By Fred Katz | The Athletic, 2026-04-02 11:47:19
图马尼·卡马拉 (Toumani Camara) 仿佛想把个人特质的每一个元素都融入到一次防守回合中。
坚韧的斗志、全场紧逼的压迫、灵动的脚步，以及对抗后的戏剧性表现——卡马拉将这一切展现得淋漓尽致。
这位波特兰开拓者队的侧翼球员，生来就喜欢在那些鲜有人敢于施压的区域纠缠控球者。在2月中旬对阵犹他爵士队的一场比赛中，他的“受害者”是控球后卫以赛亚·科利尔 (Isaiah Collier)。科利尔在距离底线仅几英寸的地方接到边线球，但面前却已经没有任何空间。
这就是开拓者队的风格，他们的全场紧逼频率超过了联盟中任何其他球队——这部分归功于主教练蒂亚戈·斯普利特 (Tiago Splitter) 那种极具侵略性的战术，部分则是因为他们拥有卡马拉。
看看卡马拉是在哪里贴上科利尔的：距离对方得分还有93英尺。这绝非虚张声势的防守，而是一个高风险的计划，但只要有卡马拉参与，这个计划就会变得稳固许多。
他尾随着科利尔跑过半场，一旦跨过中线，他便立刻俯身摆出极具防御性的姿态。注意看科利尔随后两次胯下运球时卡马拉的右手，他的手掌随着篮球的轨迹移动，微妙地向内平移再拉回。这种技术被称为“镜像”干扰（mirroring the ball），全联盟没有人比卡马拉做得更好。
随后，卡马拉迎来了他最具个人标签的时刻。
他穿过掩护时仿佛掩护者根本不存在，死死贴住冲击篮筐的科利尔，迫使对方给爵士中锋凯尔·菲利波夫斯基 (Kyle Filipowski) 传出一记混乱的传球，最后他迅速轮转到这位大个子面前，胸口结结实实地挨了一记推搡。
进攻犯规。
在2025-26赛季，卡马拉已经制造了98次进攻犯规，距离安德森·瓦莱乔 (Anderson Varejao) 创下的单赛季纪录仅差一次。Basketball-Reference 自2005-06赛季以来一直在追踪这项数据。
这些犯规涵盖了各种类型。他总是贴得让控球者喘不过气，以至于对方经常被抓到伸手推开他；他会诱导对手陷入移动掩护的陷阱；在防守挡拆时，如果他注意到掩护者过早顺下，他会立刻冲向对方，因为他清楚只要发生接触，结果必然是对方失误。
现在，卡马拉成为了入选我年度最佳外线防守第二阵容的五名球员之一。
NBA官方的最佳防守阵容取消了位置限制，这意味着第一阵容可能会像近几年那样塞满中锋，从而减少了外线球员的曝光度。因此，让我们把应有的赞誉献给这些后卫和侧翼。
“最佳外线防守阵容”沿用最佳防守阵容的格式：共10名球员入选。我们同样遵循NBA的65场比赛规则，这意味着像亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso) 或罗恩·霍兰德 (Ron Holland) 这样的防守悍将不具备评选资格。
第一阵容将于下周公布。以下是第二阵容的其余成员：
吕冈茨·多尔特 (Lu Dort)，侧翼，俄克拉荷马城雷霆
忘掉那些基本功吧，多尔特是一名发明家。
他的最新杰作？切换防守手。
雷霆队的头号防守大闸对扑防（closeouts）近乎痴迷。他经常会不按常理出牌：他不会对着投篮者举起手臂，而是先垂下手，然后向上猛挥，仿佛在跳球一样。或者他会在碎步移动时把膝盖抬得很高。
“只要能干扰到他，我什么都愿意做，”多尔特在接受《The Athletic》采访时说道，“像这样的球员已经习惯了常规的扑防。他们在训练时看到的也是常规扑防。所以做点不一样的，有时就能干扰到他们。”
几个月前，多尔特想出了一个新点子，专门对付底角的三分射手。
多尔特会伸出一只手臂冲向对手，然后在最后一刻突然换成另一只手。他在对阵丹佛掘金队的贾马尔·穆雷 (Jamal Murray) 以及奥兰多魔术队的德斯蒙德·贝恩 (Desmond Bane) 时都尝试过这一招。
“我的想法是，每当我扑防时，用那只手很难跳起来，所以我尝试切换一下，这样我可以覆盖更多的空间，干扰效果也会更好，”多尔特说，“这只是我正在尝试的新东西，看看是否能干扰到投篮的人。”
虽然这并没有干扰到穆雷或贝恩，但这更多是因为射手的能力而非扑防的问题。这两位球员在三分线外都是顶级水准，尤其是底角的接球投篮。在这种情况下，投篮空间非常大，防守者必须尝试一些疯狂的、带有障眼法性质的技术。这是他众多获得专利的“张牙舞爪”动作之一，这些动作总是充满激情，有时当对方的脸不幸凑上来时，甚至还会带点危险。
