“I just stick to my strengths. Look at everybody in the league. They don’t pay players to play defense. There’s only two people historically that play defense. I’m not going to say I won’t, but to say that’s a weakness is like saying that’s everybody’s weakness. Because I’ve scored 30 and 20 on a lot of guys that say they play defense. “If you know the game, you also know that everyone’s a pro, right? And you know that certain guys have an average. No matter what you do, they still get that average. They pay people to score the ball, and I would hope that somebody scores the ball on me if they pay them that much. So, I’m not saying that to cop out or nothing. It’s the NBA. We’re professionals. Everybody scores. It’s just about limiting them as much as you can, trying to contain them.” Via https://www.slamonline.com/nba/jabari-parker-dont-pay-players-play-defense/ Who are the two players? Bill Russell and Dennis Rodman?
An individual can have more impact on offense, because they're more in control and they don't need to rely on teamwork.. That's why players who are great on that side of the ball get paid more... But defense is a (more equal) sum of its parts, and if everyone had that attitude, then that team is going to consistently lose because of their defense.
