Jordan
Bird
Wilt
Magic
Russell
KAJ
Shaq
Kobe
Big O
Duncan



IMO as of now. Olajuwon and Lebron just off the list

o/u 2.5 pages

i'll take the over

Lebron has to be there.

The list is solid but will change as there won't be many people from the pre-Magic era alive, both players and analysts. You'll see more modern era guys up there.

I agree that Lebron will need to be there sooner rather than later. 4 MVPs and 3 straight Finals visits with 1 win (so far and hopefully it stays that way this year) put him in the conversation immediately. Another championship or MVP I think solidifies it.

Lebron is shooting up the list QUICK. I more title and he's definitely there for me.

That top 5 is gonna be hard to crack. But I'm ok bumping 6-10.

I thought hard about putting John Stockton on this list but couldn't pull the trigger over anybody on the list. He's probably around 13-15. Sucks for guys like Sir Charles, Malone, etc that never got titles because of Jordan/Pippen

I certainly respect Duncan, but I'd have to take Olajuwon over him on a Top 10 team.

Other contenders:

Dr. J
Dominque Wilkins
Isaiah Thomas
George Gervin
George Mikan

[This message has been edited by Little Rock Ag (edited 6/9/2013 11:10p).]

quote:

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Lebron has to be there.

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Add his name to that list and it wont be like the others. At least not at the moment. Part of what separates the greats from the rest are the RINGS. Each one of those guys has MULTIPLE RINGS to go with their individual hardware.

I think one of the commentators said it best tonight during the game. One of the teams bought a championship team and one of them built a championship team. Now I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest Lebron fan but can give the man his credit when it comes to being a great player. But Lebron has 1 thanks largely in part to help from Wade and Bosh (hopefully 1 and done). He's just doesn't have the credentials quite yet to be on that list.

I stand corrected. I will go ahead and correct myself Big O only has 1 as well. Still I don't think Lebron has done enough to make the list quite yet.

[This message has been edited by Aggie_buster (edited 6/10/2013 12:40a).]

Russel
Wilt
Shaq
Dream
Kareem
Jordan
Bird
Magic
Bron
Oscar

As was the massive debate on another thread, I'd have to take Duncan because of the whole career. Hakeem had 2 of the greatest seasons but didn't put together the better career. If you asked me who I wanted for 2 years at their peak, it's Hakeem for his 93-95 years. If I was building a franchise, it's Duncan and not close.

The 10 best are:

1. Jordan
2. Magic
3. Wilt
4. Shaq
5. Olajuwon
6. Duncan (can move up to #5 with 5th title)
7. Lebron (can move up to #5 with 3 titles)
8. Kareem
9. Bird
10.Oscar

I think Russell is one of the most overrated players of all time. He played on a loaded team in an era of the option clause and no free agency, which meant teams could keep players forever. If he played today he'd be Theo Ratliff.

I'm shocked everyone's lists are so similar.

quote:

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I think Russell is one of the most overrated players of all time. He played on a loaded team in an era of the option clause and no free agency, which meant teams could keep players forever. If he played today he'd be Theo Ratliff.

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All the players in that era are hard to gauge because of the stacked teams.

From my own experience and other's:

Jordan (GOAT)
Magic (PG template)
Wilt (scoring monster)
Duncan (longevity and leadership)
Oscar (avg triple double)
Kobe (scoring, work ethic)
Shaq (dominant)
Dr. J (style)
Russel (rings)
Bird (shooting)

I agree that the Ice Man is close as well and since I didn't really watch any of the older guys (Russel/Bird/Dr J) then he could take their spots. His story of how he got to the Spurs is almost worth the top 10 alone. Also, he was Kevin Durant before Durant was born.

Its not offseason yet

Ice Man isn't even close to the conversation unless we are talking the all-time cocaine all-stars, in which case he is starting with John Lucas and Dr. J.

Jordan
Magic
Russell
Kareem
Duncan
Bird
Olajuwon
Wilt
Kobe
Shaq

In terms of all time win shares...
1 kareem abdul jabbar
2 wilt
3 malone
4 jordan
5 stockton
6 robertson
7 garnett
8 duncan
9 shaq
10 david robsinson

Nobody dominated the league(s) like George Mikan. Nobody has had a greater impact on basketball than Mikan, except for James Naismith.

