Top 5 All Time Greatest Basketball Players

[Richard 150]

Who are yours?

1. Michael Jordan
2. Bill Russell
3. Larry Bird
4. Magic Johnson
5. Wilt Chamberlain

Only person who can break this list in the current league in my opinion is LeBron James, but it is going to take a hell of alot of work and some championships. What is your top 5 all time?

 

[darkie]

1. JJ Barea

.......
lol

1. Jordan
2. Wilt
3. Kareem
4. Magic
5. Russell

 

[franky]

Its hard to categorize this ring wise and whatnot but w/e

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. Bill
4. Magic
5. Shaq

 

[Lakers]

Who are yours?

1. Michael Jordan
2. Bill Russell
3. Larry Bird
4. Magic Johnson
5. Wilt Chamberlain

Only person who can break this list in the current league in my opinion is LeBron James, but it is going to take a hell of alot of work and some championships. What is your top 5 all time?

Do you just hate on Lakers/suck off Lebron? Kareem isnt even breaking this list? Hes the all-time leading scorer and im pretty sure hes the all time leading rebounder as well. Kobe could win 6-7 titles by the time hes done, and you wouldnt even have him breaking the list? Thats crazy talk if you wouldnt even consider either of them to even possibly break that list

 

[CaptKirby]

I would not consider Kobe to break the list...

Jordan/Kareem/Johnson/Bird/Duncan was probably my list last time, and still is. I do not think you can count Russell and Chamberlain, despite their obviously amazing credentials. Russell might even be able to play in the modern game because of his defense though, who knows.

Duncan is hands down better than Shaq, if only because Duncan cared so much, but Shaq never cared. It affects all their play and all their statistics; Shaq was more talented, definitely, but he never fucking fulfilled it.

 

[Ancien Régime]

Kobe can break the list if he passes Jordan in titles and Kareem in total scoring which are both very real possibilities - I expect Kobe to remain a 24/5/5 ppg scorer until the day he retires, and a 27/6/6 scorer for the next year or two, and because of that, they should remain title contenders for the foreseeable future.

Kobe will never have the ppg numbers (he never needed them - he ALWAYS had either Shaq, or a very solid team) and he's not the same level of defender (he's a great defender but Michael was a top 3 perimeter defender of all time - probably Pippen, Cooper and Jordan is the list) but 7 titles and 40,000 points are just too huge to ignore.

As for the list, it's Jordan, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Kareem.

CK, Wilt would average 32/16/5/4/2 with a 65% or better shooting percentage. today and be MVP every year. He was an amazing athlete by modern standards, and you have to consider that he would have access to modern medicine and training methods (which is where the big gap in player quality is - sports science has come a long way in 40 years obviously!)

He's basically Duncan + Shaq with Dwight Howard athleticism.

 

[Lakers]

Kobe can break the list if he passes Jordan in titles and Kareem in total scoring which are both very real possibilities - I expect Kobe to remain a 24/5/5 ppg scorer until the day he retires, and a 27/6/6 scorer for the next year or two, and because of that, they should remain title contenders for the foreseeable future.

Kobe will never have the ppg numbers (he never needed them - he ALWAYS had either Shaq, or a very solid team) and he's not the same level of defender (he's a great defender but Michael was a top 3 perimeter defender of all time - probably Pippen, Cooper and Jordan is the list) but 7 titles and 40,000 points are just too huge to ignore.

As for the list, it's Jordan, Wilt, Magic, Bird, Kareem.

CK, Wilt would average 32/16/5/4/2 with a 65% or better shooting percentage. today and be MVP every year. He was an amazing athlete by modern standards, and you have to consider that he would have access to modern medicine and training methods (which is where the big gap in player quality is - sports science has come a long way in 40 years obviously!)

He's basically Duncan + Shaq with Dwight Howard athleticism.

Every superstar needs a star or two to compliment them... Shaq had Wade, a pretty good Penny Hardaway, Kobe and now Lebron. Almost every NBA champion has had 1 super star or close to super star and 1-2 stars to compliment them. The only team that comes to mind would be the Pistons from a few years ago, but even they can fit into that idea. Billups was almost if not a Superstar, and Richard Hamilton was his star swingman. Even Ben Wallace could be considered a star since he was pretty much the Dennis Rodman of the Pistons. Plus its kind of unfair to label Kobe like that. Pretty much you could argue that Bird and Magic might not be thought of as highly if they didnt have 2-3 HOF'ers around them. Magic had Big Game James Worthy and Kareem, while Bird had Mchale and Parish (Walton also but he was on the way downside of his career, and who knows if Len Bias hadnt done Coce maybe Bird wins another title or two).


