[TheAthletic] Top 75 players in NBA history - Number 11: The Dream

Ultimate draft on TNT rn.

 

The problem with ranking based on accolades is they are flawed, most of the time the best player on the best team record wise gets MVP, it's more of a team based accolade than individual one. There are examples where the real best player didn't have the team support around him for that record.

Another is the top players aren't all competing for the same accolade at the same time. The 1950s best player likely isn't beating the 2020s best player for MVP, or competitions in offensive or defensive accolades (those that existed) so they are not they same across years.

A prime example is D Robs MVP year where he had a better RS, Dream destroyed him in the playoffs and was the true best player in the league.

Hakeem was third team all NBA that year and left off of the all defensive teams in 95. Ranking by accolades has many examples like this and flaws in history.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1995.html

Some fans, (not all of course) use accolades because it's easier than actually digging deeper in a comparision.

 

Hakeem still representing the rockets right

 

ESPN’s 75
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id...ed-where-76-basketball-legends-check-our-list

75. Damian Lillard
74. Dave Bing
73. Dave DeBusschere
72. Billy Cunningham
71. Anthony Davis
70. Dolph Schayes
69. Carmelo Anthony
68. Russell Westbrook
67. Dennis Rodman
66. Paul Arizin
65. Lenny Wilkens
64. Hal Greer
63. Robert Parish
62. Paul Pierce
61. Dave Cowens
60. Sam Jones
59. Nate Archibald
58. Elvin Hayes
57. Willis Reed
56. James Worthy
55. Earl Monroe
54. Pete Maravich
53. Clyde Drexler
52. George Gervin
51. Reggie Miller
50. James Harden
49. Nate Thurmond
48. Wes Unseld
47. Ray Allen
46. Jerry Lucas
45. Bob McAdoo
44. Bill Walton
43. Jason Kidd
42. Gary Payton
41. Walt Frazier
40. Patrick Ewing
39. Kevin McHale
38. Rick Barry
37. Steve Nash
36. Dominique Wilkins
35. Bob Pettit
34. Bob Cousy
33. Kawhi Leonard
32. Scottie Pippen
31. Allen Iverson
30. Dwyane Wade
29. Chris Paul
28. George Mikan
27. Isiah Thomas
26. John Havlicek
25. David Robinson
24. John Stockton
23. Karl Malone
22. Charles Barkley
21. Kevin Garnett
20. Elgin Baylor
19. Jerry West
18. Giannis Antetokounmpo
17. Dirk Nowitzki
16. Stephen Curry
15. Moses Malone
14. Julius Erving
13. Hakeem Olajuwon
12. Kevin Durant
11. Shaquille O’Neal
10. Kobe Bryant
9. Oscar Robertson
8. Tim Duncan
7. Larry Bird
6. Bill Russell
5. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Magic Johnson
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2. LeBron James
1. Michael Jordan

 

Harden at 50 and iverson at 31 is pretty hilarious.

 

@3:50 to about 4:00

 

He won 2 rings without Shaq!

 

ESPN is the worst at everything

 

What a **** ranking.

It is obviously subjective but Ray Allen for example wasn't a better player than James Harden.

In no world was Kobe Bryant a better player than Shaq.

Charles Barkley was not better than Karl Malone.

Isiah Thomas over Chris Paul?

Karl Malone over David Robinson?

James Worthy over Elvin Hayes?

What a junk ranking.

 

Kobe was not overrated. Leading his team and making 8 out of 9 to playoffs after Shaq and also winning 2 championships thereafter is no easy feat. Sure one can make a case of great coaching under Phil and the hype that LA Lakers tend to get, but it does not undermine his achievements. No to mention his stats were also spectacular and was clutch when it mattered the most. This is the problem when the media starts ranking and making comparisons unnecessarily.

 

If Kobe is ahead of Hakeem and Shaq then he's overrated.

 

Exactly

 

Yeah, Kobe was definitely overrated.

Shaq was clearly the better player on the Lakers and it really wasn't that close.

The two seasons that Kobe won the title without Shaq, he wasn't even the best player on the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant is a Hall of Famer but he isn't better than a number of players he was listed above.

 

I am not comparing the 2, I am merely saying Kobe was not overrated. Stating Kobe is overrated just because some other players are ranked below him is logically absurd. Why rank or compare C vs SG in the first place?! To make a list like this in itself is dumb, subjective and filled with bias. Everyone becomes so heavily entitled with their opinion when such lists come out.

 

Who cares what position they play? Value and production are what they are. Jordan was a sg yet is better then any center

 

So are you saying height, weight, or other physical attributes and position where for example C depends on better PGs/SGs absolutely does not matter when it comes to production? Are you saying we can compare Shaq's speed and ball-handling skills are better than Hardens? Which Center do you know that was as athletic as Jordan?

 

A players "rating" is all relative to their peers. How else would they be over or underrated lol

 

What? Nobody is talking about any of that, the list is about who the better player is. None of that has to do with who the better player was

 

Do you think the MVP award is also flawed, because it requires competing players across different positions/roles?

The model I have in my head when trying to rank players is: if I can pick one of these players for my team for the span of their full career — where the rest of my roster and the roster of other teams are filled in without my control by contemporary players — who would I pick? That model would award peak greatness, but also longevity. One should imagine that all hypothetical leagues in this thought experiment consist of the same number of teams too. I would, to take a random example, choose Bill Russell over Ray Allen. I think I’m more likely to have a successful multi-year run with Russell on my team playing with and against his contemporaries in an N-team league than I would with Ray Allen playing with and against his contemporaries.

 

I thought both Stockton, (K.) Malone, Nash, and Miller were all a bit too high.