Posted on 02/22/2020 7:52:14 AM PST by Raymond Pamintuan
All very good points. Thank you.
Don’t forget Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt as the most dominant athletes on earth.
Waiting in the wings..Kawhi Leonard.
You know, the only time I ever bought NHL tickets when I lived in Vancouver, was when Gretzky came to town to play the Canucks.
He was magical.
Tier 3.
I couldn’t put him in Tier 2, given the caliber of Tier 2 players.
Good choice.
I have him in Tier 3, together with Shaq, Olajuwon, Malone, and Duncan.
What an awesome story! I’m so jealous!
Larry Bird.
Kurt Rambus or Bill Walton???
” In Game 6 of the 1980 NBA finals, Magic Johnson started at CENTER in place of an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ... and dominated the game with 42 points and 15 rebounds. That’s unbelievable.”
I would go with Magic as well but I wouldn’t point to Game 6 as a reason. Darryl Dawkins was the guy he lined up against. Darryl had a habit of disappearing in games and was an indifferent defender as long as you didn’t provoke him. You can probably tell I am a 76ers fan. But I watched a lot of games around that era and DD was maddening and a terrible waste of talent.
“The first player they changed the rules for was George Mikan. Then came Wilt. Now it is James Harden.”
What did I miss? Are NBA officials going to start enforcing the rule against traveling? Cause James Harden isn’t the only guy that takes an extra step.
Nice list.
I didn’t even consider Pistol Pete in the top four tiers - if I create a Tier 5, then I would’ve put him there.
Maravich was individually great, especially in college, but it never translated to rings. His teams never went anywhere (only got past the second round of the playoffs once, in his last year at Boston) and his injuries prevented him from becoming a transcendent player.
Maravich played on garbage teams for most of his career. I believe he did get a ring with the Celtics as a reserve player.
My apologies - I had David Robinson in my head.
I meant to say, David Robinson.
That’s my assessment of Kobe, as well. Great player, but I think he didn’t make the guys around him better.
Jordan and Russell made the guys around them better, and that’s why they are the greatest, in my book.
I have Kobe in Tier 2. You don’t score on the shots you don’t take.
If Shaq could make free-throws, he might have been the most dominant player. But “Hack a Shaq” shortened his career and his effectiveness.
You might have missed one for that top term position. My vote goes to the Big “O” as it is very difficult not to consider a player that averages a triple double for a season.
But one name I didn’t see was Rick Barry. Hard to ignore his successes:
NBA Rookie of the Year (1966)
NBA All-Rookie First Team (1966)
NBA leading scorer in 1967 (35.6 ppg)
NBA highest free-throw percentage 1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980
All-NBA First Team (1966, 1967, 1974, 1975, 1976)
All-NBA Second Team (1973)
NBA Finals MVP (1975)
NBA champion (1975)
Eight time NBA All-Star (1966, 1967, 1973–1978)
15 games in NBA career scoring 50 or more points (5th in NBA history)
115 games in professional career scoring 40 or more points — 70 NBA, 45 ABA (4th in professional basketball history after Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant)
And for a shooter, he averaged almost 5 assists a game.
Stats that rate him up with anyone in my mind.
And he did this with no real superstars on the teams he played.
rwood
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