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"Best NBA Player" ever???

carolinajazz

carolinajazz

Well-Known Member
....with Pippen's statement about James the debate rages on. Here's my take on the matter. First off, you can't have it both ways. Either we judge by the number of Championships.....or we judge by accumulated statistics. I think it needs to be a combination of both. With that in mind, the all time greatest player in NBA history has to be Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He has the stats, he has the records, and he has the Championships.....AND....he had that proverbial "Unstoppable" shot....which no other player can lay claim to! Jordan has the Championships but not nearly enough stats to make him the greatest. Chamberlin has the stats but only 2 championships. Russell has the Championships....but few records. Lebron has none of those...yet. He could end up with some impressive stats. Championships, I doubt.
 
"Michael Jordan is probably the greatest scorer to ever play the game. I may go so far as saying LeBron James may be the greatest player to ever play the game." - Scottie Pippen - Michael Scott

I'd just change it to has a chance to be the greatest player to play. Probably the best athlete the NBA has seen. Only 26. He still has a lot to prove to be the greatest. But who has come along and had a better shot at it than LeBron?
 
"Jordan has the Championships but not nearly enough stats to make him the greatest."

LOL. Like what?
Best all time points per game.
3rd all time points scored.
4th most field goals.
2nd in steals.
3rd steals per game all time.
14 time allstar
5 MVPs
6 Finals MVPs
2 3-peats
6 rings
Oh and all that despite being 72nd in games played.
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
"Jordan has the Championships but not nearly enough stats to make him the greatest."

LOL. Like what?
Best all time points per game.
3rd all time points scored.
4th most field goals.
2nd in steals.
3rd steals per game all time.
14 time allstar
5 MVPs
6 Finals MVPs
2 3-peats
6 rings
Oh and all that despite being 72nd in games played.
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Maybe he wrote that in '91?
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
"Jordan has the Championships but not nearly enough stats to make him the greatest."

LOL. Like what?
Best all time points per game.
3rd all time points scored.
4th most field goals.
2nd in steals.
3rd steals per game all time.
14 time allstar
5 MVPs
6 Finals MVPs
2 3-peats
6 rings
Oh and all that despite being 72nd in games played.
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...I was unawares that Jordan was TIED with Wilt for points per game career average. However, yet and still, he's behind Jabbar in almost all career stats. Thus, my contention that Jabbar is the best NBA all time!
 
carolinajazz said:
...I was unawares that Jordan was TIED with Wilt for points per game career average. However, yet and still, he's behind Jabbar in almost all career stats. Thus, my contention that Jabbar is the best NBA all time!
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Don Nelson must be the greatest coach ever then right? Followed closely by Lenny Wilkens?
 
carolinajazz said:
However, yet and still, he's behind Jabbar in almost all career stats. Thus, my contention that Jabbar is the best NBA all time!
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Kareem played until he was 42 - of course he's going to have the edge in career statistical totals. Vinny Testaverde also has more career passing yards, touchdowns and completions than Joe Montana, so he must've been the better quarterback, right?
 
Does anyone else think James should be compared to Magic Johnson more than he should be compared to Jordan? In terms of how he actually plays.
 
I think Wilt was the best player of all time then Jordan, Russell, Kareem,

Dude would dominate,even if he played today. Here's a guy who's 3 inches taller than Dwight Howard, jumps 3 inches higher than Dwight Howard... and supposedly ran a 4.4 40. Wilt was probably the strongest player (with maybe the exception of Malone) to ever play the game too. I honestly think Wilt would put up 30-15-5 (blocks) if inserted into the game today.
 
The-Joker said:
I think Wilt was the best player of all time then Jordan, Russell, Kareem,

Dude would dominate,even if he played today. Here's a guy who's 3 inches taller than Dwight Howard, jumps 3 inches higher than Dwight Howard... and supposedly ran a 4.4 40. Wilt was probably the strongest player (with maybe the exception of Malone) to ever play the game too. I honestly think Wilt would put up 30-15-5 (blocks) if inserted into the game today.
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Wilt averaged 50.4 ppg & 25.7 rpg in 61-62 and still wasn't the MVP. How is that even possible.
 
Just wanted to clarify, I don't automatically associate "Best NBA player" with "most skilled" or "most dominant." LeBron can do things on the court MJ never could, Wilt was the most dominant player ever, and Kareem had the most unstoppable shot.
When I think "Best NBA Player ever" I go with MJ because of the combination of his championships, his competitive greatness, his skill/athletic ability, his defense and even his marketability (fortunate to come along at just the right time but he still transcended the popularity of the game). IMO no player played his position any better than MJ played his - which is why I think he's the "greatest ever."
 
vslice02 said:
Kareem played until he was 42 - of course he's going to have the edge in career statistical totals. Vinny Testaverde also has more career passing yards, touchdowns and completions than Joe Montana, so he must've been the better quarterback, right?
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....nobody said anything about factoring in how many years a player played. Longevity counts for something...including statistical achievements!!! We can't help that Jordan decided to play baseball for 2 years during the prime of his basketball career! If he was that stupid, then he lost out on further basketball achievements! Jabbar decided to stick with basketball. So his achievements supersede those of Jordan! And you can't tell me that Testiverde actually has more yards and touchdowns than Joe Montana has!
 
carolinajazz said:
you can't tell me that Testiverde actually has more yards and touchdowns than Joe Montana has!
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I just did, because it's true and that's Exhibit A. why you can't judge "who's better" simply by which player has the higher career statisical totals.
 
Here's how I'd put it
best player
MJ
best defender
MJ
most dominant
Wilt
most clutch
MJ/Kobe
most unstoppable
Kobe
best shooter
Larry Bird
best scorer
Kobe
biggest freak
Lebron/Wilt

I gotta give credit to Kobe... nobody hits as many "in your face" jumpshots with the pressure on. I mean there was a time when Kobe could score, whenever he wanted to. Literally, no matter who was guarding him he pull up, go around, go through, anybody and put the ball in the basket.

I think if Kobe and MJ played a game of 1 on 1 in their primes. If the stakes were 1 million dollars, Kobe would win handily. If the stakes were zero dollars, MJ would win handily. Thats the kind of players/people they were.
 
I think it's crazy to call Bill Russell better than LeBron. Look who they played against. Russell was 6'9 215. AK is 6'9 220. Lebron is 6'8 250 and plays SMALL forward.

Russell was dominant in his era but to say he would have been great in LeBron's era would be less of a certainty as LeBron absolutely destroying people in Russell's era.
 
Chad Feldheimer said:
I think it's crazy to call Bill Russell better than LeBron. Look who they played against. Russell was 6'9 215. AK is 6'9 220. Lebron is 6'8 250 and plays SMALL forward.

Russell was dominant in his era but to say he would have been great in LeBron's era would be less of a certainty as LeBron absolutely destroying people in Russell's era.
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Hard to make comparisons from those eras. It's a much different game, and athletes are simply bigger, stronger, faster now than in the 50's and 60's.
 
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