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

[CharityStripe34]

Also, Bob Pettit being so low is some down-syndrome stuff. His game essentially created and defined what a PF is from then on. And out of the Wilt/Russell/Oscar/West era (60's), he's often the forgotten superstar and was putting up incredible numbers right alongside his peer superstars that I mentioned.

It's like they just had 50 writers pick their 75 favorite players and then at the end the final guy was like "lets call this greatest peaks"

LOL and Pettit's entire career could be considered his "peak years."

[cam24thomas]

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.

But what if LeBron stayed in Cleveland? How many rings then?

LeBron wasn't good enough, so he went to Wade for help....
Whereas Jordan raised Pippen from a very raw rookie to a superstar.
LeBron and Jordan are opposites.

As for "MJ nostalgia", it only exists because nobody has reached MJ's level since then. We are in LeBron's era and hardly anyone thinks he's replaced MJ. It'll get even worse for LeBron in future, especially with Giannis creating a better legacy than LeBron....

[NbaAllDay]

The agenda being pushed by OP everytime a list shows Kobe>Duncan is laughable sad at this point but to each their own.

[cpower]

Kevin Durant over Tim Duncan LMAO..kill the fking list.

[vancity604]

Peak Olajuwon (1993-94) was the closest you will ever see to a perfect season in nba history. Mvp, defensive player of the year, finals mvp...and lead a team with no allstars to a championship. His second best player was vernon maxwell who was volatile as hell. When you watched hakeem play he has 0 weaknesses in his game...was basically a perfect center in that era on both ends of the court. Olajwon in 94 and 95 season was the best 2 year stretch in nba history. Literally a perfect basketball player who carried his team to championships.

[_NoMas]

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.

One flaw in this argument. The two dynasties were in the other conference so, you know, he didn’t have to face them to make the finals

[JN61]

Anthony Davis peak over Westbrook? That list is a joke. Westbrook easily has one of top 30 all time peaks. Even top 20 arguably. I can't take such list when there are like 15 players who aren't even remotely same planet in terms of peak. Stockton? Just no. Stockton's longeativity is legendary but he just didn't have all time peak like that. I'm also disturbed how high Leonard is.

Anyway some facts:
- There are 14 players all time with higher single season VORP than Westbrook
- There are 6 players all time with higher single season BPM than Westbrook
- Westbrook has by far all time highest box creation in the NBA history (stat to determine number of open shots created for teammates per 100)
- Has 14th highest OBPM season all time (8th all time individual players)
- Has 2nd highest ORPM in last 25 years (entire database ESPN has), multiple such seasons actually (Curry has several which are better than Westbrook but Westbrook is basically 2nd every year in his prime)
- MVP
- Several 1st and 2nd teams
etc

He also did relatively similar impact in 2016 and 2015 Where OKC did pretty well in the playoffs. Certainly better than many players above him.

In his 3 year peak he also averaged 9.1 BPM and WS/48 of .231. Has one of the highest per 100 poss points ever scored and the highest points + assists per 100 poss.

[JN61]

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

Nah Kobe had a top tier peak

Not 8th highest all time. Not even remotely close. I would rank Kobe somewhere around 15-20. Curry has far higher peak than Bryant but Bryant just crushes Curry in terms of career for example. If Kobe had actually that high peak he would be consensus top 5 player ever. His longeativity is already top 5 easily I think but he is nobody's top 10 list who isn't heavily biased towards Bryant. Often around 10-15 Regardless of the bias.

[JN61]

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

It's not even a reach to state Durant had higher peak than Duncan. Duncan isn't really considered a player who peaked high. This list shouldn't be about career achievements. But it partly clearly is. Which is sad.

[Slim Charlez]

KD??

[Slim Charlez]

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

It's not even a reach to state Durant had higher peak than Duncan. Duncan isn't really considered a player who peaked high.

03 Duncan says hi

[JN61]

Giannis has a Higher 3 year Peak than Duncan, Durant, Steph, or Kobe.

