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Greatest NBA Player

Nickyjo said:
Greatest, shmatest. The prettiest ever was Dr. J. That’s what sports are about, the beauty of bodies in motion.
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Then watch old clips of Robertson at State then in the NBA.
 
VanceMack said:
Stop acting like a ****ing jilted lover. Geez, dood. Its embarrassing. Have a good cry and get over it already.

Brady is not the greatest NFL Player of all time. Brady is the greatest QUARTERBACK of all time. If you want to have similar discussions here regarding basketball, you would ask who is the greatest center, or the greatest point guard.
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Hey smart guy, we are talking about the greatest basketball player of all-time, not the greatest 1-1 player of all time, or greatest horseplayer of all time.

Basketball is played 5-5, not 1-1.
 
IDK if he's the greatest but I always loved Kareem.
 
Bucky said:
Hey smart guy, we are talking about the greatest basketball player of all-time, not the greatest 1-1 player of all time, or greatest horseplayer of all time.

Basketball is played 5-5, not 1-1.
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Greatest INDIVIDUAL BASKETBALL PLAYER of all time.

Smart guy.
 
Jredbaron96 said:
IDK if he's the greatest but I always loved Kareem.
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Kareem is one of the five or so best post players ever, but he's not Wilt. Comparing him to Russell or Shaq is more interesting.
 
jamesbyoung said:
Then watch old clips of Robertson at State then in the NBA.
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Years ago in Mexico, I saw a State Dept film on Robertson. Incredible, unmatched skill. But he didn't have the beauty of Dr. J.
 
Nickyjo said:
Years ago in Mexico, I saw a State Dept film on Robertson. Incredible, unmatched skill. But he didn't have the beauty of Dr. J.
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OK, that's right, yes.
 
Before he died, they asked Wilt who'd he want on his personal all=star team. One name missing from this DP list, he had on his team-a guy he said was perhaps the best pure shooter in NBA history (as well as often leading the league in steals)

Rick Barry
and another pick of his is the great Elgin Baylor

others missing include Bob McAdoo -a scoring machine and multiple all star
the guy Magic said was the hardest to stop from scoring he had ever seen-Kevin McHale
and finally Pete Maravich
 
TurtleDude said:
Before he died, they asked Wilt who'd he want on his personal all=star team. One name missing from this DP list, he had on his team-a guy he said was perhaps the best pure shooter in NBA history (as well as often leading the league in steals)

Rick Barry
and another pick of his is the great Elgin Baylor

others missing include Bob McAdoo -a scoring machine and multiple all star
the guy Magic said was the hardest to stop from scoring he had ever seen-Kevin McHale
and finally Pete Maravich
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This is why I initially asked for criteria of 'the greatest'.

There are a lot of great players. When I see players like Shaq mentioned as one of them I just scratch my head. He couldnt shoot outside of 4 feet, was a lousy defender outside of the paint, and if they actually called fouls on the player initiating contact, Shaq would have been thrown out of every contest. No hate...he played the game the way they let him play the game...but he wasnt a great player.

Stockton was a great player. MAYBE the best pure point guard of all time. But not the greatest.

Magic was great He had the total package on offense and defense.

Bird as well.

Same with Kobe.

I guess I have to say the same about LeBron.

Jordan...Jordan was next level..but then when you ask what skills in his prime made him better than Magic or Bird in their prime, to me, thats hard to answer. All did amazing things with the ball. All were great defenders. All could shoot lights out...if it was shooting it would be Bird, Jordan, then Kobe, then Magic. My biggest problem with LeBron is he is very dominant in games he is supposed to be dominant in...but he tends to get dinosaur arms in big games and the perception is that he is fine letting ballers like D-Wade carry the load going to titles.

Wilt was a different kind of athlete. A lot of people dont know...he ran the 440 in College. He was bench pressing over 500 pounds. He was strong, he was agile, he had a great midrange jump shot. there were entire periods were he blocked every shot put up by the opposing teams. And he wasnt playing against lightweight centers...he was playing against some very real talent.
 
VanceMack said:
This is why I initially asked for criteria of 'the greatest'.

