Both figures can be obtained by going to any players team page and then clicking on the appropriate name. He has been improving in that regard, but its taken a while, and there are still some maddening things. Michael Jordan 10. -- Kevin Pelton, NBA Insider, May be the strongest point guard ever and consistently made everyone around him better. Los Angeles Lakers late legend Kobe Bryant is often considered the greatest Laker ever and with good reason: Bryant is first in many of the Lakers statistical categories. WAM is purely objective. Several sites track this, each in its slightly unique way, depending on its formula to calculate possessions. -- Adams, The fashion forerunner to Russell Westbrook. He benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year. To create All-Time #NBArank, we put together a ballot with the 150 greatest players ever. The average score by point guards was 16.1. Its still possible for him to make another All-Star squad, and it seems like hes on the path to doing so. Over the last decade, the best point guards such as Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, and others have dominated the position. He gets a ton of help from his teammates and isnt asked to give a lot back. He had absolutely no help backing him up, and that inflates his objective numbers. Chris Paul fell into the same kind of trap last season. Players Stats: 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5 APG, 0.0 SPG, 0.0 BPG, Honors: 1956-1957 MVP, 13x All-Star, 12x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. He weighs in at only 175 pounds. Anyways, we hope you enjoyed going through the rankings with Magic Johnson securing first place in the Top 10 NBA point guards of all time. Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. He tends to be beaten off the dribble more often than he should be, considering his physical advantages, but he also uses his physical ability to recover when he is beaten. Players Stats: 24.0 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 6.5 APG, 1.0 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 5x All-Stars, 4x All-NBA Selection, 2012-2013 Rookie of the Year. That earned him the nickname Mr. They average the number of points a player gives up when he is the initial defender, and this is represented by defensive points per play. Can they play bigger than they really are? He spends too much time getting back into the defensive play because he ran himself out of it. After the All-Star break, when Rose hardly played, that number fell to 17.8 and the Bulls dropped to ninth. Penny is deserving of a much better ranking just because he is such a gifted one. Norris Coles individual numbers are all better than Chalmers, but he gets docked with lower team numbers. His ability to score and create plays made him an NBA superstar. Hes just unable able to get high enough to legitimately challenge the shot. He seemed to keep ahead of the play, moving to the next rotation a fraction of a second before the play even developed in that direction. Hes a learning player, and his extensive time sitting last year may have helped his grasp of defense as well as offense. The explosiveness and rim-running ability of Damian Lillard extend beyond his ability to shoot the ball from a distance. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. He does an air-tight job of keeping players out of the perimeter. With his limited speed, he is always in full throttle and getting himself around the court, pestering whoever has the ball. Curry has developed into much more than a 3-point specialist. After ball-handling, the most important areas of the game for a point guard are passing and scoring. Above all, the point guard must understand and accept their coach's game plan; in this way, the position can be compared to a quarterback in American football. This score is to help alleviate that. As one of the elite point guards in the NBA, you would expect him to have elite athleticism, but he actually doesnt. His net defensive rating of 4.2 is an indication of both a lack of his helping and asking for help. During each of his five NBA championship rings, he was one of the finest players in the league. -- Adande, He led the NBA in assists nine straight seasons from 1987 to 1996. Whenever anyone imagines a point guard, chances are theyre thinking of Utah Jazz legend John Stockton. The house would collapse. He could play any spot on the court as well. Widely known as one of the best, if not the best, point guards of all time, Chris Pauls offensive exploits are well-documented. Thats just simply not true, and any amount of watching him play will verify that. Players Stats: 19.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 9.3 APG, 1.9 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 1989-1990 Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, Hall of Famer. If someone goes past him, hell usually just wave goodbye. It will be interesting to see how well he does with Larry Sanders behind him in Milwaukee. The true driving force of his partnership with Karl Malone. Hell frequent the area at the top of the key, just above the free-throw line, and when a shooter starts to shoot, hell close out quickly to challenge the shot, regardless of where it is coming from. He has a real grasp of the game, and he helps convey that to his teammates. He joined the NBA in 1960 and quickly established himself, averaging 30.5 points per game and winning Rookie of the Year. When Gibson played with the starters, the Bulls gave up 10 fewer points per 100 possessions. 