best defensive rating in nba history

Elmore Smith has the lowest career defensive rating, with a 93.8 rating.

Interpreted as:
best defensive rating with a minimum of 10000 minutes played by a player in NBA history
NAMEDRTGMINGPMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFGMFGAFG%3PM3PA3P%FTMFTAFT%TS%OREBDREBTPGPTSREBASTSTLBLKTOVPF+/-
1Elmore Smith
E. Smith
93.8
11,864
408
29.1
11.8
9.4
1.2
0.8
2.9
4.9
9.9
49.0
2.0
3.4
59.5
51.4
2.3
7.1
1.7
4,801
3,832
505
325
1,183
183
1,340
2Gar Heard
G. Heard
95.4
15,493
583
26.6
8.9
8.0
1.8
1.3
1.3
3.7
8.9
41.6
0.0
0.1
0.0
1.5
2.2
65.8
44.9
2.3
5.7
1.2
5,167
4,653
1,060
784
780
349
1,711
3Tim Duncan
T. Duncan
95.5
47,368
1,392
34.0
19.0
10.8
3.0
0.7
2.2
7.4
14.6
50.6
0.0
0.1
17.9
4.2
6.1
69.6
55.1
2.8
8.1
2.4
26,496
15,091
4,225
1,025
3,020
3,381
3,304
+8910
4Dave Cowens
D. Cowens
95.5
19,878
524
37.9
17.1
12.8
4.0
1.1
0.9
7.2
15.7
46.3
0.0
0.1
7.1
2.6
3.3
80.3
50.1
3.0
9.8
2.2
8,970
6,696
2,104
599
488
543
1,945
5David Robinson
D. Robinson
95.6
34,271
987
34.7
21.1
10.6
2.5
1.4
3.0
7.5
14.4
51.8
0.0
0.1
25.0
6.1
8.3
73.6
58.3
3.1
7.5
2.4
20,790
10,497
2,441
1,388
2,954
2,417
2,835
+2454
6Ben Wallace
B. Wallace
95.7
32,085
1,088
29.5
5.7
9.6
1.3
1.3
2.0
2.4
5.0
47.4
0.0
0.0
13.7
1.0
2.5
41.4
47.4
3.2
6.5
1.0
6,254
10,482
1,437
1,369
2,137
1,061
2,078
+2103
7Clifford Ray
C. Ray
96.4
16,059
629
25.5
7.3
8.4
1.9
0.8
1.0
3.0
5.5
53.2
0.0
0.0
0.0
1.4
2.5
58.1
55.3
2.6
5.8
1.7
4,618
5,287
1,203
501
638
532
2,090
8Wes Unseld
W. Unseld
96.4
20,468
591
34.6
8.7
11.9
4.1
1.1
0.6
3.7
7.0
52.1
0.0
0.0
50.0
1.4
2.2
62.5
54.4
3.5
8.4
1.9
5,141
7,059
2,400
628
367
579
1,615
9Bill Walton
B. Walton
96.5
13,250
468
28.3
13.3
10.5
3.4
0.8
2.2
5.5
10.5
52.1
0.0
0.0
0.0
2.4
3.6
66.0
55.1
2.4
8.2
2.7
6,215
4,923
1,590
380
1,034
865
1,298
10Sam Lacey
S. Lacey
96.5
23,463
761
30.8
9.5
9.0
4.3
1.3
1.5
3.8
8.7
44.3
0.0
0.1
18.8
1.8
2.4
75.0
48.7
2.2
6.9
2.2
7,206
6,873
3,275
999
1,160
978
2,636
11Arvydas Sabonis
A. Sabonis
96.6
11,375
470
24.2
12.0
7.3
2.1
0.8
1.1
4.4
8.9
50.0
0.3
0.9
32.8
2.8
3.6
78.6
57.4
1.6
5.7
1.8
5,629
3,436
964
370
494
837
1,290
+1559
12George Johnson
G. Johnson
96.8
17,753
848
20.9
5.0
6.8
1.1
0.5
2.5
2.1
4.6
45.2
0.0
0.0
50.0
0.9
1.3
69.8
48.9
2.3
4.5
1.6
4,280
5,749
921
456
2,082
872
2,667
13Paul Silas
P. Silas
96.8
15,605
572
27.3
7.9
9.2
1.9
0.6
0.2
2.9
7.0
41.0
0.0
0.0
2.1
3.1
68.8
47.1
3.6
5.6
1.4
4,508
5,248
1,071
358
138
333
1,364
14Phil Chenier
P. Chenier
97.3
13,859
426
32.5
17.7
3.5
2.9
1.6
0.6
7.3
16.3
44.7
0.1
0.3
40.0
3.1
3.8
81.8
49.2
0.9
2.7
1.4
7,537
1,507
1,236
682
238
157
792
15George McGinnis
G. McGinnis
97.4
16,194
528
30.7
17.2
9.8
3.8
1.7
0.4
6.4
14.3
44.8
0.0
0.1
8.0
4.4
6.7
65.1
49.8
3.0
6.8
3.5
9,090
5,177
1,985
923
236
1,291
1,984
16Slick Watts
S. Watts
97.4
11,513
437
26.3
8.9
3.2
6.1
2.2
0.3
3.7
8.9
41.3
1.6
2.7
59.7
44.4
1.0
2.2
1.8
3,901
1,398
2,678
961
111
239
1,314
17Elvin Hayes
E. Hayes
97.5
32,199
894
36.0
18.6
10.9
1.7
1.0
2.0
7.4
16.1
46.0
0.0
0.1
14.7
3.7
5.5
67.6
50.0
3.1
7.8
2.4
16,600
9,751
1,540
864
1,771
1,358
2,967
18Norm Van Lier
N. Van Lier
97.6
14,655
424
34.6
11.0
4.3
6.5
1.8
0.2
4.1
10.1
40.2
2.9
3.7
77.3
46.8
1.3
3.0
2.1
4,666
1,809
2,776
767
71
249
1,481
19Hakeem Olajuwon
H. Olajuwon
97.9
44,222
1,238
35.7
21.8
11.1
2.5
1.7
3.1
8.7
17.0
51.2
0.0
0.1
20.2
4.4
6.2
71.2
55.3
3.3
7.8
3.0
26,946
13,748
3,058
2,162
3,830
3,667
4,383
+564
20Walt Frazier
W. Frazier
98.1
13,626
359
38.0
18.7
5.4
5.6
1.9
0.2
7.6
15.9
47.9
0.0
0.3
0.0
3.5
4.2
81.9
52.6
1.1
4.2
2.1
6,731
1,926
2,028
681
63
139
922
21Bob Lanier
B. Lanier
98.5
23,844
716
33.3
19.5
9.4
3.3
1.1
1.5
7.8
14.9
52.8
0.0
0.0
15.4
3.8
5.0
77.0
57.2
2.6
6.8
2.6
13,984
6,696
2,353
777
1,100
1,112
2,201
22Marcus Camby
M. Camby
98.5
28,684
973
29.5
9.5
9.8
1.9
1.0
2.4
3.9
8.3
46.6
0.0
0.1
20.5
1.8
2.6
67.0
50.3
2.7
7.1
1.4
9,262
9,513
1,837
967
2,331
1,362
2,687
-23
23Jim Brewer
J. Brewer
98.5
15,936
703
22.7
5.8
6.3
1.5
0.8
0.7
2.5
5.7
44.8
0.0
0.1
7.7
0.8
1.3
57.1
46.7
2.4
4.0
0.9
4,099
4,458
1,038
556
510
332
1,536
24John Havlicek
J. Havlicek
98.7
14,531
395
36.8
18.5
5.1
4.8
1.2
0.3
7.5
16.5
45.3
3.5
4.1
84.3
50.3
1.5
3.5
2.5
7,295
1,999
1,885
476
117
204
1,024
25Steve Mix
S. Mix
98.8
17,716
726
24.4
10.9
5.4
1.8
1.2
0.2
4.2
8.3
50.2
0.0
0.1
28.6
2.5
3.1
80.9
56.2
1.9
3.5
1.3
7,909
3,908
1,340
884
173
563
1,583
StatMuse has season-level data for defensive rating going back to the 1973-74 season.

