NAME THE GAMES TOP 15 EVER(5 POSItiONS - 3 MEN DEEP)

[JIMBATT34]

MY 15:
1. WILT/MOSES/DR. J/MJ23/MAGIC

2. kAreem/mailman/bird/kobe/stockton

3.russell/duncan/big o /west/isaiah

honorable mention: maravich/iverson/mchale/shaq and barkley

my five worst? ever? ....

shawne bradley/kwame/pervis ellison/harold miner/olowakandi

ps . i know shaq is a top 15 player in nba history but couldn't start him ahead of the other legendary centers.

[Deus]

MY 15:
1. WILT/MOSES/DR. J/MJ23/MAGIC

2. kAreem/mailman/bird/kobe/stockton

3.russell/duncan/big o /west/isaiah

honorable mention: maravich/iverson/mchale/shaq and barkley

my five worst? ever? ....

shawne bradley/kwame/pervis ellison/harold miner/olowakandi

ps . i know shaq is a top 15 player in nba history but couldn't start him ahead of the other legendary centers.

Moses Malone was a center. He was too slow to guard forwards.
Larry Bird was a power forward. He was too slow to guard SF's.
Oscar Robertson was a guard, not a foward.

Anyway, here's are my selections.

Magic, Jordan, Rodman, Bird, Chamberlain
Robertson, Kobe, DeBusschere, Duncan, Kareem
Isiah, West, Dr. J, McHale, Olajawon

[Frosty]

-= original quote snipped =-


Larry Bird was a power forward. He was too slow to guard SF's.

So when they started

Parish
McHale
Bird
Johnson
Ainge

Who played SF? Who was the one having the duel with Nique?

[TheKingOfVa360]

Bird was a SF!

[Cliff Levingston]

Team 1
1. Magic Johnson
2. Michael Jordan
3. Larry Bird
4. Tim Duncan
5. Bill Russell

Team 2
1. Oscar Robertson
2. Jerry West
3. Julius Erving
4. Karl Malone
5. Wilt Chamberlain

Team 3
1. John Stockton
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Scottie Pippen
4. Kevin Garnett
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[writerman]

1st Team

C - Wilt Chamberlain
PF - Karl Malone
SF - Larry Bird
SG - Michael Jordan
PG - Walt Frazier


2nd Team

C - Kareem Abdul Jabbar
PF - Kevin McHale
SF - Julius Erving
SG - Oscar Robertson
PG - Magic Johnson


3rd Team

C - Pick one: Bill Russell/Nate Thurmond/Artis Gilmore
PF - Tim Duncan
SF - Billy Cunningham
SG - John Havlicek
PG - Jason Kidd

Honorable mention:

Isaiah Thomas, John Stockton, Kevin Garnett, Jerry West, David Robinson, Shaquille ONeal, Kobe Bryant, Bill Walton, Reggie Miller, Hakeem Olajowon, Elgin Baylor, Charles Barkley, David Thompson, Jerry Lucas, Bob Pettit just to name a few.

[Cammo101]

Magic/Robertson/Stockton
Jordan/West/Bryant
Bird/Erving/Gervin
Duncan/Malone/Barkley
Wilt/Russell/Kareem (or Shaq or Hakeem)

[HarlemHeat37]

PG Magic/Big O/Isiah
SG Jordan/West/Kobe
SF Bird/Erving/Baylor
PF Duncan/Malone/Barkley
C Wilt/Kareem/Olajuwon

[a-rod]

Wow Karl Malone is really underrated on realgm!!

[netsforever]

Center: Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Power Foward: Tim Duncan, Bob Pettitte, Kevin McHale
Small Forward: Larry Bird, Julius Erving, Scottie Pippen
Shooting Guard: Micheal Jordan, Jerry West, John Havlicek

Point Guard: Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Walt Frazier

Team 1:
Wilt
Duncan
Bird
Jordan
Johnson

Basically, the greats.

Team 2:

Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Bob Pettitte
Dr. J
Jerry West
Jason Kidd

At this point, not really rating the players anymore, just trying to balance the teams a bit. This team, with sufficient backups, would be unstoppable on any given night offensively. You have Kareem inside as your first option, Pettitte's and West's jumpshooting clearing space offensively. Dr. J provides one-on-one scoring, as well as incredible rebounding for that size. Jerry West is the requisite deep shooter, and would get so many open looks due to the doubles that my front line and Dr. J attracts. Jason Kidd gives this lineup yet another above average rebounder, and runs with everyone sans Kareem on the fast break.

Team 3:
Bill Russell
Kevin McHale
Scottie Pippen
John Havlichek
Walt Frazier

Basically, this would be the best defensive team in the history of the NBA.

Every one of these guys is an All-World level defender.

I'd love to see a matchup between team 2 and team 3.

[AKBlazerFan]

I am surprised to see Kidd on some of these lists.

[netsforever]

I am surprised to see Kidd on some of these lists.

Me too, actually.

He's got to be behind Magic, Isiah, Stockton, GP, Cousy, Oscar if you want to call him a PG... possibly Frazier?