13.1 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, .384 3P%, The player Even so, combo guards still require above-average passing skill, but not as much as possessed by "pure" point guards (which is what those in the traditional mold of a point guard are referred to). He was a giant of a guard, but he had all the necessary talents, including the ability to dribble and pass. Lets see who has made it to the top 10 best point guards of all time. There are a number of different types of metrics available from various websites. There is no doubt that Stephen Curry inherited his incredible shooting ability from his father, Dell, who was a successful NBA marksman himself, but the younger Curry's game is more diverse than Dell's. Top 50 Point Guards of All-Time: Magic, The Big O and Curry top the List -- Kevin Pelton, Teams When we watch basketball, we get general impressions of defense, but the storyline is whats happening with the ball. Players Stats: 15.6 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.3 BPG, Honors: 5x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 2x Defensive Player of the Year, 5x All-Defensive Selection, Hall of Famer. 11. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. It is really hard to say anything about Lowrys help defense. Honors: 7x All-Star, 3x All-NBA Selection, 1966-1967 Rookie of the Year, 1967-1968 Scoring Champion, Hall of Famer. Im cheating a little here. Other point guards who have been named NBA MVP include Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Allen Iverson, Derrick Rose, and Russell Westbrook, and two-time winners Steve Nash and Stephen Curry. Refusing to back down because youre afraid of being put on a poster is a good thing, not a bad thing. Top NBA point guards for 2022-23: Ranking all 30 starters Archibald was the first player in league history to lead the league in both points scored and assists, making him a one-man offense. Additionally, Stockton was a fantastic shooter and defender, almost possessing no weaknesses on the floor at all. He led the league in total steals this year and did so without playing a lot of gambling defense. He has a barrel chest, broad shoulders and 20 pounds on most point guards, so he gives the appearance of dwarfing players that are technically as tall as he is. While he recovers most of the time, its worth asking why he gets beaten. Then again, the limited number of plays may be, in part, due to the fact that hes so hard to post up. In many cases, I looked at their combine results. So I saddled up my workhorse, Synergy, and watched an hour or two of each of the top 15 WAM scores playing defense. Not everything about a players value can be seen even through advanced stats, or even while hes on the court. Thats a strong indication that Rose was not relying on help defense because that same help was there for C.J. Defense is one of the more oft-overlooked aspects of basketball because it isnt as pretty as what happens on the offensive end. He only gave up .66 points per play in isolation, but he yielded .86 to the ball-handler on the pick-and-roll. Considering his challenges with speed, he did reasonably well with the pick-and-roll, again because of his size and strength to fight through picks. A lot has been made of how an explosive offense is the way to captivate fans. By: HoopsHype. 25. In addition, Cousy, dubbed "The Houdini of the Hardwood," led the NBA in assists for 8 straight seasons, creating a whole new blend of ball-handling and passing skills for the league. We compiled a list of the top 15 point guards of all time using wholly subjective metrics from the list of active players and a few other legends. Great size made him impossible for most. Defensively, Stockton had 3,265 steals the most all time during his 19-year career, helping him get 64.9 DWS. Meanwhile, we are presenting the top 10 by position. As a point guard, Frazier was one of the greatest in NBA history. He never stops moving. Does he make stupid fouls or smart fouls? If you just look at his measurables, Chris Paul is not impressive. 3. First, a range of 18 to 22 makes it easier to arrive at the eventual score of 100the baseline everything was weighted to. Scroll below to see where Stephen Curry ranks among the best point guards in the NBA. All-Time #NBArank continues with a countdown of the best shooting guards in NBA history. Bob Cousey 8. Dennis Johnson. #VCTLOCKIN #Valorant #valorantagents #valorantgaming. However, he tends to play soft at times against the pick-and-roll, tending to rely on his quickness when he could muscle through a pick quicker. He arguably makes more plays on his feet, both offensively and defensively, than anyone else. But only once did he actually truly defend the play. He made everything go for those Lakers teams. Probably the most versatile point guard in NBA history, and perhaps a tad underrated given that the focus on his assists overshadowed how valuable his defense was. Hes the closest thing in the world to Kevin Garnetts Mini-Me. On the other hand, he was frequently bailing out whoever was playing shooting guard on numerous occasions. The Big O's best statistical season came in 1961-62, when he averaged a triple-double for the entire season, a feat that has never been duplicated. In his 20 seasons, Bryant. Coming off one of the best offensive seasons in NBA history, Curry takes the top spot on our list of the league's best point guards, followed closely by 22-year-old wunderkind Luka Doncic, who may . He averaged 18.4 points, 7.