Rank these players in order of Rim Protection ability.

[McBubbles]

Assume prime for all of them.

David Robinson
Hakeem Olajuwon
Patrick Ewing
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Ben Wallace
Alonzo Mourning
Dikembo Mutombo
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Giannis Antetokoumpo
Mark Eaton
Rudy Gobert
Draymond Green
Marc Gasol
Tyson Chandler
Nate Thurmond
Dwight Howard

These aren't my rankings, just my format.
Added Mark Eaton.

[SHAQ32]

Tier 1 for me, I think, would only be Deke and Zo. They had no perceived 'flaw' when contesting shots at the rim. They had the endurance, the tenacity, the quickness, the mentality to go after every shot with force.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Assume prime for all of them.

David Robinson
Hakeem Olajuwon
Patrick Ewing
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Ben Wallace
Alonzo Mourning
Dikembo Mutombo
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Giannis Antetokoumpo
Draymond Green
Marc Gasol
Tyson Chandler
Nate Thurmond
Dwight Howard

These aren't my rankings, just my format.

Rudy
Hakeem
Dikembe
Mourning
Wallace
Dwight
Giannis
Kareem
Admiral
Chandler
Duncan
Ewing
KG
Gasol
Thurmond
Draymond

[penbeast0]

Tier 1: David Robinson, Hakeem Olujawon . . . quickness and ability to go out onto the floor then recover to rim protect give them the advantage over the more stationary greats like Mutombo.

Tier 2A: Mutombo, Gobert . . . not as mobile but great size and shotblocking
Tier 2B: Duncan, Mourning, Ben Wallace, Howard . . . more mobile than 2A but not as long as either 1 or 2A.

Tier 3: Abdul-Jabbar, Ewing, maybe Thurmond . . . great shotblockers, very close to the level 2 guys

Tier 4: Garnett, Giannis . . . great mobility and horizontal defense, not as much of a pure rim protector mentality

Tier 5: Marc Gasol, Draymond Green, Tyson Chandler, maybe Thurmond . . . more positional, less vertical

Not sure how good Nate Thurmond's rim protection actually was. His block numbers would put him in the Tier 2B category but there were more opportunities with the 60s/70s defenses and he seemed to focus more on man defense and less on help defense than Jabbar.

[migya]

Olajuwon
Robinson

Mutombo
Kareem
Mourning

Gobert
Ewing
Duncan

Dwight
BWallace
Thurmond

Giannis
KG
Draymond
Gasol
Chandler

[countryboy667]

Since you are including old timers, where's Russell? Wilt?

And, IMO, Olajowon overrated as usual. And Thurmond underrated.

Myles Turner?

The Pacers are the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA. (Not that millennials will get the reference.)

[70sFan]

People vastly underrate Thurmond's rim protection here.

[countryboy667]

People vastly underrate Thurmond's rim protection here.

I laughed till my sides ached when I saw a post here a while back where someone said Nate didn't look that strong compared to today's guys. Lord, Thurmond had insanely low levels of body fat--he was all muscle. Believe me, someone that Wilt couldn't push around--and Wilt couldn't push Nate around like he did so many other bigs--was plenty damned strong. He would have been just as effective, IMO, against prime Shaq. Contemporaries considered Nate a sweet combination of Russell and Chamberlain--possessing Wilt's rebounding and defense, but with better offense than Russell. Much is made of his 'poor' FG%, but it wasn't poor in the context of the standards of his era.

You give a choice of any big in the history of the game (other than Wilt) to start a franchise, and I take Thurmond in a heartbeat. Better than Kareem? Offensively obviously it's Kareem, but all around I'll take Nate. Better defender IMO than Kareem, and a much better rebounder.

Thurmond doesn't get the nearly the respect he deserves, as posts in this thread show.

Nate was a product of the Golden Age of Ohio college basketball. He was a contemporary of Howie Komives who also played in the NBA on his own team at Bowling Green, Gus Johnson (played HS ball at Akron but played his collegiate game in Idaho) Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Larry Siegfried, Wayne Embry and Bobby Knight. For three straight years in the early 1960s Ohio produced NCAA champions--Ohio State once and University of Cincinnati twice.

I hear a lot of bragging about New York, LA, Philly, and other places as cradles of basketball talent. But no-one mentions Ohio and Akron, Ohio in particular. I'd take a frontcourt of Nate Thurmond, Lebron James, and Gus Johnson in their primes any day even in today's NBA, with Larry Nance Jr. on the bench. And you don't have to go too far down the interstate to add Norm Van Lier and John Havlicek. Stephen Curry didn't play there, but was born in Akron.

[McBubbles]

Since you are including old timers, where's Russell? Wilt?

And, IMO, Olajowon overrated as usual. And Thurmond underrated.

Myles Turner?

The Pacers are the Rodney Dangerfield of the NBA. (Not that millennials will get the reference.)

I'm 90% confident that everyone would rate them #1 and #2 respectively so I didn't even feel the need to include them lol.

[penbeast0]

The issue isn't Thurmond's strength, the man was powerful. It isn't his ability to guard Wilt/Kareem, he may have been the GOAT man defender in the post. We are isolating one small part of his overal game. The question is whether his Rim Protection is on a par with Kareem's (to use his closest contemporary in the poll). The answer is, I don't think so.

[Texas Chuck]

in terms of pure rim protection not sure Deke isn't the best of this group. He was a huge deterrent and defending in space is something else entirely which is why he is a notch below Admiral/Duncan as the best non-Russell defender of all-time.

