- Isiah Thomas is one of the greatest point guards in NBA history
- Thomas recently shared his list of the top three defenders of all time
- Thomas had one of his former teammates and a fierce rival on his list
Over the course of 77 seasons, the NBA has seen some truly special defenders grace their courts, and Isiah Thomas revealed his list of the three greatest ever. Thomas went with Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, and Hakeem Olajuwon.
“My top 3 NBA TV defensive players of all time in no order. Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen, Hakeem Olajuwon. Let it be known!”
https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1694380337827074420
All three men really were great on the defensive end.
Rodman won Defensive Player of the Year twice, in 1990 and 1991. He also made the All-Defensive First Team on seven occasions and made the Second Team once. Rodman would finish his career with averages of 7.3 points, 13.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game.
Isiah has a lot of love for his former teammate, as Thomas also called Rodman the best athlete he ever saw in the NBA.
Olajuwon was also a back-to-back DPOY winner in 1993 and 1994. He made the All-Defensive First Team five times and was on the Second Team on four occasions. The Houston Rockets legend would end up with career averages of 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game.
Pippen, meanwhile, never won DPOY. He did, however, make one of the All-Defensive Teams on 10 occasions (8x First Team), which was more than Rodman and Olajuwon. Pippen’s career averages after 17 seasons stood at 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Scottie Pippen Spoke About Not Winning DPOY
Pippen made the All-Defensive First Team for eight straight years from 1992 to 1999. He was one of the very best defenders in the league at his peak, and Kobe Bryant called Pippen the greatest defender he had ever seen.
It seems a bit odd then that he never won DPOY, although, he did finish runner-up in 1995 and 1996. When asked about never winning the award, Pippen took a shot at the media by saying they were busy watching Michael Jordan.
Pippen played in Jordan’s shadow for much of his career and never really got the respect he deserved. Had he played elsewhere, he might have won the award at some point, but he certainly wouldn’t have won six titles.
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