Who are the Greatest NBA Players that werent good Closers?

um... i'm sure you never saw MJ play. you don't need marketing to know how great MJ was. he was the best player. it wasn't unanimous b/c he didn't win yet (the same case as lebron now).

even larry bird said so in 88 when they faced each other in the playoffs, freakin' larry bird who won his MVPs by then.

kobe is as good as MJ are whispers of kobe stans. if that's the case, why don't we hear about kobe being the GOAT? we don't.

 

not sure how larry bird could have said that considering boston didn't play chicago in the 1988 playoffs, but it sounds more like something he'd say to get at magic (similar to how artest called roy the best player in basketball right before that laker series in 2008), it wasn't uncommon at that point for michael to be seen as all flash and no substance.

As for not seeing Michael, I honestly don't think you saw Magic, I'm not saying Jordan wasn't a great player then, but if you really think a still inexperienced Michael was as good as Magic in his absolute prime (for christs sake, he averaged 22/8/13 one of those years), then I have a bridge to sell you.

You're letting his future achievements and his consistent excellence in the 90's elevate him in the 80's, which he just wasn't.

As for Kobe being as good as Michael, do you stick your head in the sand come finals time? it's been happening in the nba finals for 3 years now, and if the lakers win again, will likely rear its ugly head again (and personally, i think a closer comparison is kobe and clyde, who would have done a lot better ring wise had he got to spend his prime with the premier big men of his era rather than a bunch of gloried overachieving role players)

 

michael jordan averaged 37, 8, 8 on 50% shooting in his freakin' 3rd year. and i'm not even talking about his prime. the dude was the best player in his 3rd year already. like i said, it wasn't unanimous b/c his lack of playoff success. but by pure game, he was the best.

i never said kobe was the best of all time; he barely cracks top 10-15 for me. however, i will say he may be as skilled as jordan. but he's not as efficient, not as great of a scorer, and not as great of defender for me to say otherwise. the gap is HUGE between MJ and kobe. HUGE.

 

Fixed

 

My list of (1st option star) guys that you never wanted to depend on in big game clutch situations:

Dominique Wilkins
Patrick Ewing
Chris Webber
Yao
Karl Malone
Vince Carter
Dirk Nowitzki
Shaq
(I really wish I could put down Nick Anderson, but he was never more than a third option at his best)
Wilt Chamberlain, excluding the 3-4 seasons he had someone riding his butt
Kevin Garnett
Charles Barkley
Pistol Pete

 

Aleron:

I don't think you know what you're talking about. In 1986, Larry Bird called MJ God. In the late 1980's, Magic came out and said that MJ was the best player in the league.

Best player and MVP are not the same thing. Magic was winning them because his team was better.

Do you think that most people considered Steve Nash a better player than Kobe Bryant in 2007? Nash was coming off two MVP seasons and Kobe had never won a single MVP.

 

i'm pretty sure they're this year's stats, but they just haven't been updated in forever. for example, lebron had 2 "clutch" 3 pointers by their definition in the portland game and yet he is still listed at 0% on clutch 3's. those stats have lebron at 8-24 in clutch situations. starting with the portland game (which i know i saw the .333 stat before and it's unlikely to have been much before the portland game for him to have built up 24 shots), he has gone 18-32 on clutch shots, which would bring him to 26-56, or a very respectable .464, for the season. even if the 1-5 in the preceding milwaukee game was part of the un-updated stats and not the 8-24 (seems unlikely), it would still be 27-61, or 44.3%. so if 82games ever updates, lebron's clutch stats should look much better.

 

Bill Russell

 

I remember David Robinson fading pretty badly at the end of games.

 

Webber.