At this point guarding Smush Parker might be a struggle for Bean, but here is what he had to say about Carmelo and King Hairline.

To Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony is the toughest cover in the NBA. Tougher, even, than LeBron James.

“For me, yeah,”

 ”He was the most difficult because of his size and his speed.”  “Melo does it all and he’s as strong as a bull,” Bryant said. “For me, I weight (180 pounds) soaking wet. Going up against that bull, man, it’s fun but it’s extremely challenging.”

To use some baseball terms, Lebron would be considered a 5 tool player, while Melo would just be a home run hitter.  So if your goal is to just stop home runs I can see where Kobe is coming from.

Lakers play at the Garden this evening.