conversation, regardless of how good he was defensively. If you want to make a case for Chamberlain, you can make a valid one. There isn't a case for Russell IMHO.

I do agree, that you can't use the stat to prove anything in regards to Hakeem vs Russell or Wilt, because the other two have nothing but other's memories to compare it to. But again Hakeem being that much better than his peers is significant, even if he can't be compared directly to the other two.

And the fact that he is only player top 10 on both steals and blocks is amazing. The only other player close to the top 10 in both categories is Kevin Garnett who is 16th in steals and 17th in blocks.

And yes, I understand that you aren't saying that he was not a great defensive player. But his stats should not be thrown out just b/c Wilt and Russell don't have any stats. Even if they did, it wouldn't be a valid comparison.