[NYSportsGuy210]

Hakeem was like Rondo only in a 7'1" body.

Yo Chi_Archie......I play you one-on-one. You have decent PG skills.

[t-wizzle]

Why would you say that Chamberlain isn't in the top 3 or even top 5? Do you realize how dominant he was? True, Russell got the best of him for years but those Celtics teams were always better.

You can't seriously have Kareem above Wilt. Abdul-Jabbar probably the most overrated player of all time because of the scoring record.

1. Jordan
2. Magic
3. Bird
4. Kobe
5. Wilt

HR: Hakeem, Duncan

[Monte]

Dirk should be in everyone's top 15 at least, come on would anyone even know Dallas is here if not for him.

[InTheDrink]

The measuring stick of having a clue: if Kareem is in your top 3 of all time you have one

No way hes lower.

[will2survive]

Okay, remember---I was born in 1971


1. Michael Jordan- The greatest basketball player of all time. The definition of clutch and carried a team with role players to a 70 +win season. When Michael was in the zone, he was the most unstoppable player since the game of basketball was invented. He wasn't the best shooter of all time but became better as time went on. His athleticism and ability to get into the opponents heads by trash talking were second to none. After he became established, the referees blew the whistle at just the brush of his jersey as he made a move to the hole.

Remember, Jordan was cut from his high school team! Unreal!


2. Bill Russell- I wasn't present to see Mr. Russell play but with the comparison between Russell and Wilt Chamerlain, Russell was about winning, while the Wilt was worried about his stats. Bill Russell played in an area of the world where African Americans were disliked. It gave him a complex but he never treated his teammates like they were "different". Players loved this guy and he was an undersized center that played large. He was a fierce rebounder and scored when needed. A true Celtic at heart, if you remember when Kevin Garnett went over to Russell when the Celtics won the Championship in 2008, it was a matter of respect because Russell was devoted to the Celtics and getting Russell's approval was a form of repsect.


3. Earvin "Magic" Johnson- When Earvin and Larry Bird arrived in the NBA, the league was failing. Magic Johnson made his mark in defeating the Indiana State Sycamores and Larry Bird and that rivalry would carry on until Johnson had to retire due to testing positive for HIV. Johnson was the ULTIMATE TEAM PLAYER. Coaches like Pat Riley loved this guy because he exemplified what a basketball player and human being (except for the multiple women) should be like. Magic Johnson was the definiton of Hollywood showtime as he could have a game where he'd get 3 points, 15 rebounds, and 15 and that was necessary for a victory. Does anyone remember his rookie season against the 76ers in where he played center? How many guards could play center? Johnson had a brilliant team behind him but he made them shine with his amazing ability to pass the ball and be a team leader. When you get the respect of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, that's saying something. I've personally went to a Knicks game and saw the Lakers play. I was 15 years old and bought my dad tickets for his birthday. We sat in the last row! It was the best game and the most amazing display of perfection of a basketball player that I've ever seen. What does that tell you? Johnson was a people person and it rubbed off. How about the all-star game in where Magic came back after retiring. He was under pressure and players like Michael Jordan deferred and gave Johnson the spotlight. Although this is true, Johnson drilled 3 clutch 3-pointers as the world was watching. The man has lived with HIV for over 20 years and proved that it's not a death sentence. This is a hero in every aspect of the word. Showtime at the Forum!!!!


4. Larry Bird- Bird's career basically parallels Johnson's career even though he was 3 years older than Magic. Bird was the opposite of Johnson as he was quiet and didn't like the limelight. Nobody practiced harder than Larry Bird because he didn't have the athleticism of that to a Michael Jordan. Bird had a back injury that cut his career short. Do you know how he got that back injury? From working on the farm!! He was "The Hick from French Lick" and grew up dirt poor with a father that killed himself so the Bird family could collect the insurance money!!! (True). Larry Bird was a great player due to repetition (made him a knockdown shooter), toughness, competitive spirit, BASKETBALL IQ (innovative passer), and just like Magic, making his teammates better. This was difficult to do; when Kevin McHale would get the ball, it wasn't coming back out and he was taking it to the hole. Larry was the player that most African Americans respected because he could play the sport better than most players in a predominantly African American oriented sport. People didn't take into account that Bird was dirt poor. Eventually Bird and Magic developed a friendship from a commerical and it was known to be difficult to get Bird's trust. These players went from enemies to great friends because they were mirror images of eachother ON THE COURT. Magic get's HIV and who does he call? Number 33 (the 4th best player on my list). When Larry Bird wasn't hurt, you could put him in the top 3 on this list but unfortunately the back injury hindered his playing ability.


