The NBA had its own best player for 14 years in MJ, since hes retired and since next year it will be a decade since he retired, who do you think has been the best over the post-bulls era?
I would take Shaq, 3 championships with 2 different team. One of the, if not the, most dominant players ever to play the game. He is a good defender, shot blocker, great low post scorer and passer. It is between him and Duncan for me and I would give Shaq the edge even if the Spurs win this years finals which they will.
Have to say Duncan....as much as I hate how soft he his, he's good...he has the rings to prove it, and is about to win another one now...
Without a doubt in my mind, Tim Duncan. Great post player, great defender, fundamental play, great leader, great teammate, makes everybody better, 4 titles (yes, I'm counting 2007 already), 2 MVP's, etc. He's done it all.
^^Couldn't have said it better myself.Not to mention that he is probably one of the nicest guys off the court. He never gets in trouble with the law or the league. They even suspended that Crawford guy because of what Duncan said (even though they did fine him). It shows the respect he has gained in the league.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jun 13 2007, 09:25 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The NBA had its own best player for 14 years in MJ, since hes retired and since next year it will be a decade since he retired, who do you think has been the best over the post-bulls era?</div>I guess Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ceased to exist once MJ got to the league.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mobruler @ Jun 13 2007, 02:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Kobe better than Jordan Bryant is by far the best player in the league.</div>Punctuation helps out a lot when typing...please back up your statement with facts...here's one fact...Kobe has 3 rings, Jordan has 6...you tell me who's better...Kobe isnt winnin anymore rings unless he gets traded...
Easily Shaq. Aside from the titles, he was THE most dominant big man post-Wilt during the 3 peat years. I mean when a big man goes for 30/14/4/3 on 57% shooting in a season, that is very special. He regularly had playoff series where he averaged around 33/16/5/3 (those exact numbers were taken when he was matched up against DPOY Dikembe Mutombo). He was absolutely dominant and for that 3 year span could be argued as the greatest big man to ever play the game.Duncan and Kobe are fairly close 2nd/3rd place candidates.
Then Bill Russell is the greatest of all time. You can't judge a player based on just championships even though I agree that Kobe isn't on MJ's level yet.I'm going with Shaq here. Duncan will end up ahead of him on the all-time list, but I just can't get over how dominant Shaq was. He killed everybody in his prime and also has 4 championships. It was a great day when he left LA. He scared me. These last couple years have hurt him a bit, but I'd still say he's been the best.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Jun 13 2007, 02:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Then Bill Russell is the greatest of all time. You can't judge a player based on just championships even though I agree that Kobe isn't on MJ's level yet.</div>Why cant you judge a player on championships though? The ultimate goal in the NBA is to win championships right?
The ultimate TEAM goal is to win a championship. Just because one player doesn't have a team to win it multiple times doesn't mean he's worse than someone else. Only reason to bring up championships is if someone came up in the clutch countless times while the other person couldn't and that decided the championship, but Kobe has been one of the best during playoff time. There are plenty of other reasons to use to say Jordan is better than him, but that's not really it until Kobe gets a good enough team and fails.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Jun 13 2007, 02:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The ultimate TEAM goal is to win a championship. Just because one player doesn't have a team to win it multiple times doesn't mean he's worse than someone else. Only reason to bring up championships is if someone came up in the clutch countless times while the other person couldn't and that decided the championship, but Kobe has been one of the best during playoff time. There are plenty of other reasons to use to say Jordan is better than him, but that's not really it until Kobe gets a good enough team and fails.</div>Ok good point lol...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ASUFan22 @ Jun 13 2007, 02:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Welcome to the forums </div>lol where did that come from? ok so my definition of ultimate goal refers to the TEAM aspect I agree so can only winning refer to the player aspect?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ChuckTheD @ Jun 13 2007, 01:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I guess Magic Johnson and Larry Bird ceased to exist once MJ got to the league.</div>Claiming Jordan was the best for 14 years is inaccurate anyway, but typical. Olajuwon was definitely the best player in the league some of those years, and not just the Jordan baseball years.Hakeem never gets his due. The man was dominant. Barkley taking the MVP over him in '93 was a total joke, as were some of the other MVP votes where he lost.
