Greatest Peaks (Guards)

[trelos6]

So trying to order every player was a mammoth task, so I took some notes from others and decided to do just the Guards, then Forwards and finally Centers.

Oh boy, it was tough (Once you get out of the top 10). As can be seen my my long list of honorable mentions, there are lots of seasons in contention. Anyways, here's the list, roughly broken into tiers.


1. 1991 Michael Jordan
2. 2017 Steph Curry
3. 2025 Shai Gilgeous Alexander
4. 1987 Magic Johnson

5. 1966 Jerry West
6. 1963 Oscar Robertson
7. 2009 Dwayne Wade
8. 2008 Kobe Bryant
9. 2007 Steve Nash
10. 2015 Chris Paul
11. 2020 James Harden
12. 2024 Luka Doncic

13. 2005 Manu Ginobili
14. 1972 Walt Frazier
15. 2003 Tracy McGrady
16. 1992 Clyde Drexler
17. 1996 Anfernee Hardaway
18. 2003 Jason Kidd
19. 1998 Gary Payton
20. 2017 Russell Westbrook
21. 1994 Reggie Miller
22. 2021 Damian Lillard
23. 1991 Kevin Johnson
24. 1993 Mark Price
25. 2001 Ray Allen
26. 1992 John Stockton
27. 2025 Tyrese Haliburton
28. 1983 Sidney Moncrief
29. 1985 Isiah Thomas
30. 2017 Isaiah Thomas

HM: 2011 Derrick Rose, 1980 George Gervin, 2006 Gilbert Arenas, 2010 Deron WIlliams, 1993 Mark Price, 1980 George Gervin, 1975 Calvin Murphy, 1955 Bob Cousy, 2006 Allen Iverson, 2024 Devin Booker, 2017 Kyle Lowry, 1991 Terry Porter, 1978 Paul Westphal, 1973 Tiny Archibald

[SpreeS]

My TOP10 guards peaks in no order

Oscar
West
Magic
Jordan
Kobe
Wade
Curry
Harden
Doncic
Shai

[trelos6]

Top 10-12 are basically consensus, IMO.

It’s also extremely difficult to rank seasons like 2021 Jrue Holiday. He was solid on both sides, one may say exceptional defensively. And then you compare that with Trae Young 2022, who was exceptional offensively but gave back quite a bit on the other end.

[rafale]

So trying to order every player was a mammoth task, so I took some notes from others and decided to do just the Guards, then Forwards and finally Centers.

Oh boy, it was tough (Once you get out of the top 10). As can be seen my my long list of honorable mentions, there are lots of seasons in contention. Anyways, here's the list, roughly broken into tiers.


1. 1991 Michael Jordan
2. 2017 Steph Curry
3. 2025 Shai Gilgeous Alexander
4. 1987 Magic Johnson

5. 1966 Jerry West
6. 1963 Oscar Robertson
7. 2009 Dwayne Wade
8. 2008 Kobe Bryant
9. 2007 Steve Nash
10. 2015 Chris Paul
11. 2020 James Harden
12. 2024 Luka Doncic

13. 2005 Manu Ginobili
14. 1972 Walt Frazier
15. 2003 Tracy McGrady
16. 1992 Clyde Drexler
17. 1996 Anfernee Hardaway
18. 2003 Jason Kidd
19. 1998 Gary Payton
20. 2017 Russell Westbrook
21. 1994 Reggie Miller
22. 2021 Damian Lillard
23. 1991 Kevin Johnson
24. 1993 Mark Price
25. 2001 Ray Allen
26. 1992 John Stockton
27. 2025 Tyrese Haliburton
28. 1983 Sidney Moncrief
29. 1985 Isiah Thomas
30. 2017 Isaiah Thomas

HM: 2011 Derrick Rose, 1980 George Gervin, 2006 Gilbert Arenas, 2010 Deron WIlliams, 1993 Mark Price, 1980 George Gervin, 1975 Calvin Murphy, 1955 Bob Cousy, 2006 Allen Iverson, 2024 Devin Booker, 2017 Kyle Lowry, 1991 Terry Porter, 1978 Paul Westphal, 1973 Tiny Archibald

Shai 2025 is way too high in my opinion, he was awesome in the RS but he was far from great in the playoffs, he had basically only 1 great series against an average defense (Nuggets).

OKC didn't win with the title with offense, they won the title with great defense first, and Shai is the 5th defender at best on the Thunder (Chet, Jalen Williams, Dort and Caruso are all better and you could easily argue Hartenstein is better too).