5. Kobe Bryant- Little did the Los Angeles Lakers know that they trade Vlade Divac and would be getting one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Kobe Bryant, aside from Michael Jordan THE BEST CLOSER in the game ever!. Lebron James and so many talented players are stronger and have a lot of attributes that Kobe doesn't have but when it come's to putting up the game winning shot, you want the ball in number 24-8's hands. How about the All Star game in where Kobe Bryant was screaming at Lebron James (current MVP and Champion) to shoot the ball? Lebron didn't have the confidence to shoot it. This is why Kobe Bryant is so great because he would've shot that ball in a millisecond!!!! Bryant is the opposite of Johnson and Bird and more like Jordan; He's a one man show and could back it up for all 48 minutes of the game. He's the 2nd coming of Michael Jordan. Bryant is 2nd in points in a game to Wilt Chamberlain. Some call it selfish, I call it brilliance and skill. This isn't a passive player, this is a me first, you second player that could win. As Kobe has gotten older, he's matured. When he played with Shaquille O'Neal, there was a fight to be top dog. Shaq ulitmately lost that battle but Bryant learned the error of his ways. The Lakers kept the right guy and he's attempted to integrate other players on his team to be more aggressive. Bryant can't do it all himself anymore and he know's it. He does it when the rest of the team is slumping. It's called picking your spots. Luckily for Bryant, he's played with talented players like Pau Gasol that would accept being the number 2 guy and it equated to 2 more championships.

This game all come's down to winning and Kobe Bryant has proven that he's capable of doing that. As I stated earlier, being a closer like Michael Jordan and the ability to take over a game, separates himself from the rest of the pack.


Honorable Mention


Pure scorers --WILT CHAMBERLAIN (unfortunately he holds a lot of records but lacks the rings)

Tim Duncan- "The Big Fundimental"--A silent assassin that was clutch,talented, dominated his particular position. Duncan was "fundimentally sound" wasn't vocal and knew how to execute what coach Popovich needed him to do. He would've been a great military man."Taking orders and executed". It resulted in multiple MVP's and Championships.


I'll just throw out a few names that I liked watching: Julius Erving, Bernard King (offensive explosion), George "Iceman" Gervin (the finger roll), Isiah Thomas (look at him as a player--underrated), Charles Barkley (6 foot 4 1/2 and played like he was 6 10), Scottie Pippen (major contributor to Michael being Michael), Kareem Abdul Jabbar- (skyhook shot was undefendable at 7 foot 3), Oscar Robertson -Mr. Triple Double (before my time but SUPER), Jerry West, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Hakeem Olajuwon ( Nigerian nightmare), Lebron James ( the sky is the limit for LBJ), Bill Walton, Karl Malone (delivered the mail well), John Stockton (helped carry Karl's mail), Steve Nash (no championships---keep's him down), Patrick Ewing (best shooting center ever), Reggie Miller ( 8 points in 8 seconds--ice water in his veins), all starters for 80's Celtics and Lakers teams,Dennis Rodman (best rebounder for his size. Chose not to look for offense), the "Celtic 3", KG (Ulitmate Warrior), Paul Pierce ( one of the most underrated players and an all time Celtic great), Ray Allen (known for coming to practice 4 hours early and outworking everyone--3 point record holder)

[will2survive]

Hakeem was like Rondo only in a 7'1" body.

Yo Chi_Archie......I play you one-on-one. You have decent PG skills.

Hakeem was 6 foot 10- 6 foot 11 tops, not 7 1

[rm18]

Hakeem was about 6'10 barefoot the best ever

[Petey Wheatstraw]

Center: Wilt Chamberlain (avg 500 ppg. in season-Scored 100 in 1 GameWill never be done again, both feats will never be repeated
Forward: Elgin Baylor (Fundametally Perfect)
Forward: LeBron James (Story still being written)
Guard: Michael Jordan (Need explaination?)
Guard: Oscar Robertson (The Triple Double, Double Doube Man)

Honorable Mention:
Center: Bill Russel (Defensive Marvel, A Champion)
Forward: Julius Erving (Poetry and Beauty in Motion)
Guard: Jerry West ( The epitome for the position)

[Goat Milk]

Very good list Will. Don't agree with Russel because like you said you can't simply chose to ignore offense even if you're the greatest defender/rebounder ever.

^ To you above. We've already discussed this. Wilt's stats were a result of the pace of the game at the time. While its obviously impressive an you can see he is in my top 15, Wilt's 100 is no where near the difficulty of Kobe Bryant 81 points. Anyone who plays in the nba will say the same.

[will2survive]

Very good list Will. Don't agree with Russel because like you said you can't simply chose to ignore offense even if you're the greatest defender/rebounder ever.

