Defensive rating or defensive efficiency is a statistic used in basketball to measure an individual player's efficiency at preventing the other team from scoring points. It was created by author and statistician Dean Oliver.[1] Oliver introduced the defensive rating statistic in his 2004 book, Basketball on Paper.[2]
The formula is: Defensive Player Rating = (Players Steals*Blocks) + Opponents Differential= 1/5 of possessions - Times blown by + Deflections * OAPDW(Official Adjusted Players Defensive Withstand). This stat can be influenced by the defense of a player's teammates.
Gar Heard's 95.30 defensive rating is the NBA's all-time career record.[3] Ben Wallace's 87.48 defensive rating in 2003–2004 is the single-season record.[4]
| ^ | Denotes player who is still active in the NBA | |
| Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | ||
| Denotes player whose team won championship that year | ||
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player had been named MVP at that time | |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team had won at that time |
| Season | Player | Position | DRtg | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center | 92.22 | San Antonio Spurs | |||
| Center | 90.56 | New York Knicks | |||
| Center | 92.89 | Detroit Pistons | |||
| Center | 89.99 | Detroit Pistons | |||
| Center | 87.48 | Detroit Pistons | |||
| Power forward | 93.17 | San Antonio Spurs | |||
| Power forward | 94.41 | San Antonio Spurs | |||
| Power forward | 94.45 | San Antonio Spurs | |||
| Power forward | 93.85 | Boston Celtics | |||
| Center | 94.56 | Orlando Magic | |||
| Center | 95.44 | Orlando Magic | |||
| Center | 94.18 | Orlando Magic | |||
| Power forward | 94.21 | Boston Celtics | |||
| Power forward | 94.97 | San Antonio Spurs | |||
| Center | 95.82 | Chicago Bulls | |||
| ^ | Small forward | 94.45 | San Antonio Spurs | ||
| Center | 94.52 | Miami Heat | |||
| ^ | Center | 99.04 | Detroit Pistons | ||
| ^ | Center | 99.01 | Detroit Pistons | ||
| Center | 99.03 | Miami Heat | |||
| ^ | Power forward | 97.11 | Milwaukee Bucks | ||
| ^ | Center | 100.64 | Utah Jazz | ||
| ^ | Center | 102.42 | Boston Celtics |