[llperez]

Watching Boston/okc and saw Jason Terry say Avery Bradley is the best on ball defender hes seen since Gary Payton(best defender in NBA history IMO). Do you guys think it’s Bradley in today’s game? Tony Allen has always struck me as a great defender so personally I say it’s between those 2. How about all time? Bruce Bowen has to be in that discussion as well.

[domeico7Participant]

Bruce Bowen is definitely top five all time. Dude was dirty, aware, knew how to use hands, knew his opponent and strong psychologically.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Is the best defender of all time. Bradley the best on ball defender.

[clickthumbsdowntonegmeParticipant]

for a guy names scout4real you don’t know @#%*!

[RafterParticipant]

Bill Russell says hi.

[llperez]

He obviously dominated his era, but I think the game has changed significantly since the 50’s and 60,s. I mean bill was 6-9 220, that’s like Jeff green or Earl Clark size. I don’t see such a small big man dominating the paint today.

[RafterParticipant]

Meh, we don’t know about how past greats would translate today. I’m pretty sure if Russell were playing in the modern era he would beef up his frame due to the advances made in technology, diets and awareness. Russell was able to defend a physical freak like Chamberlain and was said to be able to shackle him despite giving up a great deal of size. He was such a great defender that it would transfer into the psychological territory. He allegedly let Wilt score on him to make the ‘Big Dipper’ think that he was gaining an advantage over him. It’s genius because while Wilt was winning the individual battle, Russell’s team was winning the game, how many defenders would do that? His character was and still is incredible, there’s no way a player with that kind of attitude wouldn’t be a major player today. If you haven’t already, you should read up on Russell because he was engrossed in basketball to extremely alarming levels.

I could easily see a modern day Bill Russell being at 240, that was enough for Ben Wallace to dominate the paint and pick up various awards. I’m not really in the business of what if’s, if we’re talking about the best defensive players then Russell must to be included. My initial post was really directed at SCOUT4REAL who said KG was THE best defender while providing a very bare bones explanation. I’ve got no problem with him thinking that but it just can’t be a statement alone, it needs more depth to make me understand his view-point.

[clickthumbsdowntonegmeParticipant]

alvin robertson?

[llperez]

I watched the later part of his career but I never really noticed him too much defensively. I do remember lots of media and analysts saying he had so many steals because he gambled so much.

[theprophetParticipant]

that guy was a gritty defender and one of the most in your face trash talking players in the league! i remember he even got in shaq’s head before so bad that shaq threw a punch at him!

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

All-Time, I would have to go with Scottie Pippen, he can defend 1s-4s with his length and elite athletecism, he also had a high IQ on both ends of the court. MJ once said that Joe Dumars was the toughes defender that’s ever defended him, I wasn’t old enough to watch Dumars in his prime but there might be something to that.

And today, I would go with Avery Bradley as well.

[kingofbumsParticipant]

if you’re talking about all time, you cant forget about michael cooper…dude was an animal

[Ny2daDeathOFmeParticipant]

I would say tony Allen, Avery Bradley, lebron James and iman shumpert when healthy are the top on ball defenders in my honest opinion.

[MalcolmxParticipant]

Darrell Armstrong could defend very well.

[theprophetParticipant]

best on ball defenders in the league today are tony allen, his teammate mike conley, chris paul, avery bradley even though i can’t stand that guy, lebron james, and i’ll even add nate robinson and that kent bazemore guy. best all time, alvin robertson and michael cooper do have good cases as others said before but i would also consider john stockton, isiah thomas for former super stars. few guys that don’t get much love that were really good defenders were randy brown, juan dixon, and alvin sims. players to look forward to on ball defense are most likely oladipo and craft.

[TheArtistPaysthePriceParticipant]

I’m buying Bradley being the best right now because Tony Allen has dipped a little. This is all eyeball test though, were is Siggy when you need him with some well placed defensive stats. I think Alonzo Gee and Jrue Holiday are close also and right under Bradley, Allen and Lebron. Tony Allen is still one of the few guys that can always get over a pick and render it totally useless.

Terry with that whole “best since GP” may have been a stretch though. Bowen was great, so was Shane Battier and they both stayed effective even when they were getting older. Raja Bell was good to and Doug Christie. Metta, Thabo, Iggy and Marion, Shumpert, Matt Barnes and even Delonte West all had there days in the sun also. Eric Snow was good on the ball also for a little while.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

LMAO @ KG best defender all time hahahahaha…

All you guys have great examples (excluding Scout4Real), but i think we are all forgetting BIll Russell, since none of us probably saw him play…

[theprophetParticipant]

didn’t forget about him, it’s just that the thread is on ball defenders. russell is up there with the best defenders of all time of course.

[Bmore_DCParticipant]

^^^My bad @TK i didnt see your post till just now lol

[TheArtistPaysthePriceParticipant]

Shane Battier did bring a new element to the League with that hand between the shooting form, nly 1 inch from your eye defense. No one in the NBA really did that before him, I’ve seen it on different levels before that but not in the League. What’s crazy is most of the last ten years we rate a perimeter defender on how well he battled Kobe.

Though this doesn’t count as actual perimeter defense, I remember when Perkins would step up on guys like 18 feet out and literally get close enough to them to touch noses. He would squad and get right under a guy. They were always big men but I remember him having great foot work and being really quick when he did it.

[theprophetParticipant]

brad miller made that a fad against kg in the playoffs before battier did whether it was on the perimeter or in the paint.

[TheArtistPaysthePriceParticipant]

There was a two to three year stretch were he was to best perimeter defender in basketball period. He had to have led the League in blocked jump shots for at least 3 years in a row. Nobody blocks 19 foot jump shots and 3’s and he was doing it, that alone gets you on the list, but he was great all around, steals, blocks, deflection and my favorite give ups. That is were a offensive player takes his self out of the offense because he just gave up and knows that him trying to score on you is flat less efficient than letting somebody else chuck it as much as they want because he’s locked down.

[HotSnotParticipant]

Rondo went down a few games after Bradley returned from being injured all season. Bradley has been the reason the Celtics didn’t fall out of the playoff picture and actually improved their record.

As an on ball defender I really like Eric Bledsoe aswell.

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

Mookie Blaylock is my favorite alltime on ball defender and I think he deserves a mention on here.

[theprophetParticipant]

he was nasty! and when he was paired with augman, it brought head aches to the opposition, good call!

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

I think it’s completely fair to say that the best defenders at their positions are:

PG: Avery Bradley
SG: Tony Allen
SF: LeBron James

I also like to think Ronnie Brewer is a very good defender. Very underrated and he’s gonna be a jewel come playoff time for OKC if he can crack the rotation.

[IknoBall12Participant]

Id ljke to show Thabo sefolosha a little bit if love. I mean he’s not the best defender in the league by a mile but whenever he’s playing anyone besides Kobe the guy is lockdown

[bigtymer32Participant]

right now in today’s game its lebron james and avery bradley .old school micheal jordan,scottie pippen,micheal cooper,bill russell,bobby jones,wilt chamberlin,dennis rodman,dan marjerle,hakeem olajuwon,dikembe mutombo and gary payton just to list some great defenders.kobe needs to be on the list as well.

[capecodderParticipant]

As a senior citizen and a Celtic former season ticket holder and life-long fan (at least since the 40s)….Bill Russell was the best defender ever, but the topic is on the ball….not many centers are truly “on the ball defenders”…..as far as all time….Russell’s teammates KC Jones and Don Chaney should be added to that thorough list posted by bigtymer 32

[Author]

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