但这就是多尔特的生活，作为全联盟防守第一球队的核心，他每晚都要负责盯防对方最强的外线球员。根据 BBall-Index 的对位难度统计，没有任何球员比多尔特承担了更多防守对方头号得分手的任务。因此，多尔特以他独特而奇特的方式不断进化。
阿门·汤普森 (Amen Thompson)，侧翼，休斯顿火箭
在角色做出轻微调整后，汤普森也适应得很好。
一个赛季前，火箭队更多地将他安置在防守弱侧，随时准备协防并提供后线护筐。如今，这项工作更多由37岁的凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 承担，他在这个赛季打出了一个被低估的、极其稳健的防守表现。然而，火箭队那排名联盟第六的每回合失分防守，始于他们这位身体素质劲爆的三年级侧翼。
休斯顿依赖抢断，其中许多抢断源自汤普森。他在防守顶端的破坏力有所提升，而且他在防守挡拆时的预判比职业生涯前两个赛季要快得多。
每场比赛，汤普森都会制造或至少诱导出一到三次失误。本周早些时候，新奥尔良鹈鹕队后卫德章泰·穆雷 (Dejounte Murray) 绕过锡安·威廉姆森 (Zion Williamson) 的掩护向左运球。汤普森紧随其后，穆雷试图给禁区内的威廉姆森送出一记击地妙传。
没门。
汤普森在盯防穆雷的同时，竟然奇迹般地封堵了传球路线，并将球收入囊中。他是少数几个拥有足够臂展、速度、运动能力以及现在的预判能力来完成这种防守的球员之一。
一年前，汤普森在 Bball-Index 的挤过掩护分析中在合格防守者中排名第116位。本赛季，他高居第三。排在他前面的两名球员也都是最佳外线防守第一或第二阵容的成员，其中就包括下面这一位。
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)，后卫，圣安东尼奥马刺
斯蒂芬·卡斯尔的特别之处在于，他能让防守看起来如此平淡无奇。
以3月初对阵纽约尼克斯队的一场比赛为例。卡斯尔在这一回合开始时负责防守入选最佳阵容的中锋卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns)，后者跑向顶端为另一位球星杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 设置掩护。当唐斯向上移动时，卡斯尔强行挤过了掩护。
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 是马刺窒息式防守的门面，但这位最佳防守球员的头号热门并非独自支撑着这座堡垒。卡斯尔已经变得几乎无法被阻挡。
一旦唐斯为布伦森架起掩护，卡斯尔便换防到这位控球后卫身上。布伦森是一位狡黠的单打好手，但他选择不挑战卡斯尔，而是将球传向球场另一侧。此时，进攻时间仅剩8秒，最终以乔什·哈特 (Josh Hart) 的三分打铁告终——马刺在整场比赛中都有策略地放空哈特。
卡斯尔没有完成抢断，也没有送出盖帽。甚至，他都没有像本赛季无数次做过的那样，贴在极具侵略性的突破者脸上。但主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 对他的信任才是最引人注目的。
这位二年级新星在那场比赛的大部分时间里都在防守唐斯——一名6英尺6英寸的后卫与一名7英尺的中锋搏斗，这已经成为了卡斯尔的常态。马刺因此可以换防任何掩护动作，无论是持球掩护还是无球掩护，这让对手的进攻陷入停滞。卡斯尔足够强壮，可以与大个子对抗；他会压低重心，将他们推离低位；他会贴近身材较小的球员，封锁他们冲击篮筐的路线。
在某一个夜晚，他会防守唐斯；下一个夜晚，他会挑战谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 或卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Dončić)。马刺还会让他去盯防高大的侧翼，如科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 和杜兰特。当圣安东尼奥在1月对阵明尼苏达森林狼队时，他的对位对象是强壮的大个子朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle)。在本赛季 BBall-Index 的对位难度榜上，他排名全联盟第五。
这彻底改变了马刺的防守。因为卡斯尔可以对抗任何人，包括那些拉开到外线的大个子，这使得文班亚马可以去防守对方威胁最小的射手，从而让这位运动史上最恐怖的盖帽手能够自由巡航。