I also think 2003 TMAC should be higher but, to me, it's a very good ranking, i agree with 95 % of it

[AStark1991]

I'll give an honorable mention to 1981 Dennis Johnson. 18.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 43.6 FG%, 82.0 FT%. All-Star, First Team All-NBA, 8th in MVP voting, and was the top vote getter for NBA All-Defensive Team. Phoenix was also the top rated defensive unit in the league that year. It's pretty much a guarantee that DJ would have been the DPOY if the award existed at the time. It seems like a lot of people have forgotten just how impactful he was during his Sonics and Suns years because he's mostly remembered for his time with the Celtics.

[eminence]

Get my guy Bob Davies into the HMs and it gets a full stamp of approval.

Sam Jones another old-timer who'd probably make my HMs at list (Greer?). Peak Westbrook I'd have higher. Wouldn't go with '91 KJ due to the POs. Other minor differences exist I'm sure. A bit surprised to see Calvin Murphy even in the HMs, particularly '75. Did Brandon Roy get missed? A lot of folks love him.

It's tricky. I like your 3 main tiers. G'job putting in the work. Which guy from the list do you feel you learned the most about going through the exercise?

[f4p]

So trying to order every player was a mammoth task, so I took some notes from others and decided to do just the Guards, then Forwards and finally Centers.

Oh boy, it was tough (Once you get out of the top 10). As can be seen my my long list of honorable mentions, there are lots of seasons in contention. Anyways, here's the list, roughly broken into tiers.


1. 1991 Michael Jordan
2. 2017 Steph Curry
3. 2025 Shai Gilgeous Alexander
4. 1987 Magic Johnson

5. 1966 Jerry West
6. 1963 Oscar Robertson
7. 2009 Dwayne Wade
8. 2008 Kobe Bryant
9. 2007 Steve Nash
10. 2015 Chris Paul
11. 2020 James Harden
12. 2024 Luka Doncic

13. 2005 Manu Ginobili
14. 1972 Walt Frazier
15. 2003 Tracy McGrady
16. 1992 Clyde Drexler
17. 1996 Anfernee Hardaway
18. 2003 Jason Kidd
19. 1998 Gary Payton
20. 2017 Russell Westbrook
21. 1994 Reggie Miller
22. 2021 Damian Lillard
23. 1991 Kevin Johnson
24. 1993 Mark Price
25. 2001 Ray Allen
26. 1992 John Stockton
27. 2025 Tyrese Haliburton
28. 1983 Sidney Moncrief
29. 1985 Isiah Thomas
30. 2017 Isaiah Thomas

HM: 2011 Derrick Rose, 1980 George Gervin, 2006 Gilbert Arenas, 2010 Deron WIlliams, 1993 Mark Price, 1980 George Gervin, 1975 Calvin Murphy, 1955 Bob Cousy, 2006 Allen Iverson, 2024 Devin Booker, 2017 Kyle Lowry, 1991 Terry Porter, 1978 Paul Westphal, 1973 Tiny Archibald

Shai 2025 is way too high in my opinion, he was awesome in the RS but he was far from great in the playoffs, he had basically only 1 great series against an average defense (Nuggets).

OKC didn't win with the title with offense, they won the title with great defense first, and Shai is the 5th defender at best on the Thunder (Chet, Jalen Williams, Dort and Caruso are all better and you could easily argue Hartenstein is better too).

I also think 2003 TMAC should be higher but, to me, it's a very good ranking, i agree with 95 % of it

Yeah people are trying to have their cake and eat it too with shai. If the playoffs matter, then I’d take the best I’ve ever seen from Luka and make him play left handed and maybe it would be close to shai. There aren’t 8 or 9 spots between him and luka or harden. Harden was going toe to toe with the KD warriors and luka knocked off the 64 win suns. Shai was hoping to use the greatest defense ever to beat the +1.7 pacers while being complete ass in games 6 and 7 with a negative playoff rTS against terrible competition.

[trelos6]

Get my guy Bob Davies into the HMs and it gets a full stamp of approval.

Sam Jones another old-timer who'd probably make my HMs at list (Greer?). Peak Westbrook I'd have higher. Wouldn't go with '91 KJ due to the POs. Other minor differences exist I'm sure. A bit surprised to see Calvin Murphy even in the HMs, particularly '75. Did Brandon Roy get missed? A lot of folks love him.

It's tricky. I like your 3 main tiers. G'job putting in the work. Which guy from the list do you feel you learned the most about going through the exercise?

Can definitely see 1952 Bob Davies in the HM’s.

Murphy is a guy I’ve been higher on recently. He led the leagues best offense for many years in the mid 70’s while scoring efficiently. The team was also typically bottom 5 in pace. He had great handles and his jumper was silky. I could’ve gone any year from ‘74-‘77.

I love B Roy, but he was only a 25, +3% guy. IT4 was 32, +7% (garbage defense) and that’s #30. That’s the entry mark to top 30.

