<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ace2k2:</div><div class="quote_post">^^^ I didn't copy him and I have never heard of him and have never read that book. I got this list from my uncle and he said this is the updated top 50 Players of all-time list and I ordered it around a little. I'll email him asking if he read that book you said. That list is kind of reasonably true so I figured I'd order it around a little.</div> Ok. It's likely that the list is from Elliot Kalb's book (it's very good; I recommend you check it out if you're interested in NBA history). His list is exactly the same as yours, except he puts Karl Malone right after Olajuwon, Garnett is between Willis Reed and McGrady, and Baylor and West are swapped. For someone else to independently come up with virtually the same list would be hard to believe. Excerpts from the book can be found on NBA.com. For instance: http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/book_reggie_031222.html http://www.nba.com/rockets/history/Hakeem_...s-91094-34.html
Top Players: Hate to be a copy cat off All-Star for organization 1. MJ 2. Bill Russell 3. Wilt Chamberlain 4. Oscar Robertson 5. Kareem Abdul-Jabarr <img src=" " target="_blank">http://cache.nba.com/media/history/kareem_370_history.jpg"> 6. Julius Erving 7. Magic Johnson 8. Larry Bird 9. Jerry West 10. Shaquille O'Neal 11. Karl Malone 12. Earl Monroe 13.Isiah Thomas 14. George Gervin 15. Bob McAdoo
I cannot believe that some of you guys made a list without including Bill Russell. I would put him above Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq. But I would understand if somebody felt differently. However, I don't think it's logical to put Magic, Bird, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, or anybody else besides Jordan above Russell. You don't just accidently win 11 championships.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44caliberThrila:</div><div class="quote_post">I cannot believe that some of you guys made a list without including Bill Russell. I would put him above Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq. But I would understand if somebody felt differently. However, I don't think it's logical to put Magic, Bird, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, or anybody else besides Jordan above Russell. You don't just accidently win 11 championships.</div> Russell had a great supporting cast, though. If they handed out Finals MVP in those years, how many would Russell have won? It's difficult to assess how great Russell was, because he was primarily a rebounder and shot-blocker, and blocks weren't recorded back then. Some say that even Wilt blocked mor shots than Russell. Who knows? Offensively, we know that Russell didn't have Hall of Fame talent (though his defense led to many Celtic fast breaks). What you can say about Russell is that he was the greatest winner to ever play the game, and he was the defensive anchor of nearly a dozen championship teams. My top ten "greatest NBA players" who be as follows: 1. Wilt Chamberlain 2. Michael Jordan 3. Shaquille O'neal 4. Bill Russell 5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 6. Oscar Robertson 7. Larry Bird 8. Magic Johnson 9. Jerry West 10. Karl Malone ps. It was tough to rank Malone over Hakeem. Hakeem had the higher peak (he was the best player from 93-95). But Malone had the unbelievable longevity.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting 44caliberThrila:</div><div class="quote_post">I cannot believe that some of you guys made a list without including Bill Russell. I would put him above Wilt, Kareem, and Shaq. But I would understand if somebody felt differently. However, I don't think it's logical to put Magic, Bird, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, or anybody else besides Jordan above Russell. You don't just accidently win 11 championships.</div> Well, you are exactly correct, but I put him being number six in my list. Since he won eleven rings in thirteen years, he was great and should be in everybody's top ten list.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Russell had a great supporting cast, though. If they handed out Finals MVP in those years, how many would Russell have won?</div>More than half of them. The Celtics of that era were a fast break team, and almost none of those fast breaks would have been possible without him. If you ask anybody who played along side Russell, they would tell you that none of their success would have been possible without him. Bill Russell was the greatest defensive presense of all time, and his D was so highly regarded by Red Auerbach that he based his entire offense on Russell's ability to block shots, get rebounds, and to make perfect outlet passes. The guards playing on the floor with him could cheat out to the other side to put them in position for easy layups. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It's difficult to assess how great Russell was, because he was primarily a rebounder and shot-blocker, and blocks weren't recorded back then. Some say that even Wilt blocked mor shots than Russell. Who knows?</div>Well, it's possible that Wilt had more blocks since he was about 5 inches taller than Russell. Russell has to be the greatest shot blocker of all time because of his ability to block a shot and making sure the ball stayed in play. He also had an amazing ability to block a shot and then take posession of the ball in the same motion. Blocking the ball and sending the ball out of bounds is a great play, but blocking a shot while maintaining posession of the ball is a much better play. Then you can make a quick outlet and your guards will end up with easy fast break buckets. That is something you would see Russell do 3-4 times in every game. Bottom line, Russell made his supporting cast look much better than they actually were. Also, the reason Russ didn't score more than he did was because most of the scoring was done before he had the chance to cross the half-court line.
Top ten: 1- Wilt Chamberlain 2-Larry Bird 3-Dr.j 4-Charels Barkley 5-Magic Jhonson 6-Oscar Robertson 7-Kareem 8-Bill Russell 9-Karl Malone 10-Hakeem Alijawon
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AA13:</div><div class="quote_post">Top ten: 1- Wilt Chamberlain 2-Larry Bird 3-Dr.j 4-Magic Jhonson 5-Bill Russell 7-Kareem Abdual-Jabbar 8-Jerry West 9-Karl Malone 10-Clyde Drexler</div> You're putting Drexler ahead of Jordan and Oscar? I'm a big Drexler fan, but even I wouldn't go that far. I see you're missing a #6. Please tell me that MJ or Oscar have that spot.
