u/DrumDawg9193

Shawn Kemp has always been one of my absolute favorite NBA players. Although he’s generally remembered by most fans in the basketball community for his freakish athleticism and explosive highlight dunks, I’ve always felt that his impact as a defender and rebounder is particularly overlooked and underappreciated.

During the early stage of Kemp’s career, K.C. Jones (who was Seattle’s head coach at the time) had this to say about him, “He has this enthusiasm for rebounding and blocking shots. How often do you come across a player who has that kind of desire for that part of the game? Not very often at all.” That youthful enthusiasm ultimately resulted in Kemp recording a career single game high of 10 blocks in a January 1991 matchup versus the Lakers.

Later on during Kemp’s peak season in 1995-96, he ranked 2nd in the league in defensive rating behind only David Robinson and was 4th in defensive win shares and 3rd in total rebounds as well. Furthermore, after he left Seattle, they fell from 6th to 10th in the standings for collective team defensive rating, and at the same time, Cleveland immediately became the NBA’s #1 rated defensive unit during his first season with the Cavs. Gary Payton seems to receive most (if not all) of the credit for why those Sonics teams were so great on defense, but I think the reality and fact being that they got worse defensively after Kemp’s departure and Cleveland developed into the league’s top rated defense upon his arrival is a very solid indicator that he also played a crucial role in Seattle’s defensive success.

And in hindsight, the fact that Kemp was never selected for an NBA All-Defensive Team is a rather egregious oversight, especially when you take into consideration that during Shawn’s best 4 year stretch from 1992-93 to 1995-96, Horace Grant was named to the All-Defensive Second Team every season during that span, but when you analyze their respective on-court stats and advanced defensive metrics throughout that time, Kemp was superior in pretty much every category. His teams also had better defensive ratings in each of those years as well, and as previously mentioned, Kemp played a significant part in that. Here’s the head-to-head comparison of their individual defensive stats and metrics across the specified timeline...

1992-93

• Shawn Kemp: 10.7 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.9 BPG, 25.1 DRB%, 2.3 STL%, 3.8 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 100, Defensive Win Shares: 5.1, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 1.0
• Horace Grant: 9.5 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 16.9 DRB%, 1.7 STL%, 2.3 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 105, Defensive Win Shares: 3.7, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.1

1993-94

• Shawn Kemp: 10.8 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 2.1 BPG, 24.7 DRB%, 2.8 STL%, 4.6 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 96, Defensive Win Shares: 6.0, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 2.0
• Horace Grant: 11.0 RPG, 1.1 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 21.1 DRB%, 1.5 STL%, 2.2 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 101, Defensive Win Shares: 4.3, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.9

1994-95

• Shawn Kemp: 10.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 25.0 DRB%, 1.9 STL%, 3.5 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 102, Defensive Win Shares: 4.7, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.1
• Horace Grant: 9.7 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 20.3 DRB%, 1.4 STL%, 2.2 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 106, Defensive Win Shares: 3.5, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.6

1995-96

• Shawn Kemp: 11.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 1.6 BPG, 26.9 DRB%, 1.8 STL%, 3.8 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 97, Defensive Win Shares: 6.1, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 1.3
• Horace Grant: 9.2 RPG, 1.0 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 20.0 DRB%, 1.4 STL%, 2.4 BLK%, Defensive Rating: 105, Defensive Win Shares: 3.1, Defensive Box Plus/Minus: 0.6

In today’s modern NBA era of pace and space, Kemp undoubtedly would be one of the more sought after defensive big men in the league largely because of his supreme athleticism and ability to seamlessly rotate and switch onto smaller players on the wing and perimeter. Just on that end of the court, I can easily imagine him having a Bam Adebayo type of impact in terms of versatility and all-around defensive value. But in comparison to Bam, The Reign Man was a noticeably better rebounder.

Here's the link to a video on YouTube that mainly showcases Kemp’s abilities as a shot blocker and rim protector…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL5XSQLNobA

Larry Nance is one of my absolute favorite NBA players. Although he’s generally remembered by most fans in the NBA community for his high flying dunks, I’ve always felt that he gets very overlooked and undervalued whenever people discuss and talk about all of the greatest shot blockers and rim protectors throughout the history of the league.