Even just scorers who don’t do much of anything else, Ray Allen was 24, +8%. Reggie was 23, +11%. There are high bars to clear in these discussions, especially when you’re adding only a little bit more with creation and passing.

[One_and_Done]

So trying to order every player was a mammoth task, so I took some notes from others and decided to do just the Guards, then Forwards and finally Centers.

Oh boy, it was tough (Once you get out of the top 10). As can be seen my my long list of honorable mentions, there are lots of seasons in contention. Anyways, here's the list, roughly broken into tiers.


1. 1991 Michael Jordan
2. 2017 Steph Curry
3. 2025 Shai Gilgeous Alexander
4. 1987 Magic Johnson

5. 1966 Jerry West
6. 1963 Oscar Robertson
7. 2009 Dwayne Wade
8. 2008 Kobe Bryant
9. 2007 Steve Nash
10. 2015 Chris Paul
11. 2020 James Harden
12. 2024 Luka Doncic

13. 2005 Manu Ginobili
14. 1972 Walt Frazier
15. 2003 Tracy McGrady
16. 1992 Clyde Drexler
17. 1996 Anfernee Hardaway
18. 2003 Jason Kidd
19. 1998 Gary Payton
20. 2017 Russell Westbrook
21. 1994 Reggie Miller
22. 2021 Damian Lillard
23. 1991 Kevin Johnson
24. 1993 Mark Price
25. 2001 Ray Allen
26. 1992 John Stockton
27. 2025 Tyrese Haliburton
28. 1983 Sidney Moncrief
29. 1985 Isiah Thomas
30. 2017 Isaiah Thomas

HM: 2011 Derrick Rose, 1980 George Gervin, 2006 Gilbert Arenas, 2010 Deron WIlliams, 1993 Mark Price, 1980 George Gervin, 1975 Calvin Murphy, 1955 Bob Cousy, 2006 Allen Iverson, 2024 Devin Booker, 2017 Kyle Lowry, 1991 Terry Porter, 1978 Paul Westphal, 1973 Tiny Archibald

Top 10 is probably more like Magic, Jordan, Curry, Shai, Luka, CP3, Nash, Harden, Wade, and T-Mac, in no particular order.

[Verticality]

I think with the new season we had many great guard seasons to input like Shai, Tyrese, and Edwards.

[falcolombardi]

Shai should have found some better rival teams to lose against instead to prove his goodness since i guess that is way better than winning thinghs lol

[jalengreen]

Don't care about his FG% when he decided to start chucking in the 4th quarter and go 1/8, Shai was good in G7. HIm and Caruso were the only good players for OKC in the first half and they're easily down double digits at halftime without him.

[Elpolo_14]

That a solid list NGL.

My top 10 would look like :
1. MJ 91
2. Curry 17
3. Magic 87
( Gap )
4. West
5. Kobe
6. Oscar
7. SGA
8. Dwade
( Gap )
9. CP3 15
10. Harden 20

[70sFan]

May I ask why Gervin didn't make it? I struggle to understand why.

Nice to see some 1970s stars, especially Paul Westphal would has outside chances to reach top 25 in my opinion. You also made me think about creating Calvin Murphy video

[durantbird]

Billups?

[trelos6]

May I ask why Gervin didn't make it? I struggle to understand why.

Nice to see some 1970s stars, especially Paul Westphal would has outside chances to reach top 25 in my opinion. You also made me think about creating Calvin Murphy video

Gervin was in strong consideration for one of those final few spots. 29, +5.6% is no joke.

Ultimately, Isiah had far better creation and passing, Isaiah was a better, more efficient scorer.

Moncrief was far superior defensively.

[trelos6]

Billups?

Probably 2008-09 could be an HM. He was a very solid player. Efficient scorer, good creation.

[70sFan]

May I ask why Gervin didn't make it? I struggle to understand why.

Nice to see some 1970s stars, especially Paul Westphal would has outside chances to reach top 25 in my opinion. You also made me think about creating Calvin Murphy video

Gervin was in strong consideration for one of those final few spots. 29, +5.6% is no joke.

Ultimately, Isiah had far better creation and passing, Isaiah was a better, more efficient scorer.

Moncrief was far superior defensively.

I mean, I think you are selling Gervin way too short if you think Isaiah was a better scorer than him. Thomas had one ultra outlier season and his high scoring stats collapsed in the playoffs and he never replicated it again. Gervin posted 30 ppg on 59 TS% in 1978-80 playoff sample, which is remarkable considering the era he played in and the competition (he faced the Bullets and the Sixers, both equipped really well to slow him down). He also anchored very strong offenses in his prime without top tier offensive help. I'd also take 1978 or 1979 for his peak personally, though 1980 is also good.

I think Gervin should be significantly higher. I can understand taking Reggie or Allen over him for specific reasons, but I don't see such a significant gap between them.