[nate33]

I liked HarlemHeat's list with a couple of tweaks:

PG Magic/Stockton/Frazier
SG Jordan/West/Kobe
SF Bird/Erving/Lebron
PF Duncan/Malone/Barkley
C Wilt/Kareem/Olajuwon

[Doctor MJ]

C - Kareem/Russell/Wilt
PF - Duncan/Malone/Pettit
SF - Bird/Julius/Barry
SG - Jordan/West/Kobe
PG - Magic/Oscar/Frazier

[penbeast0]

Oscar and West were both PGs if you go strictly by main position played . . . similarly Havlicek was a SF and arguably, Duncan a C (same with Elvin Hayes in my opinion but that is equally arguable so I will consider both as forwards) . . .

1st Team All-Time
Wilt
Duncan
Bird
Jordan
Magic
(no surprises there)

2nd team
Kareem
Karl Malone
Julius Erving
Kobe Bryant
Oscar Robertson

3rd team
Russell
Pettit
Havlicek
Moncrief
West

Here are some controversial choices. Russell was just too dominant to leave off for a Shaq or Hakeem . . . he should probably be second team ahead of Kareem but Kareem's short term peak is so high and his longevity so long.

Pettit was also too dominant to leave off in favor of a superefficient but poor practice/weak defense player like Barkley or someone who hasn't carried his team any further in the playoff than Garnett (though I'd move him to this spot if the Celts win it this year; or probably if they come out of the East). As for McHale, he benefitted from single coverage on a powerhouse team and was one of the weakest rebounding all-star bigs relative to his era; also not a great help defender. He just wasn't dominant enough except for one year in the league where he had an outlier season and he STILL didn't reach 10 rpg in an era where that wasn't uncommon.

Havlicek over Pippen is again based on Hondo's carrying his team to the finals (with Cowens and Jojo White) while Pippen was always a sidekick except for 2 years where he didn't carry his team (Rodman and Kukoc) terribly far admittedly against serious competition. The occasional whiny episodes don't help Pippen either.

Moncrief is still the best defender I've ever seen, based on watching him shut down great players at the 1, 2, and 3 spots better than anyone else . . . ever. Add to that a very efficient offensive game in a balanced attack and I pick him over Drexler, Reggie, Mitch Richmond, Tracy McGrady, etc. He also benefits from the OP's position insistence since I would take PGs like West, Frazier, Oscar, Stockton and Payton ahead of him, or for that matter, Havlicek or Pippen but to me he's the #3 player who spent the majority of his career at the 2.

As for West, the only real controversy is putting him behind Oscar. I've seen a lot of threads on this and good arguments for having West ahead of Oscar but I remember them in their last years and see West/Oscar as revisionist history that would need clear statistical evidence to convince me and I don't see it.

So . . . .

[Doctor MJ]

As for West, the only real controversy is putting him behind Oscar. I've seen a lot of threads on this and good arguments for having West ahead of Oscar but I remember them in their last years and see West/Oscar as revisionist history that would need clear statistical evidence to convince me and I don't see it.

That's interesting. I always thought that arguments for Oscar over West were based on their early career. It was West who maintained his MVP candidate status later into their careers, no? Did you disagree with those assessments?

[Blackfyre]

1st team :

C: Kareem Abdul Jabbar
PF: Tim Duncan
SF: Larry Bird
SG: Michael Jordan
PG: Magic Johnson

2nd team:

C: Wilt Chamberlain
PF: Karl Malone
SF: Julius Erving
SG: Jerry West
PG: Oscar Robertson

3rd team:

C: Bill Russell
PF: Charles Barkley
SF: John Havlicek
SG: Kobe Bryant
PG: Walt Frazier / Isiah Thomas

[JordansBulls]

PG Magic/Stockton/Frazier
SG Jordan/West/Kobe
SF Bird/Erving/Pippen
PF Duncan/Malone/Barkley
C Kareem/Wilt/Olajuwon or Shaq

Kareem and Wilt are interchangeable for me as are Hakeem and Shaq.

[penbeast0]

-= original quote snipped =-



That's interesting. I always thought that arguments for Oscar over West were based on their early career. It was West who maintained his MVP candidate status later into their careers, no? Did you disagree with those assessments?

No, you are absolutely correct. What I meant was that while they were finishing their career and everyone remembered watching them play, there seemed to be a broad consensus that Oscar was the superior player; sort of like saying there is a consensus today that Ron Artest (when he comes to play) is a more dominant defender than Bruce Bowen even though Bowen may have a big edge in things like All-defensive teams and defensive win shares.

[Doctor MJ]

-= original quote snipped =-



No, you are absolutely correct. What I meant was that while they were finishing their career and everyone remembered watching them play, there seemed to be a broad consensus that Oscar was the superior player; sort of like saying there is a consensus today that Ron Artest (when he comes to play) is a more dominant defender than Bruce Bowen even though Bowen may have a big edge in things like All-defensive teams and defensive win shares.

I guess what I'm wondering is whether you mean: "West was better toward the end, but everyone considered Robertson superior for their career" or "Despite the fact West got all the accolades toward the end, people still though Robertson was playing better."

If the former, that is my understanding.

If the latter, why would West get the accolades if people thought Robertson was playing better?