Between the 1979-80 and 1988-89 seasons, Rex Chapman had the highest defensive rating, with a 114.8 rating.

Interpreted as:

highest defensive rating with a minimum of 1000 minutes played per 82 team games by a player in the 80s

	NAME	DRTG	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF
1	Rex Chapman R. Chapman	114.8	75	29.6	16.9	2.5	2.3	0.9	0.3	7.0	16.9	41.4	0.8	2.5	31.4	2.1	2.6	79.5	46.7	1.0	1.5	1.5	2,219	1,267	187	176	70	25	113	167
2	Jon Sundvold J. Sundvold	113.9	412	18.7	8.2	1.2	3.3	0.5	0.0	3.5	7.7	45.9	0.4	1.1	37.7	0.8	0.9	84.5	50.8	0.3	0.9	1.2	7,711	3,387	474	1,341	188	5	492	519
3	Chuck Aleksinas C. Aleksinas	113.8	74	15.1	5.1	3.6	0.5	0.2	0.2	2.2	4.6	47.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.7	1.0	73.3	50.9	1.2	2.5	1.0	1,114	377	270	36	15	15	72	171
4	Kenny Smith K. Smith	113.6	142	37.4	15.8	2.6	7.4	1.4	0.1	6.2	13.2	46.8	0.4	1.2	34.7	3.0	4.0	76.6	52.8	0.6	1.9	3.0	5,315	2,244	364	1,055	194	15	433	313
5	Johnny Dawkins J. Dawkins	113.5	178	27.8	13.0	2.7	5.6	1.2	0.0	5.1	11.2	45.8	0.2	0.6	29.5	2.5	2.9	86.1	51.9	0.9	1.8	2.2	4,944	2,316	474	994	210	5	385	277
6	Leon Wood L. Wood	113.2	234	17.6	6.9	1.2	3.3	0.5	0.0	2.4	6.0	39.4	0.7	2.0	33.3	1.5	1.9	78.3	50.2	0.3	0.9	1.1	4,109	1,611	285	771	116	4	259	263
7	Geoff Huston G. Huston	113.2	496	24.7	8.8	1.4	5.1	0.7	0.1	3.7	7.7	48.3	0.0	0.1	25.4	1.4	2.0	70.8	51.7	0.4	1.0	1.8	12,252	4,380	684	2,509	331	32	899	844
8	Kiki VanDeWeghe K. VanDeWeghe	113.1	605	33.2	22.8	4.0	2.4	0.6	0.4	8.8	16.5	53.2	0.2	0.5	36.2	5.1	5.8	87.0	59.9	1.3	2.7	1.9	20,088	13,775	2,416	1,435	383	215	1,129	1,278
9	Scott Brooks S. Brooks	112.8	82	16.7	5.2	1.1	3.7	0.8	0.0	1.9	4.5	42.0	0.7	1.9	35.9	0.7	0.8	88.4	53.3	0.2	0.9	0.8	1,372	428	94	306	69	3	65	116
10	Derek Smith D. Smith	112.8	331	25.4	13.8	3.4	2.3	0.7	0.5	5.3	10.7	49.7	0.1	0.4	25.0	3.0	3.9	76.0	55.2	1.3	2.2	1.9	8,404	4,559	1,128	752	229	154	614	1,013
11	Kenny Higgs K. Higgs	112.4	148	22.9	7.6	2.0	5.4	1.2	0.1	2.8	6.4	43.6	0.1	0.4	14.5	2.0	2.5	81.6	51.2	0.3	1.6	2.2	3,385	1,131	289	803	173	12	322	506
12	John Roche J. Roche	112.4	147	23.1	9.2	1.2	4.3	0.8	0.1	3.4	7.3	47.1	0.6	1.4	38.9	1.8	2.2	82.3	55.8	0.2	1.0	1.6	3,398	1,350	175	634	114	22	240	223
13	Rolando Blackman R. Blackman	112.3	630	33.7	19.2	3.7	3.1	0.7	0.3	7.4	14.8	50.3	0.1	0.3	27.2	4.3	5.1	83.3	56.4	1.2	2.4	2.0	21,258	12,127	2,308	1,954	472	196	1,234	990
14	Hersey Hawkins H. Hawkins	112.3	79	32.6	15.1	2.8	3.0	1.5	0.5	5.6	12.3	45.5	0.9	2.1	42.8	3.1	3.7	83.1	54.4	0.6	2.2	2.0	2,577	1,196	225	239	120	37	158	184
15	John Paxson J. Paxson	112.2	443	21.7	7.1	1.2	3.9	0.6	0.0	3.0	6.2	48.5	0.4	1.1	33.3	0.8	1.0	80.0	54.0	0.2	1.0	0.9	9,602	3,160	532	1,716	278	22	416	859
16	Eric Money E. Money	112.2	61	25.4	10.3	1.7	4.2	0.9	0.2	4.5	9.0	50.0	0.0	0.0		1.4	1.7	78.3	53.1	0.5	1.2	2.5	1,549	629	104	254	53	11	155	146
17	Terry Teagle T. Teagle	112.2	439	20.5	11.3	2.4	1.4	0.7	0.2	4.7	10.0	46.7	0.1	0.3	22.4	1.9	2.4	78.3	51.0	1.0	1.4	1.5	9,008	4,959	1,069	604	329	95	663	987
18	Ledell Eackles L. Eackles	112.1	80	18.2	11.5	2.3	1.5	0.5	0.1	4.0	9.2	43.4	0.1	0.5	22.5	3.4	4.3	78.6	51.9	1.3	1.0	1.6	1,459	917	180	123	41	5	128	156
19	Rory White R. White	112.1	324	16.7	7.4	2.3	0.7	0.6	0.2	3.0	5.9	50.6	0.0	0.0	7.7	1.4	2.0	68.1	54.1	1.1	1.2	1.0	5,410	2,387	749	232	187	52	330	520
20	Othell Wilson O. Wilson	112.1	127	16.1	4.2	1.7	3.3	0.9	0.1	1.7	3.7	45.4	0.0	0.3	17.6	0.8	1.0	74.6	50.2	0.5	1.2	1.4	2,049	535	212	424	119	16	172	189
21	Freeman Williams F. Williams	112.0	251	21.6	15.9	1.6	1.7	0.8	0.1	6.5	14.0	46.2	0.5	1.5	33.1	2.5	3.0	83.0	52.0	0.8	0.8	1.9	5,411	3,992	412	433	205	16	469	445
22	Billy McKinney B. McKinney	111.9	398	20.0	8.1	1.5	3.5	0.7	0.1	3.3	6.7	49.1	0.0	0.1	6.3	1.5	1.8	82.6	53.8	0.3	1.2	1.3	7,947	3,214	592	1,408	295	37	513	739
23	Ron Boone R. Boone	111.8	133	26.6	10.6	2.3	3.5	1.0	0.1	4.2	9.7	43.9	0.2	0.7	33.7	1.9	2.2	86.2	49.9	0.5	1.8	2.3	3,538	1,410	311	470	130	11	308	358
24	James Silas J. Silas	111.8	219	26.5	15.7	2.3	3.9	0.7	0.1	5.7	11.7	48.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.4	5.1	86.6	56.3	0.5	1.8	2.1	5,795	3,439	507	854	152	32	458	444
25	Rob Williams R. Williams	111.7	153	22.0	8.6	2.2	5.4	1.1	0.1	3.3	7.4	43.9	0.1	0.4	27.4	2.0	2.5	78.9	50.4	0.6	1.6	2.3	3,367	1,319	330	825	173	17	354	489