Choose any 1 of them of your choice and we'll compare them to Giannis MVP, MVP + DPOY, Finals MVP 3 year stretch

Sure Steph 2015-17

67 wins, 73 wins, 67 wins.

It's clearly an argument because Giannis was so dominant defensively and Curry wasn't as strong in 2015 individually. But I would certainly take Curry because his 2016 is legendary year.

[DarkAzcura]

Celtic players always underrated in these lists.

Bird won 3 MVPs in a row (1984-1986), reached the Finals all 3 times in those years and won the championship twice in those three tries. It was an incredible peak that had people wondering if he was the GOAT for a minute.

Russell won league MVP 4 out of 5 tries between 1961-1965, and he also won 5 rings in those 5 years. I don’t care about Wilt’s stats. Russell won more MVPs and championships in his peak at the same exact time. No other era would choose the stats guy over the MVP and championship guy.

Bill Russell has no business being in the top 10.

How is Hakeem and Duncan not in the top?

Love Durant but he's below Curry as far as resume.

Curry should replace Shaq on the top 10.

obe Bryant is way underrated on this board.
His longevity blows guys like Shaq Magic and Larry out of the water. His peak was the best player in the entire league for 2-3 seasons.

If I never watched him play and only went by realgm comments I would have assumed he was taller version of Allen Iverson. A talented shot maker albeit low iq chucker terrible shot selection who could make the occcasional highlight reel dunk or last second buzzer beater shot to blind fans into thinking he was better than he actually was. Couldn't come up in big moments to carry his team in the finals nor carry a very talented roster deep in the playoffs during his peak with all stars like Kwame brown Smush Parker Brian cook.

Lmao, Russell should not only be a shoe in for top 10 peaks, but he should probably be top 3. He had a run where he won league MVP 4 out of 5 years and championships in all 5 years.

[jokeboy86]

In 10 years the media is slowly going to have more top 10 lists w/o Duncan. They're trying to diminish his greatness and erase him as we speak. Any top 10 without Duncan imo is absurd.

[hoosierdaddy34]

Peak Wade and TD are comfortably above Kobe.

That’s comical

[ky_23]

When it comes to talk, Shaq is the most dominant force ever. But they put him on 5 in the list? Shaq is top 3 locked if not 1. And i think we underestimate 16' Curry a bit. Even if he didn't end up with the ring, guy led his team to the greatest regular season with 400+ made 3s and most importantly, was the pioneer of the new era of basketball. I think prime Curry is a top 10 undoubtedly.

[dhsilv2]

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

It's not even a reach to state Durant had higher peak than Duncan. Duncan isn't really considered a player who peaked high. This list shouldn't be about career achievements. But it partly clearly is. Which is sad.

Duncan didn't peak high. You can't go 30 seconds without hating on Curry. And you're obsessed with Westbrook.

Dude pass the dope! We all want to get THIS high!

[CharityStripe34]

In 10 years the media is slowly going to have more top 10 lists w/o Duncan. They're trying to diminish his greatness and erase him as we speak. Any top 10 without Duncan imo is absurd.

The media will cite the Spurs as a ratings (lack of being a) draw for him not being in the top 10.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

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.

I think you can replace LeBron with Jordan on any of his teams and get better results. Jordan is the better scorer and any indication otherwise is created by rule changes and improved team 3 point shooting. LeBron’s superiority at passer is smaller than people think and not that big of a factor but you probably should play a point guard with Jordan where as LeBron only needs a point guard to conserve energy. LeBron is biger and that is worth something. Jordan is faster.

When everybody that saw LeBron and Jordan ln real time is dead then we go to stats and video and rings. Video favors Jordan. Stats favor LeBron a bit but if you understand the changes in the game and adjust the stats then the stats no longer favor LeBron. Rings favor Jordan but rings is stupid.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

If it is a peak contest where is Bernard King. 12 Bernard King playoff games in 1984 is one of the highest short peaks. How long does a paek have to last?