The Sporting News: Greatest 75 Players and Top 10 Peaks in NBA History

[Pipp33]

Jordan at #1 is merely the last remnants of MJ nostalgia.

LeBron will be #1 on that list eventually once more people understand how improbable it was that he went to 8 consecutive finals in a tough era filled with loaded teams and two dynasties (Warriors and Spurs) without the help of absolute masters like Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Krause.

In other words, Michael Jordan was not capable of doing what LeBron did at his peak.

On the other hand, LeBron on the 1990s Bulls probably would've won 8 titles minimum.

Honestly, this is utterly ridiculous.....You state that he went to 8 consecutive finals, then list 2 West teams that he didn't have to go through to get to those finals because the East was a shambles in that era.

[OdomFan]

Jordan at #1 is merely the last remnants of MJ nostalgia.

LeBron will be #1 on that list eventually once more people understand how improbable it was that he went to 8 consecutive finals in a tough era filled with loaded teams and two dynasties (Warriors and Spurs) without the help of absolute masters like Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Krause.

In other words, Michael Jordan was not capable of doing what LeBron did at his peak.

On the other hand, LeBron on the 1990s Bulls probably would've won 8 titles minimum.

Face facts. Putting Lebron ahead of MJ is always going to be the minority opinion no matter how much time goes by, because the footage is still going to be there.of both, and by this point where Lebron is not far from retirement there really isn't much else he can do to change that. Not even 1 more championship because fact is he still got swept multiple times, and lost multiple times in embarrassing fashion in his prime. All while also jumping from team to team to try to take the easy way out.

This is not the resume of someone will be looked at as better than everybody else. He's your favorite of all time. That is all.

[OriginalRed]

Jordan at #1 is merely the last remnants of MJ nostalgia.

LeBron will be #1 on that list eventually once more people understand how improbable it was that he went to 8 consecutive finals in a tough era filled with loaded teams and two dynasties (Warriors and Spurs) without the help of absolute masters like Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Krause.

In other words, Michael Jordan was not capable of doing what LeBron did at his peak.

On the other hand, LeBron on the 1990s Bulls probably would've won 8 titles minimum.

Found Nick Wright's burner

[Roronoa]

Jordan at #1 is merely the last remnants of MJ nostalgia.

LeBron will be #1 on that list eventually once more people understand how improbable it was that he went to 8 consecutive finals in a tough era filled with loaded teams and two dynasties (Warriors and Spurs) without the help of absolute masters like Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Krause.

In other words, Michael Jordan was not capable of doing what LeBron did at his peak.

On the other hand, LeBron on the 1990s Bulls probably would've won 8 titles minimum.

here we go again

[TheLand13]

Jordan at #1 is merely the last remnants of MJ nostalgia.

LeBron will be #1 on that list eventually once more people understand how improbable it was that he went to 8 consecutive finals in a tough era filled with loaded teams and two dynasties (Warriors and Spurs) without the help of absolute masters like Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Krause.

In other words, Michael Jordan was not capable of doing what LeBron did at his peak.

On the other hand, LeBron on the 1990s Bulls probably would've won 8 titles minimum.

This has to be satire, right?

[SelfishPlayer]

This is a Dr J thread all day long. You can't have this conversation without Julius Erving.

[skones]

Jordan at #1 is merely the last remnants of MJ nostalgia.

LeBron will be #1 on that list eventually once more people understand how improbable it was that he went to 8 consecutive finals in a tough era filled with loaded teams and two dynasties (Warriors and Spurs) without the help of absolute masters like Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and Jerry Krause.

In other words, Michael Jordan was not capable of doing what LeBron did at his peak.

On the other hand, LeBron on the 1990s Bulls probably would've won 8 titles minimum.

So you'd say Jordan was THE dynasty, and Lebron was not?

Interesting.

[CIN-C-STAR]

Durant over Duncan, Steph & Hakeem is a joke.
How does riding Steph's coattails to two Finals and winning one MVP = top-10 all time?
All 3 of the other guys have more titles and more MVPs

[An Unbiased Fan]

Kobe's strength is longevity, not peak. He should be considerably lower IMO.

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

[skones]

Kobe's strength is longevity, not peak. He should be considerably lower IMO.

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

When?

[NZB2323]

How is Durant above Curry, Hakeem, and Duncan? What a joke.

[celticfan42487]

Kobe's strength is longevity, not peak. He should be considerably lower IMO.

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

When?

In the era of media hype and nativity of fans.

[Lakers824]

Well, interesting. Was wondering if McGrady is in it (he's in the 40s).
Guess with peak they didn't mean just one season.
Only the top 10 looks more like they considered the whole career.

"Only" 259 players were considered. I'm sure there could be more, but wouldn't change the top75 much.

