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Top defensive accolades: Eight All-Defensive Team selections, seven years receiving Defensive Player of the Year votes
NBA rank: 382nd in steals, 453rd in blocks
One of the most tenacious wing defenders ever, Bruce Bowen earned 1st Team All-Defense honors five times in his career and 2nd Team All-Defense three times. Bowen was an elite 3-and-D player in his prime, shooting 39.3 percent from three for his career and playing a huge part as a role player on three championship-winning Spurs teams.
Bowen was so well thought of as a one-on-one defender on the wing, almost always against stars, that he finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year vote three times despite averaging just 0.8 steals and 0.4 blocks in that stretch. Bowen’s impact as a perimeter defender went far beyond the stat sheet.
On the other hand, Bowen’s tenacity on the defensive end bordered on the dirty at times, with the former standout defender developing a negative reputation due to repeated instances of him putting his feet under where opposing shooters were going to land, which would be a flagrant foul in today’s game.
And those were just examples against Vince Carter.
Nevertheless, dirty tactics or not, Bowen, along with a player coming up later on this list, is tied for having the most All-Defensive Team honors in a single career (eight) without being in the Hall of Fame, so clearly his tactics on the point-stopping end of the floor were effective.
