Rick Carlisle wind up going with? None of the above, because the referees realized that six Mavericks on the court is one too many, and that's illegal:

A helpful diagram of the infraction from the highlights of NBA TV's Fan Night broadcast, thanks to r/NBA user heat: