In conversations regarding Jokic, I've often seen it brought up that he's a bad or average defender, a sentiment supported pretty well by the "eye test" when watching him: he doesn't have the speed to stay with shifty guards and wings, doesn't do a great job of contesting shots, and seems lazy when it comes to rotating onto opposing players. What's strange, though, is that advanced stats would often have him as one of the best defenders in the league: per Basketball Reference, he ranked second in defensive win shares (a cumulative stat that relates heavily to availability, but still) and first in defensive box plus/minus in the 2023-2024 season. CraftedNBA's DPM, which aggregates these stats along with several other plus/minus measures, puts him as a top ten defender in the NBA. Defense is obviously tough to measure, as it has as much to do - if not more - with how someone's presence affects decisionmaking and positioning as it does stats like turnovers, blocks, and the other team's FG%, but the numbers I'm referencing in most cases align pretty well with all-defensive selections, DPOY voting, and fan consensus. So, the question is: is Jokic underrated as a defender, or are stats just bad at differentiating between overall impact and impact made strictly through defense when it comes to his playstyle? Is the truth somewhere in-between? I'm not super well-versed in breaking down tape or critiques of advanced stats, so I'm curious to hear others' thoughts on this--it just seems pretty weird that a guy who looks and is widely regarded as being unremarkable on that side of the ball is some lockdown superstar by the standards of most models.
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Before anybody hits me with the inevitable accusation that I'm a grandpa who has just discovered the internet, I was born in the 1990s.
Here is a partial list of notable players that Russell had to get through to win his 11 rings:
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Wilt Chamberlain - an all-time great, an MVP candidate even in his last season in 1973
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Jerry West - another all-time great, still an All-Star caliber player in his last season in 1974
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Elgin Baylor - same as above, still an All-Star in his last full season in 1970
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Walt Frazier - consistently 1st team All-NBA all the way out to 1975
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Willis Reed - star player with a career cut short by injury, still good enough to win Finals MVP in 1973
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Dave DeBusschere - perennial All-Star out to 1974
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Chet Walker - a 7x All-Star, still an All-Star by 1974
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Dave Bing - a 7x All-Star, still an All-Star by 1976
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Gail Goodrich - perennial All-Star in the 70s, out to 1975
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Oscar Robertson - an all-time great, still good enough to be an All-Star on a contending team out to 1972
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Nate Thurmond - a 7x All-Star, still an All-Star and All-Defensive player by 1974
Now this is just a partial list of guys Bill Russell beat head-to-head in the playoffs, who went on to achieve major accolades in the 1970s, a generally more respected era of basketball.
This list doesn't even include guys like Rick Barry (who Russell was 14-5 against in his career), who played on at an All-Star level out to 1978, or the many contemporaries he beat who were too old to be successful beyond 1970 (e.g. Bob Pettit, Dolph Schayes, Walt Bellamy).
The fact that Bill Russell was drafted in 1956 makes too many people from recent generations disregard his achievements, often overlooking the fact that Russell dominated everyone in his era AND the next era.
When we think 1970s basketball, we think of Kareem, Gervin, Walton, Elvin Hayes, but we also think of guys like Frazier and Goodrich, without realizing that Russell went up against some of these guys and still dominated.
I say this all to say that Russell's unprecedented 11 rings in 13 seasons should be held in much higher regard than they currently are. Yes, there were fewer teams, and yes he had plenty of help, but ultimately he was the leading force of a dynasty that we will never see the likes of again, and he dominated numerous stars from thr 1950s, 60s, and 70s along the way.
One Bill Russell stat that says it all: the Celtics were a below league average defense in 1955 and in 1970. With Russell from 1956 to 1969, they were the best defense in the league every year except 1968, when they were 2nd.
