Since him, no point guard has won that honor again. O Russell had phenomenal instincts and was very quick. l Garnetts trophy case gets a slight edge over Duncans. m And that's fine, I have nothing against that," says Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, who played against Jordan in the 1992 NBA Finals with the Portland Trail Blazers and again the following year with the Phoenix Suns. That man-to-man defense by Russell was crucial for 11 championships for the Celtics. Michael Jordan had a defensive rating of 102.7 in his career. Indeed, Jordan had a 101 defensive rating in the 1996 and 1997 playoffs. ( Over his 18 year career, Olajuwon only scored 100 or over six times, and actually had the best defensive rating in the NBA for five consecutive years. + F Over the years there have been plenty of premier defenders in the NBA who have worn the label of best defender in the NBA. Awards Compare full careers or single seasons for up to six players Compare group of seasons Ex. At the end of the day, defense is half the game of basketball. ] [ B They are interchangeable in terms of making. Jordan is a 9-time NBA All-Defensive . F Scaled to a tempo of 100 possessions per game. F [ L t Interpreted as: What is jordan defensive rating in his career? The player with the highest grade at the end will be crowned the best defender in NBA history. ( NBA MVP, All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, All-Rookie, Hall of Fame . Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. P And he found a way not only to become a great defensive player, but the best defensive player in the NBA. Prior to the 201314 season, LeBron James was on the verge of surpassing Michael Jordan's career PER to take the number one spot. [13], Former ABA and NBA Coach Larry Brown is quoted as saying: "The college game is much more physical (than the NBA) [] I always tease Michael (Jordan), if he played today, he'd average 50."[14]. P + Just ask James Harden, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, or Trae Young. t ) R Why was Jordan so great, though? He didn't care.". And he did it by shooting and shooting and shooting and shooting. Active players are listed in bold R ( l Kobe got some steals but he was hardly an all-timer at stealing the ball. 82: . Do you have a sports website? [8] Several news features focus on comparing the two players by using the PER metric. Take, for example, the sequence that set up his iconic final shot as a Bull against the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals. In the three seasons that Duncan did eclipse 100, he scored 101, and 100 twice. The Hornets didn't win another game in the series. As long-time PER fans know, that would make him considerably worse than nearly every player in the league. ( Full disclosure: FiveThirtyEight and ESPN are both owned by The Walt Disney Company. Porter's 40% forced incompletion rate in 2022 led all Power Five cornerbacks. ) Share Results Compare single seasons or full career Ex. Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon are the only other players to reach that milestone once. Jordan's defensive acumen was apparent in real time; he was selected first team All-Defense on nine occasions, tied with Gary Payton, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant for most ever. "All anyone wants to talk about with the Bulls is the triangle. c F G m Michael Jordan (18) P Known as "The Glove," Payton got that nickname after playing superb defense on Suns PG Kevin Johnson. g Michael Jordan had a defensive rating of 106.8 in his rookie season in 1984-85. Welcome to The Athletic 's pick-by-pick grades for Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft. Everyone remembers the drive, pull-up and arguable push-off as Jordan freed himself from Bryon Russell and drained the championship clinching jumper. In a scene authors Rodrigo Corral, Alex French and Howie Kahn detail in their 2017 book, "Sneakers," Falk, after exchanging pleasantries, looked to Strasser and said, "Rob, I've got an idea.I want to marry Michael to your airbag technology." = A He was the game's most versatile defender ever thanks to his excellent man-to-man defensive skills, ability to box out everyone and put players on their worst shooting nights. ) 10:42 AM. F His ability to contain his man has been phenomenal, but underrated in the eyes of the most fans since he plays efficient, yet unattractive basketball to the casual fan. He was often called to defend players from multiple positions too, anything from 1-4. Olajuwonwho marked the 90's as its top defensive player, and did nice work to out-match a much younger Shaq during the 1995 NBA Finals. Making a three pointer is great, but if you cant stop the opposition from scoring a three, youre back at square one. [ T P ) If you had the opportunity to make your ideal NBA defender, it would probably look like Scottie Pippen. He returned to basketball in March 1995. Cowens knew the triangle provided Jordan and Pippen post-ups 6 to 7 feet from the basket, which both players favored, so he put bruising power forward Anthony Mason, his best post defender, on Jordan. Compare player statistics for: Michael