Ranking The Greatest NBA Players Who Could Guard All Five Positions
· Yahoo Sports
Defending five positions gets thrown around way too easily in NBA conversations. Switching onto a center once or staying in front of a point guard for five seconds doesn’t make somebody a true 1-through-5 defender, there has to be a real track record behind it.
For this ranking, defense also isn’t enough by itself. These are great NBA players who had the size, speed, strength, and actual defensive production to move across positions, with DPOY awards, All-Defensive selections, steals, blocks, and years of elite defense carrying most of the argument.
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That leaves us with a pretty crazy group, from a 6-foot-10 point guard in Ben Simmons to centers like Hakeem Olajuwon, and at the top, two players in LeBron James and Draymond Green who made positionless defense look seamless.
10. Ben Simmons
For two seasons, the defensive version of Ben Simmons was basically everything the 76ers hoped he would become. At 6-foot-10 and around 240 pounds, he was listed as a point guard but regularly took the hardest perimeter assignment, while still having enough size to switch onto forwards and centers when Philadelphia needed it.
Simmons averaged an NBA-leading 2.1 steals in 2019-20, made the All-Defensive First Team, and finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, then followed that by making First Team again in 2020-21 and finishing second for DPOY behind Rudy Gobert.
His best defensive tape came against guards and wings because Philadelphia could put a 6-foot-10 defender on smaller creators without giving away speed. Simmons averaged 1.6 steals in 2020-21, the 76ers finished second in defensive rating, and he could take point guards, shooting guards, or forwards depending on the opponent.
The center part obviously wasn’t his main job, especially with Joel Embiid already there, but his strength made those switches possible without Philadelphia immediately needing to send help. Simmons’ defensive prime didn’t last nearly long enough to rank higher, and even now that he is back with the Kings, I don’t expect him to be that same defender. But two First Team selections and a second-place DPOY finish at 24 years old were enough to put him here.
9. Kawhi Leonard
Two straight Defensive Player of the Year awards already separate peak Kawhi Leonard from a lot of defensive wings in NBA history. He won the award in 2015 and 2016, and during that second season he also made the All-NBA First Team, finished second in MVP voting, and helped the Spurs win 67 games with the league’s No. 1 defense.
That 2015-16 season is probably the one where he showed the full package the most. Leonard averaged 21.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 50.6% from the field, and San Antonio could use him against any perimeter scorer knowing he would slow down whoever he faced. One year earlier, he led the league with 2.3 steals per game while winning his first DPOY.
Kawhi finished his defensive prime with three straight All-Defensive First Team selections from 2015 through 2017, and he has seven All-Defensive selections for his career. His 6-foot-7 frame didn’t make him a common center matchup, but his strength and huge wingspan allowed him to switch onto frontcourt players much better than most wings could.
I wouldn’t put Leonard above the real big men on this list because five was clearly his weakest matchup, but from point guard through power forward he was elite, not simply playable. Add two DPOYs before his 25th birthday, and leaving him outside this top 10 would’ve been pretty hard.
8. Hakeem Olajuwon
A center averaging 2.1 steals and 4.6 blocks in the same season sounds completely stupid, but Hakeem Olajuwon actually did it in 1989-90. He played all 82 games, averaged 24.3 points and 14.0 rebounds too, led the league in blocks, made the All-Defensive First Team, and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
That combination is why Hakeem belongs here instead of being just a rim protector. He wasn’t only standing near the basket waiting for players to attack him; his hands produced huge steal numbers, and his movement was a major reason he could defend much farther away from the rim than most centers.
The awards eventually caught up with the production. Olajuwon won back-to-back DPOYs in 1993 and 1994, made nine All-Defensive Teams during his career, and in 1993-94 became the first player ever to win MVP, DPOY, and Finals MVP in the same season. That year he averaged 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 3.7 blocks while leading the Rockets to the championship.
His natural assignments were obviously centers and power forwards, but Hakeem had the feet and hands to defend switches against smaller players without becoming an easy target. The 3.1 career blocks and 1.7 career steals say enough about how unusual his defensive range was, especially for such a big center.
7. Anthony Davis
Five All-Defensive selections, three First Team appearances, and more than 1,800 career blocks give Anthony Davis a pretty nice statistical case here. The most impressive part has always been that his rim protection doesn’t disappear when he has to move outside, which is why playoff teams have spent years trying to avoid attacking him.
The 2023-24 season was probably his best recent example. Davis played 76 games, averaged 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 2.3 blocks, and made both the All-NBA Second Team and All-Defensive First Team. He finished with 178 blocks and 91 steals, giving the Lakers elite production at the rim and switching on the outside.
Davis also has the advantage of being a natural center defender who doesn’t need a favorable matchup against big men, while power forwards are probably his easiest assignment and wings can’t simply beat him with size. Guards have always been the hardest part, but his length lets him contest shots even after giving up the first step.
The Lakers leaned heavily into that versatility during the 2020 title run, when Davis averaged 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks in the playoffs and earned All-Defensive First Team honors during the regular season. He isn’t as comfortable chasing guards as other names here, but from a pure defensive coverage point of view, there aren’t many lineups that can force Davis off the floor.
6. Scottie Pippen
Ten All-Defensive selections across 17 seasons are already enough to explain why Scottie Pippen needs to be high on this ranking. Eight of those were First Team selections, including seven straight from 1992 through 1998, when he was basically locked in as one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball every season.
His 1994-95 year might be the best statistical example. With Michael Jordan gone for most of the regular season, Pippen averaged 21.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists, a league-leading 2.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks, while making the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team and finishing second in DPOY voting. A 6-foot-8 wing giving you almost three steals and more than one block per game is pretty much the definition of defensive range.
His career finished with 2,307 steals, 947 blocks, six championships, and one of the longest runs of elite wing defense the league has seen. Pippen never won DPOY, which is still a little crazy considering he finished in the top four four different times, but eight First Team selections make his level pretty obvious anyway.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo
The 2019-20 season was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s greatest two-way year, because he won MVP and Defensive Player of the Year while averaging 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks in only 30.4 minutes per game. The Bucks also finished with the league’s best defensive rating, and Giannis received 75 of 100 first-place DPOY votes.
He had already finished second for the award one year earlier, then made All-Defensive First Team four straight times from 2019 through 2022. Giannis has five All-Defensive selections overall, and his size makes his version of five-position defense different from almost every perimeter player on this list.
At 6-foot-11, the center matchup doesn’t require him to play above his size, because he already rebounds and protects the rim like a big man. He averaged 13.6 rebounds during his DPOY season and has multiple seasons above 1.0 blocks, while still having enough speed to switch outside or take a wing assignment.
4. Kevin Garnett
Twelve All-Defensive Teams immediately put Kevin Garnett in a different category. Only a tiny group in NBA history stayed elite for that long, and nine of those 12 selections were First Team, with KG earning defensive honors across two completely different stages of his career.
Immediately after joining the Celtics in 2007-08, Garnett averaged 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 1.3 blocks, won Defensive Player of the Year, made the All-Defensive First Team, and led a defense that finished No. 1 in the NBA at 98.9 points allowed per 100 possessions. Boston went from 24 wins the previous year to 66 wins and an NBA championship.
Even at 34 years old in 2010-11, Garnett was still on the All-Defensive First Team and finished second in DPOY voting, averaging 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks while the Celtics remained one of the league’s best defensive teams. A year later, at 35, he moved to center full-time and still made the All-Defensive Second Team.
KG spent his prime as a mobile power forward who could step far outside the paint, then became a center later without losing his step. At 6-foot-11 with elite lateral movement and 1,859 career steals, guards weren’t getting the normal easy mismatch they expected from a big man.
