[Hoopshype] The 78 greatest defensive players in NBA history

[Lalouie]

BAD

i would switch #67 with #65

[thamadkant]

David Robinson should be ahead of Wilt Chamberlain.
Draymond Green at that spot I'm OK with, but MJ and Thurmond could be higher than their spots also.

[Bloodbather]

I just checked where Nate Thurmond was to gauge it and concluded it was a trash list.

He's a pretty good litmus test for knowing your basketball history defensively. Comfortably Top 10.

[70sFan]

imagine Havlicek having to check KD, KD will get 80.

Past prime Havlicek defended prime Julius Erving in the 1977 postseason series and he did a remarkable job. I wouldn't worry too much about him on Durant, he'd do better than most players certainly.

[-Luke-]

Dwight has three DPOY and Robinson has one, but that doesn't make Dwight a better defender than Robinson. D-Rob was a beast. I would have him above Dwight in both career and peak.

[Lalouie]

I just checked where Nate Thurmond was to gauge it and concluded it was a trash list.

He's a pretty good litmus test for knowing your basketball history defensively. Comfortably Top 10.

i did exactly the same thing. the guy gave kareem problems, plus he was absolutely DEDICATED TO DEFENSE. if he's not top10 OR HIGHER this list is wasted. nate has always been the litmus test

[Papi_swav]

how can this list not have JJ Barrea ?! the Lebron stopper smh

[CumberlandPosey]

List has guards on it...

As expected horrible.

[hauntedcomputer]

imagine Havlicek having to check KD, KD will get 80.

Past prime Havlicek defended prime Julius Erving in the 1977 postseason series and he did a remarkable job. I wouldn't worry too much about him on Durant, he'd do better than most players certainly.

Havlicek made every all-defensive team from its inception to his age 35 season. He didn't take possessions off. Probably a top 3 all-time wing defender.

[cpower]

This should be a list of 70 big men + 8 guard/wing (near the bottom)

smaller players just do not provide enough defense and that is the baseline. This list is beyond terrible.

[ibraheim718]

How do you not have Lindsay Hunter on that list?

[ScrantonBulls]

This should be a list of 70 big men + 8 guard/wing (near the bottom)

smaller players just do not provide enough defense and that is the baseline. This list is beyond terrible.

But multiple posters have said it's embarrassing that Jordan is below Draymond and that he isn't ranked higher.

[SkyHook]

Michael Cooper and AK47 are criminally underrated here.

[cpower]

This should be a list of 70 big men + 8 guard/wing (near the bottom)

smaller players just do not provide enough defense and that is the baseline. This list is beyond terrible.

But multiple posters have said it's embarrassing that Jordan is below Draymond and that he isn't ranked higher.

thats crazy.. MJ is one of the best defending guard but I would compare his defensive impact to a good defensive big man like Kyle Anderson...Still giving the edge to Anderson but its close.

[ScrantonBulls]

This should be a list of 70 big men + 8 guard/wing (near the bottom)

smaller players just do not provide enough defense and that is the baseline. This list is beyond terrible.

But multiple posters have said it's embarrassing that Jordan is below Draymond and that he isn't ranked higher.

thats crazy.. MJ is one of the best defending guard but I would compare his defensive impact to a good defensive big man like Kyle Anderson...Still giving the edge to Anderson but its close.

Completely agree. I said in my other post, in terms of defensive impact, C and PF > SF > Guards. The rankings should heavily reflect that.

[UcanUwill]

This should be a list of 70 big men + 8 guard/wing (near the bottom)

smaller players just do not provide enough defense and that is the baseline. This list is beyond terrible.

But multiple posters have said it's embarrassing that Jordan is below Draymond and that he isn't ranked higher.

Could you guys name 70 bigmen better on D than Jordan? Yeah, GREAT defensive bigmen have more impact than GREAT defensive guards, but you can name 70 of those? Guards do impact defense.

[Fencer reregistered]

Another Hoopshype list. Here's the link if you want to read the reasoning (and check some amazing photos) behind the ranking.

Why 78 players? That's the number of seasons the NBA has played in its history.

