Paul George Gives His Top 5 Two-Way Players by Position in NBA History

[HotRocks34]

PG: Stockton (a monster on defense). Not a scorer but a pure point guard. Payton is a strong pick, though.
SG: Jordan
SF: LeBron
PF: Duncan
CC: Hakeem

[Taj FTW]

PG: Stockton (a monster on defense). Not a scorer but a pure point guard. Payton is a strong pick, though.
SG: Jordan
SF: LeBron
PF: Duncan
CC: Hakeem

Your avatar is making me die of laughter, LOL. Those eyes. Did he see a damn ghost?

[Asianiac_24]

While he wouldn’t make my list, it’s at least reasonable for him to put himself there. It’s not like he’s Lance Stephenson or something

[Monky15]

Paul Pierce deserves a shout out.

[Monky15]

On a team that doesn't need a traditional Point Guard I'd also consider Klay Thompson in the Ron Harper role.

[mudsak]

Makes me wonder how many great 2-way point guards there have been. I’m hesitant to say GP. But it’s LeBron at 3 and Tim Duncan at 4.

Not very many, but Payton was definitely one of the best. 8x All Defensive team, won the DPOY award one year. Payton was a beast of a player.

Stockton was another all-time great 2-way PG... 5x All Defensive team, leader in steals all time, etc... menace.

[Hobo4President]

Hes not even the best two-way small forward on his own team lmao

[rand]

CP3
Jordan
LeBron
Duncan
Hakeem

[FluLikeSymptoms]

Makes me wonder how many great 2-way point guards there have been. I’m hesitant to say GP. But it’s LeBron at 3 and Tim Duncan at 4.

Not very many, but Payton was definitely one of the best. 8x All Defensive team, won the DPOY award one year. Payton was a beast of a player.

Stockton was another all-time great 2-way PG... 5x All Defensive team, leader in steals all time, etc... menace.

Those guys were really good. Nothing against them or Clyde or CP, It’s just that the rest of the positions have guys who were the best in the game at some point. Too bad about Michael Ray Richardson, they say he was an excellent defender. Kidd was extremely close to winning an MVP though, could be him.

[gavran]

There is a Dylan joke in here somewhere.

[floppymoose]

Curry over Payton. Top 2 way player is not the same as top defensive player.

[Jadoogar]

As soon I read the title I knew this clown was going to put himself on the list. And the sad thing is that the list is pretty legit otherwise.

C'mon, every allstar NBA player is going to put themselves on a list like this. No NBA player is going to admit another player is better than them, especially an active player

[Gusto1903]

Id probably take Duncan vs Garnett. But i can agree with everything else.

[dhsilv2]

That year he was in the MVP talk with OKC, his defense was pretty darn spectacular. I think that was a better 2 way year than Leonard's last Spurs season and certainly better than his raptor's title year. I think that's an underrated season.

[oldncreaky]

Players always put themselves on this list. Dominique Wilkins picked himself first overall in the top 75 anniversary draft lol. It doesn't seem like something we should be upset or judgmental about.

While he wouldn't be in my starting 5, I don't think Paul George is that far off. He'd be on the short list at his position.

Other players that come to mind at each position:

1: Kidd, Walt Frazier, Chris Paul, Stockton, Jrue Holiday
2: Jerry West, Manu Ginobili, Wade
3: Pippen, Lebron, Kawhi, Jimmy Butler
4: Giannis, McHale, Anthony Davis, Bobby Jones
5: Duncan, Wilt, David Robinson, Bill Walton

Very good list

Only major omission I can think of is Sidney Moncrief at PG -- IIRC 5-time all-NBA as well as 5-time all-D and 1 DPOY. Pre-injury he was a 2-way stud

Might also take Dumars over Manu, but admit Pistons bias

[Taj FTW]

The only "without question" picks are Jordan at SG and LeBron at SF. The others are up for debate.

[cupcakesnake]

Players always put themselves on this list. Dominique Wilkins picked himself first overall in the top 75 anniversary draft lol. It doesn't seem like something we should be upset or judgmental about.

While he wouldn't be in my starting 5, I don't think Paul George is that far off. He'd be on the short list at his position.

Other players that come to mind at each position:

1: Kidd, Walt Frazier, Chris Paul, Stockton, Jrue Holiday
2: Jerry West, Manu Ginobili, Wade
3: Pippen, Lebron, Kawhi, Jimmy Butler
4: Giannis, McHale, Anthony Davis, Bobby Jones
5: Duncan, Wilt, David Robinson, Bill Walton

Very good list

Only major omission I can think of is Sidney Moncrief at PG -- IIRC 5-time all-NBA as well as 5-time all-D and 1 DPOY. Pre-injury he was a 2-way stud

Might also take Dumars over Manu, but admit Pistons bias

Moncrief is a really good one. I'm mad I missed it because he's better defensively than most of these guards.

I go back and forth on Dumars defense, but he definitely deserves a mention. I'm pretty high on Manu's defense. Wade had a bigger athletic peak than Manu, but Manu magically stayed solid until he was 100 years old.

Depending on how people feel about their offense, I think Shawn Marion and Andre Iguodala should be on the short list as well. We remember them more for the defensive specialist later years, but Marion was a monster finisher and Iggy was a serious playmaker athlete.

[cupcakesnake]

The only "without question" picks are Jordan at SG and LeBron at PF. The others are up for debate.

Sorry I got questions. I'm "with question" right now.
Lebron and Mike have the offensive side of the ball argument over anyone, so that makes it harder to weigh the "2-way" thing.

But I think guys like KG and Giannis are "with question" at power forward over Lebron. Lebron had some monster defensive years in Miami but I don't believe he ever touched the tier of defense that the taller KG and Giannis did. Duncan too depending on what position you pick for him. AD has mostly played power forward. Lebron is just not big enough to be the same level of defensive impact guy as them.

I don't love MJ's defense as much as some fans, but it's harder to find a 2-guard making a defensive impact that is comparable with MJ's offense. MJ's greatest-ever offense and being good at defense might be enough. Jerry West is someone that comes to mind that I think was a little more consistently high-energy on defense while being an all-time offensive great.

[Johnny Bball]

"When healthy and locked in I'm up there with the best". When does that happen anymore?

[jazzfan1971]

Hmmm. I'll take me some

Stockton
Manu
AK47
Bird
Joker

I'm joking... Still taking Stockton though

Stockton
Jordan
Kawhi
Duncan (feels so dirty)
Hakeem