Best 1 Year Peak Amongst These Guys

[Black Jack]

Giannis is a better defender than all of them, plus he gives you 29.9 points per game, 11.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists, .575 field for the last 6 years.
He's in a class of his own, and he won a championship with less help than anyone.

Giannis had a solid squad with Jrue, Middleton and Lopez the title year.

Peak Wilt was definitely better. He would have handled Giannis.

[bonita_the_frog]

^ That is a very strange photo.

[MMyhre]

Bird is a better scorer, shooter, playmaker, passer, rebounder and a great defender
And far better leader.
No, nobody is like Bird in mid 80s.

LeBron has him beat in both volume scoring and efficiency over a longer sample size, but you do you.

Bird was a better scorer from anywhere on the court.
Hand checking or not.
I also mentioned playmaking, passing, rebounding, leadership but hey if the "volume scoring" makes you feel better about the completion part, you can have it.

Ps. I leave aside the fact that LeBron isn't even on the poll.

Well, you said Bird was the most complete player ever so I just took the obvious choice that has him beat.

You're not actually proving your statements with some evidence whether it be in statistics or observational analysis, you are just claiming he is "because". LeBron was miles better than Bird at scoring inside the paint, getting to the line and on the fastbreak. So your statement of Bird being a better scorer "from anywhere on the court" is simply not true.

The reason I only took volume scoring is because that was the easiest one alongside defense to argue against without having to go too deep into it. LeBron has the most points ever. In everything. Everyone knows that.

As for why I didn't go deep into playmaking or rebounding, is because it is closer between both and would require some research, but I also don't really bother arguing deeply with people that just claim stuff without backing it up. It's usually a very subjective and stubborn person, that will not "allow" themselves to be proven wrong because they feel the need to be right - no matter what is said to disprove their beliefs. It seems like the term for it is NPD - of which I do believe I used to be one of those myself in the past. I am not going to claim that is the case here, but I see signs of those traits here.

[mojomarc]

Give me 1977 Kareem.

Just curious why 77 in particular? I personally would have thought that 71-72 would have been the better year to pick--his rebound rates were higher, he was basically just as efficient from the floor while taking six more shots a game, and he was dishing out more assists. Heck, I might even have 70-71 higher and 75-76 higher as well.

Not trying to suggest you're wrong here, just that I would like to understand more of your argument.

[Djoker]

Give me 1977 Kareem.

Just curious why 77 in particular? I personally would have thought that 71-72 would have been the better year to pick--his rebound rates were higher, he was basically just as efficient from the floor while taking six more shots a game, and he was dishing out more assists. Heck, I might even have 70-71 higher and 75-76 higher as well.

Not trying to suggest you're wrong here, just that I would like to understand more of your argument.

Young Kareem in 71 and 72 had great motor and athleticism but he was a bit skinny and could be derailed by physical players like Wilt and Thurmond. On the other hand, in 1977, he weighed about 260 lbs and had a much stronger lower body which made him tougher to dislodge when setting up for the skyhook. That's why, as a playoff performer, Kareem peaked from 1974-1980 and not in his early Bucks years were were his statistical peak years in the regular season.