Bringing up the most heated debate in Basketball..

[Implied Volatility]

Hakeem is definitely way up there (top 15 at absolute worst). I couldn't take Hakeem above any of those guys though. Shaq was more dominant and won more, Duncan won more and had very similar stats, Kobe has won more and we all know what he has been able to do statistically, and finally LeBron has top 5 stats of all time and is working on winning his 3rd championship. I definitely wouldn't argue with Hakeem being 11th or 12th though.

 

I'll be honest here. I have NEVER seen anyone rank Hakeem outside the top-10. I don't think the "won more" argument is a valid one when all the players in question have multiple titles. Hakeem absolutely dominated both ends of the floor. He's the only player to rank top-10 in both career blocks and steals! And when you take into account the competition Hakeem faced and the fact that he embarrassed them all at one point... He was a monster and a freak of nature! There is a reason both Kobe and LeBron have trained with Hakeem.

 

I am not trying to be mean.You are entilted to your opinion. But I do not think it's rational to have Hakeem outside the top-10 under any circumstance.

[X-Clown]

This is a good list, but it's hard for me to put guys like Bill Russell and Wilt on mine. I didn't see them play (obviously), and the game was completely different. Even Kareem I only caught on the tail end of his career. I'm not saying they couldn't play at a high level in the NBA today, and I'm not trying to disrespect them, I'm just a different type of grader I guess. I get into the same drunken arguments with my bros when we start ranking NFL running backs or ACC basketball players. Someone always brings up Jim Brown in football and I'm always just like dude - your parents weren't even married when he retired.

my list off the top of my head would go something like this

Jordan

Kobe

Shaq

Magic

Larry

Hakeem

Stockton

Kareem

Isiah Thomas

Tim Duncan

Lebron

and then there's tons of guys who have legit arguments like Drexler, Barkley, Steve Nash, DRJ, Iverson, Karl Malone, James Worthy, Patrick Ewing, Moses Malone, Kevin McHale, Bernard King

John Stockton better than Kareem, Duncan, wilt, Russell and Lebron? Please stop posting

[X-Clown]

You could make a strong argument that Karl Malone or Charles Barkley are the two best PFs ever to play and neither has a ring.

I agree with the rest of your post but I don't think there's a credible argument for those 2 over Tim Duncan unless you're classifying him as a center.

[ZB1224]

I'll be honest here. I have NEVER seen anyone rank Hakeem outside the top-10. I don't think the "won more" argument is a valid one when all the players in question have multiple titles. Hakeem absolutely dominated both ends of the floor. He's the only player to rank top-10 in both career blocks and steals! And when you take into account the competition Hakeem faced and the fact that he embarrassed them all at one point... He was a monster and a freak of nature! There is a reason both Kobe and LeBron have trained with Hakeem.

 

I am not trying to be mean.You are entilted to your opinion. But I do not think it's rational to have Hakeem outside the top-10 under any circumstance.

 

That's odd, because I honestly rarely see Hakeem inside the top 10... not that he doesn't belong in the top 10, because you can certainly make that argument. He was a monster.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/lists/Top-10-players-in-NBA-history

http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/slam_500_greatest.html

http://hoopsmanifesto.com/articles/basketball/top-10-nba-players-of-all-time.html

 

Just a few examples from the 1st page or so of google. 

[4Corners]

John Stockton better than Kareem, Duncan, wilt, Russell and Lebron? Please stop posting

 

That wasn't a ranking, it was just a list off the top of my head. John Stockton is one of the best NBA pgs the past 3 decades but I would certainly take Lebron over him. Again, it's hard for me to put guys like Wilt and Bill Russell on my list b/c I didn't see those guys play and when they played the game was completely different. Like I said it's sort of the same argument when you are talking about best NFL running backs and someone brings up Jim Brown or Red Grange. 

[4Corners]

That's odd, because I honestly rarely see Hakeem inside the top 10... not that he doesn't belong in the top 10, because you can certainly make that argument. He was a monster.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/lists/Top-10-players-in-NBA-history

http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/slam_500_greatest.html

http://hoopsmanifesto.com/articles/basketball/top-10-nba-players-of-all-time.html

 

Just a few examples from the 1st page or so of google. 

 

Hakeem still doesn't get the respect he deserves. Those rockets teams in the 90s were incredible. Most of these younger fans <23 probably don't even know who Hakeem is. Sure, they recognize the name but they don't know how dominating he was. 

