10 Greatest Point Guards in NBA History Magic Johnson Jason Kidd Nate 'Tiny' Archibald Oscar Robertson Walt Frazier John Stockton Steve Nash Gary Payton Isiah Thomas Bob Cousy
I never was all that high on KJ - he was the beginning of the slide to Starbury-type PGs, IMO. He had go assist numbers, but he always struck me more as a scorer than a "real" point. I kind of think Tiny is overrated as well. But that's just personal opinion. Oscar, when you rate him purely as a PG, is maybe a little questionable. Still, I wouldn't bump him off this list. I agree that Lenny should be on that list. Nash looks good because he's one of 3 point guards in today's league that can actually run an offense. He really needs to get into the finals before he can be taken seriously on these lists. Honestly? I think you should only have a top 5 PG list. It's a pretty big drop off after: Magic Isiah Cousy Stockton Kidd Evan
You can't leave Oscar off your top 5. IMO, Magic is in his own league. Second tier: Oscar, Stockton Third tier: Isiah, Cousy, Kidd Fourth tier: Nash, Tiny, Fraizier, KJ, Payton, Wilkens
I'm a big hardaway fan but I have no problem with him not being on the list. he is underrated though.
Couldn't you say the same about Isiah? His most famous moments were the scoring outbursts in the playoffs. KJ was a terrific distributor of the ball, in my opinion. He was a deadly penetrator, and ran the pick and roll as well as anyone not named John Stockton. Here's how the Phoenix suns ranked offensively (points per possession), while KJ was there: Code: [COLOR=Navy] MP rank #teams[/COLOR] 1989 3179 2 25 1990 2782 2 27 1991 2772 4 27 1992 2899 4 27 1993* 1643 1 27 1994* 2449 1 27 1995* 1352 3 27 1996* 2007 8 29 1997 2658 6 29 1998 1290 11 29 [I]* Barkley on team[/I] Even in the years before Barkley arrived when KJ was moderately healthy, the Suns were consistently one of the best offensive teams in the league. Surely the PG should get a lion share of the credit for that, particularly one who controlled the ball as much as KJ.
I'd go even further and say you can't leave Oscar out of your top 2 (Magic & Oscar). Pure point guard doesn't mean they can't score, which Oscar certainly did in much greater quantity than pretty much any other point guard ever, but he also was an excellent passer. Of all pointg guards ever, he is probabyl the best scorer and rebounder of the bunch. Magic was undoubtedly a better and more creative passer, but Oscar holds his own among the top 5/10 there as well. Put it all together, he is at least on equal footing with Magic.
Yeah, my post was part homer and part tongue in cheek. He really isn't a top 10 PG. But when the likes of Michael Ray Richardson and Chauncy freakin' Billups get votes and he doesn't, it kind of ticks me off... But I guess I can't get too upset since there's another Miner on the list.
hardaway and kj are probably two of the most underrated players in league history. now thinking about it the fact that nash is over both kind of irks me. nash is nice but he's only been really good for two years.
What the hell happened to Maravich? Remember this guy was averaging 37 pts per game back in the day. He was awesome.
I'll echo what several people have said already and say that I might put KJ on that list... he's my favorite point of all time. He could score and distribute like crazy, and he was no slouch on D either. And he just had a real fire to him. And then there's the guy I would replace: Bob Cousy. Don't get me wrong, Cousy was great at running the offense. Really great. Two things about him though: he wasn't such a great defender, and he was a poor shooter. People tend to forget that he was far away from being a top-notch shooter. I honestly think because he played a long time ago and because he was white, people today just assume he was a good shooter. I'm not saying Cousy might not be better in certain situations and on certain teams than KJ, but I take KJ before I take Cousy on my all-time list. Easily the more complete player. Lenny Wilkins over Nash I definitely would think hard about. Tim Hardaway was good, but not on my all-time. Maravich was ridiculous, but he was as much shooting guard as point guard. Overall though, really excellent list. Well done, I say.