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds per game. During his career, he was selected to nine All-NBA Defensive Teams and five All-Star teams. A defensive point guard will try to accomplish this with constant pressure on the ball, making it difficult to maintain possession. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah. We have listed down 25 of the finest point guards, so lets see who makes it to the top 10 point guards of all time. Its interesting that when he plays against elite point guards, or when he plays angrily, he plays much more of a physical game. 1987 Lakers are often seen as one of the greatest teams ever. Sometimes that works, such as his quick darts under picks. Get to know about the top 15 all time best point guards in the NBA in Oscar Robertson was one of the NBA's greatest players in history. Simply put, defensive win shares (DWS) are defined by how many wins a player produces based on his defensive ability. While Gregg Popovich and his brilliant system deserve a lot of the credit, Tony is a Finals MVP and is a multiple NBA champion who deserves to be recognised for his role in the legendary Spurs dynasty. Rose is arguably the most athletic point guard in the league, though Russell Westbrook could present a challenge. Stats dont make a good argument, they make a good foundation for a good argument. While that is by design, he shouldnt get the same credit as players who bring their full attention the entire time theyre on the court. Each fails to realize that they are all right, and that the real answer is in the combination of what they all experienced. Parker has a hefty 1.05 points per play against defending the jumper, even though he typically gets there and challenges shots. Take, for example, Carlos Boozer in 2012. Brandon Knight has exceptional speed and quickness. Widely known as one of the best, if not the best, point guards of all time, Chris Pauls offensive exploits are well-documented. Sometimes it doesnt. When hes coming off screens, hes especially horrible, giving up 1.15 points per play. Some players with tremendous athleticism just dont apply it on both ends of the court. The only point guard to win Defensive Player of the Year, Payton was a defensive nightmare and he never had a DWS lower than 1.2 during his 17-year career. It would be beneficial for Westbrook to even things out and play at a consistent level throughout the game. He has decent size for a point guard, at 63 but he doesnt have much of a vertical: 28.5.. Kevin Garnett 8. Dennis Rodman 4. Greatest NBA point guards of all-time: Where Russell - Sportsnaut DJ, standing 6'4, started playing point for Boston in the second half of his basketball career and was often tasked with shutting down . Top 20 best defensive midfielders in the world today: who are they? Its like someone took a normal-sized person and stretched out the arms and hands to make him. His length is better; he has a 65.75 wingspan. Sometimes, all that the on/off stats tell you is the difference between two players that play the same position. The most pure and one of the best point guards and playmakers in NBA History is John Stockton. When defending the isolation play, he gives up a nauseating .94 points per play, a strong indication of that. James Harden's age: stats, contract, family, dating, net worth in 2022. Why not a normal scale of one to 10? Magic Johnson won the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award three times in his career. For eight consecutive seasons, Cousy was the leagues top assist producer, and he was also one of the finest scorers in the league. In balance he was a plus, but his deficiencies cant be ignored. While hes not going to get a lot of those at his size, regardless of what he does, he could probably do more to try and recover. Others with less physical prowess can dominate defensively simply because they pour everything into it. This year, without Rose, the Bulls were 23rd, at 21.0 points per game. Synergy tracks every play of every game of the season and, when possible (as it is not always possible), they assign an initial defender on a play. The former professional basketball player was born on March 26, 1962, and is regarded as one of the best passing point guards. An indication of this is the fact that hes had only nine dunks in his career, the last of which was over seven years ago. He is entirely too aggressive. (Note: Players chosen only if they have played as a shooting guard for most, if not all, of their career.). The only thing keeping Thomas off this list is his brief career by star standards. He doesnt play on the ball physically, utilizing that advantage. NRG VS KOI Highlights. Starter from the VCT lockin. #VCTLOCKIN # He also used his incredible basketball IQ to steal the ball and defend at a high level. Jason Kidd was the definition of a jack-of-all-trades point guard: he could pass, score and grab rebounds. Nevertheless, its just as important. The debate over whether it should have been a flagrant is mootclearly that got into James head because he was talking about it after the game. Top NBA point guards for 2022-23: Ranking all 30 starters | Sporting News TMGNNS LEBRON Sun, 4:30p DEN CLE 2/23, 4:00p BOS IND 2/23, 4:00p DET ORL 2/23, 4:00p MEM PHI 2/23, 4:30p NOP TOR. There arent a lot of players that