More Lakers Stats

Team Rankings

ORTG

119.9

6th

DRTG

116.7

18th

NETRTG

3.2

13th

3P%

35.5

17th

2025-26 Conference Standings
TEAMWLPCTGB
1
Thunder Thunder
21
1
.955
2
Lakers Lakers
16
5
.762
4.5
3
Rockets Rockets
14
5
.737
5.5
4
Spurs Spurs
15
6
.714
5.5
5
Nuggets Nuggets
15
6
.714
5.5
Schedule
DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Fri
12/5
LAL LAL
@
BOS BOS
7:00 PM
Sun
12/7
LAL LAL
@
PHI PHI
7:30 PM
Wed
12/10
SAS SAS
@
LAL LAL
10:00 PM
Thu
12/18
LAL LAL
@
UTA UTA
9:00 PM
Sat
12/20
LAL LAL
@
LAC LAC
10:30 PM
Last Game
LAL Lakers

16 - 5

123

Final

120

TOR Raptors

15 - 8

Thu 4 Dec 2025

NBA 2025-26 Leaders

NBA 2025-26 Rankings

NBA Fantasy 2025-26

NBA 2025-26 Betting

NBA 2025-26 Conference Standings

WesternWLPCTGB
1
Thunder Thunder
21
1
.955
2
Lakers Lakers
16
5
.762
4.5
3
Rockets Rockets
14
5
.737
5.5
4
Spurs Spurs
15
6
.714
5.5
5
Nuggets Nuggets
15
6
.714
5.5
6
Timberwolves Timberwolves
14
8
.636
7.0
EasternWLPCTGB
1
Pistons Pistons
17
5
.773
2
Knicks Knicks
14
7
.667
2.5
3
Raptors Raptors
15
8
.652
2.5
4
Heat Heat
14
8
.636
3.0
5
Celtics Celtics
13
9
.591
4.0
6
Magic Magic
13
9
.591
4.0

NBA 2025-26 Scores & Schedule

Scores

DATEMATCHUPSCORE
Thu
11/6
CHA CHA
@
MIA MIA
108-126
Thu
11/6
UTA UTA
@
MIN MIN
97-137
Thu
11/6
OKC OKC
@
SAC SAC
132-101
Thu
11/6
GSW GSW
@
DEN DEN
104-129
Fri
11/7
DAL DAL
@
WAS WAS
111-105

Schedule

DATEMATCHUPTIME (ET)
Fri
12/5
MIA MIA
@
ORL ORL
7:00 PM
Fri
12/5
LAL LAL
@
BOS BOS
7:00 PM
Fri
12/5
UTA UTA
@
NYK NYK
7:30 PM
Fri
12/5
SAS SAS
@
CLE CLE
7:30 PM
Fri
12/5
DEN DEN
@
ATL ATL
7:30 PM