I would put Jordan tied for 5th on this list. 1- Wilt Chamberlain No one has dominated the game like Wilt. He was absolutely destroying the league when he was playing. One year he decided to lead the league in assists, and he did. A freakin' center leading the league in assists. He used to dunk free throws. He was a freak and the only person around during his prime that could even slow him down was Bill Russell. 2 - Lou Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar People only remember the sky hook. This guy was the best high school player ever, the best college player ever. He was dominant on the Bucks. All before developing the sky hook. Take one of the most dominant players in the game, then add the most indefensible shot ever, is it any wonder he is the league's all-time leading scorer. 3 - Magic Johnson Yes, he is the reason that triple-double has entered our collective vocabulary (despite the big O averaging that statistic). Yes he brought showtime to the Lakers. But think about this, he was a point guard that won Finals MVP, playing center. 4 - Larry Bird Basketball IQ. Hustle. Shooting. This is a guy that had 50's style athleticism and was competing against 80's style players, and winning. He is not called Larry Legend for nothing. Won three pooint shootouts while still wearing his warmups. Possibly the best shooter ever. Between him and Magic, they made basketball what it is today, despite the hype the media will try to feed you about Jordan. 5 - Michael Jordan/Hakeem Olajuwon Both guys played on both ends of the court. MJ, of course is the holder of the highest career PPG average in NBA history (I discount this somewhat because he did not play a lot of years as an old guy like Jabbar and Chamberlain.) Olajuwon was averaging guard like numbers in steals while leading the league in blocks. He led arguably the least talented Championship team ever. 7 - Bill Russel All he did was win championships. One of the best defenders of all time, his offense was anemic. Plus, having a team that could basically be the Eastern Conference all-stars helps in racking up those rings. Their sixth man was a hall of famer. 8 - Julius Earving Will never get as much credit as he deserves because of the time he spent in the ABA. His combined point total is higher than Kareem's. He was also the most important player in developing today's above the rim game. While Michael could fly, the Doctor could soar.
While its hard enough to compare eras, its even harder, imo, to compare positions, especially given all of the 'tweeners. So when asked this question, I've got no other choice but to break it down by position: --In no particular order and subject to change-- Best Guards: Jordan Stockton Magic Oscar Drexler Best Forwards: Bird Karl Malone Barkley Garnett Duncan Best Centers: Wilt Dream Kareem Shaq Kareem Of course, you've got to take into account what each person brings, and what you need from a specific position. If I need the best defensive center, for instance, I'm going with Dream and Bill Russell. Best offensive center would look like Wilt Kareem. Best passing center: Wilt. best all-around center: Wilt and Hakeem. Toughest: Wilt, Shaw, Moses Malone. There is simply too much to put into this discussion to simply say, "So and so is the best, hands down." You CANNOT do that. Too much to consider in the question itself. If you put a gun to my head and told me to pick the starters of an all-time time, I'd probably do this: 1) Stockton 2) MJ 3) Bird 4) K. Malone 5) Wilt Those are my picks at 2, 3, and 4. Depending on what day it is, I could easily insert Oscar Robertson into the 1 and several other centers into the 5. If you gave me the first pick for an all-time team, it'd be Wilt.
I like the way you broke it down, but those are some very interesting choices...Garnett/Duncan over the likes of Dr. J, McHale, etc?...Clyde over West?
Chamberlain, bah. He dunked over smaller and slower white guys. I've seen the highlights of Wilt Chamberlain and I was not that impressed. Put Jordan in that league and he would have averaged over 50 points a game easily.
