In a year where one of the Portland Trail Blazers’ draft day targets is defensive specialist Matisse Thybulle, how fitting is it that one of the greatest defensive specialists of all time finds his way onto this list?
For years Tony Allen dominated the league on the defensive end, shutting down some of the NBA’s best talent en route to earning six All-Defensive Team nominations over the course of his career. At his prime, Allen was an absolute ball hawk that could be trusted to change the course of an entire game without ever taking a single shot.
Among all active NBA players, Allen holds the highest career steal percentage at 3.4. Over the course of his career, Allen has totaled 1158 steals. That’s an average of 2.3 steals per 36 minutes.
That mark bests some of the greatest defenders in NBA history, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Gary Payton and Jason Kidd. In fact, Tony Allen’s career steals per 36 comes just short of John Stockton’s, at 2.5. Stockton’s total steals record is viewed as one of the most unbreakable records in all of basketball, to put that achievement in perspective.
Allen also holds the distinction of being the only player on this list to win an NBA Championship. He had the opportunity to not only play against Boston’s ‘Big Three’ of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, but also play a vital role in propelling the team towards a decisive victory overs Kobe Bryant’s Lakers.
He started more games than any other bench player for that Celtics team, indicating he was trusted to get and do his job at the highest level. After winning a ring in his four seasons in Boston, Allen would go on to play a key part in creating the Memphis Grizzlies’ “Grit n’ Grind” culture. He would play an impressive 56 playoff games in their lengthy postseason runs, starting in 47 of them.
Never developing a legitimate offensive game knocks Allen a tick down this list, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Although he’s still technically active and available to sign, Allen did not play last year and only played 273 minutes the year before. If he decides to hang it all up this off-season, Allen can rest easy knowing he’s made the most of the tools at his disposal. If the Portland Trail Blazers do end up drafting a player like Thybulle, they’d be thrilled for him to lead a career like Tony Allen’s.