5 Best Defenders In NBA History?

MY List

Perimitor players (PG, SG, SF)

1. Scottie Pippen

2. Gary Payton

3. Michael Jordan

4. Bruce Bowen

5. Ron Artest

Post Defenders ( PF and C)

1. Bill Russel

2. Tim Duncan

3. Dennis Rodman

4. Hakeem Ojewon

5. Dikembe Mutumbo

Stop Overating MJs D and and stop Underating Pippens D. Don't get me rong MJ is the greatest player of all time and a great defender but Pippen was the better defender on that team.

5 Best Defenders In NBA History?nba teams

Perimeter Players:

1. Scottie Pippen: I don't like the guy, but he's extremely underrated both offensively and defensively. Overall, I think he's the best ever.

2. Gary Payton: His defense was the most "lockdown" I've ever seen. Pip was more versatile, longer, stronger, etc....but GP literally "gloved" opponents. (Shoutout to my man Nick Van Exel, one of the very few people that could give GP trouble.)

3. Michael Jordan: The interesting thing about Jordan is his defense was great which is very hard to do when you have the scoring burden he had. (You can compare with Kobe, who CAN play great defense...but if he has to exert too much energy on offense, his defense suffers greatly). Also, MJ might not be the best, but he may be the most clutch defender ever. Maybe it was cuz he could just focus on defense + his will to win, but his defense during crunch time was simply awesome.

4. Ron Artest: Just a beast. He's like a linebacker that can guard PGs too. Moves well and is just so strong...but he's very underrated in how smart a defender he is. You'll notice he bodys up on people yet doesn't foul them often.

5. Bruce Bowen: Hate the guy with a passion. He gets more cred than Artest, but I think Artest is the better defender. Bowen while he moves his feet very well, he also plays dirty defense and also just plain hacks a lot. Also he is not as versatile as an Artest. Bowen gets cred for shutting down superstars, but there are also many times he has gotten absolutely worked over by those stars also.

Post Defenders:

1. Dennis Rodman: I had to revise my whole list. At first I thought you separated "perimeter/post defense" not "players.

So I had Russell as the best POST defender. But overall, I think Rodman may be the most underrated defender. (Hey, Pip still gets his due cred by most...at least those that follow basketball). Rodman could defend just about any position, and while he is known for his post D and rebounding, Rodman was a very underrated perimeter defender. Pip and Rodman are defenders in similar molds, but Pip being better due to his lockdown perimeter defense.

2. Bill Russell: The real Most Dominant Ever.

3. Hakeem Olajuwon: So quick and agile. Olajuwon always got a ton of steals as well as blocks.

4. Kevin Garnett: I'm actually surprised you don't have KG on your list! I didn't have him at first cuz I thought it was just "post D". But KG is arguably the most versatile defender of all time.

Need to stop Tony Parker? Warp back and get GP. Need to stop Kobe? Go back and get Jordan (who is a more athletic version of Kobe. Can't get Pip, haha cuz we saw what happened with that matchup. Hey Pips the best, but its just one of those things.) Need to stop Duncan? Bring in Russell (or Shaq in his prime, when they actually guarded each other, which was very rare, Shaq abused Duncan on both ends of the floor). And you can basically bring in Pip to stop most anyone else. But if you could only bring in ONE person, and he had to guard EVERY single position, from PG to C, that person can only be KG. KG's done a good job defending Nash to Duncan. Put another way, while Pip may be the greatest....a team of 5 KGs would be the ultimate defensive team over a team of 5 anyone elses. For this versatility, I think KG is one of the overall best.

5. David Robinson: Ok...so he got torched by Olajuwon that series. But Hakeem that series played the most out of his mind basketball, at a level that was never matched. It's still one of the sickest things ever and no defender could of done jack against him at that time. Robinson was a freak athlete at 7ft and will go down as one of the best defensive Cs of all time.

Honorable Mentions: Mutumbo, Alonzo, Young Kareem, Kirilenko, Dennis Johnson

Most Overated: Duncan. Don't get me wrong, he's a very very good defender....but I don't think he should be mentioned in the all-time best.

Most Underrated: The duo of Stockton and Malone. They also should never be mentioned in the all-time best, but these two while known for their offense and pick n roll, were very underrated defenders.

Note: I I think Greg Oden could easily get onto this list one day. The guy has all the tools to be very very great. People say Oden is overated cuz he didn't put up the great #s, but I can just tell by your list, that you know how to spot ability and Oden has IT.

5 Best Defenders In NBA History?nba playoff bracket ,nba teams

Pippen, Olajuwon, Bowen, Chamberlain, and Rodman.
Youre absolutley right!! nobody ever gave pippen as much credit!!! Duncan all defensive i think for like 8-10yrs
I don;t know alot of the older player so i can;t really answer this question. but i do know for a center i would wand Ben Wallace, he is insane. he can gaurd any position and player and beat them. he blocks shots and gets mre steals then alot of gaurds do show me someone else of his ability. he should be on the list.
larry bird dennis johnson t r dunn fats lever and kareem oldschool all d
russell, duncan, rodman, pippen, jordan.
1. Scottie Pippen

2. Mo Cheeks

3. Shawn Marion

4. Hakeem Olajuwon

5. Dikembe Mutombo

Great question, with many names left off this list that'll always spark a debate.

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I guess all of the list are right.... they are the best defenders player In NBA
MJ

Scottie

Michael Cooper

Mitch Richmond

Rolando Blackman

Dikembe Mutumbo

Mark Eaton

Hakeem

Tim Duncan

Shaq
1. dikembe mutombo

2. ben wallace

3. dennis rodman

4. scottie pippen

5. hakeem olajuwan
Perimeter players:

1. Scottie Pippen

2. Micheal Jordan

3. Walt Frazier

4. Sidney Moncrief

5. Bruce Bowen

Post Defenders:

1. Bill Russell

2. Dennis Rodman

3. Hakeem Olajuwon

4. Wilt Chamberlain

5. Dikembe Mutombo
1. kate faber

2. kate faber

3. kate faber

4. kate faber

5. kate faber

she shut down kobe.