NBA 2K23 Season 2 Best Defensive Badges - NBA 2K23 Defensive Badge Tier List For Guards & Bigs

What are the best defensive badges in NBA 2K23 season 2? Today we'll be going over the NBA 2K23 season 2 defensive badge tier list for all builds. NBA2KLAB has made up this tier list and ranked every badge for guards and bigs.

NBA 2K23 Season 2 Best Guards & Bigs Defensive Badges - NBA 2K23 Defensive Badge Tier List & Ranking

Every team's foundation is its defense. Badges for rebounding and defense will improve your team's defense. In NBA 2K23, do you want to develop into a lockdown defender? Regardless of position, you can use the most overpowered 2K23 defensive badges for your player below. Having these badges on your person will be a huge aid in stopping your opposition. Now, let's check the NBA 2K23 best guard and big man defensive badges.

NBA 2K23 Season 2 Guard Defensive Badge Tier List

S tier

Challenger

Clamp

Glove

A tier

Anchor

Interceptor

Pick Dodger

Work Horse

B Tier

Ankle Braces

Boxout Beast

Chase Down Artist

C tier

Brick Wall

Menace

Offball Pest

Pogo Stick

Post Lockdown

Rebound Chaser

NBA 2K23 Season 2 Big Man Defensive Badge Tier List

S tier

Rebound Chaser

Chase Down Artist

Anchor

A tier

Brick Wall

Pogo Stick

Boxout Beast

Work Horse 

Interceptor

B Tier

Post Lockdown

Challenger

Glove

C tier

Menace

Offball Pest

Ankle Braces

Pick Dodger

Clamp

NBA 2K23 Season 2 Best Defensive Badges

Brick Wall 

As a guard, this badge doesn't make much sense with screens seeming to hit pretty frequently this year. And this badge is definitely not needed as a guard. As a big man though, this badge vaults into the A tier as it becomes infinitely more useful for a big man. It definitely helps your guards get open.

Menace

We have it in the C tier here for guards. As this badge requires you to be in a good defensive position when the shot goes up. Contested shots are already going in at a much lower rate this year and you don't really need to boost the contest of an already well-contested shot. For Bigs, it requires the player to be 6’10 or shorter so we have this in the C tier as this badge was made more for guards anyway.

Offball Pest 

This is another C tier badge. There are just far too many other good badges you should be equipping and this badge doesn't work great in the first place. So we have it in the C tier for guards and bigs.

Pogo Stick

For the pogo stick, we have it as a C tier badge as it doesn't make much sense for guys to equip it. But for bigs, it's in the A tier on this NBA 2K23 best defensive badge tier list. Because is a lot more practical, it's a great badge if you have extra points to spend and it works on both rebounds and block attempts. When paired with a fast twitch off an offensive rebound, you can get a putback layout before the defender even has a chance to react. Because of that badge synergy, we have it in the A tier for bigs.

Post Lockdown 

Post lockdown badge obviously doesn't make much sense to have on a guard. so we have it in the C tier. But for bigs, it makes only a slight leap into the B tier. Post moves are a very niche style of play and it's probably better to spend these badge points on something more important. Because with good timing and anticipation this badge isn't needed as much as you think.

Rebound Chaser

For guards, this is obviously a C tier badge. You can save your points and let the bigs grab the rebound. But as a big, it's an S tier badge and you'll definitely need it at the highest level to grab all boards. You don't really need much explanation for this badge.

Ankle Braces 

This badge doesn't seem to work as well as it did last year. With fewer people using the ankle breaker badge, this badge loses some value and doesn't seem to be as necessary. For bigs, it's a C tier badge as you'll be guarding the paint more than the perimeter. So it obviously doesn't make sense for this badge to be any higher.

Boxout Beast 

This badge does work well for guards, so we do have it in the B tier on this 2K23 defensive badge tier list since it's very cheap to equip and can help your big secure the rebound that much easier. Now it's obviously not a great badge for guards but it can be useful if you have some extra points laying around. For bigs though, it's in the A tier as it's a great badge to ensure rebound positioning. Especially if you're a center with lower strength having boxout beasts at a higher level will definitely help you from getting wormed.

Chase Down Artist 

We have it in the B tier for guards and even though chase-downs were nerfed this year, they can still be effective for guards that invest in a decent block rating. Now if you have no block this badge doesn't make sense to invest in even with a single badge point. But for bigs, this becomes an S tier badge especially when paired with an anchor. It's going to allow you to get more aggressive block animations and you're also going to get a minor speed boost when trailing the ball handler. So this is definitely the best NBA 2K23 defensive badge for bigs.

Anchor

The anchor badge is a great defensive badge in NBA 2K23 for all builds, so we have it as our first a-tier badge for guards. It makes sense to invest in since it's A tier one badge for all builds 6’5 and under provides an intimidator effect. So even if you have no block, it can be worth equipping. As a big thought, it's an S tier best Defensive badge NBA 2K23. If you're trying to lock down the pane effectively, you need to get this badge on as high of a level as possible.

Interceptor

This badge has always been a staple for defense. This year it's no different with it being in the A tier for guards. But being 6’8 and under, it's a tier 3 badge which makes for a very heavy investment. The wise move would be to core your glove badge as a priority and then use those extra points on the interceptor after. For bigs, if you have steel, you should definitely be equipping this badge and for players 6’10 and up it's only a tier 1 badge making it one of the best NBA2K23 defensive badges for bigs.

Pick Dodger 

Since screens feel really effective this year, this badge is an absolute must-have for guards which is why it's in the A tier. Things obviously don't get screened as often so for that we have it in the C tier for those taller players.

Work Horse

We have the work horse badge in the A tier and this is a great badge to have on. Especially for players focused on defense as it will help in those loose ball situations and give you an upper hand and gain possession over players without the badge. Now we have it in the A tier for both bigs and guards, but especially for big since it's tier one badge for all builds 6’6 and up and it provides a great return on investment.

Challenger

Challenger is an S tier badge for guards especially guards with a long wingspan and it helps provide a more effective contest. Now, this badge is similar to the intimidator last year, but they split the badge up into anchor and challenger to differentiate the two. For bigs, it's still in the B tier as it can be effective but you're more likely to be contesting shots in the paint than on the perimeter. So for that, we keep it in the B tier.

Clamps

Without question, clamps is the NBA 2K23 best defensive badge. As a guard this badge is the go-to badge, locking up ball handlers, and cutting off driving lanes. Not much really needs to be said about this badge and you want this as high as it goes. But when it comes to bigs, you need to be 6’9 or shorter to unlock this badge and there are definitely better badges to prioritize anyway. For that, we have it in the C tier.

Glove

The glove badge goes S tier of course without even thinking about it. Because steels are obviously really good this year. If you can get a glove to at least silver, it's definitely worth the investment on any build. For bigs, though it's still really good, most don't typically have a high enough steel rating to take full advantage of this badge. So for that, we have it in the B tier.