Jordan was to cocky and arigant I think the leauge gave him everything when he played. I never really have seen Oscar Robertson play I completely forgot about him to... I forgot to put barkly in my list I went back and edited it.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Buckets:</div><div class="quote_post">1. Michael Jordan 2. Kareem Abdul Jabbar 3. Jerry West 4. Oscar Robertson 5. Bill Russell 6. Wilt Chamberlain 7. Elgin Baylor 8. Shaquille O'Neal 9. Magic Johnson 10. Patrick Ewing 11. Charles Barkley 12. Walt Frazier 13. George Gervin 14. Julius Erving 15. Moses Malone 16. Karl Malone 17. John Stockton 18. Willis Reed 19. Scottie Pippen 20. David Robinson 21. Pistol Pete Maravich 22. Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins 23. Dominique Wilkins 24. Gary "The Glove" Payton 25. Jamal "Silk" Wilkes 26. George Mikan 27. Nate "Tiny" Archibald 28. Kevin Garnett 29. Isaiah "Zeke" Thomas 30. Bill Walton 31. Earl "The Pearl" Monroe 32. Hakeem Olajuwon 33. Bob Cousy 34. Jon Havlicek 35. Hal Greer 36. Bob Pettit 37. Larry Bird 38. Robert Parish 39. Kevin McHale 40. Lenny Wilkins 41. Clyde Drexler 42. Rick Barry 43. James Worhy 44. Joe Dumars 45. Dennis Rodman 46. Dolph Schayes 47. Reggie Miller 48. Bob McAdoo 49. Paul Arizin 50. Kobe Bryant</div> Buckets, you got Patrick Ewing ranked at 10, and Hakeem at 32. That's just wrong, man. I'll let putting the Admiral ahead of Dream slide (Robinson was Hakeem's closest peer during his best seasons), but no way Ewing sits at number 10. No WAY!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AA13:</div><div class="quote_post">Jordan was to cocky and arigant I think the leauge gave him everything when he played. I never really have seen Oscar Robertson play I completely forgot about him to... I forgot to put barkly in my list I went back and edited it.</div> Jordan might have been arrogant, but he was easily a top 10 player in my opinion. No other shooting guard in the modern era comes close. Winning 6 championships in 8 years (Finals MVP everytime) has to put him at least in the top 10, if not top 5. Not sure what you mean when you say "league gave him everything." He got the benefit of "superstar" calls, but you can say that about several other players as well.
I agree he was a superstar and as a great player there is no denying that but when i say the leauge gave him everything i mean like when the bulls were playing the jazz in the finals and jordan hit that shot in game six he shoved the utah jazz guard away when he made the shot. That's what i mean.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AA13:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree he was a superstar and as a great player there is no denying that but when i say the leauge gave him everything i mean like when the bulls were playing the jazz in the finals and jordan hit that shot in game six he shoved the utah jazz guard away when he made the shot. That's what i mean.</div> He didn't shove him. Byron Russell expected Jordan to drive, and when he pulled up his momentum caused him to fall. Was their contact? Yes, Jordan's hand brushed his side, but Jordan didn't push him. It was a good no-call. And I was rooting for the Jazz to win that year too, by the way. But Jordan just made a great play (he also stole the ball from Malone on the other end). It was just another reason he deserved to be #2 on my list. And I think a pretty solid case could be made for him to be #1, looking at his individual and team accomplishments.. The same damn thing happened to Russell in game 1 of 97 Finals, btw, but he apparently didn't learn his lesson.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting AA13:</div><div class="quote_post">Top ten: 1- Wilt Chamberlain 2-Larry Bird 3-Dr.j 4-Charels Barkley 5-Magic Jhonson 6-Oscar Robertson 7-Kareem 8-Bill Russell 9-Karl Malone 10-Hakeem Alijawon</div> You're kidding right? Guess what?... <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jordan was to cocky and arigant I think the leauge gave him everything when he played. I never really have seen Oscar Robertson play I completely forgot about him to... I forgot to put barkly in my list I went back and edited it.</div> You are out of sync, enough said.
How is it possible that people don't put Russell in their top 10 lists???? Putting him anywhere below #5 is disrespecting him. But below Barkley, Drexler, and Malone????
Russell is one of the gretest if not the #2 or 3 spot (behind Wilt and Bird) but I have never seen him play just heard of his accompishments.
1. MJ- i dunno what aa13 is smokin, Jordan was the best of my era he best of your era and probably the best there ever was 2. Wilt---obviously Wilts stats proved that he was a beast...he was years ahead of the big man era which contributed alot to his dominance but you just cant argue with the facts 3. Oscar Robertson--revolutionized the game invented the triple double and averaged it for a year...and unlike Wilt he wasnt a dominant physical specimen he just had skill all around like nobody before him 4. Bill Russell--see Wilt...now Russell could put up with that on a regular basis...at 6'9 5. Dr. J-- MJ, Kobe, Vince...some of the players who modeled their high flight games after Dr.J 6. Kareem Abdul Jabbar---Longevity and domenince is what helped Kareem score the most points in NBA history 7. Magic---What a player, revolutionized the PG position...he could do everything and could do it well...3 more years and he would be a top 5 player 8. Larry Bird---yeah hes an asshole but he is the best shooter and best white plaayer ever.. 9. Shaq---just so dominant and good in this low scoring era 10. john Stockton---this is my wildcard...but why not top assist and steals guy was consistent forever and a good shooter
1. Wilt 2. Jordan 3. Kareem 4. Bird/Magic 6. Logo 7. Robertson 8. Baylor 9. Shaq 10. Yin/Yang, AKA Stockton2Malone