There are a lot of great players. When I see players like Shaq mentioned as one of them I just scratch my head. He couldnt shoot outside of 4 feet, was a lousy defender outside of the paint, and if they actually called fouls on the player initiating contact, Shaq would have been thrown out of every contest. No hate...he played the game the way they let him play the game...but he wasnt a great player.

Stockton was a great player. MAYBE the best pure point guard of all time. But not the greatest.

Magic was great He had the total package on offense and defense.

Bird as well.

Same with Kobe.

I guess I have to say the same about LeBron.

Jordan...Jordan was next level..but then when you ask what skills in his prime made him better than Magic or Bird in their prime, to me, thats hard to answer. All did amazing things with the ball. All were great defenders. All could shoot lights out...if it was shooting it would be Bird, Jordan, then Kobe, then Magic. My biggest problem with LeBron is he is very dominant in games he is supposed to be dominant in...but he tends to get dinosaur arms in big games and the perception is that he is fine letting ballers like D-Wade carry the load going to titles.

Wilt was a different kind of athlete. A lot of people dont know...he ran the 440 in College. He was bench pressing over 500 pounds. He was strong, he was agile, he had a great midrange jump shot. there were entire periods were he blocked every shot put up by the opposing teams. And he wasnt playing against lightweight centers...he was playing against some very real talent.
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Wilt is also considered probably the greatest offensive volley ball player in history as well.. The reason why I list Robertson is that he could do everything. Pass, steal, shoot, guard, rebound. Barry could too-I think he led the league in scoring, assists by a forward, and steals, and his rebounding was pretty good. McHale and Mcadoo didn't have any real weaknesses either.
 
TurtleDude said:
Wilt is also considered probably the greatest offensive volley ball player in history as well.. The reason why I list Robertson is that he could do everything. Pass, steal, shoot, guard, rebound. Barry could too-I think he led the league in scoring, assists by a forward, and steals, and his rebounding was pretty good. McHale and Mcadoo didn't have any real weaknesses either.
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NBA AND Volleyball Hall of Fame...

 
VanceMack said:
NBA AND Volleyball Hall of Fame...

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I ran into the late great Flo Hyman years ago (she died of a heart related issue iirc playing in Japan). I asked her who was the greatest VB player of all time and she said Wilt. At the time she was the premier offensive female VB player in the world. She could dunk a basketball easily.
 
VanceMack said:
Greatest INDIVIDUAL BASKETBALL PLAYER of all time.

Smart guy.
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You want to talk about a great player. Someone that CARRIED HIS TEAM on his back and led them to a championship beating a dynasty in the Warriors.

LeBron, again carried the team on his back. I have seen him in playoff games completely dominate.

Remember against the Pistons?

"We threw everything we had at him," Detroit guard Chauncey Billups would say of James following the game. "We just couldn't stop him."

In just over 16 minutes of game time, James would score 29 of Cleveland's 30 points, including the team's final 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field. He'd force overtime on a driving dunk with nine seconds remaining and then finish the game off in double-overtime with a driving layup with two seconds left.
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Top Moments: LeBron James dominates Pistons en route to Finals | NBA.com
 
Bucky said:
You want to talk about a great player. Someone that CARRIED HIS TEAM on his back and led them to a championship beating a dynasty in the Warriors.

LeBron, again carried the team on his back. I have seen him in playoff games completely dominate.

Remember against the Pistons?



Top Moments: LeBron James dominates Pistons en route to Finals | NBA.com
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Moments of greatness does not the greatest player to ever play in the NBA make.

but its OK if you think LeBron is the greatest NBA player of all time.

 
TurtleDude said:
Wilt is also considered probably the greatest offensive volley ball player in history as well.. The reason why I list Robertson is that he could do everything. Pass, steal, shoot, guard, rebound. Barry could too-I think he led the league in scoring, assists by a forward, and steals, and his rebounding was pretty good. McHale and Mcadoo didn't have any real weaknesses either.
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When McHale got going in the low post you couldn't stop him. He was a scoring machine.