3. Dennis Rodman
The strongest case for Dennis Rodman isn’t one season, it is how much his defensive role changed during his career without his level dropping. He started as a 6-foot-7 small forward for the Pistons, became one of the best perimeter and forward defenders in basketball, then later turned into a power forward who defended much larger players and dominated the glass.
Rodman won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards in 1990 and 1991, made eight All-Defensive Teams, seven of them First Team, and won five championships. In the first DPOY season he played all 82 games, shot 58.1% from the field, and averaged 9.7 rebounds in only 29.0 minutes, while the Pistons finished second in defensive rating and won another title.
Then his career completely changed statistically. From 1991-92 through 1997-98, Rodman led the NBA in rebounding seven straight seasons, including ridiculous averages of 18.7, 18.3, and 17.3 rebounds in three consecutive years. That happened while he was only 6-foot-7, which tells you everything about the strength and physical level he could bring against centers and power forwards.
2. LeBron James
Five straight All-Defensive First Team selections from 2009 through 2013 cover the best defensive stretch of LeBron James‘ career, and those years also came while he was carrying one of the biggest offensive workloads in basketball. His combination of size and speed was ridiculous, especially after he joined the Heat and started playing more power forward.
The 2012-13 season is the best example. LeBron averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.7 steals on 56.5% from the field, won MVP with 120 of 121 first-place votes, made the All-Defensive First Team, and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Miami went 66-16, won 27 straight games, and finished the season as NBA champions.
He had already finished second in DPOY voting in 2008-09 while averaging 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks, then continued making First Team every year through his first three Heat seasons. Overall, James made six All-Defensive Teams, five First Team and one Second Team.
1. Draymond Green
Nine All-Defensive selections, a Defensive Player of the Year award, four championships, and more than a decade as the center of the Warriors‘ defense make Draymond Green the easiest No. 1 for this specific question. LeBron is obviously the greater overall player, but nobody on this list built more of his career around literally defending every position.
Green’s peak came in 2016-17, when he won DPOY, led the NBA with 2.0 steals per game, added 1.4 blocks, and made the All-Defensive First Team for the third straight season. The Warriors finished second in defensive rating, went 67-15, then went 16-1 in the playoffs on the way to the championship.
The longevity makes the argument even stronger. Green made his first All-Defensive Team in 2014-15 and was still on the All-Defensive First Team in 2024-25, ten years later. He now has nine selections, five First Team and four Second Team, while spending major parts of his career playing center at only 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds.
That small-ball center role is what changed the Warriors. Golden State could put Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes or Kevin Durant, and Green together, keep the floor small and fast, then still have Green handling center assignments while switching onto guards after screens.
His career averages of 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks don’t fully show the impact, but the awards and championships do. For actual 1-through-5 defense, not just physical potential, Green has the strongest case ever.
Honorable Mentions
The first player barely outside the ranking is Andrei Kirilenko, who produced some of the strangest defensive numbers ever for a forward. At 6-foot-9, AK-47 averaged 1.6 steals and a league-leading 3.3 blocks in 2004-05, then averaged 1.5 steals and 3.2 blocks the following year while making the All-Defensive First Team and finishing third in DPOY voting. He finished with three All-Defensive selections and 1.8 blocks plus 1.4 steals per game for his career.
Shawn Marion never received the same defensive awards, but his numbers were wild for a 6-foot-7 forward who regularly played power forward. He averaged at least 1.7 steals in seven straight seasons from 2001-02 through 2007-08, grabbed more than 10 rebounds per game four times, and later became a major defensive piece on the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team.
Bam Adebayo has the strongest modern case of the three, with six All-Defensive selections already, including First Team in 2023-24 and Second Team again in 2025-26. Miami has used his switching as the base of its defense for years, while his size lets him defend centers without needing another big man behind him.
Those three easily could’ve made the main ranking, especially if we judged only defensive versatility, but the top 10 had either stronger individual awards, longer defensive peaks, or greater overall careers.