Hakeem Olajuwon had the best defensive rating in 1988-89, with a 94.9 rating.

Interpreted as:

NBA defensive rating with a minimum of 2000 minutes played per 82 team games leaders 1989

	NAME	DRTG	SEASON	TM	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	Hakeem Olajuwon H. Olajuwon	94.9	1988-89	HOU	82	36.9	24.8	13.5	1.8	2.6	3.4	9.6	19.0	50.8	0.0	0.1	0.0	5.5	8.0	69.6	55.2	4.1	9.4	3.4	3,024	2,034	1,105	149	213	282	275	329
2	Mark Eaton M. Eaton	97.7	1988-89	UTA	82	35.5	6.2	10.3	1.0	0.5	3.8	2.3	5.0	46.2	0.0	0.0		1.6	2.4	66.0	51.3	2.8	7.5	1.7	2,914	508	843	83	40	315	142	290
3	Karl Malone K. Malone	98.8	1988-89	UTA	80	39.1	29.1	10.7	2.7	1.8	0.9	10.1	19.5	51.9	0.1	0.2	31.3	8.8	11.5	76.6	59.2	3.2	7.4	3.6	3,126	2,326	853	219	144	70	285	286
4	Bill Laimbeer B. Laimbeer	100.6	1988-89	DET	81	32.6	13.7	9.6	2.2	0.6	1.2	5.5	11.1	49.9	0.4	1.1	34.9	2.2	2.6	84.0	55.7	1.7	7.9	1.6	2,640	1,106	776	177	51	100	129	259
5	Larry Nance L. Nance	101.0	1988-89	CLE	73	34.6	17.2	8.0	2.2	0.8	2.8	6.8	12.6	53.9	0.0	0.1	0.0	3.7	4.6	79.9	59.0	2.1	5.8	1.6	2,526	1,259	581	159	57	206	117	186
6	John Stockton J. Stockton	101.1	1988-89	UTA	82	38.7	17.1	3.0	13.6	3.2	0.2	6.1	11.3	53.8	0.2	0.8	24.2	4.8	5.5	86.3	62.4	1.0	2.0	3.8	3,171	1,400	248	1,118	263	14	308	241
7	Hot Rod Williams H. Rod Williams	101.3	1988-89	CLE	82	25.9	11.6	5.8	1.3	0.9	1.6	4.3	8.5	50.9	0.0	0.0	25.0	2.9	3.8	74.8	56.6	2.1	3.7	1.2	2,125	948	477	108	77	134	102	188
8	Ron Harper R. Harper	101.6	1988-89	CLE	82	34.8	18.6	5.0	5.3	2.3	0.9	7.2	14.0	51.1	0.4	1.4	25.0	3.9	5.2	75.1	57.0	1.5	3.5	2.8	2,851	1,526	409	434	185	74	230	224
9	Dennis Rodman D. Rodman	101.6	1988-89	DET	82	26.9	9.0	9.4	1.2	0.7	0.9	3.9	6.5	59.5	0.1	0.3	23.1	1.2	1.9	62.6	61.3	4.0	5.4	1.5	2,208	735	772	99	55	76	126	292
10	Mark West M. West	102.8	1988-89	PHX	82	24.6	7.2	6.7	0.5	0.4	2.3	3.0	4.5	65.3	0.0	0.0		1.3	2.5	53.5	64.4	2.0	4.7	1.3	2,019	594	551	39	35	187	103	273
11	Brad Daugherty B. Daugherty	102.9	1988-89	CLE	78	36.2	18.9	9.2	3.7	0.8	0.5	7.0	13.0	53.8	0.0	0.0	33.3	4.9	6.7	73.7	59.4	2.1	7.1	2.9	2,821	1,475	718	285	63	40	230	175
12	Patrick Ewing P. Ewing	103.0	1988-89	NYK	80	36.2	22.7	9.3	2.4	1.5	3.5	9.1	16.0	56.7	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.5	6.1	74.6	60.7	2.7	6.6	3.3	2,896	1,815	740	188	117	281	266	311
