Top 10 Most Successful Stars in the NBA : 1. Tim Duncan- 2 MVPs, 3 Rings. Says it all. Still a dominant beast. All-NBA team , All-NBA Defense, as well. 2. Kobe Bryant- 3 Rings, Scoring Champ. Amazing player 3. Allen Iverson- Numerous Scorings Champs. MVP, Finals Appearance 4. Dwyane Wade- No MVP, No Scoring Champ, but has been the main piece for the last 3 playoff runs in only 3 years of his career. Simply phenomenal. 5. Shaquille O'Neal- 1 MVP. 3 Rings. Most dominant we've ever seen in this era, however his decline puts him at #5. 6.Ben Wallace- 1 Ring, 4 time DPOY, However many time All-Star. Lots of success for him. 2- Time Finals Appearances. 7. Steve Nash- 2 MVP's, 3 or 4 WCF's appearances. 8. Dirk Nowitzki- Never accomplished one goal, but very close to many. MVP, Ring, Scoring Champ 9. Lebron James- Young, but accomplished a lot nearly. Nearly MVP, Near ECF appearnce, he got farther than most would suspect and has broke numerous records,too. 10. Kevin Garnett- Not really successful in terms of team. But he's an All-NBA 1st team, Defense team candidate year in and year out. Usually a lock, invidual performance as one of the best all-around, puts up stats in only the same range as Larry Bird. Arguably the most successful loser, oxymoron, I know. Top 10 Most Valuable #1- Steve Nash. Says it all #2- Kobe Bryant. All-NBA Def Lock and All-NBA lock, if he's out, Lakers are out. #3 Lebron James- Same story as Kobe, but not nearly the defensive impact, however his all-around impact is similar. #4 Tracy McGrady- W/L w/o T-mac in Orlando and Houston is scary, proves how valuable he is. #5 Shawn Marion- His value to the Suns provides the glue of the system, he's arguably more valuable than Nash for the Suns. #6 Allen Iverson- I've seen the Sixers do better w/o him, however they cannot do that on an 82-game pace. His impact on the game brings tremendous value on both sides of the court. He's constantly playing the passing lanes and constantly putting pressure on the defense. #7 Shaquille O'Neal- Still a double double player. Still a huge presence inside. Still a double team commander. Still a nasty presence, still a component for a ring. Changes the game so much. #8- Dirk Nowitzki- I think the team doesn't need the best of Dirk to contend, they can get an average Dirk on that night and still be the best team on the court, his value is not to be questioned just to be re-phrased. #9- Jason Kidd- His impact on the game is a huge key for the Nets or any team he has been on. Made an impact on defense, rebounding, scoring, setting teammates up ..Triple Double Quality. #10- Chris Paul- I know I'll get some slack for this one. But fact is his value wins, this team got however amount of wins last season, a near playoff contender from last season. Their add ons were Kirk Snyder, Desmond Mason,Rasual Butler and an improved David West, they lost JR smith's performance, Jamaal Magloire and some other key parts. Yet it was Paul who really propelled them into winning, his value and impact on the court is very rare, especially at a rookie stage.
Yao - Beast Center Amare - Dominant PF Garnett -- Small forward ( can do everythng, importantly can run ) LeBron - you know... Nast -- To make it easier for the ifrst four to do their work. Duncan - Center Ben Wallace - last line of defense Marion - small forward that can fly Wade - you know... AI - you're still the one.. Stricly no Euro player, unless we're playing Texas Hold 'em, surely Dirk will win it all on the flop.
1,Kobe, Led a team with Smush Kwame Mihm starting to a great season. 2,Duncan, smart,clutch,leader 3,Nash,passing,leadership 4,Shaq, his per minute stats are as good as ever 5,Garnett, amazing durability and versatility 6,Dirk,pure scorer that has become a decent rebounder 7-8,Lebron and Wade, young talents that have yet to reach potential. 9,A.I,Top 5 greatest scorers that ever played 10,Yao Ming, up and comer
I don't understand the continual underrating of Wade. Miami is a lottery team without him. With him, as a 3rd year player, they are NBA Champions, he's the finals MVP, and he's basically unstoppable on the perimeter as well as an unbelievably clutch player. Pretty much everybody recognized that he was not only the best player on the court but one of the best two or three in the universe by June. He's done more in 3 years than most players on most of these lists have ever done.
Heat record without Wade -- 4-3. Heat record without Shaq 9-13. Hinrich disagrees. Dwyane Wade is in the easiest situation to succeed in the league. He's a great guard, but on a pure skills basis, he's not better than Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, or Gilbert Arenas.