could lock down Michael Jordan, the greatest player of all time. He bulls through picks well and is not afraid to go over them. Notably, several modern point guards have used a successful style of post play, a tactic usually practiced by much larger centers and forwards. When he lets it go, though, it seems calculated. The most striking thing about Hinrich is just how often he is the initial defender on the play. Bill Russell 3. Gary Payton, widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards in NBA history, saw a similar decline in his defensive abilities after the age of 35. Bucks: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Rockets vs. Spurs: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Hawks vs. Heat: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Pistons vs. Cavaliers: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Raptors vs. Wizards: Start time, where to watch, what's the latest, Russell Westbrook still wants Sixth Man of Year award from time with Lakers, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The NBA is a point guard's paradise these days, so let's start All-Time #NBArank with our pantheon points. He stands third among the top 10 point guards of all time. That has more to do with the second-string frontcourt, led by Lamar Odom, backing him up than it does his team defense. Phoenix Suns (1996-98, 2004-12), Dallas Mavericks (1998-2004), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-15), Honors Players like Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving consistently cross him over and get past him. As a result, hes 17th all-time with 1944 and had six seasons in the top-20 in steals. Hinrich always had a high basketball IQ. He has the speed to get there, but not the length to disrupt the shot once he does. This is also from the various sources we have used. That makes him eligible for inclusion on this list of best point guards. Total Defensive Plays per 36 Minutes, or TDP/36 is simply the total number of defensive rebounds, steals and blocks a player accrues every 36 minutes. Scottie Pippen 5. I doubt its much beyond his height. Watching video on Lin gave me one impression that stood out above everything else: his awareness of where he was on the court and where he needed to be. He can be stagnant when his man doesnt have the ball. His high rebound rate, while partly indicative of his speed is also a result of positioning, which relates to his IQ. But he never does. Fairly straightforward, this takes into account height, length and strength. They have value when there arent such extremes like the difference between Boozer and Gibson. To recap, Jason Kidd was the best defensive point guard, Michael Jordan skied above other shooting guards, John Havlicek paced all small forwards - for the time being - and the "Mailman . In the late 1980s, he was the face of the Bad Boys Pistons, who defeated Jordan's Bulls three times in a row in the playoffs. The Case For: Upper-tier defender (9x All Defensive Team, including 4 First Team selections). Overall, hes ninth in steals with 2,207, and Drexlers 49.9 DWS is good for 45th all-time. The Greatest Defensive PG's in NBA History! - ranker.com He routinely gets blistered in isolation (.93 points per play), fails to close out well on shooters and lags when coming off of screens. Point guard from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States of America 3 Jason Kidd Point guard from California, United States of America 4 Walt Frazier Point guard from Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America 5 Dennis Johnson 6 Fat Lever Point guard and Shooting guard from Pine Bluff, Arkansas load more -- Adams, He could hurt defenses in so many ways: Controlling tempo was one, and he was a hell of a defender, too. The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Mr. However, who are the all-time top point guards? He might physically play below the rim, but few can touch how he plays above the neck. The seven-time All-Star was one of the best two-way guards of his time, and his performance in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA FInals remains one for the ages. MVP (1956-57), 13-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA selection, Hall of Fame, Championships Since I always get asked "Where's ___________?" Magic had unparalleled vision; he could see players get open and deliver the ball before they even realized they were open. Our booby prize winner is pictured above. And do they try and recover when they get beaten? In the history of the combine, only nine players have recorded better sprint and agility scores, and of those, only three had a better vertical than his 37.5 inches. He gets caught thinking, and while he makes the right decision, its a split second too late. Even when he has to go under the pick, which is most of the time, hes so fast that hes able to close the distance before the ball-handler has time to do something with it. Bledsoe is a bit of a freak. It looked like teams designed plays counting on him being lazy. He gets easily overpowered when bigger point guards post him up. He probably can even tell you where the hot dog vendor and mascot are. Then, after a single down year, he had y straight years of 2 steals per . Congratulations, Brian Roberts! Chalmers is 62 and 190 pounds, which is about average size for a point guard. He thinks hes the biggest man on the court. His issues related to intelligence, detailed later, compound