And Kobe didnt ALWAYS have a good team around him. The post shaq era his best players were an alright Lamar Odom and LOL smush parker, LMAO chris mihm and a ROFL Kwame Brown. Even if that was only 3 seasons, he still managed to get that team to a 7th seed twice. Again, I dont think he should break this list at this time of course. But lets say the Lakers win 2-3 titles before hes done. If he has 6-7 titles hes at least gotta be in consideration for the top 5

Wilt also is hard to determine. He was the Lebron of that time but times 10. He was a track star, which contributed to his freak athleticism, but he was also a 7 footer during an era that didnt produce many coordinated 7 footers. His only problem is that he was a stat rat, while Russel was a winner. If Chamberlain worried more about winning he maybe cuts Russel's title count down to 6 or 7 while having 5-6 of his own. I also would probably have to put Russel as an auto-lock for top 5. Even if he did play during the 60's, while winning 11 titles, two of those he was a player-coach. He was basically the Jackie Moon of the 60's except he was actually serious about winning and he won two by playing and coaching

 

[frogbandit]

1. Jordan
2. Wilt
3. Magic
4. Bird
5. Kareem

No one today can break the list, imo.

 

[Solus]

No Celtic bias here, nope

1. Larry Bird
2. Bill Russell
3. Michael Jordan
4. Magic Johnson
5. Julius Erving

 

[gosugarrett]

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. Magic
4. Bird
5. Wilt

Also, Kobe is NOT breaking this list. Plain and simple.

 

[Empoleon Guru]

Michael Jordan
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell
Oscar Robertson
Kareem Abdul-Jabar

I don't see how you can debate about Kobe not the Diesel.
Shaq easily cracks top 10 while Kobe is up for debate there.

 

[CaptKirby]

Michael Jordan
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell
Oscar Robertson
Kareem Abdul-Jabar

I don't see how you can debate about Kobe not the Diesel.
Shaq easily cracks top 10 while Kobe is up for debate there.

I hope you realize that Oscar's rebounds and points were both something like 50% inflated when you are putting him above Magic fucking Johnson. The assists were legitimate though.

 

[Empoleon Guru]

I hope you realize that Oscar's rebounds and points were both something like 50% inflated when you are putting him above Magic fucking Johnson. The assists were legitimate though.

I just feel really bad when I include Magic and not Bird so I tend to exclude him.

 

[Rairde]

1. Larry Bird
2. Bill Russell
3. Michael Jordan
4. Magic Johnson
5. Julius Erving

This is my exact list. Very influenced by my father's views on basketball who will have Larry Bird as his number one as well.

 

[CaptKirby]

Well Bird could have had a lot of trouble putting up numbers in the '90s instead of '80s, whereas Johnson would not have that problem other than "points are at the lowest level ever".

 

[bugcatcherjasonn]

MARK EATON

 

[rtc3]

I really like CaptKirby's list.

1. Michael "GOAT" Jordan

2. Kareem. Greatest (not necessarily best) Laker of all time, and is up there with Shaq and Hakeem as the best centers ever imo (LOL Wilt).

3. Magic Johnson. Best PG ever, too bad his career got cut short. A walking mismatch at his position, and had superb court vision and passing ability.

4. Larry "Only White Guy to Appear Consistently in any Top 10/5 Greatest Players of All Time Topic" Bird (jerry west and stockton don't really cut it imo). Arguably the best overall shooter of all time, great passer for his size/position, clutch, great bball IQ, etc etc.

5. Bill Russel. I really don't like how Wilt and this guy are overrated. They dominated in a much weaker era and are often touted as the best centers ever when in reality they are surpassed maybe not in legacy but certainly in talent/skill by guys like Shaq, Hakeem, Kareem, Duncan, etc etc. I gotta at least give Russel some slack though, since he got dem ringz. K but really I'm only putting him here cuz the topic title says "greatest", not "best".

Honorable Mentions, in no order: Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem, Oscar Robertson, Wilt (yeah he can be top 10 for his statistical dominance. Kobe's 81 > Wilt's 100 though imo) Kobe (some people don't see him as top 10 quite yet but I admit I'm a fan and he certainly has the accolades to back it up. Not to mention he still has some gas left in him)