Ok guys, looking at the All-Star reserves, I saw that they had two guys from the '03 class starting (Wade,James) and one as a reserve. (Bosh). I'm also sure that many would agree that Carmelo Anthony was snubbed for the West Squad who isnt putting up bad numbers. (26ppg,5rpg). So it got me thinking...is the 2003 class better than the Class of '96? The crazy thing is that I can ask this question only after 2.5 seasons. Here are some of the major guys drafted from both classes and lets debate it out. Big Names from 1996: Iverson,Camby,Abdur-Rahim,Marbury,R.Allen,A.Walker,Bryant,Stojakavic,Nash,J.O'Neal,Dampier, Ilguaskas, Big Names from 2003: L.James,Wade,Anthony,Bosh,Kaman,Hinrich,TJ Ford,Ridnour,David West,Diaw,B.Cook,Barbosa,Josh Howard.
i dont think any class can compare to the class of 84. dream, mj, barkley, stockton, sam perkins, otis thorpe, kevin willis, jerome kersey, and a few others
Don't forget 1999. Look at the top 10 picks: 1. Elton Brand 2. Steve Francis 3. Baron Davis 4. Lamar Odom 5. Jonathan Bender 6. Wally Szczerbiak 7. Richard Hamilton 8. Andre Miller 9. Shawn Marion 10. Jason Terry Bender aside, those are all solid-great players. Later in the first round, you also had Maggette, Artest, Posey, Jeff Foster, Kenny Thomas and AK47. And of course, Ginobili in the 2nd round.
84 draft is the most overated in sports. 96 was loaded with franchise calibre players and remains the best in my eyes...
03 was good.. but id say itd have to be 96 because they have such HUGE names.. 3 are a lock for HOF.. 99 is just as good.. but more of a detroit piston kinda way.. just way balanced and solid from top to down.. probably not as many hall of famers but a crapload of all stars.. 03 and 99 is very similar but 03 is too recent in my opinion.. they still have alot to prove.. they have potential though
Damn I completely forgot about the 1999 Draft and I could probably name the first 10 picks by memory. That class was also really deep and I think 8 of the top 10 have been all-stars at one time or another (Bender, Terry). There are just so many guys in 2003 from LeBron at #1 to Korver at #51 that contribute heavily to their teams success.
Great thread. I have to vote for the class of 96. Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen and Steve Nash in the same year. Can't argue with that, although something has to be said for the class of '84.
'96 vs '03 all boils down to who's better at the top. Iverson, R.Allen, Bryant, Nash, J.O'Neal Vs. L.James, Wade, Anthony, Bosh In that case I would probably give the edge to '96. Iverson and Bryant would pretty much cancel out Lebron and Wade. And I'd take Allen and O'neal over Anthony and Bosh, let alone adding Nash into the mix.
If Darko ever turns into a player then it'd be a really intersting debate. Beside the Obvious guys like Wade,James,Anthony and Bosh....the '03 guys also alot of guys starting and playing major roles on their team. Kirk Hinrich: 14.4ppg 3.4rpg 6.4apg Chris Kaman 11.3ppg 9.4rpg 1.6bpg TJ Ford 12.2ppg 4.7rpg 6.5apg Luke Ridnour 11.7ppg 3.0rpg 6.7apg Boris Diaw 11.9ppg 6.6rpg 5.9apg David West 17.0ppg 7.8apg 1.2apg These are just a few of the guys from the '03 class whose teams would be alot worse off with out them.
Huh?? You have the ALL-TIME leaders in 2 of the 5 main statistical categories for a sport, plus God himself, in the same draft year, and it's OVERRATED??
No. of championships: 3* *Riding someone else' coattail *cough*Shaq*cough*. Class of '84: 8, all in which the alum is THE MAN.
After the 84 draft, it has to be the 1999 Those rookies whoooped up on the sophomores that year, quite the rookie challenge.
3 of the 5 categories - Hakeem with blocks and flopton with steals and assists. plus jordan and barkley. yeah definitely not overrated.
Franchise caliber is different from BEING the franchise and that's what Dream, Jordan, Stockton, and Barkley (whereever he went besides Houston) were
'99, '96 ???? How old are you people? '84 - hands down, no contest; THREE viable GOAT at their position candidates - plus TWO GOAT period candidates!!! Also; although there are 8 championships from the class (consecutive, I might add)- that's an illogical way of breaking down the draft because - THE CATS had to compete with each other their entire careers! MJ beat two of the others in finals. The '96 & '99 classes have yet deliver a single player to win a championship as the best player on there own team - and you didn't even mention the one from '99 who has actually WON something; Ginobilli! Lebron, Wade, 'Melo & Bosh could some day challenge, but we've got a dozen or more seasons for that to pan out. '84 - and it ain't even close.
The Kings and Mavericks and Pacers had depth; the Spurs, Pistons, Lakers, Rockets & Bulls had the top....it's ALL about the top.
Depth? Aside from the living legends on top Olajuwon Jordan Barkley Stockton - there's All stars Sam Perkins Kevin Willis Otis Thorpe Alvin Robertson solid pros/longtime vets: Jerome Kersey Michael Cage Jay Humphries Vern Fleming Also a smattering of role players like Jeff Turner, Rick Carlisle, Tim McCormick, Jim Peterson etc.
