Best basketball player in NBA history?

[quote name='RandyTsai']jerry west[/QUOTE]

I should have had him on the list.

Poll is up now though.

*edit* Looks like no polls are visible until the Cheapy awards are over.
 
Results will be displayed when The Cheapy Awards' Voting is closed.
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wtf?

and you shouldn't have put in kobe, its not too late to start over.
 
[quote name='DT778']Results will be displayed when The Cheapy Awards' Voting is closed.
Voters: 1. You have already voted on this poll

wtf?

and you shouldn't have put in kobe, its not too late to start over.[/QUOTE]

I just put in Kobe because of the Kobe 81 point topic discussions. If I had remembered Jerry West I would have had to leave off Hakeem or Kobe.
 
This is a very difficult question to answer. Think about it. The game has changed so much over the years that players that dominated in the 50's and 60's would get schooled by some of the newer players. They get bigger, stronger and faster every year.

That being said, Jordan gets my vote. 6 titles in 8 years. The two in the middle? He didn't play in one and part of the other.

Kobe is over rated, IMO. So he scored 81 points...big deal. He's just a ball hog and the other team didn't put too much effort into stopping him. If Kobe played in the 90's with Jordan, he'd just have been another decent player without a ring.

TBW
 
Michael Jordan. Not only did he lead the league in scoring every year (except for his comeback with the Wizards) , he was also one of the best defenders.
 
Bird had the fundamentals down, and I admired that about him. It wasn't flash or razzmatazz, it was the way the game was supposed to be played. He could sink a shot like nobody's business.
 
Crap, I already forgot who was on the list besides the obvious ones.

Was Shaq on it?
He deserves to be. Those 3 Laker Championships wouldnt have happened if it were for the most dominant center of this era.
 
So Jordan, thanks for the memories.

We’ll always remember you as the Greatest Shill of All-time.

Those Hall of Fame, Madison Avenue marketing moments. We’ll remember you for the great things you did for your franchises – McDonalds, Gatorade, Nike, Hanes, Coke, Wheaties, Ball Park Franks, WorldCom . . .

Who will be the next MJ?
Kobe “Sprite” Bryant?

Yao “Apple” Ming?

Shaquille “Burger King” O’Neal?

Maybe none of them. Nubs, we may have been lucky enough to have been alive to see the Greatest Spokesperson of All-Time. Don’t take it for granted.

One day your children will ask you, “Daddy, who was the greatest basketball player ever?”
Your answer:
“Well son, Bill Russell won 11 championships. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 points. But son, a man by the name of Michael Jordan, had the most commercial endorsements. So by definition, he is the greatest basketball player of all-time.”


$


we'll always remember you for your commercial micheal :cry:
 
I'm suprised Bob Cousy's not on this list, one of the best no doubt. This list can be open ended, and i'm suprised Reggie Miller didn't make the list, I mean this guy never won a championship but this guy had ice for blood.

My vote goes for Magic Johnson.
 
[quote name='ph33r m3']I'm suprised Bob Cousy's not on this list, one of the best no doubt. This list can be open ended, and i'm suprised Reggie Miller didn't make the list, I mean this guy never won a championship but this guy had ice for blood.

My vote goes for Magic Johnson.[/QUOTE]

Reggie Miller was good but played no defense. He'll probably make the hall of fame but isn't even close to the best ever.
 
Not greatest overal, but dennis rodman had to be the greated nutcase of all time. He could skip a weak of practice, party every night and run off to vegas between games. But he'd still come in, grab 16 rebounds per night and totally destroy anyone he was defending. I still remember watching him play against malone in the finals. He totally destroyed him, whenever kukoc was guarding malone he'd play like karl malone, but when rodman guarded him he played like post lockout shawn kemp.

Not only did he shut people down he got into their heads. And unlike artest (who isn't his equal defensively anyway, but also screws with people) he was an act. He'd bring you to the point of wanting to punch him and then just let you go off, while he just sat back and watched.

Though this is when he was on chicago (he was good, but not really crazy, for detroit). He was a great addition to already great teams who didn't really "need" him, but was destructive on average or below ones. You had to be able not to care about him outside of games, cause if you depend on him to do team things or be involved in practice then you were going to have problem.
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']Michael Jordan all the way. I don't care what anybody says and how many endorsements he had. he changed the game.[/QUOTE]


He didn't change the game as much as someone like Kareem, NCAA now but they outlawed the dunk because of him... THAT is changing the game... Sky Hook--that is changing the game, playing till your 40 and not play any defense cause your walking up the court but still being a key man in the game...THAT is changing the game.


I won't argue that Jordan was great, but how did he exactly change the game?
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']Michael Jordan all the way. I don't care what anybody says and how many endorsements he had. he changed the game.[/QUOTE]
how?
 
Michael jordan is one of the key reasons its such a global game. While I disagree with some of the things regarded as changing the game (getting old and not being able to play defense didn't and, if it had, wouldn't be a good change), without someone who captured the spotlight like jordan the international game (at least with players coming to the u.s.) might not be as big.
 
MJ was the most complete basketball player I've ever seen. He could score at will and what most people forget is that Jordan was a perennial all 1st team defensive player. But, most of all Jordan could impose his will on his opponents and his team.

As a Knicks fan I've had my fair shair of disappointments at the hands of #23. I witnessed many games at which we thought we had the game won and there was Jordan taking the game away from our grasp. I was one of those kids who had the Starks over Jordan poster and I must say that deep down inside I was a Jordan fan. I couldn't help but appreciate his talent. I wish my Knicks would have won a few more of those playoff series but that's life. You can't deny greatness and that's what #23 was. In my mind MJ is the greatest athlete of our generation.
 
