mitchweber wrote:If Reggie wasn't a) the undisputed leader of his very good teams and b) arguably the most clutch player ever, he wouldn't get any kind of consideration IMO.
That's the main difference as I see it. The 90's Pacers were Reggie's team and he lead them to success (not to say that he didn't have a supporting cast). If anything, Detroit is Chauncey's team. And while Rip isn't unclutch or anything, he has never really done the spectacular like Reggie has.
Agreed. It's much more difficult to put up All-Star numbers year in and year while having your team at or near the top of the league when you're unquestionably the best player on the team. The defensive focus is more intense. Teams will gameplan to simply try and take you out of the flow, etc. Yet, Reggie was still able to be one of the most efficient, effective and clutch scorers in the NBA, each season.
With regards to clutchness, it's pretty much set in stone that, even if you don't consider Reggie the most clutch player in NBA history, he's at least top 3.
While Hamilton is an excellent player (who, by the way, emulates Reggie in many ways), he cannot compare on those two aforementioned levels. That doesn't, however, take anything away from him being one of the better 2-guards in the league.