Between the 1979-80 and 1988-89 seasons, Hakeem Olajuwon had the best defensive rating, with a 99.1 rating.

Interpreted as:

best NBA defensive rating with a minimum of 1000 minutes played per 82 team games by a player 1980s

	NAME	DRTG	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	99.1	386	36.2	23.0	12.1	2.0	1.9	3.1	9.0	17.4	51.8	0.0	0.0	5.3	5.0	7.4	67.2	55.7	4.5	7.6	3.0	13,990	8,883	4,677	780	748	1,201	1,175	1,562
2	Mark Eaton M. Eaton	99.3	568	30.2	7.0	8.7	1.2	0.4	4.2	2.8	6.3	44.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	2.3	64.9	48.1	2.3	6.4	1.8	17,181	3,969	4,916	693	242	2,391	1,016	2,037
3	Johnny High J. High	99.7	274	16.6	5.1	2.3	1.9	1.2	0.3	1.9	4.3	43.5	0.0	0.1	10.5	1.4	2.2	61.9	48.6	0.8	1.5	1.7	4,538	1,396	617	525	325	86	455	712
4	Ed Sherod E. Sherod	99.9	64	25.4	6.2	2.3	4.9	1.5	0.2	2.7	6.6	40.6	0.0	0.2	7.7	0.8	1.3	65.0	43.3	0.7	1.7	1.6	1,624	395	149	311	96	14	104	112
5	Len Elmore L. Elmore	99.9	350	16.4	4.6	3.7	0.9	0.7	0.7	1.8	4.3	42.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.9	1.3	72.8	47.1	1.3	2.4	1.1	5,747	1,603	1,309	302	243	251	376	890
6	Dave Cowens D. Cowens	100.0	106	29.9	11.9	7.6	2.7	0.9	0.7	5.3	11.7	45.1	0.0	0.1	7.1	1.4	1.7	79.5	47.9	1.9	5.7	1.4	3,173	1,264	808	288	99	76	152	353
7	Sam Lacey S. Lacey	100.4	279	23.4	6.2	5.6	3.8	0.9	1.0	2.6	5.8	44.0	0.0	0.1	18.8	1.0	1.3	75.8	48.0	1.4	4.2	2.0	6,542	1,724	1,567	1,054	257	292	547	957
8	George Johnson G. Johnson	100.4	381	18.8	3.7	5.3	1.0	0.4	2.5	1.5	3.3	46.8	0.0	0.0	50.0	0.7	0.9	71.7	50.8	1.8	3.5	1.2	7,157	1,424	2,020	396	155	944	473	1,110
9	Tree Rollins T. Rollins	100.6	713	24.8	6.3	7.0	0.6	0.5	2.6	2.6	4.9	53.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.1	1.5	70.8	56.5	2.2	4.8	1.0	17,651	4,509	4,993	461	360	1,849	736	2,359
10	Harvey Catchings H. Catchings	100.6	442	18.9	3.1	4.9	0.9	0.4	1.7	1.2	2.9	43.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.0	63.2	47.1	1.7	3.2	1.0	8,363	1,378	2,180	412	164	766	462	1,270
11	Karl Malone K. Malone	100.7	325	35.9	23.3	10.5	2.5	1.4	0.7	8.9	17.4	51.3	0.0	0.1	16.7	5.5	8.2	66.9	55.6	3.0	7.5	3.5	11,656	7,576	3,412	812	470	224	1,126	1,200
12	Larry Bird L. Bird	100.8	717	38.4	25.0	10.2	6.1	1.8	0.8	9.8	19.6	50.3	0.6	1.7	37.7	4.6	5.3	88.0	57.0	2.2	8.0	3.2	27,560	17,899	7,319	4,396	1,300	603	2,261	1,906
13	Gar Heard G. Heard	100.9	160	19.0	4.9	4.6	1.4	1.2	0.8	2.0	5.0	39.7	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.9	1.2	76.5	44.1	1.5	3.1	1.1	3,034	783	728	219	188	121	169	373
14	Manute Bol M. Bol	101.1	319	20.5	3.3	4.9	0.2	0.2	3.9	1.4	3.2	42.5	0.1	0.3	21.3	0.5	0.8	57.1	45.7	1.2	3.7	0.8	6,547	1,039	1,576	74	70	1,252	240	830
15	Rick Mahorn R. Mahorn	101.1	655	26.9	8.2	7.5	1.2	0.7	1.2	3.3	6.7	50.3	0.0	0.0	9.1	1.5	2.2	68.0	53.7	1.9	5.6	1.6	17,634	5,363	4,892	763	440	776	1,043	2,434
16	Alton Lister A. Lister	101.1	643	23.1	8.2	7.3	1.2	0.5	1.9	3.3	6.3	51.9	0.0	0.0	16.7	1.6	2.7	60.4	54.5	2.3	5.0	1.8	14,835	5,245	4,674	755	294	1,244	1,188	2,399
17	Roy Tarpley R. Tarpley	101.4	175	24.6	11.3	9.8	0.9	1.1	1.1	4.6	9.3	49.6	0.0	0.1	11.1	2.1	2.9	71.3	53.4	3.5	6.2	1.8	4,303	1,982	1,710	155	187	195	318	615
18	Quinn Buckner Q. Buckner	101.5	477	21.6	8.2	2.6	3.8	1.7	0.0	3.5	7.6	46.5	0.0	0.1	18.4	1.1	1.6	68.7	49.4	0.8	1.8	2.0	10,321	3,908	1,248	1,818	801	23	946	1,295
19	Truck Robinson T. Robinson	101.5	386	34.0	15.1	9.0	2.0	0.7	0.5	6.2	12.3	50.0	0.0	0.0	100.0	2.8	4.3	64.9	53.2	2.6	6.4	2.7	13,139	5,847	3,491	769	270	179	1,058	1,158
20	George McGinnis G. McGinnis	101.5	218	24.7	10.7	7.5	3.4	1.4	0.4	4.1	9.3	43.8	0.0	0.1	8.0	2.5	4.7	53.2	46.8	2.2	5.3	2.9	5,394	2,329	1,625	747	296	79	633	743
21	Rich Kelley R. Kelley	101.6	501	20.0	6.1	5.5	2.4	0.8	0.7	2.1	4.4	48.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.9	2.5	77.2	55.8	1.8	3.7	2.1	10,036	3,062	2,778	1,211	382	331	1,063	1,558
22	Wes Unseld W. Unseld	101.7	145	34.5	9.0	12.2	3.7	0.8	0.7	3.8	7.4	51.8	0.0	0.0	50.0	1.3	2.0	65.8	54.4	3.7	8.5	1.7	5,005	1,301	1,767	536	117	97	250	420
23	Jack Sikma J. Sikma	101.7	795	34.7	16.8	10.3	3.4	1.1	1.0	6.2	13.2	47.1	0.1	0.4	31.3	4.2	5.0	85.6	54.6	2.4	7.9	2.4	27,557	13,342	8,192	2,721	871	829	1,878	2,822
24	Darryl Dawkins D. Dawkins	101.7	482	26.2	13.5	6.2	1.4	0.5	1.4	5.3	9.1	58.0	0.0	0.0	13.3	2.9	4.2	69.5	61.6	1.7	4.5	2.7	12,629	6,495	2,967	677	265	697	1,301	2,052
25	Bobby Jones B. Jones	101.8	537	24.2	10.5	4.5	2.2	1.2	1.1	3.9	7.2	54.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.7	3.3	80.1	60.5	1.4	3.1	1.6	13,014	5,620	2,411	1,171	620	598	858	1,400