Where would Jerry West rank in the 90’s?

[Matt15]

Where would Jerry West rank among his peers if his prime happened in the 90’s?

[Rishkar]

I think Jordan and Hakeem are above him, with him or David Robinson being third. I think I'd lean 4th best, (like his own era)

[SportsGuru08]

I think Jordan and Hakeem are above him, with him or David Robinson being third. I think I'd lean 4th best, (like his own era)

Robinson would be better in the regular season, but certainly not in the playoffs

[Rishkar]

I think Jordan and Hakeem are above him, with him or David Robinson being third. I think I'd lean 4th best, (like his own era)

Robinson would be better in the regular season, but certainly not in the playoffs

That's definitely fair, but I also think he'd be healthier than West in general and rim protection is just incredibly important in the 90s. I see it as tossup, so I'm not really looking to argue it either way

[eminence]

I'll pick a random year and then guess where I'd slot a (healthy) prime West season in a POY style vote (giving him a good statistical deep playoff-run, but no title, as is tradition).

Random year: 1999

A pretty generous year for Jerry. Imagine him in place of Reggie Miller, puts together a strong statistical year, makes a Finals run (I have him as a pretty clear upgrade to '99 Miller and enough to get by the Knicks), but falls to the Spurs in the Finals.

Probably competes for the scoring title with AI/Shaq, Pacers compete for best record in the league with the Spurs/Jazz.

I see 4 somewhat serious contenders (sorry Robinson, I get the case, but I'm not buying).

Duncan: 37-13 Spurs, +10.6 On, +4.2 On/Off, 22/11/2, 106 TS+, wins title
Malone: 37-13 Jazz, +10.4 On, +13.0 On/Off, 24/9/4, 113 TS+, 2nd round loss to the Blazers
Mourning: 33-17 Heat, +12.4 On, +18.2 On/Off, 20/11/2, 110 TS+, 1st round loss to the Knicks
Shaq: 31-19 Lakers, +6.4 On, +10.0 On/Off, 26/11/2, 114 TS+ 2nd round loss to the Spurs

I'd probably give West the close #2 to Duncan there. Malone/Mourning would've been right there in the RS, but serious PO letdowns at the team level leave them short. Shaq dogging it too much on defense prior to Phil, and didn't do anything all that special in the POs (tough comp obviously).

Probably one of the better case scenarios for West in the hypothetical.

[rk2023]

Top 3 for me, behind that of Jordan and 90-95 Hakeem (I’d say his game translates rather fine for that era). I would take West over Robinson prime for prime, as I think he is a lot more resilient in a playoff setting. I don’t think 90s Shaq is good enough to warrant a comparison here

[One_and_Done]

Much lower than he did in his own era.

[RealSHAQ]

Where would Jerry West rank among his peers if his prime happened in the 90’s?

Jerry West would rank as the 2nd best guard after Michael Jordan. Higher than the likes of Drexler, Stockton, Penny, Gary Payton and Reggie.

If he was drafted in the 80s, there is an argument that mobile big men Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson would be picked before West. But in terms of influence in the 90s, there's no reason why he wouldn't be just as valuable as Karl Malone, Pippen, Shaq or Barkley. Talking of 90s duos (MJ-Pippen, Stockton-Malone, Penny-Shaq, Payton-Kemp) imagine if we gave Hakeem a true 'Robin' in Jerry West!

[penbeast0]

I think Jordan and Hakeem are above him, with him or David Robinson being third. I think I'd lean 4th best, (like his own era)

Robinson would be better in the regular season, but certainly not in the playoffs

Like his own era (v. Oscar) . . .

[penbeast0]

Much lower than he did in his own era.

How do you feel about 90s stars like Jordan and Hakeem playing today?

[One_and_Done]

Much lower than he did in his own era.

How do you feel about 90s stars like Jordan and Hakeem playing today?

Their impact would be less in today's superior league, as I've said many times. I'd likely still have both as top 10 all-timers though; they didn't play in the garbage league West did. If they had, they'd have transcended it more than he did too.

In the top 100 project my top 3 was Lebron (by far), then Duncan & Kareem. I never got the chance to see where I'd vote Jordan because he was voted in before Duncan. I worry that even 4th place might be overrating him. Going back and watching him play is pretty jarring when you compare it to modern ball.

My thoughts on Hakeem can be found in extensive discussion in the top 10 threads, especially in comparison to Duncan.

[penbeast0]

Fair enough, it's a coherent, consistent point of view.

[One_and_Done]

Not even top 10. As bad a league as the 90s was in many ways, it still was vastly better than the comical 60s.

[70sFan]

Not even top 10. As bad a league as the 90s was in many ways, it still was vastly better than the comical 60s.

What's exactly funny about the 1960s league?

[One_and_Done]

Not even top 10. As bad a league as the 90s was in many ways, it still was vastly better than the comical 60s.

What's exactly funny about the 1960s league?

The thought of them trying to play in today's game.

[70sFan]

Not even top 10. As bad a league as the 90s was in many ways, it still was vastly better than the comical 60s.

What's exactly funny about the 1960s league?

The thought of them trying to play in today's game.

I don't find it funny, you have a specific sense of humour.

[One_and_Done]

What's exactly funny about the 1960s league?

The thought of them trying to play in today's game.

I don't find it funny, you have a specific sense of humour.

I think most fans would be giggling if they got to watch modern players tea bag old timers like West while they blew by them with ease and ran them into the ground. It's pretty objectively amusing I would say.

[70sFan]

The thought of them trying to play in today's game.

I don't find it funny, you have a specific sense of humour.

I think most fans would be giggling if they got to watch modern players tea bag old timers like West while they blew by them with ease and ran them into the ground. It's pretty objectively amusing I would say.

Players today also get that treatment and I've never found it "amusing". If West played in today's league and you wouldn't know he's from the 1960s, you wouldn't find anything funny about him, because he wouldn't stand out after a preseason adjustment - even if he wouldn't be good.

You really act like today players are different species compared to the primitive people from the 1960s. Are you aware that West is still alive? He's big athletic dude in his prime, he was also a professional athlete. Maybe he wouldn't be able to reach the top of the top (nobody knows that), but there would be nothing funny about him playing basketball today.

[One_and_Done]

Yeh I disagree. If we could teleport West into today's game I feel alot of laughs would be had about modern guys bodying him left and right.

[70sFan]

Yeh I disagree. If we could teleport West into today's game I feel alot of laughs would be had about modern guys bodying him left and right.

It just shows how clueless you are about it then. Even if that's the case, nobody would recognise him being different than lower level players. You wouldn't notice a difference between West and other players on the court, he's the same human being who can play basketball.