if you could pick one player
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greenbeans
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tsherkin
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Hmm... tough answer.
Of today's young stars, I would probably be most inclined to build around Dwight Howard or Lebron. Not exactly revolutionary thinking, really. I have a tough time deciding between those two because Dwight is a power post player and I love those types of centers but Lebron is a pretty special talent. I think in the end I break my rule-of-thumb and go with Lebron.
All-time, I think I'd be happiest building around Shaq or Wilt; tough call between the two of them because it's difficult to tell how Wilt might've played in the modern era. In his career, whenever his attempts were in Shaq-like regions, he had Shaq-like efficiency, so I'm comfortable thinking that he'd shoot the 56-60% that Shaq has shot over his career. So yeah, of the two, let's go Wilt.
I wanted to say Magic, I really did; he's my favorite player and exerted an incredible impact on even mediocre teammates but I think ultimately that Wilt is too much to pass on. His combination of power offense, defense and the versatility to play all three post regions is just too much skill and impact to ignore.
But let's break it down by the decade in which a player was drafted:
1950s: Wilt Chamberlain (1959)
1960s: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969)
1970s: Magic Johnson (1979)
1980s: Hakeem Olajuwon (1984)
1990s: Shaquille O'neal (1992)
2000s: Lebron James (2003)
Tough call in the 70s on account of Bird but I ultimately went with Magic and also a tough call because technically Dr. J was drafted then, by the Bucks IIRC. Dr. J was obviously a fantastic player. I still think I'd rather have Magic, though.
Not really a tough call for me in terms of Dream from the 80s; if he'd had the benefit of Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and all the wonderous benefits Jordan enjoyed in Chicago, Dream'd have won 6 titles as well, maybe more. Hell, he made the Finals in his second season in 85-86 and did better against the Celtics than did the Bulls (who got swept by Boston that year and again the year after).
Shaq wasn't too tough a call for me either, since I considered him above pretty much everyone that wasn't Wilt. The ONLY player drafted in the 90s that had me pondering was Tim Duncan, though that did give me pause because Timmy D is an incredible player.
Lebron was, as mentioned, a tough call over Dwight but I think that he's as ridiculously athletic as he is and is still showing new skills each season is more promising than what I've seen so far from Dwight (not that Howard hasn't been fantastic). Lebron is able to do so much on his own that Dwight cannot and that's the deciding factor, his ability to score without being fed the ball. He can dominate a possession from the inbounds to the bucket in ways that Howard is simply incapable of managing and he can come up big in the clutch, a traditional weakness of bigs. Additionally, Dwight isn't a good enough passer to truly take advantage of the post game the way a guy like Shaq, Dream, etc. did.
So... big, big, swing, big, big, swing. Call it a pattern, lol.
Of today's young stars, I would probably be most inclined to build around Dwight Howard or Lebron. Not exactly revolutionary thinking, really. I have a tough time deciding between those two because Dwight is a power post player and I love those types of centers but Lebron is a pretty special talent. I think in the end I break my rule-of-thumb and go with Lebron.
All-time, I think I'd be happiest building around Shaq or Wilt; tough call between the two of them because it's difficult to tell how Wilt might've played in the modern era. In his career, whenever his attempts were in Shaq-like regions, he had Shaq-like efficiency, so I'm comfortable thinking that he'd shoot the 56-60% that Shaq has shot over his career. So yeah, of the two, let's go Wilt.
I wanted to say Magic, I really did; he's my favorite player and exerted an incredible impact on even mediocre teammates but I think ultimately that Wilt is too much to pass on. His combination of power offense, defense and the versatility to play all three post regions is just too much skill and impact to ignore.
But let's break it down by the decade in which a player was drafted:
1950s: Wilt Chamberlain (1959)
1960s: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969)
1970s: Magic Johnson (1979)
1980s: Hakeem Olajuwon (1984)
1990s: Shaquille O'neal (1992)
2000s: Lebron James (2003)
Tough call in the 70s on account of Bird but I ultimately went with Magic and also a tough call because technically Dr. J was drafted then, by the Bucks IIRC. Dr. J was obviously a fantastic player. I still think I'd rather have Magic, though.
Not really a tough call for me in terms of Dream from the 80s; if he'd had the benefit of Phil Jackson, Scottie Pippen and all the wonderous benefits Jordan enjoyed in Chicago, Dream'd have won 6 titles as well, maybe more. Hell, he made the Finals in his second season in 85-86 and did better against the Celtics than did the Bulls (who got swept by Boston that year and again the year after).
Shaq wasn't too tough a call for me either, since I considered him above pretty much everyone that wasn't Wilt. The ONLY player drafted in the 90s that had me pondering was Tim Duncan, though that did give me pause because Timmy D is an incredible player.
Lebron was, as mentioned, a tough call over Dwight but I think that he's as ridiculously athletic as he is and is still showing new skills each season is more promising than what I've seen so far from Dwight (not that Howard hasn't been fantastic). Lebron is able to do so much on his own that Dwight cannot and that's the deciding factor, his ability to score without being fed the ball. He can dominate a possession from the inbounds to the bucket in ways that Howard is simply incapable of managing and he can come up big in the clutch, a traditional weakness of bigs. Additionally, Dwight isn't a good enough passer to truly take advantage of the post game the way a guy like Shaq, Dream, etc. did.
So... big, big, swing, big, big, swing. Call it a pattern, lol.
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HarlemHeat37
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future: Dwight, with Lebron close behind..
current player for 1 season: Tim Duncan
all-time: tough one..I'll take Wilt..difficult to ignore the scoring and rebounding he provided, and his D was obviously there too..played 48 minutes..this man could do it all..and there would always be women around, so that would be a plus..
current player for 1 season: Tim Duncan
all-time: tough one..I'll take Wilt..difficult to ignore the scoring and rebounding he provided, and his D was obviously there too..played 48 minutes..this man could do it all..and there would always be women around, so that would be a plus..
