All Defense Team.

[Eja117]

I have brought it up before but PLEASE doesn't any of you remember Don Chaney??

no

[2short]

I'd second the notion of akeem at 6'10" he was not 7'.
He of course would be one the the centers, maybe only russ ahead.
tough list for all time but bobby jones, michael cooper are waaay ahead of lebron.  Kareem i don't feel would make an all time list .  Maybe such a team should be by decade.

[aronth5]

Although I was never a Knicks fan Walt Frazier who was All-Defensive First Team seven times has to be considered.  He drove the Celtics crazy. There was nobody better picking the pocket of another guard then Frazier.

[paintitgreen]

Lebron belongs nowhere near the list. Maybe he will some day, but now, absolutely not. Kareem also was good in that he had ridiculous height, but was not the defender that, say, Nate Thurmond was. And I'm in the minority, I'm sure, but I think Rodman's great rebounding (I honestly think he's the best rebounder of all time) makes people overrate his defense.

The biggest omissions to me (among guys I've seen play) were Sidney Moncrief and Alvin Robertson. Michael Cooper, like many have said, is one of the all time greats. Ron Artest and Shane Battier are both great defenders though I'm not sure they make this list. Kobe is a very good defender but I don't know whether he's a great team defender (which is more important in my opinion than helpside defense or even straight man defense) so I'm okay with him being omitted. Joe Dumars is another guy who you'd have to put it in the great wing defender category. He was maybe the only guy who ever legitimately stopped (or at least contained) Jordan in his prime years. That's gotta be good for something. I'm okay with Camby not being on the list (I think his focus on help side blocks distracts the fact that his "best" defensive years came on a team that was among the worst defenses in the NBA. Mutumbo should be up there though, Ben Wallace too. David Robinson, for example was absolutely great on both ends of the court. But he wasn't better than Mutumbo on the defensive side of the ball.

Among guys I haven't seen, Kareem has said that Nate Thurmond is the best defensive center he's ever faced, and that includes Hakeem. K.C. Jones is one of the few guys who's a Hall of Famer purely for his defensive contributions, so I'm surprised he's not on it. Continuing here in Boston, Paul Silas and Don Chaney are pretty well regarded for their defense. Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere are up there. 

For me, I'd have to go:
Guards - Moncrief, Payton, KC Jones, Dumars, DJ
Forwards - Pippen, Garnett, Duncan, Cooper
Centers - Russell, Olajuwon, Mutumbo

[liam]

was thinking the same thing.

Reggie was a very good defender. His defense on Jordan was the best I've seen. Check out his last game against Jordan. I also would put Dave Cowens on a list of top defenders.  He was undersized but strong and would put a hurt on an opposing center.

[2short]

Lebron belongs nowhere near the list. Maybe he will some day, but now, absolutely not. Kareem also was good in that he had ridiculous height, but was not the defender that, say, Nate Thurmond was. And I'm in the minority, I'm sure, but I think Rodman's great rebounding (I honestly think he's the best rebounder of all time) makes people overrate his defense.

The biggest omissions to me (among guys I've seen play) were Sidney Moncrief and Alvin Robertson. Michael Cooper, like many have said, is one of the all time greats. Ron Artest and Shane Battier are both great defenders though I'm not sure they make this list. Kobe is a very good defender but I don't know whether he's a great team defender (which is more important in my opinion than helpside defense or even straight man defense) so I'm okay with him being omitted. Joe Dumars is another guy who you'd have to put it in the great wing defender category. He was maybe the only guy who ever legitimately stopped (or at least contained) Jordan in his prime years. That's gotta be good for something. I'm okay with Camby not being on the list (I think his focus on help side blocks distracts the fact that his "best" defensive years came on a team that was among the worst defenses in the NBA. Mutumbo should be up there though, Ben Wallace too. David Robinson, for example was absolutely great on both ends of the court. But he wasn't better than Mutumbo on the defensive side of the ball.

