Top 10 seasons for a center since 1990

[Homer38]

You can only choose a player once

[70sFan]

Tier 1:

1993 Hakeem
2000 Shaq
2003 Duncan

Tier 2:

1995 Robinson
2022 Jokic

Tier 3:

1990 Ewing
2000 Mourning
2009 Howard
2022 Embiid

Tier 4:

1994 Mutombo
2021 Gobert

I do not consider KG, Green, Davis, Pau Gasol to be centers.

[PistolPeteJR]

Tier 1:

1993 Hakeem
2000 Shaq
2003 Duncan

Tier 2:

1995 Robinson
2022 Jokic

Tier 3:

1990 Ewing
2000 Mourning
2009 Howard
2022 Embiid

Tier 4:

1994 Mutombo
2021 Gobert

I do not consider KG, Green, Davis, Pau Gasol to be centers.

Would you consider '07 Yao over '21 Gobert?

[70sFan]

Tier 1:

1993 Hakeem
2000 Shaq
2003 Duncan

Tier 2:

1995 Robinson
2022 Jokic

Tier 3:

1990 Ewing
2000 Mourning
2009 Howard
2022 Embiid

Tier 4:

1994 Mutombo
2021 Gobert

I do not consider KG, Green, Davis, Pau Gasol to be centers.

Would you consider '07 Yao over '21 Gobert?

No, not enough games played unfortunately.

[Colbinii]

2003 Tim Duncan
2000 Shaquille O'Neal
1993 Hakeem Olajuwon
2022 Nikola Jokic
1995 David Robinson
2002 Dirk Nowitzki
2009 Dwight Howard
2022 Joel Embiid
1990 Patrick Ewing
2021 Rudy Gobert

[penbeast0]

Despite all the All-NBA awards, no mentions of Amare yet (or DeMarcus Cousins) for which I am grateful. How about Marc Gasol or Ben Wallace? Do either compare to 94 Deke?

[PistolPeteJR]

Despite all the All-NBA awards, no mentions of Amare yet (or DeMarcus Cousins) for which I am grateful. How about Marc Gasol or Ben Wallace? Do either compare to 94 Deke?

I considered M.Gasol for sure. I can see him overtaking Gobert.

[Colbinii]

Despite all the All-NBA awards, no mentions of Amare yet (or DeMarcus Cousins) for which I am grateful. How about Marc Gasol or Ben Wallace? Do either compare to 94 Deke?

I considered M.Gasol for sure. I can see him overtaking Gobert.

I just don't see Wallace did can overtake 2021 Gobert.

RE Wallace: Could you imagine Gobert playing in the slow, grindy and spaceless early 2000's? He wouldn't have any weaknesses defensively and offensively he is a much better finisher than Wallace and a sneaky above average passer.

RE Gasol: I can see the trade-off of a play-finisher and pure rim protector/deterrent to Gasol's strength in the post and playmaking/shot making. Remember Gasol didn't become a consistent, higher-volume 3 point shooter until he started his athletic decline [Peaking defensively in 2013 or 2015, as a shooter he had his first volume 3-point shooting season in 2017).

[falcolombardi]

2003 duncan

1994 hakeem

2000 shaq

2020 anthony davis

2022 nikola jokic

1995 david robinson

1990 patrick ewing

2011 dwight howard

1994 dikembe mutombo

2016 draymond green

If embiid had been healthier he would make it but my list is about best season more so thsn best player. Gobert also on the cusp for me

[penbeast0]

2016 Green played 80% of his minutes at PF (regular season) according to B-R.com estimates as Bogut, Ezeli, and possibly even Spreights all played minutes and would probably be considered more centers.

[No-more-rings]

1a) 2000 Shaq
1b) 1994 Hakeem
1c) Duncan

4. 2022 Jokic
5. 1995 D Robinson
6. 1990 Ewing
7. 2011 Dwight
8. 2021 Embiid(really gets drug down by missed games and lower minutes)
9. 2000 Alonzo Mourning
10. 2015 Marc Gasol

It gets murky when it comes to players who have mixed seasons at PF and C, but functionally Duncan has almost always been a center while someone like Green or AD hasn’t.

[70sFan]

Despite all the All-NBA awards, no mentions of Amare yet (or DeMarcus Cousins) for which I am grateful. How about Marc Gasol or Ben Wallace? Do either compare to 94 Deke?

Don't see any case for Wallace over Gobert or Mutombo. Gasol is more interesting, but I don't think he peaked on both ends of the floor at the same time and he wasn't dominant enough offensively in general.

[70sFan]

1a) 2000 Shaq
1b) 1994 Hakeem
1c) Duncan

4. 2022 Jokic
5. 1995 D Robinson
6. 1990 Ewing
7. 2011 Dwight
8. 2021 Embiid(really gets drug down by missed games and lower minutes)
9. 2000 Alonzo Mourning
10. 2015 Marc Gasol

It gets murky when it comes to players who have mixed seasons at PF and C, but functionally Duncan has almost always been a center while someone like Green or AD hasn’t.

Why do you have Gasol over Gobert or Mutombo?

