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Not sure how many times discussed here, or if the list is accurate, but here goes -

Bill Simmons top 96 Basketball players of all time

Level 1

96. Tom Chambers

95. Jo Jo White

94. Jack Twyman

93. Kevin Johnson

92. Bob Lanier

91. Dwight Howard

90. Chris Paul

89. Shawn Kemp

88. Gail Goodrich

87. Connie Hawkins

86. Arvydas Sabonis

85. Robert Horry

84. Cliff Hagan

83. Vince Carter

82. Chris Mullin

81. Dave Bing

80. Bailey Howell

79. Bobby Dandridge

78. Paul Westphal

77. Dan Issel

76. Artis Gilmore

75. Tracy McGrady

74. Joe Dumars

73. Sidney Moncrief

72. Chris Webber

71. Lenny Wilkens

70. David Thompson

69. Dennis Rodman

68. Pete Maravich

67. Earl Monroe

66. Adrian Dantley

65. Alex English

64. Jerry Lucas

63. Ray Allen

62. Reggie Miller

Level 2

61. Bob McAdoo

60. Nate Archibald

59. Robert Parish

58. Bernard King

57. Tommy Heinsohn

56. Paul Arizin

55. Dominique Wilkins

54. Paul Pierce

53. Dwayne Wade

52. Dennis Johnson

51. Bill Sharman

50. Dolph Schayes

49. Elvin Hayes

48. James Worthy

47. Billy Cunningham

46. Hal Greer

45. Dave DeBusschere

44. Nate Thurmond

43. Clyde Drexler

42. Jason Kidd

41. Wes Unseld

40. Gary Payton

39. Patrick Ewing

38. Steve Nash

37. Dirk Nowitzki

Level 3

36. George Mikan

35. Kevin McHale

34. George Gervin

33. Sam Jones

32. Walt Frazier

31. Dave Cowens

30. Willis Reed

29. Allen Iverson

28. David Robinson

27. Bill Walton

26. Rick Barry

25. John Stockton

Level 4

24. Scottie Pippen

23. Isiah Thomas

22. Kevin Garnett

21. Bob Cousy

20. LeBron James

19. Charles Barkley

18. Karl Malone

17. Bob Pettit

16. Julius Erving

15. Kobe Bryant

14. Elgin Baylor

13. John Havlicek

The Pantheon

12. Moses Malone

11. Shaquille O’Neal

10. Hakeem Olajuwon

9. Oscar Robertson

8. Jerry West

7. Tim Duncan

6. Wilt Chamberlain

5. Larry Bird

4. Magic Johnson

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

2. Bill Russell

1. Michael Jordan

Strange list, wonder what his criteria are? For example:

If we are talking about ability + accomplishments, how is LeBron above DRob? So he must be ranking purely on peak ability . . . but then how are LeBron and Cousy neck and neck?

ponder276 wrote:Strange list, wonder what his criteria are? For example:

If we are talking about ability + accomplishments, how is LeBron above DRob? So he must be ranking purely on peak ability . . . but then how are LeBron and Cousy neck and neck?

It's all explained in his book. Great read, go check it out.

Not a great read - I've read it....

I've been reading his stuff since 2000 so I guess I'm tired of his style...

But

Robinson at 28 and Hakeem at 10 ????????

Pretty sure he moved Kobe up to #8 after his championship run in 09.

How are Oscar and West ahead of Hakeem and Shaq?

11. Shaquille O’Neal

10. Hakeem Olajuwon

9. Oscar Robertson

8. Jerry West

bad list

Yeah, Simmons is a good read for some humor and odd takes on things, not for real analysis.

Russell over Kareem/Hakeem/Shaq?

Silver Bullet wrote:Not a great read - I've read it....

Silver Bullet has spoken. My opinions are invalid.

Nothing to see here, move along, don't read the book, Silver Bullet didn't like it.

Bad list is very very very bad

Optimism Prime wrote:

Silver Bullet wrote:Not a great read - I've read it....

Silver Bullet has spoken. My opinions are invalid.

Nothing to see here, move along, don't read the book, Silver Bullet didn't like it.

You can say Great Read and I can't say not a great read ?

Simmons and his Celtic homerism and some of his stupid stunts piss me off - specially when it's the same recycled jokes that have been running for 10 years now.

Silver Bullet wrote:

Optimism Prime wrote:

Silver Bullet wrote:Not a great read - I've read it....

Silver Bullet has spoken. My opinions are invalid.

Nothing to see here, move along, don't read the book, Silver Bullet didn't like it.

You can say Great Read and I can't say not a great read ?

Simmons and his Celtic homerism and some of his stupid stunts piss me off - specially when it's the same recycled jokes that have been running for 10 years now.

It's more the tone, honestly. "Not a great read - I've read it...." implies that if I had only read the book, I'd obviously be swayed to your correct viewpoint. I read it. I enjoyed it. How about I rephrase my quote to "I thought it was a great book and well worth the price" and you can do whatever you want to your response.

Yeah, there was a ton of Celtics homerism, but c'mon. It's what you expect from the guy. I've been reading him for ages too, and it doesn't bother me.

I have the book and I think it's a great read, too. I wouldn't say I agree with the guy 100% and maybe not even half the time, but that doesn't take away from the entertainment of the thing.

The list gets shaky as soon as it goes past Simmons' own memories starting around the mid 70s. Sam Jones' ranking is the only one I see as LOL, though. Not only is ahead of Nash/Dirk/Ewing, but he's actually on the next level than them. Debusschere is also way too high, despite being an epic role player he was still probably the 4th best guy on those Knicks teams. But the entry on him in the book is awesome

I have a feeling he wouldn't be so generous with Lebron's rankings after the last two seasons (He wrote this in April 09ish)

I don't like it but I think it has to do more with simmons writing style. I think the stories about players are pretty interesting but the book is annoying to read.

I like Simmons, but it's clear that he places every Celtic at the absolute highest place that he can conceivably be, despite claiming objectivity.

I do like that he puts West so high -- most underrated elite player ever.

He did over valued Sam Jones, Heinsoh, Sharman, Cousy and also Havlicek and Cowens to a lesser extent, but he did put Magic before Bird

My first-biggest problem -- the huge gap between Thomas and Dumars.

DumbyTheWizard wrote:He did over valued Sam Jones, Heinsoh, Sharman, Cousy and also Havlicek and Cowens to a lesser extent, but he did put Magic before Bird

Yeah and he went out of his way in the book to point out that he put Magic over Bird

That was his tradeoff for overvaluing all those other Celts.