13	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	103.1	1988-89	CHI	81	40.2	32.5	8.0	8.0	2.9	0.8	11.9	22.2	53.8	0.3	1.2	27.6	8.3	9.8	85.0	61.4	1.8	6.2	3.6	3,255	2,633	652	650	234	65	290	247
14	Darrell Griffith D. Griffith	103.6	1988-89	UTA	82	29.0	13.8	4.0	1.6	1.0	0.3	5.7	12.7	44.6	0.7	2.4	31.1	1.7	2.2	78.0	50.4	0.9	3.1	1.7	2,382	1,135	330	130	86	22	141	175
15	Fat Lever F. Lever	103.8	1988-89	DEN	71	38.7	19.8	9.3	7.9	2.7	0.3	7.9	17.2	45.7	0.3	0.9	34.8	3.8	4.8	78.5	51.3	2.6	6.7	2.2	2,745	1,409	662	559	195	20	157	178
16	Thurl Bailey T. Bailey	104.0	1988-89	UTA	82	33.9	19.5	5.5	1.7	0.6	1.1	7.5	15.5	48.3	0.0	0.1	40.0	4.4	5.4	82.5	54.4	1.4	4.0	2.5	2,777	1,595	447	138	48	91	208	185
17	Mike Sanders M. Sanders	104.2	1988-89	CLE	82	25.6	9.3	3.7	1.6	1.1	0.4	4.0	8.9	45.3	0.0	0.1	30.0	1.2	1.6	71.9	48.2	1.2	2.5	1.3	2,102	764	307	133	89	32	104	230
18	John Williams J. Williams	104.2	1988-89	WAS	82	29.4	13.7	7.0	4.3	1.7	0.9	5.3	11.5	46.6	0.2	0.9	26.8	2.7	3.5	77.6	52.5	1.9	5.1	1.9	2,413	1,120	573	356	142	70	157	213
19	A.C. Green	104.6	1988-89	LAL	82	30.6	13.3	9.0	1.3	1.1	0.7	4.9	9.2	52.9	0.0	0.2	23.5	3.4	4.4	78.6	59.4	3.1	5.9	1.5	2,510	1,088	739	103	94	55	119	172
20	Jack Sikma J. Sikma	104.6	1988-89	MIL	80	32.3	13.4	7.8	3.6	1.1	0.8	4.5	10.4	43.1	1.0	2.7	38.0	3.3	3.7	90.5	55.4	1.8	6.0	1.8	2,587	1,068	623	289	85	61	145	300
21	Magic Johnson M. Johnson	104.9	1988-89	LAL	77	37.5	22.5	7.9	12.8	1.8	0.3	7.5	14.8	50.9	0.8	2.4	31.4	6.7	7.3	91.1	62.5	1.4	6.4	4.1	2,886	1,730	607	988	138	22	312	172
22	Tom Chambers T. Chambers	105.1	1988-89	PHX	81	37.1	25.7	8.4	2.9	1.1	0.7	9.6	20.3	47.1	0.3	1.1	32.6	6.3	7.4	85.1	54.7	1.8	6.7	2.9	3,002	2,085	684	231	87	55	231	271
23	Scottie Pippen S. Pippen	105.1	1988-89	CHI	73	33.1	14.4	6.1	3.5	1.9	0.8	5.7	11.9	47.6	0.3	1.1	27.3	2.8	4.1	66.8	52.4	1.9	4.2	2.7	2,413	1,048	445	256	139	61	199	261
24	Moses Malone M. Malone	105.2	1988-89	ATL	81	35.5	20.2	11.8	1.4	1.0	1.2	6.6	13.5	49.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	6.9	8.8	78.9	58.1	4.8	7.0	3.0	2,878	1,637	956	112	79	100	245	154
25	Alvin Robertson A. Robertson	105.2	1988-89	SAS	65	35.2	17.3	5.9	6.0	3.0	0.6	7.2	14.8	48.3	0.1	0.7	20.0	2.8	3.9	72.3	52.3	2.4	3.5	3.6	2,287	1,122	384	393	197	36	231	259