OG Anunoby’s reputation as one of the NBA’s premier defenders is not in question. What is in question, at least in one recent ranking, is whether that level of respect has fully caught up to the numbers and the resume.
The Game Theory Podcast placed the New York Knicks wing at No. 11 on its top-25 defenders list, while also calling him the league’s “most switchable defender.” That kind of praise puts Anunoby in rare company, but it still left him just outside the top 10 - a spot that will probably frustrate Knicks fans who see him as one of the team’s biggest defensive anchors.
The most obvious explanation is availability. As Sam Vecenie noted on the show, Anunoby is “finally starting to get the recognition” for what he does on that end, and that recognition has come in part because he has been able to stay on the floor more often with the Knicks.
Before arriving in New York, his seasons were repeatedly interrupted. He topped 70 games only once and finished under 50 twice.
The list of setbacks included an emergency appendectomy, plus multiple fractures and sprains across different parts of his body.
That picture has changed in New York. Over the last two seasons, Anunoby has played 74 games and then 67, a stretch that has helped his defensive profile reach the level many expected all along. He was rewarded last season with All-Defensive Second Team honors and a top-10 finish in the Defensive Player of the Year race.
Even so, the names above him on the podcast’s list make the omission from the top 10 easier to understand. Anthony Davis was slotted at No. 10, Evan Mobley at No. 9, and Draymond Green at No. 6, a group loaded with perennial All-Defensive selections and former Defensive Player of the Year winners.
Anunoby’s postseason only added to the case for him as an elite stopper. He posted a defensive rating of 103.8 and held opponents to 43.6 shooting percentage during the Knicks’ championship run. That kind of production is hard to ignore, and it’s why The Athletic’s Bryce Simon argued on the show that Anunoby could still push into the top 10 by the end of the year.
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