[quote name='ph33r m3']I'm suprised Bob Cousy's not on this list, one of the best no doubt. This list can be open ended, and i'm suprised Reggie Miller didn't make the list, I mean this guy never won a championship but this guy had ice for blood.

My vote goes for Magic Johnson.[/QUOTE]

There's no way you can pick Cousy over The BIG O. Oscar was a one man show. He averaged a triple double for an entire season. If his team was half as talented as he, they would have won a few more championships.
 
This list can be open ended, and i'm suprised Reggie Miller didn't make the list, I mean this guy never won a championship but this guy had ice for blood.
Click to expand...

reggie miller belongs nowhere near the list. It's like putting mark price there, they're excellent and all time greats in what they excel at, but don't belong anywhere near the top when you consider complete players.

Though its dissapointing, walt bellamy is totally forgotten. He should be considered one of the all time greats but he was overshadowed by chamberlain and russel. His statistics are remarkable (in the company of the better known great centers) and he was a dominant force in the game.
 
[quote name='2fast_2fuhrer']DT778, can I hear why you think Magic is the greatest of all time (no offense meant, just curious)?[/QUOTE]
ill try to post it during the weekend.
 
How did I know Kobe Bryant was going to be on the list......

Wilt would still own all these rooks to this day. Although MJ seemed more likely to bridge the gap between the two era's. I voted MJ.
 
[quote name='DT778'] So Jordan, thanks for the memories.

We’ll always remember you as the Greatest Shill of All-time.

Those Hall of Fame, Madison Avenue marketing moments. We’ll remember you for the great things you did for your franchises – McDonalds, Gatorade, Nike, Hanes, Coke, Wheaties, Ball Park Franks, WorldCom . . .

Who will be the next MJ?
Kobe “Sprite” Bryant?

Yao “Apple” Ming?

Shaquille “Burger King” O’Neal?

Maybe none of them. Nubs, we may have been lucky enough to have been alive to see the Greatest Spokesperson of All-Time. Don’t take it for granted.

One day your children will ask you, “Daddy, who was the greatest basketball player ever?”
Your answer:
“Well son, Bill Russell won 11 championships. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 points. But son, a man by the name of Michael Jordan, had the most commercial endorsements. So by definition, he is the greatest basketball player of all-time.”


$


we'll always remember you for your commercial micheal :cry:
 [/QUOTE]

Kareem only scored more points because he played much longer than Jordan. 20 seasons to 15 and Jordan was still only 6,000 points behind. Jordan also has the highest points per game average in NBA history. That scoring stat you mentioned does not automatically mean that Kareem is the best of all time. It means he played for a long time. Had Jordan not retired the first time and played those two seasons he missed, he would most likely hold that all-timse soring record as well.

As for Russell, yes he does have more champiosnhips than anyone in history, but he also had much better players around him. He played with hall of famers Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn and John Havlicek while the only player who Jordan played with that might go in the Hall was Scottie Pippen. That had a lot to do with those eleven championships as well. Also, dont forget that Jordan did win six rings himself, which is damn good.

Another factor in Jordan's favor is that he led the Bulls to the best record in NBA history.

Russell only averaged 15 points per game and was known as more of a defensive player, but Jordan was also one of the best defensive players in the league. He won a defensive player of the year aaward and led the league in steals multiple times. The difference is that Jordan was also the top offensive player in the game at the same time.

Don't get me wrong, Russell and Kareem were both great players, but Jordan is the best.
 
[quote name='onetrackmind']wheres the Isiah Thomas love at Guile??[/QUOTE]

I ran out of space for poll choices.

After the Cheapy awards I think I'll do some more polls. Instead of best of all-time I'll do best by postion so I can include more choices.

There were a lot of guys I left off that could have easily been on the list... Isiah Thomas, Julius Erving, Bob Cousy, Tim Duncan. It's really hard to narrow it down.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']I ran out of space for poll choices.

After the Cheapy awards I think I'll do some more polls. Instead of best of all-time I'll do best by postion so I can include more choices.

There were a lot of guys I left off that could have easily been on the list... Isiah Thomas, Julius Erving, Bob Cousy, Tim Duncan. It's really hard to narrow it down.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you should do eras, and not positions. Where do you put Magic? Michael Jordan? Scottie Pippen? There are a lot of guys who played 2 or 3 different positions. What do you think?
 
How can everybody forget about the man that averaged a triple double everytime he stepped on a NBA court for five straight seasons (before there was even an official stat for it) hands down if we are looking at individual all around stats when it comes to the NBA the best player ever would be:

OSCAR ROBERTSON
http://www.nba.com/history/players/robertson_summary.html

Championships and Changing how the NBA Game is played:

BILL RUSSELL
http://www.nba.com/history/players/russell_summary.html

Sorry, my friends but Jordan has nothing on either one of them and Oscar Robertson could basically play any position on the court. Russell just was one of classy individuals to ever grace the court the man won 11 championships in his NBA career and even became coach of the Celtics for a short time so there you go.
 
[quote name='cdeener']How can everybody forget about the man that averaged a triple double everytime he stepped on a NBA court for five straight seasons (before there was even an official stat for it) hands down if we are looking at individual all around stats when it comes to the NBA the best player ever would be:

OSCAR ROBERTSON
http://www.nba.com/history/players/robertson_summary.html

Championships and Changing how the NBA Game is played:

BILL RUSSELL
http://www.nba.com/history/players/russell_summary.html

Sorry, my friends but Jordan has nothing on either one of them and Oscar Robertson could basically play any position on the court. Russell just was one of classy individuals to ever grace the court the man won 11 championships in his NBA career and even became coach of the Celtics for a short time so there you go.[/QUOTE]

I'm not arguing with russell, but should greatest ever be based on having great statistics?
 
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