Best Rookies (vs Players) of All Time

Post #1 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sat May 17, 2008 11:56 pm

I'm curious about this after a thread on the GB.

Give me your 1-5 (or more) best rookies of all time, and your best players of all-time. I ask for the second to get more context on your rookies.

kooldude · Post #2 » by **kooldude** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:16 am

Rookies:
Wilt, Admiral, Shaq, Jordan, Oscar

Best:
Wilt, Jordan, Kareem, Hakeem, Russell

ice9 · Post #3 » by **ice9** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:19 am

top 5 overall or top per position? Ill do top 5 overall

Best Rookies
Wilt (~37.5/27/2) and won MVP i think
Jordan (~28/6.5/6/2.4/1)
DRob (~24/12/2/4/2)
Alcindor (29/14.5/4, who knows how many blocks)
Oscar (30/10/9.7)

shout out to Unseld, winning MVP and ROY same year, Bird for the massive turnaround, and Bellamy for a 32/19 season. EDIT: and Shaq, can't believe I forgot him.

Top 6 of all time:
Magic, Jordan, Bird, KAJ, Wilt, and Russ, I can't narrow that down to five guys.

kooldude · Post #4 » by **kooldude** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:21 am

I was under the impression that we were comparing the best at each position. ??

Post #5 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:25 am

kooldude wrote:I was under the impression that we were comparing the best at each position. ??

I meant top 5 overall.

sp6r=underrated · Post #6 » by **sp6r=underrated** » Sun May 18, 2008 6:26 pm

I'm going to have to cheat a little. I rank these players: Russell, Chamberlain. Jordan, Kareem as the top GOAT candidates, and Magic/Bird a tier below. I find it impossible to distinguish Bird/Magic so I'll make it the top 6 rookies of all time

Top 6 Rookies in chronological order
58/59 Baylor, 14 game turnaround making it to the finals, 24.9 15 4.9
59/60: Chamberlain, 17 game turnaround, 37 ppg 27rpg
69/70: Kareem, 29 game turnaround, 28.8 14.5
79/80: Bird, 32 game turnaround, 21 10 4.5
84/85: Jordan, 11 game turnaround, 28.5 6.5 5.9
89/90: David Robinson, 35 game turnaround, 24.3 ppg 12 rpg 3.9 bpg

Top 6 Players: Abdul Jabbar, Chamberlain, Jordan, Russell, Bird, Magic

bluestang302 · Post #7 » by **bluestang302** » Sun May 18, 2008 8:24 pm

Best rookies? Hmm. Not in any particular order (except maybe for chronological)

1-2. Wilt and Oscar. Dominant right from the start. Gotta give a shout out to Russell and Pettit as well, but I think they were both a step below Oscar and Wilt - Russ because he missed some time.
3. Kareem. 29-15-4
4. Spencer Haywood. 30 and 20 as a teenager while dealing with court issues. Questions about the strength of the league, but impressive nonetheless. On the same token
5. Connie Hawkins. Any of his 3 "rookie" years. His ABL season at 19 years old, his huge ABA year when he won MVP, or his post knee trouble NBA rookie year when he put up about 24-10-5.
6-7. Bird and Magic. Bird for turning around the Celtics. Magic for being huge all season and stepping up in the finals
8. David Robinson. 24-13-3 after being away from basketball for 2 years.
9. Shaquille ONeal. Dominant from the start, despite still growing into his body and still learning the game. His best rebounding season too

My best players of all-time. Well there's a clear group of 6, IMO.

The three centers - Wilt, Russell, and Kareem
The 80s triumvirate - Larry, Magic, and Michael
I'd probably round out my top dozen with Oscar and Jerry, Tim and Hakeem and Shaquille, and Dr J (maybe). I might consider Moses at #12 too.

Post #8 » by **Doctor MJ** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:43 pm

Thanks for you thoughts guys. I'll say:

1. Kareem
2. Bird
3. Robinson
4. Wilt
5. Shaq

Honorable Mention:

Russell - Missed a big chunk of his rookie season, and the team was already solid, but obviously he improved them to maximum potential immediately.

Hawkins & Artis Gilmore - Amazing rookies in other league. Hard to compare them to NBA guys.

And because I asked it of you, my top 5 players of all time:

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. Russell
4. Wilt
5. Magic

Post #9 » by **TrueLAfan** » Mon May 19, 2008 4:34 pm

There are a couple of people who aren't top 10 players who had great rookie seasons.

Rick Barry (25.7-10.6-2.2)
Walt Bellamy (31.6-19.0-2.7)
David Thompson (26.0-6.3-3.7) (ABA)
Marvin Barnes (24.0-15.6-3.2) (ABA)

and some others who are very close; better than some more highly regarded players. Damon Stoudemire had a terrific rookie season. So did Terry Cummings.

Sleeper pick: Yeah, gotta go with Artis, Led the ABA in minutes, rebounding, blocks, and field goal percentage as a rookie. And averaegd 23.8 points too.

kooldude · Post #10 » by **kooldude** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:46 am

Doctor MJ wrote:Thanks for you thoughts guys. I'll say:

1. Kareem
2. Bird
3. Robinson
4. Wilt
5. Shaq

Honorable Mention:

Russell - Missed a big chunk of his rookie season, and the team was already solid, but obviously he improved them to maximum potential immediately.

Hawkins & Artis Gilmore - Amazing rookies in other league. Hard to compare them to NBA guys.

And because I asked it of you, my top 5 players of all time:

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. Russell
4. Wilt
5. Magic

about your top 5 list? Is that your top 5 greatest of all time or best players of all-time?

I can see how Russell is ahead of Wilt on the GOAT list, but do you really believe Russell was a better player than Wilt?

Post #11 » by **Doctor MJ** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:38 am

kooldude wrote:I can see how Russell is ahead of Wilt on the GOAT list, but do you really believe Russell was a better player than Wilt?

I'll put it this way. If I had to choose for one game with my life depending on it, and I had access to Wilt at his most motivated, most intelligent, and still quite athletic (aka '67 Wilt), I might take Wilt. If I'm picking one to produce for me year in and year out for a decade, I take Russell.