He certainly deserves to be on a top 10 list.

Surprising that Russel is all the way down at 16th for win shares.

Thanks for pointing out why all time win shares would be a bad statistic to use in this conversation.

quote:

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Surprising that Russel is all the way down at 16th for win shares.

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Except for the fact that he played with like 8 other HOFers in their primes.

Yea I looked up top ten seasons in terms of win shares

1 kaj
2 wilt
3 mikan
4 wilt
5 kaj
6 wilt
7 kaj
8 wilt
9 jordan
10 mikan

Well that's exactly the argument people use for why Russel isn't one of the greatest all time. That he was surrounded by other stars which inflated his accomplishments

Also he was limited offensively and he was playing in a time with 8 teams, legal or uncalled goaltending and at 6'9 and 210, probably couldn't patrol the paint today like he did then.

Kareem
Russel
Jordan
Wilt
Shaq
LeBron
Magic
Bird
Duncan
Kobe

Michael Jordan
Wilt Chamberlain
Shaquille O'Neal
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Kobe Bryant
Hakeem Olajuwon
Tim Duncan
Oscar Robertson

Lebron will be there for sure in a few years, I just have a hard time putting a guy that isn't even 30 yet on the top 10 list.

Bill Russell was 6'9"? How tall is KG?



That 210 weight is probably based on his rookie season. He was probably more like 240.


Bird and Magic had shortened careers (different reasons). Both would be higher on my list if they had been able to play healthy or a total of 15 years or so. Magic could have had a GOAT like Career statistically.

Jordan
Wilt
Russell
James (stats are already where Bird was minus the rings)
Bird/Magic
Shaq
KAJ
Kobe
Duncan

I know very little about Oscar so he fell.

I gave Jerry West, Karl Malone, Dirk, Hakeem, Stockton, Moses and Oscar some consideration.

I also know very little about Mikan.

PS
The shortest player on my list is Jordan. I think the fact that he was "closer" to us made him that much more fun to watch.



[This message has been edited by BBDP (edited 6/10/2013 12:59p).]

1.Olajuwon
2.Olajuwon
3.Olajuwon
4.Olajuwon
5.Olajuwon
6.Olajuwon
7.Olajuwon
8.Olajuwon
9.Olajuwon
10.Olajuwon

He wasn't a huge dude.

Garnett is 6'11.


Two, maybe three inches shorter seems about right.

In no particular order:

Jordan
Magic
Hakeem
Wilt
LeBron
Duncan
Bird
Oscar
Kareem
Kobe

Jordan
Magic
Russell
Kareem
Duncan
Bird
Olajuwon
Wilt
Lebron
Shaq
Robertson


I know that's 11, but I can't decide who to leave off.

quote:

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He wasn't a huge dude.

Garnett is 6'11.

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You do get shorter as you age. It's quite probable that Russell was > 1 inch taller when he played.

We have this argument once a quarter?

Shoes make a difference also. Good chance KG has an extra 2" and he has 1" in your pic.....

DJ measured less than 6'10" at the combine and "dominates" in the post defensively. No doubt in my mind that with today's knowledge about performance training, he would be dominant. He did play against and many times beat the most dominant specimen (at least top 3) to ever play.

In my mind the measuring stick physically will be Wilt, Shaq and James.

Also; the NBA (with only 8 teams) had rosters similar and in many cases bigger than today's. Most teams had guys that were 6'10 or greater. Today's 7' ers are often 6'10".
see the list:
http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/?page=&year=All&source=All&sort2=DESC&draft=0&pos=0&sort=





[This message has been edited by BBDP (edited 6/10/2013 4:18p).]

Anyone who doesn't have Lebron in their top 10 is being ridiculous.

There's a clear top 15 and then a dropoff - the Simmons Pantheon + Lebron. Generally requires multiple MVPs+Finals MVPs. Narrowing top 15 down to top 10 is all subjective

quote:

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Anyone who doesn't have Lebron in their top 10 is being ridiculous.

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I didn't consider him because his career is still pretty new. Everyone in my list is either retired or a year or two away (Duncan/Kobe).

Talent-wise, LeBron is probably top three ever.