ElGee wrote:Based on career value -- not peak -- I have it as:
1. Jordan
2. Magic
3/4 Bird/Barkley
5/6 Nash/Kareem
7. Dirk
8/9 Kobe/Oscar
10. Shaq
West gets the HM. And the one I second-guess is Jordan.
I don't think Kobe has any case against Shaq even career wise.
Peak Shaq was definitely a better offensive anchor then Peak Kobe.
Not a large gap statistically but Shaq was far more consistent and far more resilient against tougher defensive teams & tougher defensive matchups.
Their non-Peak years are significantly further apart with Shaq gaining a huge edge in raw TS% to go along with the advantages I mentioned above.
Don't really see the case for Dirk either.
I have him more on the Kobe level as an offensive anchor which is firmly below the Shaq/Kareem level.
Bird also doesn't really seem like a better offensive anchor then O'neal even considering his savant like off-ball ability.
The rest I can accept though I would also rank Barkley below him. Barkley is kind of a poor mans O'neal.
Worse volume scorer, more of a ball stopper, doesn't warp defenses as much etc...
Don't think Lebron is close to Shaq at the moment either. Not at all.
The only potential way he could surpass Shaq (in the distant future) is through much better longevity.
Shaq warped defenses more then LBJ does and he was a much better scorer against varied/tougher defenses.
No way Peak Shaq is getting shutdown by Dallas, an old Spurs team or Boston who couldn't even stop Grandpa O'neal.
RSCD3_ wrote:If I'm reading you right you prefer Hakeem on offense to LeBron and Bird?
Lebron (especially young Lebron) had a pretty bad achilles heal as a scorer which good defensive teams could exploit.
I think I would prefer Hakeem as my offensive anchor because I trust him better to maintain his effectiveness when facing tougher defensive teams & matchups.
To be fair though outside of maybe my Top 4 (Jordan, Kareem, Shaq & Magic) I don't have any strict order.
Guys like Bron, Bird & even Kobe could probably be ranked higher on my list.