Perhaps you should 1. expand your sample size, and 2. realize that without Wade, Shaq isn't going to magically be injury free. Without Wade AND Shaq, i'd say they'd win 2 or 3 of the 21 games Shaq is out. You take him off, they're a lottery team at best. The Pistons and Mavericks disagree with you as does the Larry O'Brien trophy. Easiest situation? Then why couldn't Kobe do it anymore? This is not Shaq 2000 we're talking about -- it's Shaq 2006. he's better than Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, and Gilbert Arenas, which is why he has an NBA title and they don't.
Sam, my only disagreement with your post is the portion in bold. Wade isn't better than Pierce. Pierce is a better scorer, passer, rebounder, defender etc. He has never had someone of Shaq's caliber to play beside him (heck, he's never had anyone of even Zo's caliber either). Walker was the best he had and that's no comparison to Shaq. Given teammates of Shaq's caliber and talent, I have no doubt that Pierce could also carry his team to the championship. Tis unfair to state that Wade is simply better than Pierce and that his title validates that claim. ps: I do agree that Wade is better than Carter, at least as far as playing with determination and imposing his will on a game (as evidenced by the Heat-Nets series this past post season when Wade came through for the Heat repeatedly. The same couldn't be said of Carter. At all.).
No, I am not kidding you. That's my opinion, just like you have your own. There are at least five people who put Duncan at No.1 in this thread and almost half of the people have him in the top 3. The Duncan in the playoff last season was rusty. He will be great again.
Is this the same Shaq who the Heat had to take out of games in the 4th period to keep off the line so that Wade could win the game for them? I don't ever recall Pierce being able to drag his team to victory singlehandedly in the same fashion as Wade has, especially at such a young age. I love Paul Pierce, but you trade him for Wade and the Dallas Mavericks are NBA Champions.
Trophies arent everything... Just a matter of how the organization is doing a good job. Would Fisher be considered a better player than Stockton b/c he has a ring and STockton doesnt? Two of the greatest PF retired without rings. So does that make say Horance Grant, a good power forward, better than Malone and Barkley? Becare when bringing up the issue of titles. MY top ten goes something like this: 1. Kobe - He is just unbelievable. I love his game and he is the best player among the wing players at playing on both ends of the floor. I think his superior defense puts him above his fellow ballers like Wade, LEbron and TMac. By the time he is done, he could surpass His Airness. People hate his personality but you cant deny the skills. 2. Duncan - What he did against the Mavs in the playoffs still shows that he is a great player. The numbers speak for themselfs. Could be the best PF when he retires. 3. Lebron - Like someone else said... Mr Everything. He should not be that big considering he is only a year older than me but can have me for breakfast and still eat. This kid's game is amazing. Not only does everything, but does it really well. Needs the killer instinct to come along and he will be unstoppable. Kobe beats him with that. Could surpass Kobe as the best when he retires. 4. Yao Ming - Considering the lack of centers out there, any team would trade for him. 5. Dirk - Amazing shooter. Hate him but love his game. Needs to drive more, which he did this season. Matchup problems from hell! 6. TMAC - when healthy, he is a great player. I would rank his #2 if he has a season or two with good health. Cant forgot the Magic era where he carried that team by himself. Only thing that separates him and kobe is that killer instinct and defense. Offensively, the are exactly the same player. 7. Nash - Great PG. Two time MVP. Makes everyone better. 8. Garnett - Needs some help. But skill wise, he is still one of the best in the league. Poor guy got caught in a bad position in Minny. 9. Elton Brand - His numbers speak for themselves. Great career since he came to the league. 10. Arenas - Unbelievable offense skills once again. Great performance in the playoffs.
Umm...hate to break it to you but Wade's resume outshines those of Grant or Fisher by the power of a thousand suns. Wade had the highest Roland Rating in the regular season in the league last year (slightly ahead of lebron) - which is an adjusted formula that tracks, in the words of its creators: 1. Individual player production 2. One-on-one defense 3. Team success influence. He's got incredible numbers that aren't a fluke and put him up with the best in the league (technically the best). He dragged his team to an NBA championship and was the Finals MVP, putting on huge clutch performances in a number of games and simply taking over down the stretch. Am I missing something here when I tend to laugh at people who think that there are 7 or 8 players (who don't do or haven't done any of thsoe things) right now that are better or more valuable than he is? I don't think so.
My Top 10 Kobe - great on offense and defense, needs to involve teammates better Duncan - can't go wrong with the big fundamental, bad FT% though Lebron - overall package, needs to work on defense Dwade -clutch, great slasher, needs to work on the range of his shot Nash - 2-time defending MVP, doesn't play defense but doesn't really need to in the system he's in AI - has a lot of heart, probably gets hacked more than anyone in the league Dirk - mismatch nightmare, sweetest shot ever, defensive liability KG - stat machine, needs to take over games down the stretch Yao - on the uprise, let's hope he continues and dominates T-Mac - top 5 if healthy Honorable Mention Shaq - age is catching up Brand - if he can dominate for more than a year, he'll move up
