Chicago Bulls: 4 most efficient defenders in franchise history

2) Most efficient defenders in Chicago Bulls history: Jerry Sloan

Going way back in the Bulls franchise history, the late and great Hall-of-Fame shooting guard/small forward and the 6-foot-5 and 195 pound Illinois native Jerry Sloan was a truly great defender. Sloan was a product of the Evansville basketball program and was a 19th overall pick in the third round of the 1964 NBA Draft of the Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards).

Sloan was inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in the class of 2009 as a coach. He was a longtime head coach of the Utah Jazz (23 seasons) and the Bulls (three seasons). Sloan was just as notable as a head coach as he was as a player. During his playing days in the NBA, Sloan was a two-time All-Star selection a whopping six-time All-Defensive Team selection.

Playing with the Bulls for a decade in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Sloan might be the first great defender in franchise history. In his career in the regular season with the Bulls, Sloan averaged 14.7 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 0.2 blocks. But steals and blocks were only tracked for a few years where Sloan played in the NBA.

As long as it was tracked, Sloan registered a 92 defensive rating, 36.6 defensive win shares (more than three times as many as he had on offense), 1.7 defensive box plus/minus rating, 3.0 steal percentage, and 0.3 block percentage. If all major defensive stats were tracked throughout Sloan’s entire run with the Bulls, he would likely be in the top three in most major categories in franchise history.