Greatest Peaks Project (2022): #9 - 1985-86 Larry Bird

[Doctor MJ]

Giannis mostly doesn't play center.

Jokic plays virtually nothing like any of the guys who have been voted in.

Embiid is the closest thing to these guys but with an ability to shoot from 3 and attack from the perimeter, and by the end of the playoffs the question was whether he was Top 5 or not.

Embiid was injured kn the playoffs tho, before them he was unquestionably top 5

Giannis and jokic dont play like most bigs but neither does curry play like most guards and nobody says he doesnt count as one

Embiid was second in MVP votes, no argument for him outside the top 5. Especially having to play with no Simmons the whole year and then Harden who played like crap.

I am aware of his MVP finish. I wasn't intending to make this about me, because I was swayed by the arguments of others, but I didn't have him in my POY Top 5.

First thing I should make clear is that I had him ranked 5th at the end of the regular season for MVP behind Jokic, Tatum, Curry and Giannis. What shifted for me in the playoffs was moving Butler ahead.

None of that is meant to be an insult toward Embiid. I said the whole time I felt like I thought Embiid was having a Top 5 level year whether he made my final 5 or not.

Think of that what you will, and feel free to respond, but let's not digress too much to discuss Embiid unless you're currently championing him for the next slots on the list.

[Doctor MJ]

Embiid was injured kn the playoffs tho, before them he was unquestionably top 5

Giannis and jokic dont play like most bigs but neither does curry play like most guards and nobody says he doesnt count as one

1. Right, but the feeling for many is that he got surpassed in the playoffs, not simply that he played worse.

2. There's not a question of whether guards can thrive today the way there is with bigs.

If he didnt get injured maybe sixers beat miami and nobody ranks butler above embiid, sixers went 2-2 with a hurt joel playing

There are 3 bigs playing at a higher level than any non curry-guard (and jokic and giannis prolly better than curry too) right now

If we ranked curry top 5 in 2021 i dont see no reason to not have embiid top 5 in 2022, injured playoffs shouldnt drop off a player more than no playoffs
(i have 2022 embiid as close to 2021 curry in regular season impact)

I never said Embiid's season dropped because of the playoffs, only that he got surpassed by someone.

And to be crystal clear, I said the exact same thing the previous year at the end of the regular season about Curry: He had a great season, but he might get surpassed by one or more players who achieve great things in the playoffs. In that case, I had Curry at 3 and got surpassed by Giannis' layoff run. Hence, my estimation of Curry did not drop, but my ranking of him there did.

But as I said in my post to Black Feet, I really don't think this is such an important point to dwell on at present unless you're bringing up Embiid as someone who should be considered right now or want to use his stature and his weaknesses to specifically make the case for someone else.

[Black Feet]

Embiid was injured kn the playoffs tho, before them he was unquestionably top 5

Giannis and jokic dont play like most bigs but neither does curry play like most guards and nobody says he doesnt count as one

Embiid was second in MVP votes, no argument for him outside the top 5. Especially having to play with no Simmons the whole year and then Harden who played like crap.

I am aware of his MVP finish. I wasn't intending to make this about me, because I was swayed by the arguments of others, but I didn't have him in my POY Top 5.

First thing I should make clear is that I had him ranked 5th at the end of the regular season for MVP behind Jokic, Tatum, Curry and Giannis. What shifted for me in the playoffs was moving Butler ahead.

None of that is meant to be an insult toward Embiid. I said the whole time I felt like I thought Embiid was having a Top 5 level year whether he made my final 5 or not.

Think of that what you will, and feel free to respond, but let's not digress too much to discuss Embiid unless you're currently championing him for the next slots on the list.

fair enough these are your rankings, also MVP doesn’t necessarily equate to who the best player is Jokic and Embiid being top 2 but personally would take Giannis over both.

I see a case for Curry above him given his playoffs but to me Tatum wasn’t impressive enough in the post season to warrant having him above Embiid and while Butler was excellent in the playoffs I don’t think his regular season play was good enough to put him over Embiid either.