20 greatest defensive shooting guards ever: The HoopsHype list
We have taken our 78 greatest defensive NBA players ever list and split it into five positions: point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers. The players who received some votes but were ultimately left out are now included in the positional rankings, so you can see who nearly made the cut for our Top 78.
The late Kobe Bryant is our fourth pick in the shooting guard position. Check the full list down below:
1. Michael Jordan
Top defensive accolades: One Defensive Player of the Year award, nine All-Defensive 1st Team selections, three times NBA steals leader, 10 years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 4th in steals, 90th in defensive rebounds, 125th in blocks
One of just two players in NBA history to win MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan was one of the best guard defenders in NBA history thanks to his tenacity, elite athleticism and quick hands on that end of the floor.
Jordan was named a 1st Team All-Defensive player nine times in his career, all the way until his final campaign with the Bulls in 1997-98. For his career, he averaged 2.3 steals per game (and for anyone who wants to doubt the veracity of those numbers, the fact he averaged 1.5 steals during his two seasons with the Washington Wizards combined should be a pretty clear indicator that he was probably an even more impactful defender in his actual athletic prime) and to this day, he ranks fourth all-time in steals with 2,514.
Jordan had one of the most important steals in NBA playoff history, too. Everyone remembers the final shot of Jordan's Bulls career, the iconic game-winning jumper in Game 6 of the '98 Finals. But what fewer remember was that Utah had the ball right before that with under 30 seconds remaining and holding onto an 86-85 lead. That was when Jordan snuck behind Karl Malone, stole the ball, brought it down himself and sank the game-winner to give the Bulls the sixth championship in the franchise's history. That was one of Jordan's four steals in that game, by the way.
NBA.com only provides team data going back to 1996-97, but that gives us enough time to look at the final two seasons of Jordan’s Bulls career. Chicago ranked fourth in defensive efficiency in ‘97 and then third in ‘98, allowing fewer than 101 points per 100 possessions both seasons, elite marks for the era. Pippen and Rodman get a lot of the credit for that but Jordan was likewise an all-time defender in his own right.
2. Tony Allen
Top defensive accolades: Six All-Defensive Team selections, five years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 112th in steals, 452nd in blocks
Undersized but quite strong and extremely intense, Memphis Grizzlies legend Tony Allen played with a whole lot of toughness and lateral quickness, giving him the ability to remain glued to the opponents he was tasked with shutting down. Allen was a six-time All-Defender, three times as a 1st Teamer, all as a member of the Grizzlies from his age-29 season and onward.
3. Michael Cooper
Top defensive accolades: One Defensive Player of the Year award, eight All-Defensive Team selections, five years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 167th in steals, 273rd in blocks
A recent Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Cooper got into the Hall in large part due to his defense.
Cooper was an excellent one-on-one defender who was a vaunted player on that end of the floor in his prime despite not posting huge steal or block numbers. Overall, Cooper didn’t put up huge marks on either end but he was still an important member of the Showtime Lakers, helping the team win five championships in the ‘80s with his one-on-one defending on the outside.
Cooper was an eight-time All-Defender, five times as a 1st Teamer, and he finished Top 5 in the Defensive Player of the Year vote six times, even winning the prestigious accolade in 1986-87.
4. Kobe Bryant
Top defensive accolades: 12 All-Defensive Team selections, 10 years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 16th in steals, 61st in defensive rebounds, 210th in blocks
As competitive as any player ever, Kobe Bryant prided himself in defending as hard as any superstar the league has ever seen. Bryant finished as high as third in the Defensive Player of the Year vote, which came in 2001-02, at the height of the Lakers' early 2000s dynasty.
Bryant had incredible lateral quickness, great strength for a guard and played with such intensity on the defensive end, leading him, and his Lakers, to enormous heights over two different eras.
5. Joe Dumars
Top defensive accolades: Five All-Defensive Team selections, four years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 240th in steals
Pistons legend Joe Dumars made four 1st Team All-Defenses in his career thanks to his stout, strong defending out of the Detroit backcourt. Dumars never put up huge counting stats defensively but he was an elite one-on-one perimeter defender.
Michael Jordan considered Dumars one of the players who defended him the best throughout his early prime (via Basketball Network):
7. Dennis Johnson
Top defensive accolades: Nine All-Defensive Team selections, three years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 56th in steals, 197th in blocks, 345th in defensive rebounds
Many remember Dennis Johnson as a great sidekick on the offensive end to Larry Bird during the Celtics' dynasty of the '80s, but he was also a top-notch defender, earning 1st Team All-Defense honors six times, the ninth most of any player ever. In total, Johnson earned All-Defense honors for nine straight years.
