He is going to get beaten, without question. Even though he normally does, he shouldnt have to and wouldnt if he were playing smarter. They must also be able to adapt to what the defense is allowing and must control the pace of the game. He also has such superior court awareness that most picks dont catch him squarely, and he just glides over them. We compiled a list of the top 15 point guards of all time using wholly subjective metrics from the list of active players and a few other legends. Interpreted as: best point guard defensive rating with a minimum of 2000 minutes played per 82 team games 2022 Average players struggled, though. Having above-average size (height, muscle) is considered advantageous, although size is secondary to situational awareness, speed, quickness, and ball handling skills. Hes controlled in how he plays hard. For many of these metrics, sample size becomes crucial. Because he is the one who touches the basketball first on every possession, the NBAs point guard has long been considered its most vital position. He made everything go for those Lakers teams. Do the likes of Magic Johnson and Stephen Curry rise to the top of the point guard rankings, or is it possible for someone with undeniable natural skill like Penny Hardaway to crack the elite group? As a result, opponents shot 42.9 percent from deep against him in the pick-and-roll. Chris Paul is widely considered to be one of the best point guards of the 2010s. When he gets set for a defensive play, he does a respectable job. 13.1 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, .384 3P%, The player He also defends well against post-up plays, yielding just .54 points per play, although thats on an admittedly small 17-play sample size. He gave up 1.01 points per play on the spot-up last year. Thats because they can spend all their energy quickly, while starters have to pace themselves. With his limited speed, he is always in full throttle and getting himself around the court, pestering whoever has the ball. During each of his five NBA championship rings, he was one of the finest players in the league. However his brilliant and consistent team defense team keeps passing lanes secure and helps prevent a lot of plays from developing the way they normally would. Steve Nash 7. The only time hell go under a pick is when hes supposed to. However, he tends to play soft at times against the pick-and-roll, tending to rely on his quickness when he could muscle through a pick quicker. But it seems like Paul is nutmegging and breaking opposing defenders ankles every game. Mario Chalmers lacks the speed and athleticism of most point guards in the league, and as a result, he usually gets the best seat in the arena to see various point guards blowing by on the way to the rim. That concludes the WAP portion of our programming schedule. He was an All-Star every year of his career and led the Lakers to nine NBA Finals appearances. Players Stats: 20.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 6.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.2 BPG. Players Stats: 14.1 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 5.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.6 BPG, Honors: 1978-1979 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 9x All-Defense Selection, 2x All-NBA Team Selection, Hall of Famer. It probably tells the accurate story here. Though he had a relatively short career he only played 13 seasons his 50.4 DWS is 44th overall. It is a testament to Jarrett Jack that he makes this list. But will he listen enough to a player he was just playing against to make that shift? Lets say a perimeter defender gets beaten and then his center blocks the shot. Don't get me wrong: Steph is still the league's best shooter. Pass-first points of the past have given way to dynamic creators who can score as well as set up teammates. That earned him the nickname Mr. The game has been graced by several incredible players whose names live on even after they retire. There is no doubt about it: Steph Curry is the second-best in the top 10 point guards of all time. Its like hes chosen the worst of both worlds. This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. Even though Payton only played a little part in 2006, the Heats success would not have been possible without his defensive presence and leadership. Therefore, with a few exceptions, players were only considered if they played at least 1,200 minutes last season (which comes out to around 30 percent of possible minutes). When he went up and challenged DeAndre Jordan, and then got blown up, the entire basketball world acted like theyd just seen the greatest basketball play ever. Chalmers will fail at things, but not because he isnt trying. How they moved laterally, closed out on shooters, and recovered after getting beaten were also taken into account. Lowry just seems to be lost on defense much of the time. By the time he was done, he had racked up 10 All-Star appearances, nine All-Defense selections, six All-NBA . His Synergy scores are worse than expected, but that appears to be from players just shooting over him more than getting past him. Teams Some would look at Conleys frontcourt and assumenot entirely incorrectlythat having Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to back him up pads his stats. They were combined and adjusted to cover a range roughly between 18 and 22. But it seems like Paul is nutmeggingand breaking opposing defenders ankles every game. I considered both their actual measurables and how well they used them. He tends to use that speed and athleticism well when hes in position, too. Hes one of the most prolific players in the game. Photos: Top 10 NBA Point Guards Of All Time. Players Stats: 16.