Best Defenders to Never Make an NBA All-Defensive Team

Defense has always been my favorite aspect of basketball, and the subject of all the best defenders throughout NBA history that were never selected for an All-Defensive Team is a topic of discussion that I’ve been very interested in lately. Here’s a group of 10 players that I came up with listed in chronological order from their dates of birth…

- Ron Harper

- Kendall Gill

- Shawn Kemp

- Rasheed Wallace

- Kenyon Martin

- Shawn Marion

- Jermaine O’Neal

- PJ Tucker

- Kyle Lowry

- Aaron Gordon

Out of that group, who do you think was the best defender of the bunch? And are there any other names that come to your mind when thinking about players that were exceptional defenders but never received an All-Defense selection? I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

ericbewildered

1 | 27 minutes ago

Rasheed Wallace is wild.

houstonrockets3311

1 | 23 minutes ago

Yea that’s what happens when you play around the same time as other forwards such as Duncan, KG, Bowen, Artest, Kirilenko

AirJordan6124 | Celtics

1 | 24 minutes ago

Should they add an all defense 3rd team?

Key_Change_6635 | Magic

1 | 23 minutes ago

I lowkey think they should. In a league where offense is prioritized more and more, good defenders should be recognized.

aeacurus

1 | 16 minutes ago

I think the issue is that you’d end up with guys who play 15 minutes a game and have great defensive analytics getting passed over for guys who are solid defenders playing way bigger minutes. Defense is much more of a commodity in the NBA so lots of truly great defenders just play here and there

Longjumping_Idea5261 | Knicks

1 | 24 minutes ago

Shawn Marion from this for sure

TheMagicMan56 | Serbia

1 | 10 minutes ago

It’s not even a contest.

Received 15 first place DPOY votes throughout his career and finished top five in DPOY voting twice.

In ²⁰⁰⁴⁄₀₅ and ²⁰⁰⁶⁄₀₇ he finished highest in the DPOY voting out of any non-big apart from Bruce Bowen.

How he wasn’t selected at least in those years is beyond me.

waitingforjune | Pistons

1 | 5 minutes ago

Shawn Marion never making an All-Defensive team is legitimately shocking to me, much moreso than any other name on this list

No_Athlete1978

1 | 20 minutes ago

Ron Harper Shawn Marion and Rasheed Wallace never making it is wild

How deep were them all defensive teams for bigs in 2000’s

Winded_14 | Heat

1 | 15 minutes ago

Well, Tim and KG is basically securing 2 out of 4 possible forward slots, so that leaves 2 up for fight for the rest of the players.

BeyondTheVault | Vancouver Grizzlies

1 | 21 minutes ago

Wtf I legit thought Marion and Martin would have gotten a selection for sure.

A few of these dudes like Harper definitely should’ve seen flashes, but probably forgotten due to role and numbers.

Longjumping_Idea5261 | Knicks

1 | 6 minutes ago

I didn’t watch Harper but Marion and Martin got snubbed due to their position definition for sure. Today we call them versatile but during their era they were called tweeners

BeyondTheVault | Vancouver Grizzlies

1 | 4 minutes ago

I never agreed with that assessment. Marion was easily the second most important player with Suns, his ability to move between wing and bigs made him so good. And Kmart was hella strong.

But yeah that tweener thing was dumb, they just thought every PF should be some tree.

ksn0vaN7

1 | 21 minutes ago

PJ Tucker not being in one is wild considering he’d be out there purely for defense and corner threes. A big part of why those Rockets and Bucks teams were so good defensively. The Rockets even worked him like a dog during the lockdown season. Also a starter as well.

agdrs

1 | 25 minutes ago

Solid list. I also believe that kd is an underrated pick here.

CumAssault | SAS

1 | 24 minutes ago

Kris Dunn is a good defender

Natitudinal

1 | 19 minutes ago

Ngl im kinda surprised Manu didn’t make one.

Bnicertopeople

1 | 16 minutes ago

Lowry on this list for taking 876 charges a game

Midnightchickover

1 | 16 minutes ago

Chuck Hayes

Elden Campbell

Andrew Lang

Bo Outlaw

Kyle Lowery

Unable-Main4172

1 | 12 minutes ago

Ron Harper and Shawn Marion never making one is wild

Practical-Okra40

1 | 6 minutes ago

Jordan stole Harper’s All D teams during the Bulls 2nd run. I’m not saying MJ wasn’t a great a defender, just he wouldn’t have made those all d’s with modern scrutiny. Harper/Pippen were guarding the top guards/wings most of the games. MJ could still handle the assignment, he just was only asked to 30% of the time. Which was smart to allow him for more energy for offense

Unable-Main4172

1 | 4 minutes ago

That team was so awesome they could have had three or four guys on it. Even their backup Randy Brown was awesome on defense. There’s a reason they won 72 games in 95-96 and almost won 70 games the next year (started 68-10 and lost three of their last four to go 69-13)

drawsony

1 | 9 minutes ago

Fun fact. Shawn Marion finished Top 5 in DPOY voting twice without ever making an All-Defensive team. His era was crowded with elite defenders in the front-court.

theanswer759

1 | 7 minutes ago

Kendall Gill was nasty in nba2k13

Kika_7905 | Celtics

1 | 4 minutes ago

Jayson Tatum is an underrated defender

LightSpecialist804 | Knicks

1 | 4 minutes ago

In the modern day I nominate:
Josh Hart
Stephon Castle
Cade Cunningham
Aaron Nesmith
Nembhard
Isaiah Hartenstein