Well that's just it....There are so many possibilities its easy to leave someone like Dr. J or Jerry West off the list. My whole point is that there are too many possibilities to give one answer, even when you break it down by position and name five guys for each spot! Hell, I didn't even mention Kobe or McGrady, Iverson, Ewing, David Robinson, etc. The tweeners screw it up even more. Magic, considered by many to the the greatest PG ever started at center in the finals. As a rookie. And poured in 42 points. Guys who can play literally every poistion like Magic and KG bring in a whole other aspect to the discussion. Dream was often called a guard or a forward in a centers body. Jordan (and a host of others) couldn't do that. That doesn't mean that Jordan is any worse than anyone else for not being able to play multiple positions (he did play some 3, especially w/ Washington). Too many guys do too many things in too many different ways to be able to give a definite answer to this question. Not that anybody is guilty of this in this thread, but its the people who insist on riding MJs jock that make it impossible for me to stay out of discussions like these. Good lord, who else didn't get mentioned here? Cousy....Mikan....Wilkens....to say nothing of the guys I mentioned above for the sole purpose of mentioning guys who didn't get mentioned. Its a question that cannot be answered.
Magic. I will always say Magic - he was the only player who could play and dominate all five positions on the floor.
This is such a hard question, I just try and look at it in tiers, JOrdan, Bird Dream, Magic, WIlt, Russel, Oscar, Barry, these are all guys in the top tier. You really cant say who is the greatest. Sure some of you will say, they sucked back in the day, just a bunch of slow short white guys. LEt me tell you a little story I was about 19 and living in Jackson Hole Wyo. This may suprise you but there is some seriouse ball there. I was getting ready to play some college ball and had two buddies with me, one was going to Weber State to play basketball and the other at Southern Utah. These were good players, all at thier prime physically. these 3 old dudes ask us if we want to play them a game of 3 on 3. Then make a joke about not even putting money down the first time. these guys are like 45 50 years old, kinda fat, and not taller than 6'4" our shortest guy was 6'4" my two buddies were 6'6". Who do you think would win this game? I mean you have young guys two of which have played a year of college B-Ball vs 3 old, fat, slow guys. Well we lost 2 to 11. It was not even close. Thes guys just smoked us, they were playing tough D without touching us, no bump and grind, or slappy slappy, because i got beat by a pappy. Throwing up hooks, shooting from beyond the three point line. They just killed us. WEll these guys also played college ball. over 30 years ago. One was an all american. Still they were old men, and i hate to say it, they had a much better understanding of how to play ball than any of us. Just something to think about next time you say, they sucked back then, because its not true.
Obviously the competition SUCKED back then. He capitalized on it. He was simply the best player ever. In 1998 when Jordan "retired", NBA.com had a poll asking the same question. I voted for Wilt. What were the results? 1. Wilt. 2. Michael. This was at the height of Jordan's career. He's only getting god-like/idol status tremendously nowadays because of the media. And when I mean media, I mean ESPN. C'mon, Jordan as the greatest athlete EVER?!?!?! Ahead of Babe? Ahead of Jim Thorpe? Jordan sucked at baseball. Anyway, as I rest my case, he's the only one in NBA history to have a 100 point game. Who's the second closest? CHAMBERLAIN. He's also 3rd and 4th. You have to go to David Thompson to get a different name. He scored 73 one game in '78. Chamberlain has had 6 more 70-point games than Jordan. Many people do not know that Wilt also holds the NBA single-game record for rebounds in a game -- 55. Imagine THAT! P.S. READ THIS!!! Having said all that, credit has to be given to Oscar Robertson, the only man in history to avg a triple-double for an entire season--the 1961-1962 season.
Love the link for Wilt, pretty much says it all. Although my heart will always have a place for Hakeem and Jordan since I did not have the liberty to actually SEE Oscar play or Jerry West or Bill Russell or some of the others like Nate Archibald, I have to admit that Wilt was probably the best anyone will ever see.
No, not smoking crack. Damn the no edit! Damn it all to hell! Anyway, I meant either Russell or Shaq. Can't remember which now. Probably Shaq. And when I later listed "Shaw," I of course meant "Shaq." Clutch, turn on editing, dammit!
Hakeem over anyone in the universe. Even maybe God. No quitter (MJ) No bully (SHAQ) No scratching-crotch-before-shooting-free-throw guy from French Lick (LB) No HIV spreadin' guy (EJ) ... (i bet you wouldn't play against him... do you ever see how many scratches and bleedings players have during their career? I don't think so...) Players I respect Julius Erving Lou Alcindor Bill Russel GO ROCKETS!
