Best Wingmen for the G.O.A.T. centers

[ThaRegul8r]

When some people talk about Shaquille O'Neal, they bring up the quality of wingmen he's played with in his career, Anfernee Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade, when you've got all-time centers who never in their careers played with any wingmen of that caliber.

So who in your opinion would be the top 5 wingmen (of any to have ever played the game, in their prime and with modern medicine, training methods, etc.) to suit each of the following centers in ascending order from 5 to 1, and explain how you think their games would blend well with these centers.

1. Wilt Chamberlain
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Hakeem Olajuwon
4. Bill Russell
5. Moses Malone
6. David Robinson
7. Patrick Ewing

[Patterns]

Wilt had Jerry West
Kareem had Magic
Hakeem had Barkeley(if you consider him a wing player)
Bill Russell had a HOF team

[ThaRegul8r]

*sigh*

That wasn't the question...

[prekazi]

Wilt had Jerry West
Kareem had Magic
Hakeem had Barkeley(if you consider him a wing player)
Bill Russell had a HOF team

Hakeem had Drexler. (Barkley isn't a wing player and Rockets didn't win the title with him.)

[kooldude]

but Magic, West, and Oscar were better than Shaq's wingmen.....

[Twinkie defense]

Bit of a complicated question there, ThaRegul8r. What is this, final exams? I hate word problems.

Why you guys calling Magic a wingman? He was a point guard. Point guards play in the middle, wingmen play on the wings, right?

So Kareem's great wingman was Big Game James, swoop to the hoop baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TKCxO67aGw&NR=1

[writerman]

I think Wilt actually had as close to a perfect one for him as anyone before or since that he could have had--the Kangaroo Kid, Billy Cunningham. Cunningham is way too often overlooked and unjustly uinderrated when people talk about great wing players. People go on and on about how great Pippen was--I'd take Cunningham over him every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

IMO, that great '67 PhillyTeam with Wilt, Cunningham, Luke Jackson, Chet Walker, and Hal Greer could consistentlly beat any team playing today in a seven-game series...

[Myth_Breaker]

I'm afraid I might be obvious with some of my candidates. But well, if something is proven, there's no need to go with another combination...

When some people talk about Shaquille O'Neal, they bring up the quality of wingmen he's played with in his career, Anfernee Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade, when you've got all-time centers who never in their careers played with any wingmen of that caliber.

So who in your opinion would be the top 5 wingmen (of any to have ever played the game, in their prime and with modern medicine, training methods, etc.) to suit each of the following centers in ascending order from 5 to 1, and explain how you think their games would blend well with these centers.

1. Wilt Chamberlain - Jerry West
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Magic (if he can qualify as a wingman)
3. Hakeem Olajuwon - Kobe
4. Bill Russell - Baylor
5. Moses Malone - Johny Havlicek
6. David Robinson - Jordan
7. Patrick Ewing - LeBron

[tha_rock220]

For Wilt, Hakeem, Kareem, and Moses I'd go with Jerry West because of his shooting. For DRob, Russell, and Ewing I'd go with Jordan because he was a better post player than all three of them.

[etopn23]

For Wilt, Hakeem, Kareem, and Moses I'd go with Jerry West because of his shooting. For DRob, Russell, and Ewing I'd go with Jordan because he was a better post player than all three of them.

Explain.

[JordansBulls]

1. Wilt Chamberlain - Jerry West
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Dwyane Wade
3. Hakeem Olajuwon - MJ
4. Bill Russell - MJ
5. Moses Malone - Kobe
6. David Robinson - MJ
7. Patrick Ewing - MJ

Ewing and Robinson seem to buckle under pressure, thus I choose MJ for them. MJ would work well with Russell because Russell was a great defender and didn't worry about scoring and I have always liked the MJ and Hakeem duo.

[Patterns]

I think Wilt actually had as close to a perfect one for him as anyone before or since that he could have had--the Kangaroo Kid, Billy Cunningham. Cunningham is way too often overlooked and unjustly uinderrated when people talk about great wing players. People go on and on about how great Pippen was--I'd take Cunningham over him every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

IMO, that great '67 PhillyTeam with Wilt, Cunningham, Luke Jackson, Chet Walker, and Hal Greer could consistentlly beat any team playing today in a seven-game series...

Hell no.

[Myth_Breaker]

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Hell no.

You don't know even nearly enough to decide this.
And IMO 1967 Sixers are Top-2 team ever, together with 1987 Lakers.

Anyway, it is worth to notice that while I might prefer prime Cunningham over prime Pippen as well (the issue is debatable), in fact Wilt didn't play with prime Kangaroo Kid. That's one of the reasons why I prefer my West's choice.

[Myth_Breaker]

For Wilt, Hakeem, Kareem, and Moses I'd go with Jerry West because of his shooting. For DRob, Russell, and Ewing I'd go with Jordan because he was a better post player than all three of them.

Pure comedy! But you failed to mention that MJ was also superior playmaker to Stockton and better overall center than Admiral!

[tha_rock220]

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Pure comedy! But you failed to mention that MJ was also superior playmaker to Stockton and better overall center than Admiral!

Only Jordan wasn't a center at all, and Stockton was better and passing the ball.

Russell wasn't much of an offensive force at all. Facing the basket was a big part of David Robinson's game, and Ewing while decent at posting up, was far too mechanical for me to say he was a better post player than Jordan.

[Patterns]

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You don't know even nearly enough to decide this.
And IMO 1967 Sixers are Top-2 team ever, together with 1987 Lakers.

Anyway, it is worth to notice that while I might prefer prime Cunningham over prime Pippen as well (the issue is debatable), in fact Wilt didn't play with prime Kangaroo Kid. That's one of the reasons why I prefer my West's choice.

I know there's a 40 year span between the 1967 team and the 2008 Boston Celtics team.

Basketball isn't static.

[Cevap]

Hakeem and Lebron. Hakeem would dominate in the post and if needed could go out to 15-18 feet and take his man with him and let lebron drive in for a freebie. sick

[Myth_Breaker]

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Only Jordan wasn't a center at all, and Stockton was better and passing the ball.

Russell wasn't much of an offensive force at all. Facing the basket was a big part of David Robinson's game, and Ewing while decent at posting up, was far too mechanical for me to say he was a better post player than Jordan.

I might give you Russell since wasn't offensive threat - but still IMO Jordan would be a bad fit next to him since both were too much of alpha males to avoid their personalities clashing. But I meant mainly D-Rob and Ewing: saying they were worse with back to the basket than Jordan, regardless of the fact that could play also face to the basket (what is rather a plus, right?)... I vehemently disagree.

[captain_cheapseats]

Since every guy on the list played with at least one HOF wing player other than Robinson and Ewing, I'll just answer for them.....

David Robinson: MJ. A top-notch scoring wing would go well with a defensive oriented big, IMO. If you want a less obvious answer, I'd go with Sam Jones, who proved to be the ideal compliment to the ultimate defense/rebounding center, and is easily one of the most underrated (if not the most underrated) players ever.

Patrick Ewing: Ewing was such a complete center I think I'd want a guy with a great all-around game to match with him. If you can count Oscar Robinson as a wing (I know he was a PG, but he could play either guard spot equally well) I'd pick him. If not, maybe Hondo or Pippen.

[greenbeans]

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I might give you Russell since wasn't offensive threat - but still IMO Jordan would be a bad fit next to him since both were too much of alpha males to avoid their personalities clashing.

wow, you sure do know your stuff

Russell would have had an ego problem??? GTFO