Who is the best defender that you've watched?

[HylianNightmare]

Battier

[red1]

kawhi

[hateraid]

Ron Artest AKA Metta World Peace
The guy was a dog and could defend almost anyone. I've seen teams actually game plan vs Artest's defense. That's true impact. Him and Mutumbo.
My team in my lifetime would be

Mutumbo
Artest
Rodman
Bowen
Allen

HM: Alvin Robinson, Pippen, Moncrief, Hakeem, Beverley, Bobby Jones, Leonard

[bdonovan]

Best defender I've ever seen: Draymond Green.

Very few defenders can guard any player on the court. His IQ on the defensive end is tremendous- you can see his footwork as he either moves to position himself against bigger players and hold them at bay or alternatively, is switched on guards, stays low and nimble and moves his feet to stay in front of the ball handler. With his length he can contest almost any shot, and has incredible reflexes and anticipation in getting to disrupt the offensive player. Strong fundamentals- rarely goes for pump fakes, takes charges, strips the ball, hands in passing lanes, hard to beat off the dribble.

It's been interesting see 270 lb centers fail to move him. A lot of that is positioning, anticipating the movement of the ball-handler, and pure strength.

Honorable Mentions:
-Bruce Bowen
-Gary Payton
-Ben Wallace
-Dennis Rodman

[Wally450]

Tony Allen, KG, Kawhi, Dwight. Hell, for his stint in Boston, I always appreciated the defense Avery Bradley played.

[SouBeachTalents]

Of guys not named yet

Kidd
Eddie Jones
Marion
Giannis
Robinson

[HoopsNY]

Ron Artest AKA Metta World Peace
The guy was a dog and could defend almost anyone. I've seen teams actually game plan vs Artest's defense. That's true impact. Him and Mutumbo.
My team in my lifetime would be

Mutumbo
Artest
Rodman
Bowen
Allen

HM: Alvin Robinson, Pippen, Moncrief, Hakeem, Beverley, Bobby Jones, Leonard

Mutombo over Hakeem?!

[BarberSchool]

Pre-load-management Kawhi

[FKAri]

I'll exclude "bigs" because it's hard to compare. Then to me it's between Tony Allen and Kawhi. I'll go Kawhi since he was able to do it while having offensive responsibilities. Tony Allen seemed like the hardest guy to get off balance and get away from. Meanwhile Kawhi had the best hands that could swipe the ball away at anytime.

[dankok8]

I would say KG and Ben Wallace out of the ones I watched live.

[bullettooth]

JJ Barea

[Foster5k]

04 Pistons were a problem problem. Someone from that team gotta make the list. I'll say Ben Wallace.

[Carbine]

Kawhi from the last Spurs title to his rookie year.

Draymond pre 2016. He's still excellent, but he was the prototype modern day defender during that time.

[Axe]

Snow.

[TheMan]

peak lebron and it isn't close.

"LeBron James is better at playing defense than the idealized version of an NBA defender, as conceptualized by an analytic system that factors in everything from the precise positioning of every player on the floor to the individual skill-sets of the players involved on a given play. LeBron James is not fair."

https://deadspin.com/lebron-james-is...ized-456410614

12 years old confirmed