[70sFan]

The issue isn't Thurmond's strength, the man was powerful. It isn't his ability to guard Wilt/Kareem, he may have been the GOAT man defender in the post. We are isolating one small part of his overal game. The question is whether his Rim Protection is on a par with Kareem's (to use his closest contemporary in the poll). The answer is, I don't think so.

What do you think he lacked in that area though? From what I've watched, I see Thurmond as certainly very elite rim protector. He was extremely long, contested shots without overcommiting and could hold the groud against more agressive drives. I don't find any major concerns with his defensive vision either.

[PurpleGreenGold]

How is Mark Eaton NOT on this list? He couldn't jump, he couldn't move side to side, he couldn't step out on a pick and roll, but the man could protect the rim as one of the best to ever do it. He was just so massive, and had enough basketball IQ to be a very effective Rim Protector. I would put him easily top 10, possibly top 5.

[countryboy667]

in terms of pure rim protection not sure Deke isn't the best of this group. He was a huge deterrent and defending in space is something else entirely which is why he is a notch below Admiral/Duncan as the best non-Russell defender of all-time.

I'm also surprised that Deke doesn't get more love here in that respect.

[DNice68]

How is Mark Eaton NOT on this list? He couldn't jump, he couldn't move side to side, he couldn't step out on a pick and roll, but the man could protect the rim as one of the best to ever do it. He was just so massive, and had enough basketball IQ to be a very effective Rim Protector. I would put him easily top 10, possibly top 5.

I would put Eaton in front of Gobert.

[penbeast0]

The issue isn't Thurmond's strength, the man was powerful. It isn't his ability to guard Wilt/Kareem, he may have been the GOAT man defender in the post. We are isolating one small part of his overal game. The question is whether his Rim Protection is on a par with Kareem's (to use his closest contemporary in the poll). The answer is, I don't think so.

What do you think he lacked in that area though? From what I've watched, I see Thurmond as certainly very elite rim protector. He was extremely long, contested shots without overcommiting and could hold the groud against more agressive drives. I don't find any major concerns with his defensive vision either.

From what I remember watching them, people just weren't as afraid of Thurmond. He didn't change the amount of shots that Russ, Wilt, or Kareem did. It's just an impression.

in terms of pure rim protection not sure Deke isn't the best of this group. He was a huge deterrent and defending in space is something else entirely which is why he is a notch below Admiral/Duncan as the best non-Russell defender of all-time.

Mutombo wasn't able to move away from the basket to threaten the midrange shooter then get back as quickly as the likes of Robinson, Hakeem, Mourning, etc. He didn't have the same degree of quickness so he didn't command the same volume of space away from the basket in terms of rim protection though he was certainly a great shotblocker.

Eaton has the same issue but even more so. Gilmore, before his "rigor Artis" era, is another superlong player with great shotblocking. And, if we are including Eaton, Manute Bol is the greatest shotblocker of all time. No other discernable skills, but his shotblocking is a level above any name mentioned including Eaton, Hakeem, or Russell.

[McBubbles]

Would your rim protection rankings of them be similar or even the same as your overall defensive rankings of them?

[Colbinii]

Would your rim protection rankings of them be similar or even the same as your overall defensive rankings of them?

No, not a ton of overlap

[eminence]

Tier 1: David Robinson, Hakeem Olujawon . . . quickness and ability to go out onto the floor then recover to rim protect give them the advantage over the more stationary greats like Mutombo.

Tier 2A: Mutombo, Gobert . . . not as mobile but great size and shotblocking
Tier 2B: Duncan, Mourning, Ben Wallace, Howard . . . more mobile than 2A but not as long as either 1 or 2A.

Tier 3: Abdul-Jabbar, Ewing, maybe Thurmond . . . great shotblockers, very close to the level 2 guys

Tier 4: Garnett, Giannis . . . great mobility and horizontal defense, not as much of a pure rim protector mentality

Tier 5: Marc Gasol, Draymond Green, Tyson Chandler, maybe Thurmond . . . more positional, less vertical

Not sure how good Nate Thurmond's rim protection actually was. His block numbers would put him in the Tier 2B category but there were more opportunities with the 60s/70s defenses and he seemed to focus more on man defense and less on help defense than Jabbar.

I like the list, but I don't think the description of 2B works well for Duncan in particular.

[penbeast0]

Tier 1: David Robinson, Hakeem Olujawon . . . quickness and ability to go out onto the floor then recover to rim protect give them the advantage over the more stationary greats like Mutombo.

Tier 2A: Mutombo, Gobert . . . not as mobile but great size and shotblocking
Tier 2B: Duncan, Mourning, Ben Wallace, Howard . . . more mobile than 2A but not as long as either 1 or 2A.

Tier 3: Abdul-Jabbar, Ewing, maybe Thurmond . . . great shotblockers, very close to the level 2 guys

Tier 4: Garnett, Giannis . . . great mobility and horizontal defense, not as much of a pure rim protector mentality

Tier 5: Marc Gasol, Draymond Green, Tyson Chandler, maybe Thurmond . . . more positional, less vertical

Not sure how good Nate Thurmond's rim protection actually was. His block numbers would put him in the Tier 2B category but there were more opportunities with the 60s/70s defenses and he seemed to focus more on man defense and less on help defense than Jabbar.

I like the list, but I don't think the description of 2B works well for Duncan in particular.

You have him as the equivalent of DRob or Hakeem as a rim protector, or do you drop him a tier?