The great Magic Johnson, who had to match up against Dennis Johnson a lot during the iconic Lakers-Celtics battles of the '80s, called him one of the best defensive players ever (via Basketball Network):
9. Jerry Sloan
Top defensive accolades: Six All-Defensive Team selections
NBA rank: 227th in total rebounds
A four-time 1st Team All-Defender, the legendary Jerry Sloan was hurt by the fact that Defensive Player of the Year didn't exist as an award until seven years after his retirement, because he certainly would have amassed a lot of votes for that honor, if not won it outright at some point.
Steals also weren't counted as a stat until the final three seasons of Sloan's career. Even then, he amassed 381 steals in his career, with Sloan averaging 2.3 steals in his age-31 and age-32 seasons combined. If we extrapolate Sloan's steals over his final two full campaigns (his age-33 season was technically his last but Sloan played just 22 games that year and was clearly failed by his body), he'd be around 1,797 career steals, which would put him in the Top 20 all-time.
Sloan gave it his all on the defensive end, which he discussed in '97 (via Deseret News):
"Jerry's the toughest guy I've ever seen," said Bulls general manager Jerry Krause. During his 10 seasons (1966-76) as a Bulls guard, Jerry Sloan never backed down. "I'd dive all over the place," Sloan said. "I had to. I had no talent."
10. Dwyane Wade
Top defensive accolades: Three All-Defensive Team selections, six years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 32nd in steals, 131st in blocks, 200th in defensive rebounds
The all-time leading shot-blocker among players 6-foot-4 or shorter, Dwyane Wade used his long arms (Wade checked in with a near 6-foot-11 wingspan at the 2003 draft combine) and great timing to meet players at the rim to block shots out of nowhere.
He also had great lateral quickness and quick hands to secure a lot of steals in his career, ranking nearly Top 30 all-time in the stat. Wade had some memorable moments on defense, including arguably the best highlight of his career with this steal against John Salmons and subsequent game-winning three-pointer in double-overtime:
Wade was obviously an all-time player but he doesn't get enough credit for how good he was on defense, especially in his prime.
11. Doug Christie
Top defensive accolades: Four All-Defensive Team selections, two years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 42nd in steals, 379th in blocks, 384th in defensive rebounds
A one-time 1st Team All-Defender in 2002-03, Doug Christie was the defensive muscle for the classic Sacramento Kings teams of the early 2000s, playing the wing enforcer role on some elite squads that won a lot of games. Christie also made 2nd Team All-Defense three times in his career.
Christie was a great one-on-one wing defender but also had fast hands and great instincts jumping passing lanes, which helped him average 1.9 steals per game for his career. That's one of the 25 highest steals averages for a career in NBA history.
12. Don Chaney
Top defensive accolades: Five All-Defensive 2nd Team selections
Don Chaney enjoyed a solid 12-year playing career in large part thanks to his defense, as he wasn’t much of an offensive player. He was, however, a very feisty backcourt defender, one who earned 2nd Team All-Defense honors five times in his career, including in 1973-74 when he played a part in Boston’s march to a championship that campaign.
13. Eddie Jones
Top defensive accolades: Three All-Defensive 2nd Team selections, one time NBA steals leader, three years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 32nd in steals, 237th in blocks
The athletic and quick Eddie Jones was one of the most underrated players of his era, earning three All-Star appearances over his career. Jones had a seven-year stretch in which he put up impressive marks of 17.7 points, 4.4 assists and 2.0 steals per contest. The Temple product simply had bad luck in that two of the teams he played for, the Lakers and Heat, drafted all-time-great shooting guards while Jones was playing for them. Jones was eventually replaced by Kobe Bryant in L.A. and by Dwyane Wade in Miami despite being an All-Star in his own right.
Even so, Jones was an elite backcourt defender in his heyday, making three 2nd Team All-Defenses and finishing third in Defensive Player of the Year voting in ‘00 when he led the league in nightly steals with 2.7. Jones ranks 32nd all-time in career steals to this day.
