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#8 Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett's NBA career was nothing short of iconic. Though he spent 12 seasons battling in Minnesota, where he made the playoffs eight times but went past the first round only once, his defense was always at a very high level.
After he was traded to Boston, his intensity and defensive efforts helped the team win their first NBA title since 1986 and their only championship in the preceding 34 years. He took the Defensive Player of the Year honors in the 2007-08 campaign for being the defensive leader and elevating the Boston Celtics' defensive game.
Kevin Garnett led the league in rebounding four times and was named in the All-Defensive teams on ten occasions (eight times in the first team). He is also one of only two players to be in the Top 20 in both steals and blocks in NBA history (Hakeem Olajuwon being the other).
#7 Ben Wallace
Ben Wallace was the anchor of one of the greatest defensive teams in NBA history - the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons. The Pistons held the star-studded Shaquille O'Neil - Kobe Bryant-led LA Lakers to a 96.1 offensive rating in the Finals and out-rebounded them by eight rebounds, an effort that was led by Wallace.
A four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year award winner, which is a joint record for most in the category, Wallace held his own against any center who was a solid scorer, including Miami's Shaquille O'Neal in the 2004 Finals and the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals.
Wallace averaged ten rebounds per game in 1088 games in the NBA, and he led the league twice in rebounds per game, with a career-high of 15.4. His most impressive defensive display occurred in the 2004 NBA Playoffs. That season, he led Detroit to the title from the defensive side of the court and led the league in defensive rating with a whopping 83.9 and defensive win shares of 2.8.
#6 Dikembe Mutombo
Another four-time winner of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, Dikembe Mutombo was one of the greatest shot-blockers ever. His ability to time his jumps and managing to block shots without fouling opponents was his greatest attribute.
Mutombo, who led some pretty solid defenses in NBA history, ranks second in blocked shots with 3,289. He led the league twice in terms of total rebounds and three times in blocked shots.
Dikembe won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award with three different teams - Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks (twice) and the Philadelphia 76ers.
He led Philadelphia defensively when the team made a run to the 2001 NBA Finals; Mutombo had his hands full against eventual Finals MVP Shaquille O'Neal, but he still averaged more than two blocks a game.
#5 Dwight Howard
A three-time winner of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and the only one to win it in three consecutive years, Dwight Howard might be a role player today. However, he was as dominating as anyone in defense and was at the heart of an Orlando Magic team that probably had no business facing the LA Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals.
During his prime, there wasn't a better shot-blocker and rebounder in the league than Howard who has been named in the NBA's All-Defensive team five times. He also led the league in rebounds five times and twice in blocked shots.
Now an NBA champion, Howard's defense was in full display during the LA Lakers' 2020 Playoffs run, with the player managing to get inside Nikola Jokic's head in the Western Conference Finals and protecting the rim impressively.