Jordan career vs. LeBron James career. G Just like Lebron he is considered one of the most athletic players ever too. Per Game Per 48 Min Totals Advanced Add Info Stat Key B l D + Duncan was an incredible NBA rim protector for decades, but outside of the paint, he didnt really have much of an impact. L Chicago's opponent, the Utah Jazz, led the NBA in offensive efficiency during the regular season (110.9 points per 100 possession), but was held to just 94.3 in those 1998 Finals. at + MJ assisted on nearly 25 percent of teammate baskets when he was on the court, on top of his scoring responsibilities. Under the weight of all that lore, it can be difficult to cut through to what made Jordan truly great, independent of the image-making. Charlotte stunned Chicago in Game 2, 78-76. ) Hollinger responded via a post on ESPN's TrueHoop blog: Berri leads off with a huge misunderstanding of PERthat the credits and debits it gives for making and missing shots equate to a break-even shooting mark of 30.4% on 2-point shots. Honorable Mentions: Bill Russell, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Gary Payton. T He outranks Jordan in career Defensive Win Shares, believe it or not, and his 4.0 Steal Rate in those two non-Jordan seasons were the highest ever for a player 6-8 or higher, by miles and miles. f This allowed him to completely dominate the paint in an era where scoring from the inside was coveted. Return to Top; Players. Active players are listed in bold. T 3 T The Bulls were perpetually on a seek-and-destroy defensive mission, aiming not just to disrupt their opponents' offensive sets but to ultimately leave them in disarray. > Career Player Efficiency Rating. Defensive Player of the Year. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. O Scores from any date in BAA/NBA or ABA history, Frequently Asked Questions about the NBA, WNBA and Basketball, Basketball-Reference.com Blog and Articles, Subscribe to Stathead Basketball: Get your first month FREE. F College: Ohio St. (College Stats) Weighted Career AV (100-95-. ] From quarterbacks Will Levis and Hendon Hooker to defensive backs Brian Branch and Joey Porter Jr., we . Facing multiple Hall-of-Famers from his position, he often outmatched them all to lead his team to wins! t Michael Jordan's reputation as the GOAT has withstood the tests of both time and science. PER largely measures offensive performance. His length allowed him to contest shots on the outside, but a lack of speed deterred him from being an effective perimeter defender. Tied for second most ever. This is enough to consider him in this debate. A "That, combined with his athleticism, made him a suffocating defender. This guy said, Those are my weaknesses. Jordan overwhelms Bad Boy Pistons on defense, MJ strips Malone to set up Finals-winning shot, Jordan handles Barkley in the post (0:29), Michael Jordan also dominated the NBA on defense, 'That was crazy, no cap': How one wild sequence helped the 76ers steal Game 1, 'Aggressive' Harden takes over as 76ers stun C's, Suns' Paul leaves G2 loss with left groin tightness, Horford: Celtics let up defensively with Embiid out, Butler gets treatment on ankle; still iffy for G2, LeBron 'locked in' as rivalry with Steph resumes, Calipari thanks Bryants for package honoring Gigi, 'It's going to be epic': Stephen Curry and LeBron James face off -- again, Tigers coach fumes at Zaire v Dwyane comparisons after loss, Pregame chats, language arts and 'a lot of fines': Inside NBA player-ref dynamics, Dennis Rodman wants to set the record straight on Scottie Pippen, The Michael Jordan I knew is about to be revealed to the world, The Bulls put Pippen on Jackson to prevent him from posting up, Recipient of Basketball Hall of Fame Curt Gowdy Media Award. This category isnt measured by a single NBA stat, but is too important to be left out of this discussion. It was personal. PER extends this critique of counting statistics to basketball, noting that a player's opportunities to accumulate statistics are dependent upon the number of minutes played as well as the pace of the game. Over his career, he averaged 30.2 pace-adjusted4 points per 36 minutes, easily the most of any qualified player since 1977. A How did a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from North Carolina, who wasnt picked first OR second in his draft class, come to dominate a league whose best players had disproportionately been big men over the three decades before he arrived? [ The 2004 rule changes, which also included calling the defensive 3 second rule ("[] a defensive player may not station himself in the key area longer than three seconds"a longstanding rule which had been ignored by referees) had a major effect, opening up the game and allowing a more free-flowing offense; it encouraged aggressive inside attack based plays (to draw fouls), and has increased the number of fouls given when contact is made on players who drive to the basket. Chicago Bulls (36) ] But it also applies to the countless times he jumped passing lanes, blocked shots of 7-footers or merely saddled up so far into the grill of perimeter shooters that they could literally smell his sweat. This defensive ability vaulted players into greatness, or even to an elite Hall of Fame level. F Michael Jordan was a 6'6, 195-215lb freak of nature. i V T Biden Is Running For Reelection. had a defensive rating of 106.8 in his rookie season in 1984-85. Lets begin by naming the honourable mentions who just missed out on being in the top five. NAME SEASON TM GP DRTG MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG TPG FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% MIN PTS REB AST STL BLK TOV PF +/-Michael Jordan: 1984-85: CHI. He was a versatile defender, as he was often called up to guard players from multiple positions. + He also had 14 win shares. 