14. TR Dunn
Top defensive accolades: Three All-Defensive 2nd Team selections, three years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 76th in steals
TR Dunn never averaged more than 8.2 points per game in his NBA career and yet, he lasted 14 years in the Association thanks to being a high-energy player and an outstanding defender. Dunn made three 2nd Team All-Defenses in his career and finished Top 8 in Defensive Player of the Year voting three times as well. He was also quite impactful to winning, as Dunn made the playoffs 12 times.
15. Raja Bell
Top defensive accolades: Two All-Defensive Team selections, four years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
Somewhat similar to Shane Battier, Raja Bell might be best remembered today for his various battles with Hall of Fame 2-guard Kobe Bryant, both in the regular season and playoffs. Bell was an absolute pest of a defender who had the ability to get under opponents’ skin, with his antics bordering on being dirty at times:
Regardless, Bell’s defense was extremely effective thanks to his strength, intensity and lateral quickness. The Miami native even earned 1st Team All-Defense honors in 2006-07, no small feat for an undrafted player.
16. Paul Pressey
Top defensive accolades: Three All-Defensive Team selections, three years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 184th in steals
An elite backcourt defender in his prime, Paul Pressey earned three All-Defensive team honors in his career, twice as a 1st Teamer and once as a 2nd Teamer. In 1984-85, Pressey made 1st Team All-Defense and finished third in the Defensive Player of the Year vote when he averaged 1.6 steals per game, helping lead a Milwaukee Bucks defense that went 59-23 and finished first in points allowed per game.
17. Dan Majerle
Top defensive accolades: Two All-Defensive 2nd Team selections, one year receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 101st in steals
Thunder Dan Majerle was a very feisty player, a 2-guard who could shoot, do some three-level scoring, as well as create and rebound – and defend. Majerle was a very stingy defender in his prime, one who earned 2nd Team All-Defense honors twice and was a three-time All-Star overall. Majerle’s defense played its part for some excellent Suns teams, including the one in 1992-93 that got all the way to the NBA Finals.
18. Ron Harper
NBA rank: 25th in steals, 179th in blocks
The defensive-minded veteran for two dynasties late in his career, Ron Harper won five championships in his last six career seasons in the NBA, as a member of Jordan’s Bulls and Bryant’s (and Shaquille O’Neal’s) three-peat Lakers.
Harper was very strong for a backcourt player, using his toughness and brute force to beat up opposing backcourt players, thriving in an era that still allowed hand-checking. Harper also had solid lateral movement ability and great instincts, helping him rack up steals on the defensive end. To this day, Harper ranks 25th all-time in career steals with 1,716.
19. Klay Thompson
Top defensive accolades: One All-Defensive 2nd Team selection, one year receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
Had he not suffered two devastating leg injuries back-to-back, Klay Thompson would rank higher on this list, as he was a very effective one-on-one defender in the backcourt, one who would sometimes even guard bigger players – and well, at that. Thompson earned 2nd Team All-Defense honors in 2018-19.
The electric shooter and underrated defender would have to guard bigger players pretty often in his prime, as the Warriors, at their most deadly, loved going small with lineups that featured Draymond Green at center and Andre Iguodala at power forward, with Thompson asked to play small forward a lot late in games. Thompson wouldn’t rack up many steals but he did make a strong impact as an individual defender thanks to his size, strength and lateral quickness.
Green and Iguodala get most of the credit for those elite Warriors defenses (Golden State ranked 1st in defensive rating in 2014-15, 5th in ‘16 and 2nd in ‘17) but Thompson deserves some love for how good of a defender he was prior to the injuries.
20. Danny Green
Top defensive accolades: One All-Defensive 2nd Team selection
NBA rank: 214th in blocks
An underrated backcourt defender most of his career, Danny Green finally got some recognition in 2016-17 when he earned 2nd Team All-Defense honors while he was still with the Spurs. Green didn’t get as much shine for his defensive aptitude as his more popular teammates Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan, but the UNC product was quietly a pretty important piece in the team’s defense, as he was the best guard defender on the squad.
Green shared a backcourt with the likes of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills for a lot of that era, not exactly defensive stalwarts, so Green’s ability to remain glued to opposing ball-handlers and play them physically – without fouling – was an underrated part of all those elite Spurs defenses. From 2012-13 to 2015-16, San Antonio ranked third, third, second and first in defensive rating, with Green quietly playing a big role in that.
It should come as no surprise that Green was one of the best role players of the ‘10s, winning championships with three different teams during his time in the NBA, in part thanks to his 3-and-D prowess as a 2-guard.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: 20 greatest defensive shooting guards ever: The HoopsHype list