Nance is regarded as being one of very few players to ever block Kareem’s sky hook, and for his entire career, Nance accumulated 2,027 total blocks, which is the all-time record amongst guys that were exclusively Forwards and never played the Center position. Nance also holds the franchise records for the most blocks in a single season for both Phoenix and Cleveland. His 217 blocks in the 1982-83 season is the record for the Suns, and his 243 blocks in 1991-92 is the record for the Cavaliers. And at his peak in the 1988-89 season, Nance recorded a career single game high of 11 blocks, was voted to the All-Defensive First Team, and as a whole, Cleveland ranked 2nd in the league in defensive rating and 3rd in opponent points per game that year with Nance serving as their main anchor.

Here's the link to a video on YouTube that shows Nance’s individual highlights from the game where he blocked 11 shots in a January 1989 victory against the Knicks…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pluMCbuiMUo

Dennis Johnson is one of my absolute favorite NBA players. Whenever the topic of greatest perimeter defenders is brought up and discussed, DJ is always the first name that pops into my mind. He gets my vote for being the all-time greatest defender at the Guard position. His impact on that end of the court during his peak defensive years of 1978 to 1981 was absolutely phenomenal.

1978 was David “Skywalker” Thompson’s best NBA season and DJ significantly slowed him down in the Western Conference Finals. During that regular season, Thompson had a 73 point game (without a 3 point line) and held overall averages of 27.2 PPG on 52.1% shooting, but in the Conference Finals against Seattle with DJ guarding him, his averages fell to 23.8 PPG on 43.2% shooting. Seattle won the series in 6 games. And in the subsequent NBA Finals, DJ set records which still stand to this day for both most blocks in a Finals game by a Guard with 7 and most blocks in a Finals series by a Guard with 17.

Then in 1979, DJ received the most votes for the NBA All-Defensive Team, and his individual defense played a major role in why he was named Finals MVP. Across the 5 game series which Seattle won 4-1, DJ accumulated 9 total steals and 11 blocks. Additionally, his main defensive assignment in that series was Kevin Grevey, who had regular season averages of 15.5 PPG on 45.3% shooting, but DJ’s suffocating defense made his averages in the Finals drop down to 10.2 PPG on 38.5% shooting.  

And for the next two seasons in a row in both 1980 and 1981, DJ was the top vote getter for the NBA All-Defensive Team yet again, making it very likely that he would have had at least one DPOY on his resume if the award existed at the time. Furthermore, throughout that four year defensive peak of 1977-78 to 1980-81, DJ’s teams were top 3 in the league in defensive rating every season during that span, which included 1st place finishes in both 1979 and 1981. After leaving Seattle, their defense fell from 3rd in the league to 10th, and once he arrived in Phoenix, their defense immediately became the best in the NBA. 

All in all, DJ was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team 9 seasons in a row from 1979 to 1987 with 6 of them being First Team selections. He was also very well respected and regarded by his teammates and opponents. Larry Bird has referred to DJ as the greatest player that he ever played with, and both Magic Johnson and George “Iceman” Gervin have singled him out as being the toughest defender that they ever faced. Magic has outright referred to DJ as “the greatest backcourt defender of all-time.” DJ’s defense on Magic in the 1984 Finals was another career highlight. Magic’s uncharacteristically poor performance in that Finals series earned him the infamous nickname of “Tragic Johnson.” DJ’s relentless defensive pressure throughout the series which Boston won in 7 games was the main reason for that narrative.

Here are the links to a pair of videos on YouTube that highlight and showcase DJ’s defensive prowess…

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60UobtP0ugo

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sen7kjTXX7U

Since the award’s inception in 1983, these are my picks for the greatest defenders that have never won a DPOY. Pippen is in the center spot because I personally feel that he was the most impactful defender of the bunch relative to their own positions. Who gets your vote for being the best? I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!