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 9x All-Stars, 9x All-NBA Selection, 1990-1991 Rookie of the Year, 9x All-Defensive Team Selection, 1995-1996 Defensive Player of the Year, Hall of Famer. Previously, Id had the impression that Rondo was beaten more often than he actually is and that Kevin Garnett just constantly bailed him out, which made his numbers look better than they are. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. This is especially true when closing out on defenders. Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an initial defender on a play. The average score by point guards was 16.1. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. 11. As a rookie, Bill Russell relied on Cousy to lead the league in assists, and he won the MVP Award for his efforts. Hinrich has a bit more going for him in terms of size. Closing out on jumpers is an issue, especially when coming off screens, where he yields a 46.7 shooting percentage from the three-point line. Hes one of the slower point guards in the league now, but in spite of that, hes almost ubiquitous at times. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed going through the rankings with Magic Johnson securing first place in the Top 10 NBA point guards of all time. Perhaps the best word to describe his defense is lollygaggy.. -- Peterson, He was the forerunner of Magic Johnson and LeBron James, and it's telling that both of those stars revere the Big O. As a result, hes 17th all-time with 1944 and had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. Why did you choose such a weird number scale? Its interesting that when he plays against elite point guards, or when he plays angrily, he plays much more of a physical game. Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum top NBA quotes of the week. He didnt have an eye-popping number, but he was in the top 25 percent of players there. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022 and more. There arent many point guards who can do it all, but Kidd is one of them. As a result, the picks work extremely well. Point guards are often valued more for their assist totals than for their scoring. [2], Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award, "The Olympic history of UConn's Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi", "Top 10 point guards in the NBA right now", FOXSports.com - Best all-time point guards, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Point_guard&oldid=1142307492, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 17:58. While his pick-and-roll stats, according to Synergy, are excellent, at .68 points per play, half the time he seems to get bailed out by his frontcourt. He also only has a 65 wingspan, which is short of the other bigger point guards, but what he has, he uses well. For a position that was highly valued at the time, he brought a lot of sparkle, style, scoring, and domination to the court. Surely the most underappreciated great player in NBA history because he was quietly dependable rather than flashy and never broke through on the biggest stage. Jack is one of those players that a lot of people dont know what he brings to a team in the locker room. Hes a learning player, and his extensive time sitting last year may have helped his grasp of defense as well as offense. Bledsoe repeatedly got beatenmuch more frequently than Paulyet Odom consistently had his back, blocking or altering shots. #VCTLOCKIN #Valorant #valorantagents #valorantgaming. He doesnt have overwhelming effort that blows you away, but he has earnest effort. The foundation (the facts or stats) needs to be laid first, and then the house (opinions about how, or why, something is) is built on top of it. While the Clippers were better when Paul was on the bench, it wasnt because he was on the bench. Nash's sideways speed and power will be non-existent at some age, allowing for constant dribble. Of course, sometimes his opponent scored, too. Russ is already on the verge of breaking into the top five of all time, but its going to be a challenge. Jordans inclusion as the best defensive shooting guard isnt surprising considering his relentless attitude to winning. Then, when players pull up and shoot, he doesnt use his length to close and get a hand in the face of the shooter. Thats largely true. If a player tends to be the helper, he gets a better score. Similarly, while each of the advanced and/or traditional metrics has value, each also misses something. The following are the five categories and what was considered for each of them: How fast players are from end to end is only a part of speed. Its amusing that some people say Rose doesnt apply himself on defense. ESPN ranked the Top 10 PGs of all time & they have @iamisiahthomas ranked 5th. On defense, the point guard is tasked with making the opposing point guard as ineffective as possible. His foot speed is as good as anyone's in the league, and you cant measure that. His quickness and slim frame allow him to slip through gaps in the defence and create more opportunities for himself. -- Tom Haberstroh, NBA writer, No guard in NBA history pulled down more rebounds than Kidd, who finished with more career rebounds than Willis Reed and Alonzo Mourning, among others. It is the same with his mental engagement in the game. He can be stagnant when his man doesnt have the ball. He has above-average size and strength, but he doesnt play like it. With his athleticism and speed, there is no way that Rose should get beaten off the dribble as often as he does. This is also from the various sources we have used. You can look at why things happen and offset the misleading things. Holiday has ample size for a point guard, standing a shade over 64 in shoes, and weighing in at 205 pounds. A defensive point guard will also pressure opponents in passing lanes in an attempt to generate steals and scoring opportunities for their own team. His stellar pick-and-roll defensive score has more to do with being backed up by Omer Asik than it does his own play. Dennis Johnson. For the purpose of this study, 82games was used