Comments on: Top 10 NBA Defensive Players Of All-time

By: Jmerek21

Jmerek21 — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:25:00 +0000

SCOTTIE PIPPEN

By: Manj

Manj — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:22:00 +0000

Wow Dennis fucking rodman

By: Nix266

Nix266 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:27:00 +0000

Nate thurmond. He stopped Chamberlain for christ sake! hes one of the greatest if not the greatest. and i like to see ben wallece on a list. I think hes way underated

By: LL

LL — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:31:00 +0000

Dennis Rodman, Joe Dumars, Scottie Pippen? This list is seriously flawed.

By: Stef40

Stef40 — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 07:32:00 +0000

is this list only for the retired players cuz wtf what about “THE BIG TICKET” KEVIN GARNETT!!

By: Daprofecy

Daprofecy — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 02:05:00 +0000

ABSOLUTE WORST LIST EVER. YOU HAVE WILT OVER BILL RUSSEL, NO DENNIS RODMAN, THIS LIST IS JUST AWFUL

By: Pipsunderrated

Pipsunderrated — Sat, 28 May 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Scottie Pippen anyone? He guarded them all from Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson to Charles Barkley and even Patrick Ewing.

By: Pipsunderrated

Pipsunderrated — Sat, 28 May 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Scottie Pippen anyone? He guarded them all from Mark Jackson and Magic Johnson to Charles Barkley and even Patrick Ewing.

By: Guy

Guy — Mon, 02 May 2011 03:31:00 +0000

You forgot Kevin Garnet and Dennis Rodman

By: Omaum

Omaum — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 05:01:58 +0000

Wow, really? Where the fuck is Rodman? He is probably the greatest defensive player that there will ever be… He could have played in any era and dominated the boards on BOTH sides of the floor.

By: kickstarter

kickstarter — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:42:37 +0000

Rodman, as stated above. Pippen, too. And Dumars. Agree with blocks and steals being overrated in judging defense.

How about Michael Cooper? And Bobby Jones? Dennis Johnson? Havlicek?

By: david

david — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:13:26 +0000

okay you had to make a case for ben wallace to be on that list? i could name 100 reasons he should be in the top 3. hes one of only 2 people to win the dpoy award 4 times and he could have easily won it 5 times but they didnt want to keep giving it to him every year so they gave it to the undeserving ron artest in the middle of it. also i agree with everyone i dont see how rodman or pippen isnt on this list. why anyone would even let you make a list like this blows my mind. also ben wallace was only 6′ 9 too so everyone thats saying russels up there because he was only 6 9 needs to take a chill pill

By: David

David — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 21:33:53 +0000

John Stockton? Gary Payton at 3? No Pippen? This list is terrible.

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:26:08 +0000

Russell did not play against soft competition. The NBA had just 8 teams for much of his career so he played each opponent 11 or more times per year. He faced Chamberlain 14 times a season. During the 60-61 season, in addition to Wilt, he played Walt Bellamy and Clyde Lovelette, two future Hall of Fame players along with Wayne “The Wall” Embry, a four time All Star 11 times each per season. That added up to 47 games against top flight competion. By 1964, Lovelette was on his way out but Nate Thurmond and Zelmo Beaty were coming in. A year later Willis Reed entered the league. Thurmond and Reed are Hall of Fame centers while Beaty made 3 All Star teams before he jumped to the ABA. During his final years, Russell had to play against Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld and the nearly forgotten but explosive Bob Rule. He did not have it easy all of his career.

Nate Thurmond certainly deserves a place among the defensive elite. He like Russell, was a master of the controlled blocked shot. He deflected the ball to team mates rather than slamming it out of bounds. Chamberlain and Kareem both called him the best defender they ever faced. Walton was a great defender as well and would be way up there in the rankings if he had been able to stay healthy.

No disrespect to Hakeem, he’s one of my favorite players of all time, but he never had to face the same level of competition night after night. He played in an over sized league with watered down schedules. He played Robinson, Ewing, O’Neal, Mourning, Mutombo and Daugherty for a combined total of just 14 to 16 games per year. Smits and Divacs were capable of creating some challenges for him but they were 2nd tier centers. Yes, Parish, Malone, Sikma, Gilmore and Laimbeer were still around during the early parts of his career, but hey were well past their primes. Ruland and Seikaly were talented but oft injured. In total, Hakeem had perhaps 36 games in which he was truly forced to play a challenging man to man matchup. That gave him the chance to roam more freely than Russell or Thurmond. So to declare him the greatest is debatable. A top 10 guy for sure but the greatest?

As a life long Sonic fan I admired the Glove a lot. But I think Dennis Johnson was the Sonics best defensive guard of all time. He was bigger and stronger than Payton, a better leaper, shot blocker and rebounder. His perimeter and on the ball D were superb and he was a tougher defender against bigger players in the paint than GP. Yes, Payton should be considered one of the 10 best defensive guards of all time, but DJ had an edge. I did see Moncrief and Alvin Roberston, and Frazier mentioned, But other great defenders at guard who were not named yet on this blog are Jerry Sloan, Jerry West, Norm Van Lier, KC Jones, Al Attles and Joe Dumars. Oh yeah, that other Robertson (Oscar) was pretty solid. Lenny Wilkens was a strong defender too: Walt Frazier described him as “pure hound” for his pesky, tight defense.

At forward, Buck Williams, Maurice Lucas, Dave Debusschere, Gus Johnson, John Havlicek, Bobby Jones, Paul Silas and Joe Caldwell should be remembered.

By: johnny blaze

johnny blaze — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:33:39 +0000

To include John Stockton on any list due to his “great defense” is laughable. Stockton was a all time great, that’s not subject to debate, but his abilities at the defensive end were average, at best… Stockton, like Bird, was extremely intelligent yet he lacked the ability to stay in front of opposing players at his position. Ironically, this helped his steal totals due to the fact that he played off of his man & gave a ton of attention to passing lanes. Some would argue that this often illegal (hence, another reason that opponents routinely place Stockton on “dirtiest player” lists)… Great defenders – Artest, Sefolosha, 7-time 1st team all defensive team PG Walt Frazier – “lock up” their man… Can you imagine any coach putting a player on Kobe, Jordan, or Durant because they are a steals leader? It defies logic.
You must have missed Darrick Martin’s career high 39 on Stockton… or Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s 51 on him…