Thats what came to mind as well. His 2003 (regular season and post season combined) was better than any perimeter player in that era. If peak is considered a one season peak, then he's ahead of everyone other than Kobe.

Shaq peaked higher than LeBron, as did Kareem. Lebron's a better overall player than either but even the best version of Lebron (2013) was pedestrian in the finals against an aging team.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Well, interesting. Was wondering if McGrady is in it (he's in the 40s).
Guess with peak they didn't mean just one season.
Only the top 10 looks more like they considered the whole career.

"Only" 259 players were considered. I'm sure there could be more, but wouldn't change the top75 much.

Thats what came to mind as well. His 2003 (regular season and post season combined) was better than any perimeter player in that era. If peak is considered a one season peak, then he's ahead of everyone other than Kobe.

Shaq peaked higher than LeBron, as did Kareem. Lebron's a better overall player than either but even the best version of Lebron (2013) was pedestrian in the finals against an aging team.

You could just as easily argue 2009, 2012 or other iterations of Lebron were better than Shaq and Kareem.

[SNPA]

Bird to low.

Some people just don’t know, and it shows.

[Doranku]

Kobe's strength is longevity, not peak. He should be considerably lower IMO.

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

When?

'01, '03, '06, and '08 Kobe. Take your pick. Crazy how Wade's peak is so romanticized when it was one year in '09 where he got bounced in the first round by Iso Joe.

[Lakers824]

Well, interesting. Was wondering if McGrady is in it (he's in the 40s).
Guess with peak they didn't mean just one season.
Only the top 10 looks more like they considered the whole career.

"Only" 259 players were considered. I'm sure there could be more, but wouldn't change the top75 much.

Thats what came to mind as well. His 2003 (regular season and post season combined) was better than any perimeter player in that era. If peak is considered a one season peak, then he's ahead of everyone other than Kobe.

Shaq peaked higher than LeBron, as did Kareem. Lebron's a better overall player than either but even the best version of Lebron (2013) was pedestrian in the finals against an aging team.

You could just as easily argue 2009, 2012 or other iterations of Lebron were better than Shaq and Kareem.

I wouldn't argue that 2009 or 2012 were Lebron's peak, nevermind compare those versions with peak Shaq and peak Kareem.

[skones]

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

When?

'01, '03, '06, and '08 Kobe. Take your pick. Crazy how Wade's peak is so romanticized when it was one year in '09 where he got bounced in the first round by Iso Joe.

I suppose this depends on your definition of peak in this instance, in which I'd basically take a two or three year run. Using that definition, your response illustrates the issue given the separation in years.

It's disingenuous to call Wade's peak romanticized given his 05-06 campaign culminating in an absolutely dominant finals performance, one better than any of the 5 Kobe had.

My issue with Kobe in the top 10. Never once did I feel like he was the single best player in the league in a given year.

[BoatsNZones]

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

When?

'01, '03, '06, and '08 Kobe. Take your pick. Crazy how Wade's peak is so romanticized when it was one year in '09 where he got bounced in the first round by Iso Joe.

It was '08 to 2011 and he was incredible. I'd argue better than Kobe ever was (most advanced marks definitely believe so). I'd include "outplayed Lebron James in the Finals", but hell so did Jason Terry.

TD and Curry's peak were better than both as well as KD's, though. Strange omissions from the top 10.

[TheLand13]

Well, interesting. Was wondering if McGrady is in it (he's in the 40s).
Guess with peak they didn't mean just one season.
Only the top 10 looks more like they considered the whole career.

"Only" 259 players were considered. I'm sure there could be more, but wouldn't change the top75 much.

Thats what came to mind as well. His 2003 (regular season and post season combined) was better than any perimeter player in that era. If peak is considered a one season peak, then he's ahead of everyone other than Kobe.

Shaq peaked higher than LeBron, as did Kareem. Lebron's a better overall player than either but even the best version of Lebron (2013) was pedestrian in the finals against an aging team.

I don't know if I agree that Shaq and Kareem peaked higher than LeBron. LeBron at his peak was the ultimate player, the kind we had never seen before except for player created versions in video games. His athleticism was at its highest form. He could go all out on both ends of the floor for every minute he played and it would feel like he wasn't missing a beat. His scoring was at an unstoppable level, shooting incredible percentages from the field (56% from the field and 40% from three). His defense was the best it had ever been (and he should have won DPOY, and the fact that he didn't is a crime). And the scary part was, there were times where it looked like he wasn't even trying. He just went with the flow, barely putting in effort and was still out there dominating the competition like it was nobodies business. We've never seen anything like that before.

2013 LeBron is the closest we've ever had to a perfect player, someone who was truly dominant in almost all aspects of the game with no noticeable weaknesses.