How do you guys compare defensive greats who focused solely on that end versus the defensive greats who were also an offensive focus for their team?
Recently, I’ve been putting thought into some of the greatest defensive players ever, and I really think there needs to be an acknowledgment to those all time defenders who were also able to be the offensive focus on their team at the same time.
Guys like Bill Russell, Dikembe Mutombo, Ben Wallace, Rudy Gobert, and Dennis Rodman are some of the best to ever do it on that end of the court and are definitely recognized as such, but while other players like Kevin Garnett, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Tim Duncan are typically mentioned in the same breath, most people don’t seem to weigh the knowledge that those guys were also their team’s engine on offense and as such couldn’t solely focus on defense to make their impact. And yet KG, Hakeem, and Duncan are all some of the best defensive players ever, despite the fact they couldn’t just look pretty, so to speak, on offense so they could conserve their main effort for defense.
I’m not definitely not saying that’s what all those first guys frequently did, but I wonder how much some of those first guys defensive abilities would’ve suffered if they also were relied upon by their team to score 20 points a game and pass the ball well too. Some of those guys definitely just didn’t have the talent or touch to be that kind of offensive player, but it’s interesting to wonder how things might be different if other talented offensive players didn’t have to focus so much on that end and were able to focus more on stopping other guys.
Hakeem Olajuwon has 2 Defensive Player of the Year awards, Kevin Garnett has 1, Tim Duncan has Zero. How realistic is it that if those guys were able to completely focus on the defensive end they would have several more in between them?
I’m curious to see what your guys’ general thoughts are on ranking these types of players, and to whether someone like Hakeem Olajuwon would’ve been an even greater defensive player if he could’ve given 100% of his energy to the defensive end instead of also being an offensive force.