戴森·丹尼尔斯 (Dyson Daniels)，后卫，亚特兰大老鹰
在经历了世界级的2024-25赛季（当时他在最佳防守球员评选中位列第二，并入选了最佳外线防守第一阵容）之后，丹尼尔斯在本赛季受到的关注有所减少。那些他生生顶住持球人并把球从对方手中夺走的精彩瞬间不再那么频繁了。
但丹尼尔斯设定的标准实在太高。在2025-26赛季，他依然是联盟最顶尖的外线防守者之一。
亚特兰大的防守围绕着两名后卫展开：丹尼尔斯和尼基尔·亚历山大-沃克 (Nickeil Alexander-Walker)，后者也是入选这些阵容的有力竞争者。两人在领防端手部动作都非常活跃，都能制造恐慌。根据 Second Spectrum 的数据，在全联盟所有球员中，亚历山大-沃克防守的挡拆回合（即他防守持球人）导致失误的比例最高，丹尼尔斯紧随其后，位列第二。
他的抢断率排名联盟第九，场均破坏球（deflections）排名第三，仅次于两名将入选本赛季最佳外线防守第一阵容的球员。在一对一面对他时，防守简直是一场苦差事。他会在对手跨入前场的一瞬间就开始领防，紧贴对手并利用中线作为第六名防守者。
本周早些时候，MVP候选人杰伦·布朗 (Jaylen Brown) 亲自领教了“丹尼尔斯效应”。在爆冷击败波士顿凯尔特人队的比赛中，丹尼尔斯在Logo处迎上布朗，寸步不让。在中锋阿马里·威廉姆斯 (Amari Williams) 还没来得及设置掩护之前，丹尼尔斯就贴上了还在三分线外10英尺处的布朗，并一记重扣将球拍走。
他是下手抢断的大师，这使得他在对持球人保持极高侵略性的同时，还能将犯规数控制在较低水平。他依然处于对方战术简报的最顶端。对手会设计战术避开他，就像橄榄球四分卫对待艾德·里德 (Ed Reed) 那样。
即使没有完成抢断，丹尼尔斯也会影响对手的行为。他就像一个永远存在的阴影，时刻笼罩着赛场。
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Amen Thompson, Lu Dort highlight our All-Perimeter-Defense Second Team
Amen Thompson, Lu Dort highlight our All-Perimeter-Defense Second Team
It was as if Toumani Camara wanted to wrap every element of his identity into one play.
The tenacity, the full-court pressure, the footwork, the drama after contact — Camara placed it all on display.
The Portland Trail Blazers’ wing lives to pester dribblers in places few others would dare. On this play, during a mid-February game against the Utah Jazz, his victim was point guard Isaiah Collier, who received an inbounds pass only inches from the baseline and still had no space in front of him.
Such is the way of the Blazers, who full-court press more than any other team — in part because of head coach Tiago Splitter’s helter-skelter strategies, and in part because they employ Camara.
Look where Camara picks up Collier here, 93 feet away from scoring. This isn’t some faux press. It’s a plan that’s high-risk with anyone but a little more stable when it involves Camara.
