Sidney Moncrief needs to be in the top 25. look him up

Wilt Chamberlain being 18 invalidates this list.

How is Dwight so low though? Should be at least 5 spots higher.

For those wondering Trae young was actually voted #100

Dwight at 13 is nasty bro

So I’m assuming this is full career and not just peak weighted?

I feel like kawhi is maybe a tad too high if it’s full career and a tad too low if it’s peak.

Giannis feels a little too low, Rodman feels a little too high?

Either way, fun list.

Just me personally I don’t really value guys like Bruce Bowen as all time great defenders they expend 0 energy on offense. If you told Shawn Marion just stand in the corner and shoot and spend no energy on offense he’d be a better defender than Bowen and I think that’s true for a lot of guys

Gobert above Draymond so I can’t complain

Hakeem and TA are too low

This is Grindfather slander, and the 901 will not stand for this.

How can Wilt not be a Top 10 defender if you know he averaged over 5 blocks at 36? Not to mention that he averaged 23 rpg; at least 12-15 of those boards are defensive.

There is no consistent criteria here. Just a popularity contest at BR.

Tony Allen is too low

Wow no Ron Artest, Metta World Peace, or even Panda Friend….

Hakeem any lower than 2nd is a travesty

You left off Nate Thurmond.

Pg at 72 and kawhi at 12 is insane

I love that Rudy is one above Draymond

Duncan was a great defender but you simply cannot put him that high with 0 DPOYs.

Hilarious how Bill Russell is #1 then there’s no one else from the 60s or 70s at all until #15, with the 80s only even included in that span with the beginning of Hakeem and Rodman’s careers, who are largely remembered for their 90s work. Just call it “since 1990” or something, not all-time

Jordan, in no way, should be above Kareem, Giannis, Wilt, and AD. Like, bro, even if we don’t discount his DPOY, which we should because the stats were cooked, that’s fucking insane. Wilt and Kareem should also both be top 10.

I’ll take Hakeem over KG

Rudy should absolutely be above Rodman and Pippen, if not higher still.

Feel like Wilt should be higher. Considering he was still very good defensively when you take into account his offensive load and that he was great defensively even after a potential career ending injury and at an old age, I feel like he’s above Kareem and Giannis at least.

Also it’s funny how it’s said they took into account all defensive teams but Kobe’s not on here (I get it he didn’t really warrant that many but still it’s funny).

K.C. Jones not being here is a crime. I get the 60s gets whittled down to Bill and Wilt, but thats a genuine generational guard defender alongside Bill.

LeBron’s way too high. Great player but there were so many better defenders. He often was not the best defender on his team.

This is disrespectful.  Kareem was out there busting his buns every night.  You try dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court.  

Is it weird I think Wemby is already top 20, also I feel like rodman is very overrated defensively

Rage bait / click bait type list. Just trying to get reactions while still seeming someone plausible

Ewing at 46 with a high vote of 30 is brutally low.

They clearly putting Gobert ahead of Draymond for him to crash out

2026 and we are still pretending that Michael Jordan was an elite defender because he had a lot of steals.

Not many talking about Big Ben, so I implore you to watch his highlights. His blocks were just different. Capital B blocks. Almost like he was spring loaded when he left his feet. The ball would be at its apex, and boom, out of nowhere, Ben would launch it into another realm. And a small piece of the shooter’s soul diminished.

Like putting Shaq on the top 50 while he was still young, I think it’s a safe bet to put Wemby on this list.

Duncan way to high! 

Wilt is way too low on this list

I would honestly swap Hakeem and Timmy

I’m surprised to see Pippen at 8.

All time great defender but top 10? 11-20 seems more appropriate.

No Derrick Mckey is a joke. Top 5 wing defenders of all time easily.

Gimme Hakeem over Garnett for sure. Just swap them and I’m fine with the top 5.

Dray and Hakeem are too low

Bron ahead of Tony Allen is hilarious. Bron should be on 60-70 range, his defense was always very poor, especially off ball, he’s only great at chasedown blocks since he’s an athletic freak, but has nothing to be even comparable to Tony on defense

Lebron too high on this list.

There are not 22 better defenders than Tony Allen

Only 4 pre-1990s era in the top 25. Moncrief was a 2x DPOY winner and Michael Cooper was a known defensive hound in the 80’s Showtime Lakers, not to mention Alvin Robertson and Mark Eaton.