this problem. His net defensive rating of minus-7.7, combined with his lack of a defensively-solid backup big, is a strong indication of his value as a help defender. Whatever it was, Holiday was just not bringing effort on the defensive end last year. Hes just over 60" without shoes but has a wingspan of 67.5. Only four players in the history of the combine are as short or shorter and have at least that kind of reach. It seems to be down to less than once a game. They say that defense is mostly about effort. For a full game, Moncrief was capable of shutting down almost any guard in NBA history. On top of that, when Parkers man slips past him, he has one of the best defenders in the history of the universe, Tim Duncan, to help him out. -- Doolittle, Perhaps someday Paul will reach the conference finals and we can focus more on his incredible accomplishments as a scorer, distributor and defender and less on his teams' inability to turn them into deep playoff runs. Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokwena denies outrageous Egypt claims, Brooklyn Nets comeback from 28 down to stun Boston Celtics, Alex Iwobi: Nigerian star set for possible exit at English Premier League club Everton, Premier League player caught inhaling laughing gas after a night out, Real Madrid identify Premier League star as 'Plan B' if Bellingham deal fails, Top 15 most handsome football players in the world in 2023. Penny Hardaway was well recognized for his relationship with Shaquille ONeal when he was only a kid. Meanwhile, another player has his numbers go up because he is capable. Whatever else you want to say about Brandon Knight, just dont say he never tries. Sometimes he wont give that much effort, and then the next moment hell be trying too hard. He has above-average size and strength, but he doesnt play like it. Even though Payton only played a little part in 2006, the Heats success would not have been possible without his defensive presence and leadership. He had the best peak for any point guard in NBA history, hands down. That concludes the WAP portion of our programming schedule. Lillard, on the other hand, is generally able to get things going from the perimeter anytime he wants. Hell get to the corners to challenge threes; hell pick off passes; hell get rebounds; hell get some chase-down blocks. Chris Paul 13. Something was great about that play, but it was Knight showing the heart to challenge Jordan, not Jordan dunking on a man a foot shorter than himself. 18.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.5APG, .375 FG%, The player 18.7 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 9.9 APG, 2.3 SPG, The player All that was due to Bryant emulating Jordans relentless drive to win on both sides of the floor. Additionally, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right. And I never saw him go in the wrong direction, not once. Marcus Smart. Since its neither, he gets an even score. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. For the time being, his lack of effectiveness and poor decision-making precludes him from being considered one of the top five point guards. He has the most assists and steals of any player in NBA history and is a master of the pick & roll. There was always that kid in high school or college who tried so hard to get decent grades. He did it not once, not twice, but three times. 1. Its amazing he doesnt get punched sometimes. -- Pelton, No player his size, 6-foot-3, has ever bent defenses to his will as Curry does. Hes only 63, which is relatively good size for a point guard, but he just seems bigger. But he jogs when he should run, is lackadaisical closing out shooters and goes through the motions when running through his rotations. A point guard specializes in certain skills, like other player positions in basketball. You can look at why things happen and offset the misleading things. He doesnt help much, but he doesnt get a lot of help either, so its a bit of a wash. To his credit, he has the best WAM score of any point guard without a great defensive center to back him up. But Gary Payton did as a member of the Seattle Supersonics. While he was doing that, Billups, who actually had the ball the whole time, just stepped back behind the three-point line and drained the three. NBA: Ranking top 10 point guards ever - ESPN.com Thats helped him amass 47.3 DWS, 56th overall. Johnsons style of play made him especially successful since he was noted for tip-ins and post play around the rim. Because Derrick Rose was the NBAs youngest MVP in 2009, its unfortunate that the guy isnt higher on this list. Boston Celtics (1950-1963), Cincinnati Royals (1969-70), Honors He has all the tools to be one: great reflexes and speed, and those long arms with big mitts on the end. In fact, a player may have great individual numbers precisely because he is actually detrimental to his team. Top 50 Point Guards of All-Time: Magic, The Big O and Curry top the List By Jeff McDaniel | Jul 16, 2020, 5:35pm 1. While Rose is slightly faster, Westbrook is slightly bigger. Either way he chases the ball until he catches it. Rondo likes to do this chest bump thing where he meets the opponent past the half-court line and just bumps his chest into him repeatedly. He has no All-Defensive team accolades, because those werent introduced until the 1968-1969 season. Nevertheless, its just as important. Thats largely true.
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