He follows Collier up the floor, then crouches into his ultra-defensive stance once they cross half court. Check out Camara’s right hand as Collier dribbles twice through the legs moments later. His palm follows the basketball, a subtle panning in and then back out. This is called “mirroring” the ball. No one in the league does it better than Camara.
Then comes Camara’s most on-brand moment.
He runs through a screen as if it weren’t even there, sticks to Collier on a drive to the hoop, forces a chaotic pass to Jazz center Kyle Filipowski and finally rotates over to the big man to absorb a shove to the chest.
Charge.
Camara has drawn 98 offensive fouls in 2025-26, only one short of Anderson Varejao’s single-season record. Basketball-Reference has been tracking the stat since 2005-06.
These are all types of fouls. He gets so in the face of dribblers that they often get caught pushing him away. He goads opponents into moving screens. When he’s guarding a pick-and-roll, he will notice if a screener dives to the hoop early, then will sprint in his direction, understanding that if they make contact, the result will be a turnover.
Now, Camara is one of five players to make my annual Second Team All-Perimeter-Defense.
The NBA’s actual all-defensive teams’ eliminating positions means the first team can fill up with centers, as it has in recent years, allowing less shine for the guys on the perimeter. So, let’s give the guards and wings their credit.
All-Perimeter-Defense takes on the same format as all-defense: 10 players make it. We observe the NBA’s 65-game rule, which means hounds like Alex Caruso or Ron Holland are not eligible.
First Team will publish next week. Here is the rest of the Second Team:
Lu Dort, Wing, Oklahoma City Thunder
Forget about the fundamentals. Dort is an inventor.
His latest creation? A switch of the hand.
The Thunder’s main stopper is cuckoo for closeouts. Every so often, he’ll deviate from the scouting report. Instead of raising his arm at a shooter, he’ll lower it, then swipe up, as if he’s tossing an imaginary jump ball. Or he’ll kick his knees high as he stutter-steps.
“Anything that I can do to throw him off, I’ll do it,” Dort said in a conversation with The Athletic. “Guys like this are so used to seeing regular closeouts. When they train, they see regular closeouts. So do something different, and sometimes you can throw them off.”
A couple of months ago, Dort came up with a new idea, which he uses on 3-point shooters in the corners.
Dort will rush to an opponent with one arm extended and then, at the last moment, switch to the other arm. He tried it once against the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray and another time against the Orlando Magic’s Desmond Bane.
“My thing on that is whenever I close out, it’s hard to jump with that hand, so that’s why I try to switch it, so I can cover more ground and my contest will be better,” Dort said. “It’s just something new that I am trying just to see if it will throw off whoever is shooting the ball.”
It didn’t throw off Murray or Bane, though that is more because of the shooters than the closeout. Each of those guys is dynamite from beyond the arc, especially on catch-and-shoots from the corners. In these cases, the shots are so open that the defender has to try a frantic, sleight-of-hand technique, one of his many patented flails that are always spirited and sometimes, when a rogue face gets in the way, dangerous.
But such is life for Dort, who the NBA’s No. 1 defense uses on the other team’s best perimeter player each night. According to BBall-Index’s matchup difficulty statistic, no player mans the opposition’s top performer more. And so Dort adapts in his own, peculiar way.
Amen Thompson, Wing, Houston Rockets
Thompson, too, has adapted after a slight adjustment to his role.
A season ago, the Rockets stationed him more often on the weak side on the defense, ready to scamper over in help and provide back-line rim protection. Today, that job more often belongs to Kevin Durant, the 37-year-old who has had an under-the-radar, staunch defensive season. And yet, the Rockets’ defense, which ranks sixth in the NBA in points allowed per possession, starts with its high-flying, third-year wing.
Houston relies on steals, many of which stem from Thompson, who has improved as a disruptor at the top of the defense and whose anticipation while guarding pick-and-rolls is far quicker today than it was over his first two professional seasons.
Each game, Thompson will create or at least inspire a turnover or three. Earlier this week, New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray dribbled left around a screen from Zion Williamson. With Thompson following him, Murray tried to bounce a dime to Williamson in the lane.
