Rudy Gobert at #5 is hilarious. As others have pointed out, the guy gets played off the floor. Just among contemporaries, and speaking purely defense, I'd take Giannis 10 out of 10 times over Gobert. Probably based on some bs advanced stat invented by Hollinger himself.
It's very hard to compare across eras. Hakeem would do very well in the modern era as he didn't rely on camping on the paint for his defense and would be excellent at switching - just ask John Starks. But Mutombo would have issues with switching. Surprised that the Glove, Leonard and Artest! aren't higher, and surprised that Gorbert is so high. You could have Stockton on there, you could have Dumars, Sloan, and a few other guys for sure.
Ben Wallace at 9?????? The man put up the #1, #2, #3, and #4 best defensive seasons of all time (by Defensive Box Plus-Minus) and you have the audacity to put him behind Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert? Terrible list meant to get a rise out of people and appeal to 12 year olds.
And Bobby Jones would probably be just fine with that. The guy was really good. Think Battier with more length, hops, talent, and drive. The man outworked everyone. His nickname wasn't "The Secretary of Defense" for nothing. 10 years as first team All-Defense and one year on the second team out of a 12 year career. Career FG% leader for the ABA, finished with a career FG% of .550. Fun fact: He was drafted by the Rockets but went to the ABA Denver Nuggets instead.
Awesome, thanks for this. This is why i love CF's haha. I feel I know a good amount about the NBA, but seeing someone I don't recognize on a top 25 is a first.
I remember thinking during Chandler Parson's rookie season that he'd be a Bobby Jones type player. His defense seemed very advanced for a rookie. Well -- that didn't exactly pan out.
The ref's call is almost better than the dunk lol Hakeem is #1, homer or not. Lists that contain Bill Russell are nonsense.
I could have different players at spots, but I respect anyone who takes time to create a defensive players list all time. Most casual fans only value offense and rings, so it's refreshing to see people actually analyze a true player's combined impact. I can understand and appreciate Russell's greatness, but Hakeem is the GOAT defensive player imo because he would translate better across eras. But Tony Allen is a beast and really gets slept on, he has an argument of being better defensively than Pippen or Kawhi but ring bias and offense clouds mainstream opinion. Strictly defense only, defensive impact and watching film he's up there imo.
Let's focus on defensive film, sometimes people have to see it to learn to appreciate it. Kobe and Durant on who was their toughest defender ever: Spoiler [\SPOILER]
When did this injury happen? I don't remember him being a consistent, notable defender outside of Toronto.
The biggest omission is Larry Bird. 59 career DWS and he led the league in defensive win shares 4x. Higher average DWS per season than Jordan.
I mean, a list that has Dwight Howard over Alonzo Mourning is a joke. Bird was a great defensive player but Howard wasn't as good as Zo no matter what advanced stats say.
He was actually drafted by the Rockets but signed with the ABA's Denver Nuggets as I recall. Later he ended up on the Sixers but sadly was never a Rocket. I watched him at UNC and was excited for the Rockets to select him. This list is tainted with a recency fondness. No John Havlicek or Satch Sanders of the Celtics or Nate Thurmond of the Warriors (don't believe he was on there either). Walt Frazier...
Tony Allen was possessed on defense. What a DOG he was. Rockets need at least 2 guys like this right now, preferably over 6'6. Ben Simmons and young Draymond Green is closest to this type of disruption in today's game. And Thybulle is also going to be a good one too.
The rockets put 4 F to F- defenders around dwight (post prime dwight) and finished top 10 in defense. He’s probably the most underrated player ever
