Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star forward and Washington, D.C. product Kevin Durant has been on a tear this summer, but his OKC teammate Los Angeles native James Harden has been straight up ballin too.

Harden, who attended Artesia High School (Calif.), went head-to-head with Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and held his own. But Kobe got the last shot over Harden, hitting the game-winner at the buzzer during a Drew League game in L.A.

On Sunday night at the Long Beach Pyramid, the 6-foot-5 Harden, wearing the colors of the L.A.-based Drew League, was matched up with his good friend Durant. Others who participated in the Drew-Goodman exhibition game were Washington Wizards standouts John Wall, JaVale McGee and Nick Young, Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, Golden State Warriors forward Dorell Wright, Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza, Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley and Lakers forward Matt Barnes.

For those who were keeping score at home, Team Drew featured all the L.A. boys (minus Baron Davis and Paul Pierce): Harden, Ariza, McGee, Barnes, Jennings, DeRozan, Wright and Young. Representing the Washington, D.C.-based Goodman team were Durant, Wall, Beasley, Gay. Wall dropped a game-high 55 points and Durant had 50. However, it was the L.A. boys – led by Harden’s 48 points – who prevailed in the end. For one night, L.A. hoops hold center court. Final score: Drew 151, Goodman 144.

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After helping the Los Angeles Lakers win an NBA title in June, Trevor Ariza reportedly signed a five-year, $33 million deal with Houston.

Trevor Ariza disclosed on Monday that the Lakers never made a serious effort to re-sign him and owner Jerry Buss had his sights set on Ron Artest when the free agency period began.

“From my understanding, they told me that my work was like the mid-level or whatever, and to go find an offer and they’ll match it. The next day, I heard Artest had dinner with Buss and came to an agreement,” Ariza told Los Angeles radio station KLAC-570.

Artest reportedly signed a three-year contract worth $18 million, which amounts to $6 million per season. Final terms of the deal could not be finalized until next season’s salary cap is announced.

Just hours after the Artest signing, Ariza agreed to terms with the Houston Rockets for a reported five-year, $33 million deal, which amounts to a little more than $6 million a season. In short, the Lakers replaced the underrated Ariza with the more established Artest.

“It is what it is. I thank the Lakers for giving an opportunity to play for a championship,” Ariza said. “Things happen and it’s all part of business. I really don’t think I did anything wrong in this situation. They signed Ron Artest, and there’s not much I could do.”

Ariza, who turned 24 years old on June 30, admitted he never wanted to leave Los Angeles and his desire all along was to play for the Lakers. However, the Lakers had other plans.

“I mean, what kid from L.A. would want to leave L.A.?” asked the former Westchester High School and UCLA standout. “The business side is not always the pleasant side. You’re not always gonna like what you hear.”

During the regular season, Ariza averaged 8.9 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and was among the league leaders in steals (1.7). The 6-foot-8 small forward also converted a career-best 61 3-pointers. In his previous four seasons, he made just nine 3-pointers.

His stock soared during the playoffs, becoming a critical cog to the Lakers’ machine that delivered L.A. its 10th NBA championship and the 15th trophy for the franchise. His defense and timely outside shooting were key factors in the Lakers eliminating Utah, Houston and Denver in the Western Conference playoffs and zooming past Orlando in the NBA Finals.

After the championship parade where nearly 90,000 Laker fans at the L.A. Coliseum begged Ariza to stay, Ariza and his agent David Lee were led to believe the team was working on a long-term deal that would keep Ariza in a Lakers uniform. But contract talks never got off the starting blocks and Lee was heavily criticized for trying to “bluff” his way to getting more money for his client. When Ariza agreed to the $33-million deal offered by the Rockets, the prevailing thought was he chose money over winning.

Ariza claimed that was not the case at all.

“There wasn’t any negotiations. There was no, ‘We’re willing to give you this,’ ” Ariza explained.

“Me, I’m a competitor. I always want to win in anything. I love to win and I’m gonna do everything I can to win,” he said. “I had to do what’s best for me. At the end of the day, it’s a business.”

Ariza was not the only one who was taken by surprise. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said last week that he was not given an “either/or” when it came down to deciding between Artest and Ariza.

“I knew we had Ron on our wish list for, what, three years now? And we needed a lockdown defender besides Kobe Bryant that would take on the chores,” Jackson said. “Trevor turned out to be that guy this year. So I was quite surprised, as was most of our fans, that negotiations did not go well with Trevor and his people. We think that we have a player that has probably a little more dimension to Trevor, but still Trevor has that youth and that speed that we’ll miss.”

Despite being hugely disappointed he won’t get a chance to play for his hometown team, Ariza says he does not have any ill feelings toward the franchise or the teammates he left behind.