Without further ado:

1. Bill Russell
2. Hakeem Olajuwon
3. Tim Duncan
4. Kevin Garnett
5. Dennis Rodman
6. Scottie Pippen
7. Ben Wallace
8. Dikembe Mutombo
9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
10. Dwight Howard

11. Wilt Chamberlain
12. David Robinson
13. Draymond Green
14. Rudy Gobert
15. Michael Jordan
16. Gary Payton
17. Giannis Antetokounmpo
18. Mark Eaton
19. Kawhi Leonard
20. Bobby Jones

21. Bruce Bowen
22. Tony Allen
23. Alonzo Mourning
24. Metta World Peace
25. Anthony Davis
26. Nate Thurmond
27. Marcus Camby
28. Andre Iguodala
29. Shaquille O'Neal
30. John Havlicek

31. Michael Cooper
32. LeBron James
33. Shawn Marion
34. Patrick Ewing
35. Andrei Kirilenko
36. Kobe Bryant
37. Tayshaun Prince
38. Joe Dumars
39. Alvin Robertson
40. Dennis Johnson

41. Tyson Chandler
42. Jason Kidd
43. Jrue Holiday
44. Wes Unseld
45. Marc Gasol
46. Norm Van Lier
47. Chris Paul
48. Walt Frazier
49. Sidney Moncrief
50. Moses Malone

51. Dave DeBusschere
52. Kevin McHale
53. Shane Battier
54. Jimmy Butler
55. Horace Grant
56. Joakim Noah
57. Maurice Cheeks
58. Bam Adebayo
59. Jerry Sloan
60. John Stockton

61. Rajon Rondo
62. Jaren Jackson Jr.
63. Marcus Smart
64. George Mikan
65. Buck Williams
66. Serge Ibaka
67. Jerry West
68. Elvin Hayes
69. Charles Oakley
70. Willis Reed

71. Patrick Beverley
72. Mookie Blaylock
73. Nate McMillan
74. Larry Bird
75. Dwyane Wade
76. Doug Christie
77. Larry Nance
78. Derek Harper

How tf is Green a head Allen and Jordan

Some of the positions are weird. Ewing was a monster on defense for his first 8-9 seasons. Mookie Blaylock at 72 and behind Pat Bev is a joke, I´d also put Nate McMillan over him. Bobby Jones feels a bit too low. Marcus Camby a bit too high (and he is one of my all time favorites). Shaq is definitely too high. Tyson Chandler should also be lower if we consider his full career. I think Bird is a bit underrated as defender, but he is not a a top 75 All Time Defender in league history.

Bird had 3 all-defensive nods and 1 of the best defensive plays of all time. That's pretty much all because of how good he was at jumping passing lanes. But while he was an all-time great at that aspect of defense, otherwise defensively he was ... competent.

[Sane]

As a Rockets fan I will accept it because at the end of the day, what has happened has already happened.

However, I know full well that if Olajuwon started for Russell's Celtics and didn't have to score a god damn point to win, he would have turned Russell into a distant 2nd. Hakeem is everything Russell can do plus top 10 in steals plus not a liability on the perimeter.

This is ROOKIE Hakeem (aka Akeem), which C have you ever seen jump like that other than DH12, Wilt and Hakeem?

https://youtu.be/OSHwPJTgpPw?si=EOKnkZraVfZPW_cn&t=41

[sisibilio]

Camby, Jordan and Payton way too high. Gasol way too low

[Doctor MJ]

As a Rockets fan I will accept it because at the end of the day, what has happened has already happened.

However, I know full well that if Olajuwon started for Russell's Celtics and didn't have to score a god damn point to win, he would have turned Russell into a distant 2nd. Hakeem is everything Russell can do plus top 10 in steals plus not a liability on the perimeter.

This is ROOKIE Hakeem (aka Akeem), which C have you ever seen jump like that other than DH12, Wilt and Hakeem?

https://youtu.be/OSHwPJTgpPw?si=EOKnkZraVfZPW_cn&t=41

Your mention of Wilt here implies you think Wilt was a better jumper than Russell, but the opposite is true.

Russell had a bigger leap than Wilt
Russell has a quicker leap than Wilt.
Russell had longer arms than Wilt.
Russell was smarter than Wilt.

Same is probably true with respect to Howard.

This then to say that if you’re not thinking of Russell as someone with similar quickness to Hakeem with great reach, you’re underestimating to Russell.

That’s before you get into Russell’s defensive intelligence which was completely off the charts.

I’d expect Hakeem to be the more effective overall player today because of his scoring game to be clear, and I’m not saying Hakeem’s defense is overrated, but if you don’t think of Russell as an utterly extreme outlier even by todays standards, I think you should look harder at him.


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