because the net defensive rating was also easily available and it made for consistency. -- Adams, He could hurt defenses in so many ways: Controlling tempo was one, and he was a hell of a defender, too. Despite making it to the Western Conference Finals last season, he is yet to make an appearance in the NBA Finals. -- Adams, Thomas was as tough as they come, could score with the best of them (such a sweet stroke) and, make no mistake, was the baddest of the Bad Boys. Although Wilkens is best known as a head coach, he was once an outstanding athlete. He surpassed the achievements of every other guard in NBA history, except Russell Westbrooks achievements. Tony Parker is one of the fastest players in the league if youre going by pure speed. Even the fastest point guards tend to get bottled up. Paul gets caught in a trap that WAM cant entirely avoid because it can only look at what happens, not why it happens. Occasionally hell chase the play after hes been beaten, but not always. He has a barrel chest, broad shoulders and 20 pounds on most point guards, so he gives the appearance of dwarfing players that are technically as tall as he is. He uses his speed well, as long as hes engaged in the game. The advantage of defensive rating is that it accounts for the things that dont show up in box scores. The disadvantage is that sometimes its not the player doing those things, and hes getting credit for someone elses great defense. Offense is so much more than just scoring. There are some disadvantages to this style of play. -- Haberstroh, Honors -- Peterson. Since the first time a professional basketball player dribbled a ball, weve seen some of the greatest point guards in history. MVP (2014-15), two-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Career stats An adamant multi-disciplinary journalist, Brian possesses the instincts that are comfortably intrigued by covering and writing the details as minor as the size of Kawhi Leonards hands and as significant as the Trends to watch out for in 2022. From there, hes playing catch up. In his single season with the Wizards, the former NBA MVP averaged a triple-double (again), and he was a big reason why Washington made the playoffs after a rough start to the season. In recent years, the sport's shift from a fundamental style of play to a more athletic, scoring-oriented game resulted in the proliferation of so-called combo guards at the point guard position. Brandon Knight has work intelligence. Does he pick up his man when switched? The only thing keeping Thomas off this list is his brief career by star standards. A point guard primarily defends on the perimeter, just as they primarily play on the perimeter on offense. Kawhi Leonard 11. Injuries robbed Rose of the opportunity to become one of the games top five point guards. He had the second-best defensive rating in the NBA. For each player, I watched between one and two hours of footage of defense, taking account of specific things and grading them in five different areas. After the opponent scores, it is typically the point guard who brings the ball down the court to begin an offensive play. Steph's ball-handling abilities make him a lethal ball-handler, as he can shake a defender at any time. Sometimes even when hes being smart, he gets a little dumb. -- Pelton, So precise with his passes and timely with his shots. Ranked: Top 25 male fitness influencers to follow in 2023, Howe dodges row over Newcastle's Saudi ownership, Former Chelsea boss spotted in Munich with his new lover, Bam Adebayo makes bold claim about the last two DPOY awards, Gary Neville ignites debate after stating ideal price for holding midfielder, Huge Ballon dOr scandal as player claims his votes were changed to Lionel Messi. Stats dont make a good argument, they make a good foundation for a good argument. His most notable awards include five NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, nine All-NBA First Team selections, and 12 All-Star appearances. Does he rotate on time? When defending the isolation play, he gives up a nauseating .94 points per play, a strong indication of that. He merits a high score here. 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5APG, .375 FG%, The player He has the most assists and steals of any player in NBA history and is a master of the pick & roll. With Doc Rivers in charge, things should turn around shortly, and next year his WAM score will be among the best in the league. Conley is inconsistent in how he applies effort on the court. Coming over as a 25-year-old rookie, Ginobili only had two seasons where he had fewer than one steal per game and he averaged 1.3 steals for his career. He lacks the strength to effectively go over screens consistently, so he has to go under them. -- Peterson, A menace on both ends of the court, Frazier was at his best in the 1970 NBA Finals when tallied 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds in a title-clinching Game 7. Honors: 1978-1979 Finals MVP, 5x All-Star, 9x All-Defense Selection, 2x All-NBA Team Selection, Hall of Famer. Aside from the centre, having the best point guard is critical to improving your game because every play starts with him. Point guards are expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time. And his athleticism gives him a leg up, which helps him dominate. This could be something that Monty Williams, a coach with outstanding player development skills, can work on in New Orleans now that Holiday is with the Pelicans. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. Watching specifically for this, I found only three instances in 50 plays where Garnett bailed out Rondo on isolation plays, a rate which is lower than most point guards receiving help. Because Derrick Rose was the NBAs youngest MVP in 2009, its unfortunate that the guy isnt higher on this list. Hes always looking where hes supposed to go, and moving in that direction, but he just takes his time getting there. He manages to defend the pick-and-roll reasonably well by doing something I can only call bouncing over picks. Penny, a taller point guard, was an excellent dribbler and a great passer. Gary Payton is one of the best ever. One of the greatest rebounding guards of all time. The corresponding WAM or WAMS scores indicate how many points a group of like-skilled players on the court would theoretically give up in 100 possessions. He finished the game with the most career postseason points and the highest average in a playoff series. When the team is winning or the game is close, he puts in real effort, but if they are down, he shows noticeably less energy. And I never saw him go in the wrong direction, not once. Other individual metrics and team metrics thin out the impact of those factors. Nixon played 6 seasons with the Lakers, making the All-Star Teams in 1982 and 1982 when he posted 17.6 PPG and 17.2 PPG respectively. DWS are how many wins a player produces based on his defensive ability. He was also an outstanding playmaker and a solid scorer with a strong mid-range game. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. Also with both, theyve shown more success utilizing their physical attributes on the offensive end than the defensive end. On the other hand, no matter how solid the foundation is, you cant move into it. Players Stats: 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG, Honors: 1963-1964 MVP, 12x All-Star, 11x All-NBA Selection, 1960-1961 Rookie of the Year, Hall of Famer. He averaged 3.9 win shares per season, totaling 75.1 DWS at the end of his 19-year career - good for 11th all-time. The debate over whether it should have been a flagrant is mootclearly that got into James head because he was talking about it after the game. Who are the best defensive point guards in the NBA, and how are they determined? He falls into his rotations smoothly. In all, Jordans 64.1 DWS rank him 21st all-time. He tends to rely on his speed to compensate for his lack of mass. Norris Coles individual numbers are all better than Chalmers, but he gets docked with lower team numbers. Furthermore, he is a legend for the Phoenix Suns and one of the teams finest players. He does a poor job of defending the spot-up, surrendering 1.07 points per play. Nate Archibald 14. He just cant do anything about it. But thats why we do the research. His on-court coaching and leadership is probably the biggest reason the Clippers had the eighth most-efficient defense in the NBA last year. Humility can often be a sign of intelligence at work, and it is with Hinrich. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. He is not a guy you would single out as an NBA player in a crowded room. Passing skills, ball handling, and court vision are crucial. At the very least, he could stab those quick hands of his at some more balls and disrupt the dribble from behind. The best shooter ever not just in terms of accuracy but also in creatively getting looks with but a sliver's opening and with unlimited range. OPER is the Opponents Player Efficiency Rating and has been tracked by 82games.com since 2008. 6 (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963), Career stats He uses quickness to capably guard the perimeter, but thats in large part because hes not always defending the elite point guards. While he recovers most of the time, its worth asking why he gets beaten. Perhaps next year the Raptors will see better times, and well see less of that kind of behavior, but its a harmful habit to have picked up. -- Kevin Pelton, Teams -- Brad Doolittle, Robertson's averaging a triple-double in 1961-62 is probably overrated because it was a product of the fast-paced play in the 1960s, but his role in the Milwaukee Bucks' early '70s championship run is probably underrated. Rondo may not be big, but he doesnt know that. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. It will be interesting to see how well he does with Larry Sanders behind him in Milwaukee. Players Stats: 12.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 8.7 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA Selection, 1994-1995 Rookie of the Year, 9x All-Defensive Team Selection, Hall of Famer. However, a good jump shot and the ability to score off a drive to the basket are still valuable skills. Two-time All-Defensive First Team Four-time All-Star Before having his career derailed by drug use, Micheal Ray Richardson was one of the league's most feared defensive point. This proves problematic, especially in isolation, where Williams usually just backs up. Oscar is the first triple-double king and is one of the greatest NBA players of all time, no matter what position he is playing. The ripple effect of that was that every single Bull had a worse defensive rating with Boozer than when playing with Gibson. Parker applies himself defensively in bursts, and this appears to be by design. Chauncey Billups, or Mr. Holiday wouldnt just go under the pick; he would go too far under the pick. The former professional basketball player was born on March 26, 1962, and is regarded as one of the best passing point guards. Players Stats: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG, Honors: 3x MVP, 3x Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 10x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. He also is tougher than most point guards to post up. Top 50 Point Guards of All-Time: Magic, The Big O and Curry top the List By Jeff McDaniel | Jul 16, 2020, 5:35pm 1. He never stops moving. Only two other players besides Moncrief have won the NBAs defensive player of the year award twice. How hard do they fight through them? Went from dominating games strictly with his passing to making the fifth-most 3-pointers in NBA history. DJ, standing 6'4, started playing point for Boston in the second half of his basketball career and was often tasked with shutting down .
