He doesnt cheat in either direction, though. That earned him the nickname Mr. You never have to question his effort or commitment. Humility can often be a sign of intelligence at work, and it is with Hinrich. Interpreted as: best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played point guards in NBA history. He does such a good job of it while the ball is in front of him, theres no reason he couldnt do it after the ball-handler gets past him. Meanwhile, another player has his numbers go up because he is capable. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. Jrue Holiday is not fast so much as he is quick. His lateral movement and reaction time are exceptional, and thats indicated by his isolation defense. -- Haberstroh, Honors Point guard from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America 3 Jason Kidd Point guard from California, United States of America 4 Walt Frazier Point guard from Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America 5 Dennis Johnson 6 Fat Lever Point guard and Shooting guard from Pine Bluff, Arkansas load more His wingspan isnt much better at just 64. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. Somehow, he seems to be able to get his hands in the way of a lot of shots and passes that should be out of reach. It seems so much of Conley is either there or not there; you get it or you dont get it. He also plays through to the end of the play when his man doesnt have the ball, which is not something you see all point guards do. Stockton embodied a true point guard - an extension of the coach that ran the team's offense seamlessly. He also has such superior court awareness that most picks dont catch him squarely, and he just glides over them. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. I gave Paul the highest possible score here to offset the total ineptness of the coaching staff, and the frontcourt help he got last season, but he would have a high score regardless. On the flip side, Westbrook's 4.13 turnovers per game average is the highest all-time, with Johnson (3. . Hed also be more willing to provide it. Sometimes he wont give that much effort, and then the next moment hell be trying too hard. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG. Johnson is widely recognized as one of the all-time great point guards, particularly for his defense. Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. In recent years, the sport's shift from a fundamental style of play to a more athletic, scoring-oriented game resulted in the proliferation of so-called combo guards at the point guard position. It might not seem like much, but for most players, this covered around 30-40 games' worth of defense. Sometimes even when hes being smart, he gets a little dumb. When the team is winning or the game is close, he puts in real effort, but if they are down, he shows noticeably less energy. When he gets it going, hes unstoppable. Its possible for Nash to be the whole offense and to shoot 50-40-90 from the field on a continuous basis. Rondo likes to do this chest bump thing where he meets the opponent past the half-court line and just bumps his chest into him repeatedly. His defensive usage was the highest of any player with at least 1,200 minutes. Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. Although Wilkens is best known as a head coach, he was once an outstanding athlete. He plays way too far off the ball, supposedly so he wont get beaten, but since he perpetually gets beaten like a drum anyway, why not play closer up so he can at least do a better job of defending the jump shot? Nevertheless, its just as important. But will he listen enough to a player he was just playing against to make that shift? Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy! Hes the closest thing in the world to Kevin Garnetts Mini-Me. Despite his little size, he made up for it offensively by being lightning fast and had the whole attacking package. Parker applies himself defensively in bursts, and this appears to be by design. He applies his energy smartly. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 7, 1974, to a Welsh mother, Jean, and an English father, John. Strictly speaking, he should have a score closer to 20, but because of all the help he is in the locker room and practice, he gets a little leeway. Even his athletic scores dont indicate greatness. Have a look! Seemingly overhauling your system for every opponent is not. In all, Jordans 64.1 DWS rank him 21st all-time. His offensive style has been revamped to incorporate a powerful mid-range jumper along with some range as well. Tony Parker is one of the fastest players in the league if youre going by pure speed. Back in the 80s and 90s as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, Clyde The Glide Drexler and Michael Jordan constantly battled for the title of best shooting guard. In order to claim that title, both players had to play defense as well. By: HoopsHype. He yields a whopping 41.5 three-point percentage on the spot-up, which is just not good. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. Oscar Robertson 3. Also with both, theyve shown more success utilizing their physical attributes on the offensive end than the defensive end. Dame is better than ever, but the Blazers are stuck in quicksand Bob Cousey 8. Players Stats: 13.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 5x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. On top of that, when Parkers man slips past him, he has one of the best defenders in the history of the universe, Tim Duncan, to help him out. Johnson had a knack for scoring against everyone and racked up impressive numbers throughout the course of his career. One of basketballs most dynamic and versatile point guards in the modern era. Stephen Curry 4. The ripple effect of that was that every single Bull had a worse defensive rating with Boozer than when playing with Gibson. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. The best way to track how effective a player is on the defensive end is by looking at their cumulative defensive win shares. In his 20 seasons, Bryant. Isiah Thomas, born on April 30, 1961, and possibly the best player ever under 6-foot-1, combined talent with fierce competitiveness. Something was great about that play, but it was Knight showing the heart to challenge Jordan, not Jordan dunking on a man a foot shorter than himself. Sometimes his teammates bailed him out; sometimes the shot just didnt go in. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, he is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals. Instead of passing after bringing up the ball they quickly drive to the basket or step back for an outside shot. Jrue Holiday. The bulk of his thefts came by stealing the dribble, not by shooting the passing lanes. He does add a lot, but its not frenetic, its just frantic. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. Russell is regarded as one of the best point guard finishers of all time. You just dont see him make the wrong plays. He tends to do the right thing, but then hell do something kind of stupid that makes you wonder what hes thinkingeven if what hes thinking is right. Two-time MVP (2004-05, 2005-06), eight-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, Career stats Speaking about hard-nosed defense-first converted shooting guards, here is one more name to the list: Dennis Johnson, one of the all-time great Celtics and at the same time one of the most underrated players in the history of the NBA. It just feels like there should be another notch where pride kicks in, he gets passionateor even angryand he hits another level. Perhaps the best word to describe his defense is lollygaggy.. He doesnt play on the ball physically, utilizing that advantage. However, hes not the slowest point guard in the league either, and when hes not biting on the crossovers, hes able to do a decent job of staying in front of most average point guards. Although both Kidd and Paul were more accurate shooters, his passing range was broader than any of them. At 61 and 171 pounds, Rondo is pretty small by NBA standards, but he plays much tougher than his size. Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. Thats because they can spend all their energy quickly, while starters have to pace themselves. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. Then, over 10,000 video clips were viewed and players were evaluated based on subjective criteria. Players Stats: 18.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 6x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 1972-1973 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. There are some serious contenders in Steve Nash and Walter Frazier, so hell have to settle for fourth place in the race. But his lack of any vertical leap kills him on the jump shot. Conley looked away from Billups and was pointing vehemently to Paul, trying to tell Allen to get over there and cover him. His 48.8 DWS is 48th all-time and the fourth most by a point guard. He also is tougher than most point guards to post up. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. Sometimes, measurables dont tell the whole story. Trail Blazers playoff failures have been a major blemish on both his game and his career so far. Even when picks are set behind his back, he instinctively knows they are there and just steps over them seamlessly. However, when the game is on the line, he makes the right decision. The effect was that the Bulls' starters all looked inferior to their backups. Isaiah Thomas 5. Jordans inclusion as the best defensive shooting guard isnt surprising considering his relentless attitude to winning. WAM is purely objective. Even though he was 38 years old when he won his first NBA championship with the Mavericks, he had two trips to the NBA Finals with the Nets. If he had just a little more strength and could get through the screens just a tad bit quicker, then that ground could be eaten up ever so fractionally sooner, and he would be able to have that smidgen of success needed to effectively challenge those three-point shots. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. Lowry is neither big nor strong, and he does little with what size he has. Johnson will go down as one of the top 25 all-time point guards because of his defensive presence. Overall, he is more of a gives-help defender than a needs-help defender. Similarly, while each of the advanced and/or traditional metrics has value, each also misses something. The seven-time All-Star was one of the best two-way guards of his time, and his performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA FInals remains one for the ages. Magic had unparalleled vision; he could see players get open and deliver the ball before they even realized they were open. Some of this is hard to know whether to ascribe to Bledsoe or to his former coach, Vinny Del Negro, who hones his X's and O's skills by playing tic-tac-toe online. The former professional basketball player was born on March 26, 1962, and is regarded as one of the best passing point guards. During each of his five NBA championship rings, he was one of the finest players in the league. Sometimes that happens, but not all that often. In case you missed it, Jason Kidd was tops on the list with 75.1 DWS, good for 11th all-time. Gary Payton, widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards in NBA history, saw a similar decline in his defensive abilities after the age of 35. The classic definition of a point guard, orchestrating offense and shooting when necessary. Generally speaking, the point guard is the player in possession of the ball for the most time during a game and is responsible for maintaining possession of the ball for their team in the face of any pressure from the opponents. READ ALSO: James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. He owes his charitable demeanour to a group of elementary school parents. Bledsoe just doesnt bring much energy to the defensive side of the court, which is a shame, because if he did, hed be a ball hawk. Robertson amassed 26,710 points and 9,887 assists during his 14-year NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. Michael Jordan 10. Blake Griffin was 21st out of 47 power forwards, and Jordan was 23rd out of 38 centers. A decade of playing and a plethora of injuries havent helped him get any faster. The relative value between players was not affected; they were merely weighted so that the metrics could be combined without any one metric dominating the others. He had the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. That said, here are the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time, based on their DWS. But he jogs when he should run, is lackadaisical closing out shooters and goes through the motions when running through his rotations.