ThaRegul8r wrote:penbeast0 wrote:Is Kareem to blame for the fact that his teams never jelled? I don’t think so. But, when you are talking about the GOAT and comparing him with players whose teams always played well around them (Russell, Magic, etc.), it’s fair to give him little credit for leadership.
Lenny Wilkens said, “You must have someone on your team who demands the respect of the players and has earned that respect by what he does on the court. The coach can only do so much; then its up to the players. Kareem was one of the greatest players ever, but he was not that guy. He won a title with Milwaukee in 1971, when an aging Oscar Robertson came in to join him, and he didn’t win again until Magic arrived in 1980. Kareem is a thoughtful, quiet man. He is not the kind of vocal leader who can inspire a team, despite his greatness on the court.”
Tim Duncan is like that, too. He won't scream at teammates. While he can be animated, he isn't the most demonstrative player in the league. But I'll take him as a leader of my team any day. A leader. Notice I didn't say "The" leader.
You can find a leader in your sixth man. In your 12th man. In your second star. In your superstar. In your best role player. Shane Battier has leadership qualities. Billups. I consider Fisher, Odom, and Bryant to be a triumvirate of leaders for the Lakers, and I don't doubt that somebody else in that lockerroom is right there with them, too. I probably just don't know about it. It's not something I should expect to understand as an outsider, no matter what kind of fan I am.
I'm not penalizing Jabbar for possibly not having some random demonstrative leadership quality that some think is important. There is uncertainty with what the media was saying about him anyway. I'm calling out inconclusive evidence backed up by virtually nothing.
Jordan is a selfish ball-hog who'll never be like Magic and Bird. That's 1990. Then he wins a title. The perception changes. Everybody with a brain knows he wasn't that different of a player. Somehow in 1991, Jordan is a winner.
Bryant, despite being on title teams earlier, can't incorporate teammates and only wants to chase Jordan's scoring records. That's 2006. Yet in 2009, he's a great leader, and competitive alpha-dog who can lead his team to titles.
Yeah, that's what the media makes you believe. Your mind catches an idea and runs with it. Your brain has a defense mechanism for that though. It's called thinking.
Seattle and Washington are like the 2010 Boston Celtics. They don't need a top five superstar to be a top three team in the league. What collections of talent with great fit. This whole notion of this time period being weak is starting to fade for me. It's just that the top stars, the most popular players, weren't fortunate enough to have great teams backing them. I actually think this is a valuable time in the NBA, because it has multiple cases of showing what exactly wins basketball games; that is, teams win basketball games.
Walton is out. Mcadoo is, too. I know he produced, but from everything I've heard and read, Mcadoo wasn't wanted in NY. I'm from NY and have asked people, and they always said that while he was a great player, he didn't do much for NY. Moses is out. Wasn't that level of superstar quite yet. I'm liking Lanier. Not liking Gilmore as much. Gervin, Jabbar, and Erving are in for outstanding years. And for being great players.
Thompson and the PHX players are the guys I don't know THAT much about. I'm going to defer to everybody else here. Everything about this year screams that this was Skywalker's year, that he had a superstar year.
Just want to say that I think Mo Lucas is the most underrated historical player on RealGM. Bill Walton loved him. He was an amazing power forward. Great shot, played great defense, excellent passer and rebounder, and was an enforcer. I'll take that.
Lanier vs. Davis. Uggghhh....this is complete deferrance. I'll go with Davis. Wish I could have researched more. This was a tough week for that though.
Final Rankings:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Julius Erving
George Gervin
David Thompson
Walter Davis
Super-HM: Bob Lanier
HM: Hayes, Gilmore, Mcadoo, Walton (Because he was that damn good), Unseld