1 B His unmatched intensity on the defensive end is what made KG such an incredible defender. In that series, Detroit averaged just 0.79 points per play with Jordan as the primary defender, and shot just 35%, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. That's a thing very few have excelled at. [ F F G Michael Jordan's pure scoring ability and remarkable athleticism tend to resonate more when attempting to encapsulate his NBA legacy. In the end, one number sums up the players' statistical accomplishments for that season. Duncan may not have any NBA defensive player of the year trophies, but his 15 x all defense is the most ever. R ) Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Michael Jordan. That's excellence! c This is especially true for players such as Bruce Bowen and Trenton Hassell who are defensive specialists but don't get many blocks or steals. P [ It's an unforgettable image, but what people often fail to remember is how the Bulls first got possession. R m All of this helps explain why Jordans Bulls finished in the top five in offensive efficiency every season from 1989-90 to 1996-97, except for the two Jordan spent playing baseball.5 When your best player is taking on a historic share of team possessions while also averaging nearly 1.2 points on each of those possessions, youre going to have a historically great offense. Kevin Garnett: 12 x All-Defense, 1 x DPOY. He was an athletic forward who had toughness, nice jumping ability, long hands and footwork combined with nice skills that earned him eight All-Defensive First Teams selections. He earned 10 All-Defensive Selections. Jordan was the engine that powered the offensive success of the Bulls dynasty. But in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals, Jordan turned the tables on the Bad Boys. Jordan was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP) five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) and was also named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988. O Overall advanced defensive statistics Defensive rating essentially measures how many baskets a player gives up per 100 possessions. ] P Get the latest news, stats, videos, highlights and more about guard Michael Jordan on ESPN. Armstrong, his former Bulls teammate. The other adjustment the Hornets made was to position sharpshooters Glen Rice and Dell Curry on the same side of the floor offensively, so Pippen and Jordan would skew to that side to guard them. He often guarded the opponent's top defender, which was his task every time on the court. He would, of course, bounce back to dominate in 1996. He earned nine All-Defense selections, including six on the first team. ) a B He also held Jordan under 30 points five times in six games during the 1996 NBA Finals. And when we crunched the historical numbers for our RAPTOR player ratings (which go back to 1976-77), we found that Jordan is also the modern leader in RAPTOR plus/minus,3 in addition to having the best mix of career and peak value. T In some ways, as an efficient guard with unstoppable post-up skills, MJ served as a bridge between the NBAs bygone age of dominant big men and todays era of high-usage perimeter creators. Jordan posted higher rates of steals, blocks and defensive rebounds than Bryant, and team-based defensive metrics like Dean Oliver's defensive rating consider Jordan far superior (101.1. Jordan's defense was huge that year, with advanced stats on his side, as well as the eye test. V ) Because those are the little differences between winning and losing.". 1 A He was one of the top man-to-man defenders that the game has ever seen. A missed field goal, though, costs a team 0.72 points. "Our rotations got so crazy that our guard, David Wesley, was guarding [7-foot center] Luc Longley under the basket -- and they still wouldn't throw him the ball," Cowens says now. I couldn't believe how much energy he had. Hakeem Olajuwon DBPM: 2.5 (career average), Scottie Pippen DBPM: 1.8 (career average). + "When he was averaging 38 a game, and even later, when he 'slowed down' to 30 a game, Michael was still talented enough, savvy enough and prepared enough not to exert too much energy defensively," Ainge says. A 6'8" small forward, Scottie Pippen was terrific defender. He has played 179 playoff games, scoring 33.4 points per game. Sometimes when you analyze historical legends with modern metrics, the results can leave you disappointed. Jordan came back late in the 1995 season, too late to boost Chicagos offensive ranking