Who's the Greatest NBA Player Ever?

Rox fans will select Hakeem!
Bulls fans will say MJ is the Greatest!
fakers fans will think KOBE is the best!
Boston fans will pick Larry Legend!!!
Spurs fans will add Duncan to the list if Spurs won the chmapionship this season......

 

Bill Russell. The biggest winner of all time. 11 championships out of 13 seasons. One as a coach. Two NCAA championships. Greatest defensive player of all time.

 

You gotta split it in two categories: Big man, and Backcourt player

I say Kareem and MJ.

Russell and Wilt will never get that title because they played in an era where no one played defense and they were giants among physically-challenged people.

The NBA Kareem/Hakeem/Shaq played in was radically different (and light years better, at least defensively) than the era of Russell and Wilt.

So among those three centers, I would definitely take Kareem.

Among Guards/S.Forwards, it ain't even close: MJ.

 

Gotta to go with Jordan....the guy was came back from retirement to win 3 more titles.

What's the most remarkable thing is that when people talk about the greats, the forget Jordan was probably the shortest of them.

 

That is why he is the greatest. He dominated like Wilt but he did at only 6'6 in an era where there were monsters like Hakeem under the basket.

 

even though i hate him, i have to pick jordan. he just never failed to step up in a big game it seemed. and was so clutch at the end of games. not as God-like as people think as his teams did have talent, but i have to put him on top.


and hakeem is top 9 all time, no question about it in my mind. i don't see how i'd pick any perimeter player except jordan over him and he certainly isn't behind 8 bigs.


elgin baylor cannot possibly be on the list ahead of hakeem and west doesn't belong above him either, imo. baylor should also be docked points for his time as gm of the clippers.


and russell couldn't carry jordan's jock. he doesn't belong with the other 4 big centers either, imo.

 

Jordan. He ain't the GOAT for nothing

 

Magic Johnson.

Imagine being good enough that in your early 20s you become "The Man" on a team with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on it.

 

Jordan no doubt.


6'6'' and took over the game with his finess and skill. Not because he had a 7'ft frame, 300 lbs that took an advantage of other players but with his skills and talent and heart. No doubt he is the greatest player to ever played the game.

 

Wilt.

Give me a break, it's not even close.

Then Jordan...
Then Magic...

 

He dominated like Wilt? lol. Look at Wilt's dominating numbers and tell me again how Jordan "dominated like Wilt". Wilt was a 7-foot 275 lbs beast that led the league in assists.

 

Unanswerable. WiltRussOscar, Michael, Magic. That is the pantheon.

Kareem, Hakeem, Logo the next level, and a high one.

 

uhhh, where does being the best athlete in the game factor in here? he was like a generation ahead on athleticism and it took until lebron (maybe kobe and tmac and somewhat clyde) to get a perimeter player w/ his height, strength, athleticism combo. the fact no one who guarded him could hope to stay in front of him or jump as high as him is just as important as being 7 ft, 300 lb. he dominated physically just like all the greats except bird and somewhat magic, not with finesse and skill. just like hakeem, just like shaq, just like wilt, and to lesser degrees just like kobe and tmac dominate.

 

I'll stick with my choice but I think Jordan really had the benefit of being "Jordan" because he got away with more things than anyone else. How many times did he ever foul out of a game? or even got 5 fouls? The man was great, no doubt but he got away things.

 

If you go by each era and the impact each player made, then Wilt is by far the Greatest Player Ever.

 

1. Russell
2. Wilt
3a. Jordan
3b. Kareem

You could flip Jordan and Kareem if you want.

 

i remember he fouled out of a game with washington and they said the last time it had happened was 1991. so he fouled out about once a decade.

of course wilt never fouled out of a game, but that's probably b/c no one played defense and he was so much bigger than everyone he didn't really need to foul to be effective (and he wasn't a bulldozer like shaq, at least any time i see tape of him play, so he didn't have the offensive fouls pile up).


and i can't put wilt ahead of jordan w/ only 2 titles, one when he was older and less mobile and more of a passer than dominating scorer, and i can't put russell ahead of jordan w/ no offensive game to speak of.


magic doing what he did as a 20 year old rookie is definitely amazing and so was the rest of his career but i don't even think magic would put himself ahead of jordan.

and i for some reason wasn't thinking about magic, but i could put him ahead of hakeem as a perimeter player. if i do, it's just barely. bird doesn't get to go ahead of hakeem. hakeem was just so much better than either at defense (and most everyone else in nba history). if hakeem had james worthy and a kareem-quality shooting guard (whatever that is) for the prime of his career, could he have won 5 titles? maybe, maybe no but i think it would be close.

jordan, magic, hakeem, wilt, shaq, kareem, bird is my all-time 7 w/ jordan #1 and bird probably #7.

 

Although I don't understand how Elgin Baylor is one of the 9 instead of Hakeem or even Shaq, but that is a debate for another time.

Gotta go with Jordan followed closely by Magic.