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Nugg Love’s top 10 defensive players in NBA history

By Michael Longhofer

Phoenix Suns v Utah JazzSALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 14: Alex Len #21 of the Phoenix Suns blocks the shot by Jonas Jerebko #8 of the Utah Jazz during the second half of a game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 14, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 107-97. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)Getty ID: 918398032
Phoenix Suns v Utah JazzSALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 14: Alex Len #21 of the Phoenix Suns blocks the shot by Jonas Jerebko #8 of the Utah Jazz during the second half of a game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 14, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 107-97. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)Getty ID: 918398032 /
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Phoenix Suns v Utah Jazz SALT LAKE CITY, UT – FEBRUARY 14: Alex Len #21 of the Phoenix Suns blocks the shot by Jonas Jerebko #8 of the Utah Jazz during the second half of a game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 14, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 107-97. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) Getty ID: 918398032
Phoenix Suns v Utah Jazz SALT LAKE CITY, UT – FEBRUARY 14: Alex Len #21 of the Phoenix Suns blocks the shot by Jonas Jerebko #8 of the Utah Jazz during the second half of a game at Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 14, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 107-97. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) Getty ID: 918398032 /

Today at Nugg Love, we want to look at some of the top Defensive Players in NBA history.  We’ll be using Defensive Win Shares as a support statistic and we’ve chosen players from several eras. 

On the heels of the All Star Break and with no Nuggets basketball for the next couple of days, we decided to change things up a bit for this article.

First, let’s explain a couple of things:  Defensive Win Share is a statistic that is generated using  a player’s Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) and the following:

Basketball-Reference.com provides the formula for calculating a player’s DWS.  It uses LeBron James’ 2008-09 season in Cleveland for an example.

  1. Calculate the Defensive Rating for each player. James’s Defensive Rating in 2008-09 was 99.1.
  2. Calculate marginal defense for each player. Marginal defense is equal to (player minutes played / team minutes played) * (team defensive possessions) * (1.08 * (league points per possession) – ((Defensive Rating) / 100)). For James this is (3054 / 19780) * 7341 * ((1.08 * 1.083) – (99.1 / 100)) = 202.5. Note that this formula may produce a negative result for some players.
  3. Calculate marginal points per win. Marginal points per win reduces to 0.32 * (league points per game) * ((team pace) / (league pace)). For the 2008-09 Cavaliers this is 0.32 * 100.0 * (88.7 / 91.7) = 30.95.
  4. Credit Defensive Win Shares to the players. Defensive Win Shares are credited using the following formula: (marginal defense) / (marginal points per win). James gets credit for 202.5 / 30.95 = 6.54 Defensive Win Shares.

That is a lot to process but it’s important to understand that analytics have their place in confirming what we think we know.  Michael Jordan, for example, has the highest overall Win Share percentage in NBA history.  Most would agree that Mike is the G.O.A.T. and the numbers support that.

So, using a combination of observation and statistics, I’ve complied my top-10 all-time NBA defenders.