Dikembe Mutombo’s defensive dominance

It is no secret Dikembe Mutombo was one of the Denver Nuggets’ best defenders of all time.

Dikembe Mutombo is a Denver Nuggets legend. Not just a Nuggets legend, but an NBA legend as well.

Do not believe me? Then just take a look at some of his accomplishments. Mutombo is a three time block champion, six time All Defensive, four time Defensive Player of the Year, three time All NBA, two time Total Rebounding Champion, eight time All Star and of course, NBA hall of famer.

However, today, we will be taking a look at his defensive analytics and seeing just how dominant of a low post presence he was during his tenure as a Denver Nugget.

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Without further adieu, let’s dive into some of the advanced statistics.

During his Denver tenure, Mutombo averaged a block percentage of 6.8% to go along with a defensive box plus/minus of +4.2. Not to mention, he had a defensive rating of 101, which would eventually improve to a career defensive rating of a sweet 99.

For those who do not know, the lower the defensive rating, the better. So, any defensive rating below 100 is considered extremely good. To put this into perspective, Tim Duncan had a career defensive rating of an amazing 96.

Going back to Dikembe, he also possessed a defensive win share of 25.7 in his five seasons with the Denver Nuggets.  This would end up being his highest total in his career in this category out of all his tenures which is including his time with the Atlanta Hawks in which he recorded a defensive win share of 23.3. Not a bad total to have at all.

We also have to mention his defensive rebounding percentage. In his five years in the Mile High, he logged a defensive rebounding percentage of 25.6%, which helped with him winning two rebounding titles as alluded to earlier. To put this into perspective, Dennis Rodman had a defensive rebounding percentage of 26.8% during his seven years with the Detroit Pistons.

While it is no secret Mutombo is one of the best shot blockers in NBA history, what gets overlooked is his advanced defensive stats during his time as a Denver Nugget.

It is no wonder the man is an NBA hall of famer.