<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Magic Johnson Team: Los Angeles Lakers (1979-91, 1996) Titles: 5 (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988) Honors: 12-time All-Star, three-time MVP (1987, 1989, 1990), three-time Finals MVP (1980, 1982, 1987), Hall of Fame The player: The prototype big point guard. The only player in NBA history who could dominate -- not just play -- all five positions. Magic was the best ever in transition. He led the break and shoved the ball down your throat or backed you down and carved you up with a pass or drive. He was unselfish -- but not to a fault (he'd take over and score when necessary) -- and he made passing cool. Given his age (a rookie at age 20), the stakes (NBA Finals), the opponent (Dr. J and the 76ers) and the fact that he moved to center to replace injured legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic's 42-point, 15-rebound, 7-assist, 3-steal effort in the title-clinching Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals was probably the best individual performance of all time. It could be argued that he's the one player in NBA history who was better than Michael Jordan.</div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?pa...ht&lid=tab2pos1 I bet there's gonna be alot of flack about nash ranking in the top 10.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting thedude9990:</div><div class="quote_post">i dont mind nash being there but not before gary</div> Seriously, how can ESPN justify putting a one-way player over one of the greatest defensive point guards of all time... and lest we forget, he was prolific offensively as well... over his career, he only averaged .2 less assists then Nash, and 3 more ppg... Also, courtesy of basketball-reference.com: Gary Payton's probability of making the Hall Of Fame: 79.8% Steve Nash's probability of making the Hall Of Fame: 5.6%
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting The Reign Man:</div><div class="quote_post">Seriously, how can ESPN justify putting a one-way player over one of the greatest defensive point guards of all time... and lest we forget, he was prolific offensively as well... over his career, he only averaged .2 less assists then Nash, and 3 more ppg... Also, courtesy of basketball-reference.com: Gary Payton's probability of making the Hall Of Fame: 79.8% Steve Nash's probability of making the Hall Of Fame: 5.6%</div> I cant trust that rating i'm almost positve no one with 2 MVP's cannot make the hall of fame. I'll say if nash has a few more 17 point 10+ assist seasons people will start to take him more seriously.
Walt Frazier should be higher A top 5 point guard of all time in my opinion. He was such a great scorer and playmaker that people overlook the fact that he was a top notch defender as well. One of the greatest defensive guards in league history. He was the best player on one of the best teams in history. He dominated Jerry West in the 1970 NBA finals. He frustrated West with his tough defense and unstoppable jump shot. Frazier had one of the best stat lines in NBA history. In game 7 of the 1970 NBA finals against the great Laker team that consisted of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlian. Frazier scored 39 points, dished out 19 assists, and had 5 steals. Just his points and assists alone combined for 77 of his teams total points Those great numbers are overshadowed because of the great heroics of Willis Reed who surprised the world by limping onto the court with a major leg injury. Had this been any other night people would still be talking about Fraziers amazing performance. http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54254
^Co-signature. In his prime, KJ was crossing up and dunking on cats (especially his legendary dunk on you-know-who) with such ease. It's sad many of the folks here in the south laugh when i say he should be a first ballot HOF.
I agree that KJ should be listed. That duo of KJ and Barkley were deadly. I believe Ceballos played with him for a time as well.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Brasco:</div><div class="quote_post">I cant trust that rating i'm almost positve no one with 2 MVP's cannot make the hall of fame. I'll say if nash has a few more 17 point 10+ assist seasons people will start to take him more seriously.</div> I haven't checked the data on that one, but I'll get back to you on that one. I think you are definitely right... if Nash has a few more of those seasons, I for one will definitely take him more seriously. If he played any semblance of defence, I'd take him more seriously too, but that's not really the point. My point was that at this moment, we don't know how the rest of Nash's career will pan out. Thus, at this moment, Payton would be higher on my list of all-time guards. It's unlikely [but possible] Nash would be able to pass him in my book... he'd need about 8 more seasons of sustained greatness like GP had [and to start playing some defense]. However, the list was for Nash at this point in time, and I don't think he's done nearly enough to be ranked ahead of GP
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Kevin Johnson = terribly underrated</div> Word, I used to dread when the Rockets had to play the Suns...he used to light up Kenny Smith and Cassell.
Props to Terrell Brandon for his ability to have an amazing A/T ratio. I'm not saying that he's a top 10 pg by any means, but he was a lot better than people ever realized. Nash over GP is insane. This might seem like a silly question, but what is the "PER" column for in that article?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I used to love KJ but wasn't his career pretty short success wise?</div> He always dealt with injuries throughout his career, but he's on the top 10 assist list....when he was healthy KJ was the truth.
No doubt that GP shoulda been over Nash...but the fact that he's on that list makes me proud. Atleast they recognize what GP has done in his career. After Kemp left...GP had to shoulder the whole team and he had to do everything. Defend, score, assist. BTW sorta OT...but GP had nice little run last night. Looks like he had a Flashback...he had that swagger back for a bit.
