Insider Request: Is Tim Duncan the greatest defender in NBA history?

To answer the OP... Yes. Timothy Theodore Duncan is the GOAT defender.

David Robinson is up there too. Led the league in blocks and rebounds multiple times, was agile on the perimeter enough to average close to 1.5 spg... that's just unheard of in today's game. Now imagine if they had been allowed to use zone defense back in the 90's... his weak side block numbers would have been higher.

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Originally Posted by SpursFan86

Well during Ben Wallace's prime, he was playing 36+ minutes a night. And while obviously he sucked on offense, that's a bit irrelevant if we're just looking at the impact someone has defensively. I mean yeah, it's more impressive to be a great defender while having to shoulder an offensive burden as well, but it doesn't make you better at defense...hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Regardless, I agree that once you factor in longevity, there's not really anyone to rival Tim. I guess Hakeem would be the closest, but I still feel comfortable putting Tim over him. And as I said before, I can't buy in to the idea that Russell would be nearly as dominant if he were playing in Duncan's era.

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It doesn't necessarily make you better at defense, but it sure as hell gives you more energy to play it to your capcity.