[rk2023]

2000 O'Neal
1994 Olajuwon
2022 Jokic
1996 Robinson
2007 Duncan
2019 Davis
2021 Embiid
1999 Mourning
1990 Ewing
2011 Dwight

[70sFan]

2000 O'Neal
1994 Olajuwon
2022 Jokic
1996 Robinson
2007 Duncan
2019 Davis
2021 Embiid
1999 Mourning
1990 Ewing
2011 Dwight

Why 2007 Duncan as his peak?

Why Mourning over Ewing?

[rk2023]

2000 O'Neal
1994 Olajuwon
2022 Jokic
1996 Robinson
2007 Duncan
2019 Davis
2021 Embiid
1999 Mourning
1990 Ewing
2011 Dwight

Why 2007 Duncan as his peak?

Why Mourning over Ewing?

2007 was when he was first listed as a C via BBREF, although that isn't always accurate position tracking. If it were to be 03 Duncan, i'd group him with Hakeem/Shaq moreso then D-Rob/Jokic.

I like Mourning's defense slightly more, while not being high on either's offense. Personally, I think they both grade out to be high-end Weak MVPs

[No-more-rings]

1a) 2000 Shaq
1b) 1994 Hakeem
1c) Duncan

4. 2022 Jokic
5. 1995 D Robinson
6. 1990 Ewing
7. 2011 Dwight
8. 2021 Embiid(really gets drug down by missed games and lower minutes)
9. 2000 Alonzo Mourning
10. 2015 Marc Gasol

It gets murky when it comes to players who have mixed seasons at PF and C, but functionally Duncan has almost always been a center while someone like Green or AD hasn’t.

Why do you have Gasol over Gobert or Mutombo?

I figured that would be asked.

Gasol isn’t on their level as a defender, but still all Nba caliber in his own right that season, and I prefer his offense for sure. One of the best passing bigs in the league at that time, and can help space the floor at 7 feet. I don’t think either of the other do as much as him for an offense, though I get Gobert has solid value there as a rim runner, garbage man etc.

Decided to put him there sort of randomly, never really cared for his game but starting to wonder if we underrate his impact. Grizz finished with the 3rd DRTG, 55 wins, good for 4th in a tough western conference. I think the 13th ORTG is pretty respectable considering they didn’t have a lot of good offensive players outside Gasol. Conley was good and Zbo was useful, but the rest were either pretty average or even below it.

In the playoffs the way the Grizzles just neuterd the Blazers offense(9th best in the league) was quite impressive as well with Gasol leading the way there.

Then before the injuries, it looks like they were on there way to possibly giving the Warriors a run for their money. And even with the Conley and Allen injuries they still held GSW to just 107 ORTG.

It’s possible that Gobert looks better by usual impact numbers, but I feel like the Jazz have pretty typically underperformed with Gobert in the playoffs. I don’t think I’d classify the Grizz as a powerhouse either, but they’ve had more impressive performances generally speaking imo. Maybe you can say Gasol had a more optimal supporting cast, but I don’t think either one were true title contenders either.

I’ll concede I could be overrating Gasol, but we’re not really comparing him to a tier 1 kind of superstar in the league so the argument is there I think. I maybe don’t know enough about Mutumbo in general other than he was an historic defensive force.

[70sFan]

2000 O'Neal
1994 Olajuwon
2022 Jokic
1996 Robinson
2007 Duncan
2019 Davis
2021 Embiid
1999 Mourning
1990 Ewing
2011 Dwight

Why 2007 Duncan as his peak?

Why Mourning over Ewing?

2007 was when he was first listed as a C via BBREF, although that isn't always accurate position tracking. If it were to be 03 Duncan, i'd group him with Hakeem/Shaq moreso then D-Rob/Jokic.

I like Mourning's defense slightly more, while not being high on either's offense. Personally, I think they both grade out to be high-end Weak MVPs

Thanks for the answer. I personally prefer Ewing on both ends of the court, so it's interesting that the evaluation of these two players can vary so much.

[Colbinii]

1a) 2000 Shaq
1b) 1994 Hakeem
1c) Duncan

4. 2022 Jokic
5. 1995 D Robinson
6. 1990 Ewing
7. 2011 Dwight
8. 2021 Embiid(really gets drug down by missed games and lower minutes)
9. 2000 Alonzo Mourning
10. 2015 Marc Gasol

It gets murky when it comes to players who have mixed seasons at PF and C, but functionally Duncan has almost always been a center while someone like Green or AD hasn’t.

You have Shaq/Hakeem/Duncan all in the same tier yet every other player not in the same tier?

[No-more-rings]

1a) 2000 Shaq
1b) 1994 Hakeem
1c) Duncan

4. 2022 Jokic
5. 1995 D Robinson
6. 1990 Ewing
7. 2011 Dwight
8. 2021 Embiid(really gets drug down by missed games and lower minutes)
9. 2000 Alonzo Mourning
10. 2015 Marc Gasol

It gets murky when it comes to players who have mixed seasons at PF and C, but functionally Duncan has almost always been a center while someone like Green or AD hasn’t.

You have Shaq/Hakeem/Duncan all in the same tier yet every other player not in the same tier?

To me they're far above the rest, and hard to separate the 3 that's why. I think all those guys have a solid goat peak argument, the rest are nowhere near that.