Lakers Head Coach Mike D’Antoni recently moved shooting-guard Kobe Bryant on the ball defensively, asking him to spend tremendous energy guarding younger, athletic point guards to ease the pressure on the 38 year-old point guard Steve Nash.

Naturally, if Bryant is guarding the point guard, Nash is going to have to defend a bigger player. In some cases it will be the opposing shooting guard or a small forward. D’Antoni isn’t worried about Nash getting exposed often on the cross match.

“Well, he doesn’t get hurt down there and he’s always in the right position,” said D’Antoni. “We do have Dwight [Howard] behind him.”

D’Antoni noted that Nash is a strong team defender.

“The best thing about Steve, what he’s doing, he’s organizing our weak side,” said D’Antoni. “He’s always in the right spot. He’s always cracking back at the right time and he’s getting guys organized and that’s been valuable.”

via Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times