- Metta Sandiford-Artest asked X users about where he ranks as a defender
- Most fans ranked Sandiford-Artest favorably
- In 2003-04, Artest won the Defensive Player of the Year Award
Metta Sandiford-Artest has been in the news a lot recently. This includes selecting his five greatest players and keeping LeBron James off the list. Now, Sandiford-Artest is back, this time on X, asking fans where he ranks as an all-time defender.
Sandiford-Artest wrote, Where do you have me ranked all-time defensively? No bias. Most of the fans in the comments ranked Sandiford-Artest highly, recognizing the talent he had on the defensive side of the ball.
Where do you have me ranked all time defensively. No bias
— Coach Metta (@MettaWorld37) September 26, 2023
One fan wrote: I got you top 10.
Another fan had the former Los Angeles Lakers champion ranked higher: You definitely top 5 goat.
This fan is clearly a super fan: 1 (I’m biased).
Another fan ranked Sandiford-Artest next to some of the greatest perimeter defenders: For perimeter defenders top 3 for sure Pippen, Artest, and Kawhi my top 3 perimeter defenders.
When this fan was questioned on his choice, putting Sandiford-Artest above elite defenders like Dennis Rodman, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Gary Payton, the fan explained why Sandiford-Artest gets the nod.
The fan responded with: Payton and Rodman are top 5 for sure. I just feel like the strength Artest had and quick hands plus ability to move on the perimeter at his size was such a lethal combination defensively. Gary Payton and Rodman both elite to any of those 5 (Pippen, Artest, Kawhi, Rodman, GP).
This showering of love by fans had to make Sandiford-Artest feel good. He’s been out of the NBA since 2017, but that’s not after he gave the league 17 years.
There’s no doubt that in his prime, Sandiford-Artest was an elite defender. The question we ask is, how good of a defender was Sandiford-Artest?
Ron Artest’s 2003-04 Defensive Player Of The Year Season
In the 2003-04 season, Metta Sandiford-Artest went simply by his birth name, Ron Artest. At the time, he was a member of the Indiana Pacers.
As a member of the Pacers, Artest helped lead Indiana to the best record in franchise history. The Pacers went 61-21 on the year and had a team defensive rating of 97.2, which ranked third-best in the NBA.
As for Artest personally, he won the only Defensive Player of the Year Award of his career. For his numbers, Artest averaged 2.1 steals and 0.7 blocks per game during the 2003-04 season.
As for his defensive rating during his Defensive Player of the Year season, Artist posted a career-best 96.0 defensive rating. This is an extremely good number, but if you dive deeper into the stats, maybe another player was more deserving of the award.
In the 2003-04 season, Ben Wallace of the Detroit Pistons had the highest defensive rating at 87. Artest ranked 21st. As for defensive win shares, Wallace again led the league at 9.1.
Artest ranked seventh in defensive win shares with 5.2. And finally, for the defensive box plus/minus stat, Wallace was joined by Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan for first at 3.3. Artest was 15th with a 1.9 defensive box plus/minus rating.
This doesn’t take anything away from the season Metta Sandiford-Artest had, but it shows there were other incredible defenders in the league then. The NBA during the 2000s was all about defense.
As we gear up for the 2023-24 season, will we see a more defensive game? Most likely not. Still, seeing who will win this year’s Defensive Player of the Year Award will be interesting.
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