 
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dave8383 said:
When McHale got going in the low post you couldn't stop him. He was a scoring machine.
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The greatest thing about McHale was all the little things he did when he didn't have the ball. A nudge here. An elbow over the ribs there. He was probably the smartest player I've ever seen... he knew how the play was going to go down and he'd set himself up to be in the optimum spot to take advantage of it.
 
I know this thread is about the Greatest NBA player of all time... but I'm going to stray a little bit from that. The NBA regular season is a long slog... it takes a special kind of talent to perform consistently over it. But if you're looking for the most skillful player of all time, someone who was still a pretty good player in the NBA long-haul... but who was utterly and magnificently amazing in the shorter College season, I've got to vote for Pete Maravich. If you've never seen clips of him playing, you owe it to yourself to do so. Watching him on a court, well, it was like he was playing a completely different game than everyone else. I've never seen anyone - in any sport - so completely dominate a game like he could. The man was literally on his own wavelength.
 
It's a different NBA today. Don't even try playing defense in the NBA today!

Great players like Moses Malone, Cooper, Barkley, Frazier, Rodman, Russell, Lanier, Mahorn, Rollins, Ewing, Lucas, Dawkins, Karl Malone etc. etc. etc. They all would be considered goons.

The Celtics, Pistons, and 76'er teams of the 80's would be kicked out of the league today.

Lebron would have still been great player by the old league refereeing, but he would have had his ass handed to him more often than not. They didn't allow guys like Lebron to have free runs all the way to the net.

Today? Step aside fellas......Lebron wants to score.
 
Cordelier said:
The greatest thing about McHale was all the little things he did when he didn't have the ball. A nudge here. An elbow over the ribs there. He was probably the smartest player I've ever seen... he knew how the play was going to go down and he'd set himself up to be in the optimum spot to take advantage of it.
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Jamaal Wilkes had the same reputation. I watched much of the playoffs when Barry and Golden State won the NBA title around 1975 or so. Barry was the big star but Wilkes did lots of the little things that lead to a sweep IIRC
 
Cordelier said:
I know this thread is about the Greatest NBA player of all time... but I'm going to stray a little bit from that. The NBA regular season is a long slog... it takes a special kind of talent to perform consistently over it. But if you're looking for the most skillful player of all time, someone who was still a pretty good player in the NBA long-haul... but who was utterly and magnificently amazing in the shorter College season, I've got to vote for Pete Maravich. If you've never seen clips of him playing, you owe it to yourself to do so. Watching him on a court, well, it was like he was playing a completely different game than everyone else. I've never seen anyone - in any sport - so completely dominate a game like he could. The man was literally on his own wavelength.
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good argument-
 
Cordelier said:
I know this thread is about the Greatest NBA player of all time... but I'm going to stray a little bit from that. The NBA regular season is a long slog... it takes a special kind of talent to perform consistently over it. But if you're looking for the most skillful player of all time, someone who was still a pretty good player in the NBA long-haul... but who was utterly and magnificently amazing in the shorter College season, I've got to vote for Pete Maravich. If you've never seen clips of him playing, you owe it to yourself to do so. Watching him on a court, well, it was like he was playing a completely different game than everyone else. I've never seen anyone - in any sport - so completely dominate a game like he could. The man was literally on his own wavelength.
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Cordelier said:
The greatest thing about McHale was all the little things he did when he didn't have the ball. A nudge here. An elbow over the ribs there. He was probably the smartest player I've ever seen... he knew how the play was going to go down and he'd set himself up to be in the optimum spot to take advantage of it.
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Very selfish player. I never have seen him pass the ball.
 
VanceMack said:
Moments of greatness does not the greatest player to ever play in the NBA make.

but its OK if you think LeBron is the greatest NBA player of all time.

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Basketball is a team game. If you want to go by greatest individual player, you can look at Allen Iverson or Pistol Pete Maravich, great individual players that didn't play great team ball.

LeBron's game was about making his teammates better, which is a sign of a great player.
 
Bucky said:
Basketball is a team game. If you want to go by greatest individual player, you can look at Allen Iverson or Pistol Pete Maravich, great individual players that didn't play great team ball.

LeBron's game was about making his teammates better, which is a sign of a great player.
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By that criteria, John Stockton is the greatest NBA player of all time.
 
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