You never saw that dunk??? That was a nasty dunk even though he did stiff-arm Hakeem. The man had hops. KJ was one of my favorite players except when it came to the playoffs and they were playing the rockets.
KJ said the dunk over Hakeem was the best play of his career. Maybe someone has a clip. This site has several top dunks. http://www.ndaadunk.com/ndaa_awards/best_nba_dunk_of_the_time.htm
Do I not remember it was a meaningless dunk with the Suns defeated and nearly no time left in the game?
He personally torched us game after game in the POs, and then sat at home as Rox continued on. Dre Miller? Their games? Unalike. Un!
Neither KJ or Stockton were quite as good as Isiah who pretty much combined their best qualities in 1 player. Isiah who was probably #3 overall behind Magic and Robertson. Stockton could be #4 because of his sustained excellence but at their peaks there is little doubt Isiah was the more dominant force. KJ was a great player, but not quite a superstar. He had a real crappy NBA finals or the Suns probably beat the Bulls for a title. As far as NBA players, I agree somewhat of the Dre comparison except KJ's his athleticsm and blinding quickness was more like Iverson's than Dre's. Probably the lack of the 3 point range is the difference between him and say Isiah or Iverson. On nights even without that 3 point range KJ could still be unstoppable, but in general he did not have the reasources to beat you the way those 2 guys can.
Dre doesn't have KJ's aggressiveness, shotmaking OR play making (as opposed to playmaking) abilities, is slower...just a different cat. Dre won't challenge his team, and the opposition, then go out burdened with expectation and deliver. KJ did. And was a choirboy, to boot. Dre could play on my team. I wish KJ had played on that '96-'97 team. Neither is destiny.
Ok, an exageration on my part, but he was damn good. He also was a 50% shooter. In terms of athletism, I can't think of another guard around 6 foot that could do the things he did. He also made good decisions with the ball. I would rank him right behind Zeke in terms of talent.
So with all the admiration...is he a hall of famer? (I dont think that barkly could have got him out of retirement because KJ and Barkley disliked one another after that run to the finals) Barkely questioned his heart and KJ questioned chuckies maturity etc Plus he came out of retirement for Jason Kidd when he broke his ankle A true nice guy also
No. Definately not a hall of famer. If you talk to some older people you'll get a more negative read. Not everyone likes a score-first pg. KJ looked past his teammates for his own shot first. Sometimes he didn't look at all. Teammates hate that. A lot of fans hate that. He couldn't really lead his teams in the clutch. They didn't trust him.
KJ probably would have had a championship the second year against the Rockets had Barkley not started running his mouth and then didn't come through in game seven of that series. KJ only lit the Rockets up for 40+ that day.
I can't see how people are painting KJ as selfish. Yea, KJ got his and didn't win a title. You could say the same for Karl Malone or Mitch Richmond (ignoring his Laker season when he was a minimal contributor). He was, along with Mark Price and Timmy Hardaway, one of the best PGs of the early 90s. He could score and pass, and did both. Absolutely fearless driving the lane, although maybe in hindsight he should have been more careful and gotten injured less. Someone once compared him to a sports car that was incredible when it was working but often in the shop. Perhaps KJ's greatest accomplishment was being successful in a perimeter heavy scheme with Jeff Hornacek and Thunder Dan, and then adapting his game instantly to accommodate a premiere low-post threat in Sir Charles.
I dont understand how a Point Guard on a successful team can get all those assists, make his team better and still score points and be called selfish. John stockton mmust have been the most selfish guard in the history of the NBA by those standars as he averaged all those assits and was on a team which was very successful for a number of years...Not winning a championship does not make aplayer selfish..KJ was anything but selfish. I think his rankings merit hima hall of fame consideration...he was never flashy like show time etc. He was a great ball player and he made his team better''IMO
