Trail Blazers playoff failures have been a major blemish on both his game and his career so far. Jason Kidd 9. Conley also has crazy hops, measuring a 40.5-inch vertical at the combine, and he is one of the quickest point guards in the league. Nash is a top-ten point guard without a question. He was an unstoppable offensive force who could score from anywhere on the court and in any way he wanted. Brandon Knight has exceptional speed and quickness. When he does do it, he does it half-heartedly. Bob Cousey 8. Rajon Rondo is probably the most athletic player in the league who plays most of his game below the rim. A point guard specializes in certain skills, like other player positions in basketball. -- Peterson, A menace on both ends of the court, Frazier was at his best in the 1970 NBA Finals when tallied 36 points, 19 assists, 7 rebounds in a title-clinching Game 7. In fact, its probably the most important thing. That earned him the nickname Mr. 1987 Lakers are often seen as one of the greatest teams ever. -- Kevin Pelton, NBA Insider, May be the strongest point guard ever and consistently made everyone around him better. He affected the paradigm for overseas guards trying to break into the NBA. All rights reserved. Rob Peterson is an NBA editor for ESPN.com. 19.2 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 9.3 APG, 1.9 SPG, The player This can cause other players to become disinvolved in the offense. -- Adande, Nash is the only player in history to go 50-40-90 while averaging 10 assists per game. NBA All-Time Player Rankings: Top 10 Point Guards To say he gets pushed around would be generous. Of course having book smarts doesnt preclude you from knowing what youre doing on the court either. 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 . Meanwhile, we are presenting the top 10 by position. Each fails to realize that they are all right, and that the real answer is in the combination of what they all experienced. He had unusual strength for his size, quick feet, elite hands, and timing to help him hold down opponents one-on-one and rack up steals. Damian Lillard (2013-Present) AP Images. Many consider Bob Cousy to be a passionate athlete who was the first All-Star and dominating player for the Boston Celtics squad that included legends like Bill Russell and Kevin Collier. Players Stats: 17.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 9.1 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG, Honors: 3x All-Star, 5x All-NBA Selection, 1988-1989 Most Improved Player. Hopefully he can break it. Payton is one of two point guards to have ever won the Defensive Player of the Year, and his stats show it. The bulk of his thefts came by stealing the dribble, not by shooting the passing lanes. Johnson will go down as one of the top 25 all-time point guards because of his defensive presence. Some will just hang around waiting for the play to end, but Jack keeps track of his man and also helps if its needed. My guess is that it has something to do with that. Thanks for signing up. When people think of NBA point guards, he set the mold. He lifted the Lakers, and transition basketball, to ethereal levels. Kevin Garnett 8. Therefore, a lower score is superior. In essence, hes athletic enough to do a respectable job of what hes asked to do. Isiah Thomas, born on April 30, 1961, and possibly the best player ever under 6-foot-1, combined talent with fierce competitiveness. Stats dont tell the whole story and our eyes often only confirm what we already know. You can be the best shooter in the world, but you can't score if you don't get the ball. His most notable awards include five NBA championships, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, nine All-NBA First Team selections, and 12 All-Star appearances. His shot-making and defense made him a top-tier point guard throughout his career. He doesnt try to make great plays, but he tries not to make mistakes, which is maybe what he should be concentrating on. Even though hes been injured a lot, Paul is averaging over two steals a game for his career. He doesnt have to race around to get in position because hes almost never out of position. Jumping ability, body control and agility were all considered as well. Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968, and is widely regarded as one of the best defensive point guards of all time. The five best defensive point guards of all time - Sportsnaut Its hard to notice his effort, though, because of the consistency with which he gets destroyed. Hell get to the corners to challenge threes; hell pick off passes; hell get rebounds; hell get some chase-down blocks. This is a necessity because of the point guard's many leadership obligations. He actually plays his best games against his best opponents. He stands third among the top 10 point guards of all time. Paradoxically tough on the court and flashy off of it, Frazier epitomized the '70s-era backcourt style in which roles were less defined. Its because Griffin and Jordan were on the bench next to him. FOXSports.com - Best all-time point guards at the Wayback Machine (archived July 12, 2005), accessed 2008-02-09 This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 17:58 . Exceptions were made for Derrick Rose, Danny Granger, Andrew Bynum and Kevin Love because they have all been All-Star players, and all are still, at least by age, in their prime. The only thing is that the Bulls actually gave up 8.6 more points while he was on the court. Greatest NBA point guards of all-time: Where Russell - Sportsnaut Cousy, in many respects, was the Celtics spirit at the moment. Some point guards are still given a great deal of leeway in the offense. In the MVP vote for the 1967-1968 season, he finished second behind the unstoppable Wilt Chamberlain. 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 benefits tremendously from help defense as previously mentioned, but that doesnt mean he doesnt also provide help defense. The ripple effect of that was that every single Bull had a worse defensive rating with Boozer than when playing with Gibson. You probably cant say right away, because you watched the storyline, not how Harvey dressed. Sometimes, all that the on/off stats tell you is the difference between two players that play the same position. Dont be surprised to see him as a head coach someday. This is not so common anymore, as most coaches are now solely specialized in coaching and are non-players. Scouting isnt the same as just watching games. He applies his energy smartly. When he gets set for a defensive play, he does a respectable job. What he gives up at the point of attack, he makes up for with his team defense. With the increased emphasis on the deep three, point guards account for a large portion of the league's top scorers. -- Peterson, He was the forerunner of Magic Johnson and LeBron James, and it's telling that both of those stars revere the Big O. Mr. After years of being sidelined by ailments, the grandeur that should have been his was snatched from him. If you dont want to consider them, then dont. Thats 20th all-time, with Kidd being the only other guard above him. -- Adams, Thomas was as tough as they come, could score with the best of them (such a sweet stroke) and, make no mistake, was the baddest of the Bad Boys. You're the worst defensive point guard in the NBA!!! When you combine that with his 40-inch vertical, you have a player that gets higher (139 inches) than any point guard in the leagueeven Russell Westbrook. 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. -- Adams, Combined savvy with underrated strength. In the past, this was particularly true, as several point guards such as Lenny Wilkens served their teams as player coaches. They must also be able to adapt to what the defense is allowing and must control the pace of the game. In recent years, the sport's shift from a fundamental style of play to a more athletic, scoring-oriented game resulted in the proliferation of so-called combo guards at the point guard position. On the other hand, hes not tremendously athletic. He also used his incredible basketball IQ to steal the ball and defend at a high level. He was the primary defender on 1,127 plays last year in all, surpassed only by Stephen Curry among point guards. You can look at why things happen and offset the misleading things. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. However, the other side of the ball cant be overlooked because as the saying goes: defense wins championships.. You just dont see him make the wrong plays. I doubt its much beyond his height. He never stops moving. Jrue Holiday is making . Don't get me wrong: Steph is still the league's best shooter. However, despite Chris Paul and Jason Kidds prominence, Steve Nash became a two-time MVP who had no weaknesses on the offensive end. Hall of Famer was an impressive defensive player in his own right, Latest Jonathan Isaac injury may signal end of his Magic career, Seven Cubs pitchers combine for spring no-hitter vs. Padres, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones comments on Tony Pollard rumor, Ben Simmons suffers back injury while rehabilitating, Insider: It's Packers, Jets 'or bust' for Aaron Rodgers, QB Anthony Richardson doesn't understand his 'project' label, Vikings HC reveals 'crazy' thoughts about star WR, XFL player released for giving another team plays from own playbook. On the other hand, no matter how solid the foundation is, you cant move into it. It is easy to have the numbers skewed by a smaller sample size. At the point guard position, point guard Damian Lillard is one of the games most talented shooters and scorers. In many cases, I looked at their combine results. Stockton was a member of two gold medal teams and twice reached the NBA finals during his remarkable career. -- Tom Haberstroh, NBA writer, No guard in NBA history pulled down more rebounds than Kidd, who finished with more career rebounds than Willis Reed and Alonzo Mourning, among others. In the last entry, we focused on the five best defensive NBA point guards of all time. He uses quickness to capably guard the perimeter, but thats in large part because hes not always defending the elite point guards. Pauls been an All-Defensive Team selection nine times, being selected to the 1st team seven times and the 2nd team twice.
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