No go.
Thompson had somehow defended Murray while also taking away the passing lane, and he gobbled up the pass. He’s one of the few defenders with the length, speed, athleticism and now anticipation to pull off such a play.
A year ago, Thompson ranked 116th among qualifying defenders in Bball-Index’s screen-navigation analytic. This season, he’s third. The only two players ahead of him are also members of First or Second Team All-Perimeter defense, including this next one.
Stephon Castle, Guard, San Antonio Spurs
The special part of Castle is how unspecial he can make defense look.
For example, take the play from below, which occurred during an early-March game against the New York Knicks. Castle begins the possession on All-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns, who jogs up top to set a screen for a fellow star, Jalen Brunson. He powers through a pick as Towns treks up high.
Victor Wembanyama is the face of the Spurs’ stifling defense, but the Defensive Player of the Year favorite isn’t holding up the fortress on his own. Castle has become nearly impossible to impede.
Once Towns lays the screen for Brunson, Castle switches onto the point guard, a crafty one-on-one scorer who chooses not to go at Castle and swings the ball to the other side of the court. By this point, only eight seconds remain in the possession, which ends with an errant 3-pointer from Josh Hart, who the Spurs strategically left open throughout the game.
Castle didn’t swipe away a steal or swat a shot. Heck, he didn’t even get in the face of an aggressive driver, as he’s done countless times this season. But the trust from head coach Mitch Johnson is what stands out here.
The second-year standout defended Towns for much of that game — a 6-foot-6 guard battling with a 7-foot center, which has become the norm for Castle. The Spurs can then switch any screen action, ones around or away from the ball, which stalls opposing offenses. Castle is strong enough to fight with bigger guys. He gets low and pushes them away from the block. He leans into smaller players, taking away drives to the hoop.
On one night, he will defend Towns. Next, he’ll take on lead guards, like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Luka Dončić. The Spurs will start him on big wings, like Kawhi Leonard and Durant. When San Antonio played the Minnesota Timberwolves in January, he lined up with brute big man Julius Randle. He is fifth in the NBA in BBall-Index’s matchup difficulty this season.
It transforms the Spurs’ defense. Because Castle can combat anyone, including perimeter-laden big men, it can place Wembanyama on the worst opposing shooter, which allows the sport’s scariest shot-blocker to roam free.
Dyson Daniels, Guard, Atlanta Hawks
Daniels hasn’t received as much attention this season after his all-world 2024-25, when he finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was a member of First Team All-Perimeter Defense. Those highlights when he muscles up a ballhandler, then grabs the basketball away from aren’t as common.
But Daniels set the bar high. In 2025-26, he’s been one of the league’s best perimeter defenders again.
Atlanta’s defense revolves around two guards, Daniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who was a contender to make one of these teams. Both are handsy at the point of attack. Both cause panic. More of Alexander-Walker’s pick-and-rolls (meaning Alexander-Walker is defending the ballhandler) end in turnovers than anyone else’s in the NBA, according to Second Spectrum. Daniels is second.
He’s ninth in the NBA in steal rate and third in deflections per game, trailing two guys who will each be members of this season’s First Team All-Perimeter-Defense. He is a chore to go against one-on-one. He’ll pick up dribblers the moment they cross into the frontcourt, pushing into an opponent and using the halfcourt divider as a sixth defender.
Earlier this week, MVP candidate Jaylen Brown experienced the Daniels effect himself. During an upset victory over the Boston Celtics, Daniels met Brown at the logo and didn’t let him go farther. Before center Amari Williams could even set a screen, Daniels leaned into Brown, who was still 10 feet behind the 3-point arc, and spanked the basketball away.
He’s a master of the underhand steal, which keeps his fouls down despite how aggressive he gets with ballhandlers. He remains atop the scouting report. Opponents scheme to stay away from him, similarly to how quarterbacks treated Ed Reed.
Even when he doesn’t get the steal, Daniels affects behavior. He is always looming.
By Fred Katz, via The Athletic