[Implied Volatility]

That's odd, because I honestly rarely see Hakeem inside the top 10... not that he doesn't belong in the top 10, because you can certainly make that argument. He was a monster.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/lists/Top-10-players-in-NBA-history

http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/slam_500_greatest.html

http://hoopsmanifesto.com/articles/basketball/top-10-nba-players-of-all-time.html

 

Just a few examples from the 1st page or so of google. 

 

I feel that the problem with these lists, and probably many others out there, is that they've put too much emphasis on individual accolades and champioships. Instead of focusing on who the better players were. Though I am not surprised to see a few journalist do that. I don't belive MJ is greatest ever just because of his 6 rings. I would still have MJ at #1 even if he never played basketball again after '93. If Kobe and/or Duncan were to win another championship I would not move them up my list just because of that. The reason being is that we have seen how good Kobe and Duncan were. And I don't believe Kobe or Duncan at their best were better players than the ones I would rank in front of them.

 

If you are wondering, I would rank Duncan at #9 and Kobe at #10. I think an argument could be made for Shaq over Hakeem. But I believe Hakeem's defense gives him the edge. Shaq was a solid post defender and rim protector. However he could be down right awful at times when defending screens. LeBron is a top-10 talent no doubt. But I need to see his career play out a little longer before I consider placing him in my top-10.

 

I had almost forgot about the Slam magazine rankings. That's where those rankings in the basketball reference link came from. Slam took a lot of heat for their selections. It's one thing to leave one of those guys outside the top-5. But both... Are you kidding me? 

 

Edit: I meant to say Slam left both Kareem and Magic outside the top-5.

[t96]

Jordan beat the best to be the best. LeBron joined the best to be the best.

[Manos]

Jordan beat the best to be the best. LeBron joined the best to be the best.

I love how people act like Jordan had zero help. Go back and look at the rosters of his championship teams. He wasn't playing with complete scrubs. Pippen is in the hall and Rodman is one of the best defenders/rebounders in NBA history. It isn't Lebrons fault the Cavs couldn't build a competent team around him. He did the smart thing when he went to Miami.

Now Jordan is and will likely always be the best but stop acting like he didn't have help and Lebron sacrificed babies to Satan to get a ring.

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[t96]

I love how people act like Jordan had zero help. Go back and look at the rosters of his championship teams. He wasn't playing with complete scrubs. Pippen is in the hall and Rodman is one of the best defenders/rebounders in NBA history. It isn't Lebrons fault the Cavs couldn't build a competent team around him. He did the smart thing when he went to Miami.

Now Jordan is and will likely always be the best but stop acting like he didn't have help and Lebron sacrificed babies to Satan to get a ring.

Sent from my XT907 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

 

I'm not pretending he had zero help. I am acknowledging the FACT that he did not leave his team to join 2 other all stars in hopes of winning a championship, instead of trying to do it with what they had. And Bosh and Wade > Pippen and Rodman. And also, the competition now is nil compared to the competition then. 

[Peppers90 NC]

Lebron isnt the best player in the NBA?  that's news to me.

[Manos]

I'm not pretending he had zero help. I am acknowledging the FACT that he did not leave his team to join 2 other all stars in hopes of winning a championship, instead of trying to do it with what they had. And Bosh and Wade > Pippen and Rodman. And also, the competition now is nil compared to the competition then.

I don't agree with wade and bosh being better than pippen and rodman but that's debatable and not really the point. As for lebron leaving for the heat he had to do it. Cleveland has shown over and over and over again they can't build a competent team. He dragged those scrubs as far as they would go and he decided to not waste his career hoping Cleveland got their poo together. How does that make him a bad guy or less of a player? I'd much rather be a guy with multiple rings as opposed to the guy who played his entire career in one place and got nothing for it.

Honestly I think the main problem is the hype that has always followed lebron and not lebron himself. If people hadn't crowned him better than Jordan at age 18 I don't think he would get near the amount of the poo he does.

You know a player who really deserves to get reamed for not winning and being a sellout, melo. He has to be one of the most overrated players I've seen in a long time. Why does no one ever talk poo about him not winning or demanding his way out of Denver? Answer is because deep down everyone knows he is a one note player who will never be a good teammate or complete player(unlike lebron) and history will forget about him. /melo-rant-off

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[CarolinaPanthers8789]

LBJ is the best player in the NBA

He did not have the best season... That accomplishment goes to the man that scored the second most points in a season in the past 23 years.