this was mentioned briefly earlier in this thread... but i'm still amazed at Wilt's assists. I mean for a center to lead the league in total assists (second in assists/game) one season and be in the top 10 multiple 3 other times, is just amazing. he wasn't simply an earlier version of Shaq. Russell also had 4 seasons of being in top 10 but those were with obviously better players. I think this is in line with Hakeem being a top-10 alltime in steals while still leading the league in blocks alltime. These were some really versatile players. as far as more recent centers - i think robinson doesn't get as much credit as he should (playoffs agains Hakeem not withstanding), whereas Ewing gets more credit than he should (east coast media, etc)...
1/2. Hakeem/Wilt (Best defensive and most versatile/best offensive) 3. Kareem (Second-best offensive) 4. Bill Russell (Second-best defensive and no slouch on offense) 5-7. Shaq, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing (Pick one, they're all three great, but the don't quite measure up to the rest)
1. Wilt Chamberlain 2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 3. Hakeem THE DREAM Olajuwon 4. Bill Russel 5. Shaq-Fu Rocket River
IMO it is partially reliant on which generation you are from. If you didn't watch Wilt, or Kareem play day-in, day-out you don't appreciate just how good he was. He went up against some awfully good centers, as good as Yao goes up against today, and ate their lunch regularly. He was perhaps the strongest player to ever play the game. Russel didn't come close to shutting him down although they had some epic battles. Wilt had a fall-away jumper off the backboard, similar to Dream's Shake that was unstoppable an extremely accurate. **Edit** And don't forget Wilt went on to play professional volleyball after he retired from Basketball. If you have ever watched any kind of volleyball you must agility plays a huge role in the game.
^ And if you watched Hakeem play his whole career you probably appreciate him a little too much... My Top 5 Greatest: 1. Wilt Chamberlain (MDE) 2. Bill Russell (11 Championships, 5 MVPs) 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6 MVPs, 5? Championships) 4. Hakeem Olajuwon (Probably, the most complete center ever) 5. Shaquille O'Neal (I don't feel right about him here, but I guess)
I read somewhere (can't remember at the moment, sorry) that Russell would wait until the fourth quarter to start really playing D on Wilt. Don't know how accurate that is, but is interesting to think about considering the Celtics dominance against his teams.
1. Wilt 2. The Stilt 3. The Big Dipper 4. The 20,000-Woman Man 5a. Russell 5b. Kareem 5c. Hakeem 6. Shaq
Probably not. I wasn't really thinking past 4. My point was that it's really a top 4, then everyone else.
The only center with no apparent weakness to exploit was Hakeem. All the rest have some sort of weaknesses you could exploit, given equal teammates. Hakeem is the most complete center to ever play the game. I just don't see any other center taking the 94 team to championship the way Hakeem did without any other star player to support him.
if it's a top 4 or 5 and then everybody else, there's no way shaq is not in the top whatever. he definitely ain't part of "everybody else." and i don't even like shaq. if anyone's on the outside looking in it's russell. the other 4 are just undeniably in the conversation to me. how you rank them depends on a lot of things and what factors you personally value most. to me russell is 5, hakeem and shaq are tied wherever they are, and where they rank versus kareem and wilt is hard to determine. i really never feel good about any ranking i make of them. i could go 1. wilt 2. kareem 3t. hakeem/shaq just as easily as 1. wilt 2t. hakeem/shaq 4. kareem just as easily as 1t. hakeem/shaq 3. wilt 4. kareem and i could flip kareem and wilt in that final list. not sure i could put kareem 1 though. something just seems off about him to consider him the best ever. he definitely has his detractors. definitely a tough ranking if you're actually taking it seriously.