any higher than 10th and he played below his usual level of efficiency anyway. To this very day, he remains the only point guard ever to win the Defensive Player of the Year award, which he did in 1996. Garnett played his entire career with limitless energy and 100% effort. Jordan ranks 18th on the all-time leaderboard for steal percentage, a testament to the quickness of his famously huge hands (which probably played a key role in his low turnover percentage as well). It's a shame he played in Milwaukee and did not have a great team around him. 2 O m He had nice skills and instincts for a big man, and was also a great decision maker. Defensive Rating since 1973-74, Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Monday, May 1, 7:34PM. F Of course, theres also been a lot of mythology built up around MJ over the past three decades, and The Last Dance is sure to add to it even as the movies director, Jason Hehir, says he took steps to humanize Jordan. Jordan Pickford 7. t You throw him at the opponent's most productive and best player, where all night long he produces quality defense, locking him down and forcing him to turn the ball over. L NBA Contracts. O ( A Jordan matched up with, among others, Reggie Miller, an assignment he once complained was like "chicken-fighting with a woman" because of Miller's slender frame. But he also had a career true shooting percentage of 56.9 percent, much higher than the league average of 53.5 percent over the years of his career. K Career PER Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James, Players from different NBA generations and Career PER, "NBA & ABA Career Leaders and Records for Player Efficiency Rating", 2012-13 Hollinger NBA Player Statistics - All Players, Jordan proclaims he could beat LeBron in prime. T Whether these defenders are starters or come off the bench as elite subs, their production goes beyond the statistics and often. Or write about sports? m Journeyman guard Gerald Wilkins was once nicknamed "the Jordan stopper," yet in 39 career matchups, Jordan averaged 30.8 points on 50.8 shooting from the field. Clicking on an indivdiual season will display the team's roster for that season. n = P "I'm pretty sure he made that adjustment himself. What team had the best over/under record last year? F Also note that it is impossible to calculate PER (at least in the conventional manner described above) for NBA seasons prior to 1978, as the league did not keep track of turnovers among other advanced statistics before that year. [9][10][11], At the conclusion of the 201213 NBA season Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra, stated that comparing players from different generations is the equivalent to comparing apples and oranges. That made Jordan one of the better playmakers in the NBA, even as he simultaneously led the league in scoring 10 times during the 11 seasons he played between 1986-87 and 1997-98. Bear in mind that this rating is not the final, once-and-for-all answer for a player's accomplishments during the season. P People were wondering, 'Why is Jordan guarding the backup point guard on this team?' That is fantastic. T This required Jordan to track Mason defensively in transition. F He was selected to play in 14 All-Star games. 17, 2020, Gary Payton is one of the greatest defensive players in NBA History. "I get to the game," Ainge says, "and I'm beat. ] To end up with a league-average PER of 15.00, the actual break-even mark in this case is 48.5%, which is exactly what the league average is on 2-point shots this season. ) Michael Jordan shows off his instincts as he helps on defense and rejects Patrick Ewing's shot out of bounds. Jordan ended his career with the Bulls in poetic fashion: nailing the game-winning jumper over Bryon Russell in Game 6 of the Finals, his shooting motion frozen in time. It's funny, [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson], neither of them was a super athlete, so we gave them all this credit for their brains. Jordan's player efficiency rating was 25.8, the NBA 's second best that year. But Jordan also had genius-level defensive instincts. ) S That team was an offensive powerhouse, finishing no worse than second at that end of the court in any season, but also finishing no better than fourth on defense. B T B F u A R In his career, Pippen's defensive rating is at 101.4, which is still lower than the defensive rating of Gary Payton (105.6) but greater than Dikembe . + [ Scottie Pippen: 10 x All Defense, 1 x STL Champ. Michael Jordan and Gary Payton both won defensive player of the year in their career, and were defensive anchors for their respective teams. Most guys couldn't or didn't want to absorb the contact. Those defensive players, because of their great footwork, skills and intelligence, force their opponents into bad nights and do whatever they need to do to be a defensive standout at all times. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. Plus his ability to block shots was awesome too. P He has earned 10 All-Defensive Team Selections, including eight on the first team! And with apologies to the Human Highlight Film, Jordan was asked to do a lot more on offense for the Bulls than Wilkins was for the Hawks. The guy's attention to detail was impeccable. Nine of them were All-First Team selections. Jordan habitually was knocked to the floor by the team he loathed most, the Detroit Pistons, who punctured his title dreams for three consecutive seasons with a physical, defensive-oriented style. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. They are interchangeable in terms of making the top five, but for this article, they just missed out. P He was indeed in the top class of lockdown defenders, who often forced scorers into bad days. R o g Some have argued that PER gives undue weight to a player's contribution in limited minutes, or against a team's second unit, and it undervalues players who have enough diversity in their game to play starter's minutes. He has earned a record 13 All-NBA Defensive Selections, including eight first teams. He locked in when it mattered the most. And no one relished that assignment more than Jordan. The defensive rating of an NBA player is a statistic used to measure the individual players efficiency in preventing the other team from scoring points. l ] P The fact that he is also a two-time defensive player of the year and the all-time blocks leader just speaks to his presence on the defensive end. And, when he shifted into that fifth gear, which he did at the end of games, he was Scottie-like.". Kawhi has also scored under 100 five times in nine seasons. Now, through The Last Dance, well get to see Jordan from a different angle, and perhaps gain a new appreciation of his greatness even still. + R F R As a result, Jordan is an outlier on the furthest boundary of the usage-vs.-efficiency curve for all-time players: Jordans placement is even more impressive when you consider that he didnt make much use of the 3-point shot. He made this assumption because he forgot that PER is calibrated against the rest of the league at the end of the formula. [5][6] As the metric is averaged over the length of a player's entire career a decrease in efficiency later in his career means a player can move down in the ranking; Jordan's PER took a big hit in the final two years of his career when he returned to the game with the Washington Wizards, posting 20.7 in his penultimate season and 19.3 in his final season, compared to his career high of 31.7 (Jordan's PER was 29.1 without accounting for his Wizards years). . 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. Best RAPTOR defensive plus/minus ratings for . Garnetts impact goes beyond versatility as well. He was picking up guys full court on every possession for the entire 30 minutes he played. That's right. r Will Levis lands with the Tennessee Titans: Will Levis' slide ends early on Day 2, with the Titans trading up to Pick 33 to grab the signal-caller. The Dream impresses even on the stat sheet. Regular Season, Playoffs, All-Star) Awards. Although Kobe never won a DPOY, he received NBA All-Defensive Team Honours 12 times over his career. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. He was also an elite perimeter defender with a RAPTOR plus/minus of +2.2, which ranks fourth among players that Basketball-Reference lists as guards or guard-forwards since 1976-77: Best RAPTOR defensive plus/minus ratings for NBA guards* with at least 15,000 minutes played since 1976-77, including regular season and playoffs. Or that Jordan had a strong supporting cast with multiple Hall of Famers (including Jackson as coach) and hyper-efficient role players (Steve Kerr, Horace Grant, etc.). Round 7, Pick 225: Jovaughn Gwyn, G, South Carolina. Lately, Kevin Garnett is playing so well, which often reminds me of his 2008 form. c KG had 12 NBA seasons with a defensive rating under 100 which is completely unheard of. ] Best RAPTOR plus/minus ratings for NBA players with at least 15,000 minutes played since 1976-77, including regular season and playoffs, Source: NBA Advanced Stats, Basketball-Reference.com. He was going to make sure that no one could ever think they were in his category. In the 1987-88 season, Michael Jordan led the league in scoring with 35 points a game, was named the defensive player of the year, and won MVP. O ] S No one ever, as an individual defensive stopper, did a better job guarding Michael. Michael could take that initial bump. He has a chance this year to tie with the defensive greats of the game, Gary Payton and Michael Jordan, with nine All-First Team selections. ( S Michael Jordan scored 246 points (41.0 PPG) in the 6-game 1993 NBA Finals. Kawhi may be silent off the court, but his impact on the court is definitely heard. He led the league in steals and was 14th in blocks -- the only guard in the top 40 that . He wasn't the strongest, tallest or quickest, but he was a skilled and productive defender. [7] The debate was intensified on 1 October 2013, with Jordan stating that he would have liked to have played against LeBron, and believes he would have won a one-on-one encounter. Given these values, with a bit of math we can show that a player will break even on his two point field goal attempts if he hits on 30.4% of these shots.
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