0.1936 P Regular Season, Playoffs, All-Star) Awards. Welcome back to the "Greatest Ever" series, as we continue with the rankings of the game's finest man-to-man defenders in NBA History. F ( P Prior to the 201314 season, LeBron James was on the verge of surpassing Michael Jordan's career PER to take the number one spot. In some ways, as an efficient guard with unstoppable post-up skills, MJ served as a bridge between the NBAs bygone age of dominant big men and todays era of high-usage perimeter creators. R V PER largely measures offensive performance. Garnetts trophy case gets a slight edge over Duncans. 1 V Behind Smart, the Celtics led the NBA in defensive rating (106.2) and points allowed per game (104.5) and held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage (43.4) and three-point field goal . R KG has been a great defensive player his entire career, but he took that ability to a level above in 2008, as he earned the Defensive Player of the Year award. K Pippen, however, only scored under 100 four times in seventeen seasons. Hakeem Olajuwon DBPM: 2.5 (career average), Scottie Pippen DBPM: 1.8 (career average). R Everyone remembers the drive, pull-up and arguable push-off as Jordan freed himself from Bryon Russell and drained the championship clinching jumper. You throw him at the opponent's most productive and best player, where all night long he produces quality defense, locking him down and forcing him to turn the ball over. He owns the greatest single-game performance ever2 according to Basketball-Reference.coms Game Scores. The entire playing career for Michael Jordan is displayed below. In four playoff games, MJ averaged 29.3 points, 5.8 boards and a career playoff high. + ] Jordan's most iconic moment was the result of his defense. Blocked shots and steals were first officially recorded in the NBA during the 197374 season. Given these values, with a bit of math we can show that a player will break even on his two point field goal attempts if he hits on 30.4% of these shots. If you though Garnetts 12 NBA seasons under 100 was impressive, Duncan had 16. This allowed him to completely dominate the paint in an era where scoring from the inside was coveted. Compare multiple combined seasons for up to six players Search Criteria The Bulls put Pippen on Jackson to prevent him from posting up. B Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Basketball Reference Database. Those defensive players, because of their great footwork, skills and intelligence, force their opponents into bad nights and do whatever they need to do to be a defensive standout at all times. l "In many ways, he knew the game on that side of the ball better. Lets begin by naming the honourable mentions who just missed out on being in the top five. He was effective in almost every aspect of playing defense, a thing that cannot be measured by stats. "I think Reggie got under Michael's skin," Jackson says. at He had quick hands that he used to strip the ball and cause many fast breaks. V R Jordan was in town as a member of the Dream Team to play exhibition games in the Tournament of the Americas. The Dream impresses even on the stat sheet. He wasn't the strongest, tallest or quickest, but he was a skilled and productive defender. In that series, Detroit averaged just 0.79 points per play with Jordan as the primary defender, and shot just 35%, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. If you combine the 1997 and 1998 Finals, the Jazz failed to score 90 points in 11 of the 12 games they played. T Just like Lebron he is considered one of the most athletic players ever too. His unmatched intensity on the defensive end is what made KG such an incredible defender. That toughness, energy, hustle translated to his team and Celtics fans. F to his advantage. A That's a thing very few have excelled at. S Former Philadelphia 76ers great Bobby Jones was one of the most admired defensive players ever to put a NBA uniform on. ( 0.5 He has a chance this year to tie with the defensive greats of the game, Gary Payton and Michael Jordan, with nine All-First Team selections. It's you, Reggie and the 100 picks we're going to set for him.'" The Last Dance (6). GOAT (13) If you had the opportunity to make your ideal NBA defender, it would probably look like Scottie Pippen. + He led the league in . He was also an elite perimeter defender with a RAPTOR plus/minus of +2.2, which ranks fourth among players that Basketball-Reference lists as guards or guard-forwards since 1976-77: Best RAPTOR defensive plus/minus ratings for NBA guards* with at least 15,000 minutes played since 1976-77, including regular season and playoffs. To this very day, he remains the only point guard ever to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, which he did in 1996. Porter's 40% forced incompletion rate in 2022 led all Power Five cornerbacks. T V F F [5][6] As the metric is averaged over the length of a player's entire career a decrease in efficiency later in his career means a player can move down in the ranking; Jordan's PER took a big hit in the final two years of his career when he returned to the game with the Washington Wizards, posting 20.7 in his penultimate season and 19.3 in his final season, compared to his career high of 31.7 (Jordan's PER was 29.1 without accounting for his Wizards years). ] 15 P The amazing thing is that Jordan wasnt supposed to excel in the areas that ended up being cornerstones of his legend. The next highest scorer was Dominque Wilkins with 30 points a game. And he told me, 'I don't want anyone thinking they belong on the court with me.'". All-NBA 2nd Team. Despite the difficulty and inherent inefficiency of Jordans shot selection, he still managed to make an impressive 51 percent of his career 2-point attempts, notably higher than such similarly midrange-focused players as Bryant (48 percent), Carmelo Anthony (47 percent), Russell Westbrook (47 percent) and even Dirk Nowitzki (50 percent). Cowens knew the triangle provided Jordan and Pippen post-ups 6 to 7 feet from the basket, which both players favored, so he put bruising power forward Anthony Mason, his best post defender, on Jordan. It was personal. In the end, one number sums up the players' statistical accomplishments for that season. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? Michael could take that initial bump. A three point field goal made is worth 2.65 points. A The Bulls advanced to play the Indiana Pacers in the 1998 Eastern Conference finals, triggering sour memories for point guard Mark Jackson, who previously had battled Chicago while he was a member of the Knicks. Jordan's defense was huge that year, with advanced stats on his side, as well as the eye test. [ 2 However, there isnt a definitive best defensive player ever. ] In 1992, Ainge finished the season with Portland. Despite having a size disadvantage, Michael Jordan repeatedly wins his defensive matchups in the paint against Charles Barkley. Even the great legend Wilt Chamberlain had problems with his offense against this guy. Hakeem, like Duncan, was an incredible NBA rim protector but struggled to defend on the perimeter. During the 1990s and 2000s numerous rule changes were incorporated, the "three point foul" and "clear path" rules were both introduced in the 199596 season with the effect of increasing the number of free throws, hand-checking (the amount of contact a defender may make with an opposing player) was banned in 1994 and the use of elbows was banned in 1997 (both rules had seen various degrees of limitation by earlier rule changes) although neither was fully implemented until 2004. t The lower your defensive rating is, the better. m Michael Jordan doubles Karl Malone in the post and comes up with a steal before sinking an iconic game-winning shot to capture the 1998 NBA championship. "Michael had very quick hands," Rivers says. P 10:42 AM. That adds volume to the defense that "The Squid" had during his entire career. It's funny, [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson], neither of them was a super athlete, so we gave them all this credit for their brains. Only 7.2 percent of Jordan's career field-goal . Join our linker program. F Defensive Rating since 1973-74, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 7:34PM. He said, 'You'll never beat us again.'. Some have argued that PER gives undue weight to a player's contribution in limited minutes, or against a team's second unit, and it undervalues players who have enough diversity in their game to play starter's minutes. G He finished sixth in Defensive Rating, third in Defensive Win Shares, first in Defensive Box. Michael Jordan. m He often locked his man without a problem, and earned the 1998 Defensive Player of the Year award. "I've always thought players who talk trash defensively are far more devastating than the scorers who say stuff," Rivers says. Battle had a career-high 88.2 coverage grade in 2021 when allowed 14 catches on 26 targets (53.8% . He was one of the most feared lockdown defenders to ever step on a NBA hardwood. ) Sports may be shut down, but Michael Jordan is as relevant as hes been in a long time. ) And during the Bulls' three-year title run featuring Jordan, Pippen and Dennis Rodman, Chicago led the league in defensive efficiency, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. But thats only half of what made Jordan so great. O That left the Hornets the other half of the floor to run pick-and-roll without interference from the Bulls' defensive stars. B F O 1 What Are His Chances For 2024? Michael Jordan and Gary Payton both won defensive player of the year in their career, and were defensive anchors for their respective teams. MJ was a serviceable deep shooter for his day, particularly for the three seasons when the NBA shortened the 3-point line during the 1990s, but he was no Steph Curry or James Harden. Sometimes when you analyze historical legends with modern metrics, the results can leave you disappointed. As a result, Jordan is an outlier on the furthest boundary of the usage-vs.-efficiency curve for all-time players: Jordans placement is even more impressive when you consider that he didnt make much use of the 3-point shot. We won the game. Hakeem Olajuwon possessed a rare combination of quickness and strength with unique skills for a seven-footer. ) Get viral NBA graphics, memes, rumors and trending news delivered right to your inbox with the Clutch Newsletter. T t Having a lockdown defender is always useful. He expected his teammates to do the same. This guy said, Those are my weaknesses. + Lately, Kevin Garnett is playing so well, which often reminds me of his 2008 form. Here are the five NBA players in the conversation for being the best defensive players ever (In no particular order). Kawhi Leonard: 6 x All Defense, 1 x STL Champ, 2 x DPOY. That team was an offensive powerhouse, finishing no worse than second at that end of the court in any season, but also finishing no better than fourth on defense. G
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