^ To you above. We've already discussed this. Wilt's stats were a result of the pace of the game at the time. While its obviously impressive an you can see he is in my top 15, Wilt's 100 is no where near the difficulty of Kobe Bryant 81 points. Anyone who plays in the nba will say the same.

Thanks Goat Milk -I appreciate it. Yes, Wilt was great but the stats don't win champiosnships

[Speedy88]

1. LeBron James
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Chris Bosh
4. Mario Chalmers
5. Shane Battier

Did I win? I know you like the Heat.....

[Chi_archie]

yeah i've heard people say Hakeem was really like 6'9 or so

[Goat Milk]

1. LeBron James
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Chris Bosh
4. Mario Chalmers
5. Shane Battier

Did I win? I know you like the Heat.....

lol none of those are in the top 5. battier not even top 5000. i split some points around but will got the most points followed by the other guy

[bleek88]

kNOW WHAT BOTHERS ME THE MOST...IS BILL RUSSELL. HES SO EGO-CENTRIC. YAH HE WON 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS BUT THAT WAS WAYY BACK THEN, HE WOULDNT GET 5 IN THIS ERA. HE IS JUST SO EGO CENTRIC THE MVP AWARD FOR THE FINALS SHOULD NOT BE THE "BILL RUSSELL REWARD"

[rm18]

I would guess only about 3500 NBA players all time

[McBa1n]

Damn, no love for the old timers.
I'm not gonna list the top 5 of all time, that's impossible. If I were starting a team with my eyes on a championship, though - I'd pick these guys to be my starting 5:

1- Bill Russel. Defense wins championships. You can't argue his record. The guy was THE key in one of the most prolific dynasties in pro-sports history. He also stood above one of the most dominant scorers of ALL time (Wilt) to achieve those championships with his team.

2- Jordan. Defensively, one of the best in the game - also as clutch of a shooter to ever play the game, and obviously, the most talented to play in the 'rule changed' NBA, which led to it becoming an unwatchable sport. He didn't change the game so much as they changed the game for him. In spite of that, he's probably the best player of all time. His scoring changed sports as a whole, though, with his ability. Without Jordan, sportscenter might actually be watchable now.

3- Magic. He can play any spot on the floor and be all-pro. Back in the day, you were a Bird guy or a Magic guy. I was a magic guy. I got into a fight with a guy who was ridiculing Magic the day he came out to the public being HIV positive. Love Magic. The way he could involve his whole team with one of his signature 'wait did he just do that????' passes are as good as anyone to ever play. Even when he was 'well defended', he was a massive contributor in wins because he understood the value of all 5 guys on the floor. Also, had he norst Bird existed, the NBA would probably not be a big deal today. The game was dying until those 2 showed up.

4- The Big O. One of my favorite stories about him was he was labeled a 'ball hog' - and his excuse, according to him, was that he was the best player on the floor. Damn right he was. He did everything well and is one of my 2 or 3 favorite ball players ever. A triple double for a season average in ANY era is not only prolific, it's elite. I'm not normally a numbers guy, but Oscar did it all. He is probably the most under-appreciated basketball player of all time - especially for how good he was relative to his era... Although, the NBA back then is nothing compared to what it is today.

5- Bird. Injuries are probably why I'd put him here. Every player above him had as big of a heart and was as good of a competitor. Bird just had that 'something' you need to be an elite competitor and produce on an elite level. As good of a shooter as I've ever seen and a really under-rated defender. Again, that D thing is really important to me... But he inspired just about everyone I knew to practice shooting more when they found out how much time/day he spent shooting. That kind of effort and commitment is infectious and it showed on the court.

Bench-
Ugh, HATE HATE not having these guys in the top 5 but...
Kareem. This guy is so under-appreciated. It's shocking that modern centers don't learn to shoot the sky hook. Probably as devastating a shot as I've ever seen. You can't defend him with 2 all game to stop it - which made him a great passer, also.

The Dream. Ugh, he's the best center of his era. His ability was unmatched. His record speaks for itself. He won titles with lesser teams in an era of some of the best basketball ever played... There were a LOT of teams capable of winning a championship in his era, and he played on the worst of them and STILL won.

My 'homer' pick: Sidney Moncreif. The guy was like watching poetry in motion. No, he was. Smoother than butter. So much fun to see back in the day when the NBA was actually fun to watch. I loved seeing him on the break and his technique to ALWAYS draw a foul when he'd drive for a layup (instead of going for a glamour dunk) is something no one does anymore. He was the master of the 3 point play and really under-rated and appreciated for his ability. The guy just had a technique to his basketball that made me want to watch more.