Among guys I haven't seen, Kareem has said that Nate Thurmond is the best defensive center he's ever faced, and that includes Hakeem. K.C. Jones is one of the few guys who's a Hall of Famer purely for his defensive contributions, so I'm surprised he's not on it. Continuing here in Boston, Paul Silas and Don Chaney are pretty well regarded for their defense. Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere are up there. 

For me, I'd have to go:
Guards - Moncrief, Payton, KC Jones, Dumars, DJ
Forwards - Pippen, Garnett, Duncan, Cooper
Centers - Russell, Olajuwon, Mutumbo

well put, how could we all forget alvin robertson!

[BballTim]

Lebron belongs nowhere near the list. Maybe he will some day, but now, absolutely not. Kareem also was good in that he had ridiculous height, but was not the defender that, say, Nate Thurmond was. And I'm in the minority, I'm sure, but I think Rodman's great rebounding (I honestly think he's the best rebounder of all time) makes people overrate his defense.

  I'll disagree with this. Before Rodman went on his rebounding tear he was seen as the best defender at his position in the league. His first rebounding title came in his 4th straight year of all defensive first team. He was defensive player of the year twice before his first rebounding title. The rebounding obsession of his really took away from his being known as a great defender.

[footey]

I have brought it up before but PLEASE doesn't any of you remember Don Chaney??

there is just no way i could have bowen before Chaney. Those celtcs teams with Cowens went 69, 66(silas) 65(havlicek) 65 (chaney) 63(white). nelson and westphal were off the bench. Don Chaney played any wing, not Hondo. Chaney was the one who shut the shooters down

I remember the Duck very well. He was my favorite Celtic from the 1974 championship team. A great defender, although Walt Frazier and Pete Maravich always seemed to have his number.

Noted omissions: Dave DeBuschere. He was a great defender. Also Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier.

[Celtics17]

I would definitely put Michael Cooper on this list. Outside of his own teammate (Scottie Pippen) he is probably the only player I can think of who probably could have guarded MJ one on one.

[paintitgreen]

Lebron belongs nowhere near the list. Maybe he will some day, but now, absolutely not. Kareem also was good in that he had ridiculous height, but was not the defender that, say, Nate Thurmond was. And I'm in the minority, I'm sure, but I think Rodman's great rebounding (I honestly think he's the best rebounder of all time) makes people overrate his defense.

  I'll disagree with this. Before Rodman went on his rebounding tear he was seen as the best defender at his position in the league. His first rebounding title came in his 4th straight year of all defensive first team. He was defensive player of the year twice before his first rebounding title. The rebounding obsession of his really took away from his being known as a great defender.

You're right, I think I'm focusing too much on the Bulls years and not enough on his lockdown days in Detroit. And you know, it's not like rebounding is a detractor from defense. A rebound on a missed shot is a lot more valuable than blocking a shot to the shooter's teammate for an easy layin. I'd have to drop Dumars for Rodman I suppose.

On another note, to the OP, it's a really interesting topic. Much harder to quantify than best all around, since there's really no stats to track how good a defender you are. Steals and blocks don't do it, since often times a lot of steals can indicate taking too many risks flashing into passing lanes while opening driving lanes (i.e., Allen Iverson) and blocks often don't do anything but delay a score by a couple of seconds. I put forward a lot of names, but even when I put my list down, I mentioned guys like DeBusschere and Robertson but had to pass on them for other greats. No matter what, though, great defensive players (Jordan, Robertson, Rodman, Wallace for me; Moncrief, Jones, Mutumbo for you) get left off any list like this.

[I Love Getting Rondod]

What is the consensus on a current all defense team? Mine would be PG: Paul,
SG: Kobe, SF: Prince, PF: KG and C: Duncan with honorable mentions to LeBron, Battier and Bell.  Although LeBron has emerged as a super versatile defender, until he can keep the likes of Kobe, Pierce, and Wade under control in the playoffs, I can't put him ahead of Prince and Battier.