“Of course there’s not gonna be any hard feelings. Everybody wished me the best of luck and they said they were always going to be there for me, and that gave me a good feeling,” Ariza said. “What’s done is done and you move on.”

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Guard Delonte West and forward Anderson Varejao play key roles in the Cavaliers' highly effective defensive scheme. (GETTY IMAGES)

Defense wins championships. At least that’s the prevailing thought among athletes in any sport. In basketball, stopping the opposition from scoring is ultimately the difference between winning and losing in April, May and June.

To win an NBA championship, you need that lockdown defender that can take away the opposition’s best option. It is equivalent to a shutdown cornerback in the NFL. A lot of times, great defenders are left to cover a prolific scorer all by himself, and a double team was not an option. Bruce Bowen played this role perfectly. Bowen, a member of championship teams in San Antonio, did not completely stop a great scorer, but he was able to at least make it difficult and uncomfortable to score the basketball.

Shane Battier of the Houston Rockets is cut from the same cloth. Like Bowen, Battier is not asked to score a lot of points for the Rockets because his job is mainly to shadow the opponent’s top gun.

Guys like Battier and Bowen, as well as Ron Artest, Tayshaun Prince and Devin Harris, initially made their marks on the defensive end of the court and have carved up a solid reputation around the league. But what about those players who don’t get the same notoriety but are just as good on defense – or even better.

OneManFastbreak.net uncovers the most underrated defenders in the NBA. Unlike the more celebrated first-team All-NBA defenders such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Dwight Howard, who claim the majority of the votes because of their reputation and inflated statistics, these following players go unnoticed because they don’t usually make the spectacular steal or block. They’re always assigned to the other team’s primary threat on offense and play straight-up defense the entire time they’re on the court.

DELONTE WEST, Cleveland Cavaliers – One word to describe this undersized guard: Tough. His celebrated teammate, LeBron James, gets a lot of the credit for Cleveland’s defense but, with all due respect to King James and his much-improved defense, West is the guy Coach Mike Brown calls on to defend the scorers.

KIRK HINRICH, Chicago Bulls – Hinrich makes up for his lack of foot speed and athleticism with grit and a lot of grabbing. He is the master of clinging to someone’s jersey (sometimes pulling it) and getting under a player’s skin. Just ask Dwyane Wade. We like to call it the Hinrich Manuever.

KENYON MARTIN, Denver Nuggets – Despite all the knee surgeries, K-Mart still creates matchup problems for low-post scorers. He put a blanket on David West in the first round and, even though Dirk Nowitzki posted great numbers in the second round, K-Mart made Dirk work for every point.

ANDERSON VAREJAO, Cleveland Cavaliers – He may not be the best on-ball defender, but his value to the Cavaliers cannot be measured with rebounds, blocks and steals. The man they call “Andy” takes a lot of charges, and irritates a lot of opponents with his boundless energy and his Sideshow Bob haircut.

KENDRICK PERKINS, Boston Celtics – Kevin Garnett gets most of the ink and the pub, but this burly 280-pound force in the low block is tough to uproot and plays with great force. He rebounds, blocks shots and defends the pick-and-roll better than most than half the centers in the league.

RUSSELL WESTBROOK, Oklahoma City Thunder  – The former Pac-10 defensive player of the year made an easy transition from college to pro. He has extremely long arms for a guard and his quick feet allows him to beat an offensive player to a spot. Give him another year and he should make the All-Defense team.

PAUL PIERCE, Boston Celtics – Pierce is mostly known for his offense. The truth is, at this stage of his career, his defense might be better than his offense. During the Celtics’ great playoff in 2008, Pierce guarded Joe Johnson, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. And more often than not, Pierce won his one-one-one battles.

TREVOR ARIZA, L.A. Lakers – The former UCLA Bruin is the real reason for the Lakers’ upgrade on defense. Kobe Bryant only plays defense against the elite guys. When you are a nobody, Kobe will leave you open. Ariza, on the other hand, plays defense 24/7. His length allows him to get a lot of deflections and steals.

UDONIS HASLEM, Miami Heat – Despite being undersized and overmatched more often than not, Haslem – who is generously listed at 6-8 – wins a lot of his one-on-one battles mostly with heart and determination. The Heat co-caption embodies everything Pat Riley likes in a player.

CHUCK HAYES, Houston Rockets – Another undersized frontcourt player who plays with great leverage. Former Houston Coach Jeff Van Gundy calls Hayes a great low-post defender despite his lack of size (he is listed at 6-6). He has a very strong lower body, which keeps bigger centers from backing him down.

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