The NBA's only true superstars are: Lebron Kobe Wade Duncan *Paul IMO, if we're reducing superstars to such an elite group it's comical to put in players like Melo, Dirk, Nash, etc who are huge negatives defensively. To be a truly elite superstar you need to be able to impact the game in a variety of ways on a consistent basis AND come up huge in clutch situations. Particularly by being completely unstoppable offensively and being able to stop people defensively, in those clutch situtations. I know, Kobe and CP aren't dominant defenders but they have the ability to tighten up and play great defense for stretches. those other guys have NEVER been able to do that. That's why you'll see the guys on my list win the close playoff series'. You aren't dominant if you can't ever come up with a stop. *Chris Paul hasn't proved much in terms of playoff wins to be on this list but I feel he has done enough on his own to be considered great. The players around him have just been so awful that it is impossible for him to achieve any team success.
Yeah in his rookie yr, but even then he had Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, Rasual Butler, and Eddie Jones(who was a pretty good three point shooter at the time) to help him out.... --RB
This is kind of stupid though, by these standards in any era there are only a handful of superstars. If you're only going by the players that single handedly lead their teams deep into the playoffs and average gaudy numbers who does that leave? By these standards the only superstars of the 90's were Jordon, Dream and Isiah Thomas, (Maybe Stockton and Malone) of the 00's Shaq, Kobe, Duncan, Iverson, Kidd. Basically what he's listing (as some of you are hinting at) is the superstar players that are actually on great teams.
Nash is the single worst defender in the NBA imo and that excludes him from the discussion for me. Dirk on the other hand is an MVP and took his team to the finals. He is still an elite in the nba and fits my superstar criteria. Melo may not be quite there yet but he is not a negative on defense either like you seem to think.
Not surprised by the Dirk hate on this board, but the guy is a legit superstar. That Dallas team has been pretty good for a number of years because of some monster seasons Dirk has put together. He's a beast again this year for a Mavs team that is in the upper echelon of the Western Conference. I give him a lot of respect for getting the Mavs to the Finals even though they didn't win. The Heat also got bailed out by a lot of ticky-tack foul calls for Wade. I don't hold the Warriors series against him either. That was one of those weird series where the Mavs probably could have beaten any team in the West, but they drew the one team that had their number. They just weren't built to play the athletic team that Don Nelson threw out, and Nellie turned in one of his best coaching jobs in a long time by designing the perfect gameplan to take out his former team. I almost think Duncan should be on this list, although his best days are behind him. He has a hall of fame career and is still putting up good numbers for a team that plays pretty well. His offense has dipped a bit, but the defense is still underrated and damn good.
I dont have a problem with Melo on that list. The guy has played great, elevated a once bad team to the top of the standings for the past few years. He is tied with Durant, for ppg. If anything, its not a bad pick.
I was too young then to accurately assess his game but I doubt he was a huge negative defensively in the clutch. I can only go by what I've seen from replayed videos of the playoffs and he looked at least average defensively at the end of close games. Dirk for example, is unstoppable offensively but at the end of close games an opposing team can and will attack him on every possession if they don't get to the line they get a bucket. Let's put it this way. In the clutch, teams tighten up their defenses. A superstar can find ways for his team to score on that defense AND help maintain the team's defensive integrity on the other side. A Melo, Nash, or Dirk led team can NEVER play clutch defense because they can always be exploited even when they appear to be trying their hardest. Chris Paul is no stopper either but for stretches he can key in and play good defense.
Weren't you saying before that all possessions are of equal importance? If so, there's no need to distinguish "clutch" defensive possessions from the rest. I do hope you changed your mind on that.
out of all the players in the league right now i would pick kevin durant first and lebron james second after that i dont know.
Yao is not a legit superstar...Hes been out of the 1st round one time! Hes a star but no legit superstar!
Yao is legit, ask Oden, Aldridge and the Blazers why they can't guard him? Even Gasol and Bynum had their hands full in the next series before Yao got hurt. Yao is the best center in the league when healthy plus superstar also implies huge fanbase like the billion in China who idolize him.