KG over Hakeem is definitely a bold choice.

I wonder if Pippen’s defensive legacy is helped by the fact he was the one guy who never had to guard MJ

Where is alvin robertson?

Edit: 37?

Should easily be top 25

Tony Allen 22 spots too low, ignore my flair

this list is ass. if this is Peak version Dwight, Lebron, WILT should be higher and a bunch of other guys. If this is Career, then Kawhi should be way down. looks like Bleacher Report ran this list thru AI.

And 27 still climbing!

Shout out the late great Bill Russell 6

Jrue Holiday was a one man wrecking machine on the defensive end.

Tim Duncan is not a better defender than Hakeem. He has better longevity that’s it. Ask Robert Horry

Lotta recency bias here

not entirely related, but man Artest has really been wild with the name changes.

Bowen at 24 is a travesty. He was a good defender, sure, but nowhere near actually elite and more dirty than anything.

All of the guards and wings on this list are too high. You can build one of the best defenses in the league around prime Dwight or Giannis. You could not do the same with Kawhi or Pippen.

Not bad for BR. Hakeem at four feels weird but it’s not egregious. Overrates a few perimeter guys impact-wise—Rodman over Draymond, Jordan over Wilt, and Bowen in the top 25 all feel like a bit much. AD is definitely too low, absolute monster in the playoffs. Peak for peak, Wemby is #2 or #3 for me, so even considering longevity I’d have him in here. I’d maybe throw Eaton in there, and definitely Thurmond.

Putting Moncreif and Howard so low should be a class A felony.

I think overall greatness is influencing this list too much. Duncan and KG were obviously better all-around players, no debate. But this is supposed to be a ranking of the greatest defenders, not the greatest players who also happened to be elite defenders.

Ben Wallace won 4 DPOYs in basically the same era and was almost universally considered the best defender on the floor whenever he played. Four DPOYs in that era isn’t a coincidence. To me, he has to be ahead of both Duncan and Garnett.

From the mid-80s onward (I never got to watch Bill Russell play), I’d put Ben Wallace and Hakeem Olajuwon as the two greatest defenders I’ve ever watched.

Bleacher Report constantly releases garbage rage bait like this just to stir up engagement. Stop giving this low effort content your time.

Dwight is top 10, period

Dwight got disrespected HEAVY

MJ is too low. By no means was worse than Scottie Pippen.

LeBron is too high. He’s the most avoidant help defender and it’s so frustrating to watch; metrics must not take that into consideration. He’ll never slide in to guard a guy driving the lane and instead worry about not picking up a foul. He’s done it almost his whole career and it’s a net negative on D.

Anthony Davis is way too low

Draymond is gonna go crazy seeing Rudy above him 🤣

Bleacher Report is jumping up and down grinning reading all these hate comments calling them stupid. You don’t get clicks and shares with accurate analysis, you get it by rage baiting the audience

Jordan is actually seriously overrated as a defender. 

There’s no way he’s better than Wilt, Giannis, or Kareem as a defender.

He was a great defender for someone with his offensive usage, but he just wasn’t as impactful as even Peak LeBron on defense.

He still has the highest peak ever for a player, but what are we doing here.

lol at Rudy above Dray. Dray never got benched because the other team went small. He did get suspended a lot though

Bleacher report trash

Shawn Marion and Andre Roberson better be on this list

Well this is one opinion…

Wilt Chamberlain that low is ignorant and criminal.

Alvin Robertson says fuck you

you left off Luke Kornet

Wemby is an entire defense almost by himself. He will be number one all time within two years.

I see Derrick White. I upvote

Bobby Jones at 25 is crazy

Steph Castle will retire in the top 20.

Chamberlain should be 2.

Paul George is way too low

I’d say switch Dwight and Rudy, move everyone down 1 and place Wilt at 2.

Very bad list. Lbj should not be on this list

Decent list. Wallace played on ATG great defense in Det, but was never a great defender. Amazing rebounder and block chaser. Alonzo? No way Jose. LeBron is a great player, but putting him ATG defender is wrong. Dwight was overrated. Block chaser who got bullied by most other elite bigs.

How about the guards? Cooper was ATG. Moncrief was amazing. Kidd was an anchor.