Choose your Mount Rushmore of Basketball Players

[mdonnelly1989]

Choose your Mount Rushmore of Basketball players

Locks are MJ, Lebron and Kareem and then it can be numerous players between Bill, Wilt, Duncan and even cases for Magic, Bird and Shaq

[falcolombardi]

i think putting locks is too limiting, what if someone has shaq or duncan in his top 4 but not lebron or russel? i wouldnt agree but is perfectly valid as a opinion

my picks would be the 4 guys to clearly be the best player of of a whole era: russel, kareem, jordan and lebron

[eminence]

Personally I have a 5 player progression (Russell to KAJ to MJ to Duncan to LeBron) that are the true kings of the sport pretty much unrivaled in their eras all-around (not necessarily my top 5 of alltime).

If forced to knock one off it'd be KAJ.

I think there's a solid argument Mikan should be included as the 6th to my 5 as the first of them all.

[LAL1947]

I voted for one each to represent different "main" eras.

1960s / 1970s - Wilt (over Russell and Kareem)
1980s - Bird (over Magic and Kareem)
1990s - Jordan
2000-2022 - Lebron

then it can be numerous players between Bill, Wilt, Duncan and even cases for Magic, Bird and Shaq [/size]

Timmy "the Big Slow" Duncan has more case than Magic, Bird and Shaq?

Just simply no.

[penbeast0]

Mikan, Russell, Wilt, Kareem. Shaq might have a shot if he hadn't ripped so many guys on his way out of town and if he wasn't such a clown as an analyst. You ask where are MJ and LeBron . . . it's a mountain, not a foothill. They aren't big enough to be mountains.

(Alternatively, I made the plans in 1978)

[prolific passer]

Went with Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Russell. They probably had the biggest impacts on the game in its history.

[falcolombardi]

Went with Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Russell. They probably had the biggest impacts on the game in its history.

bird more than wilt?

[Samurai]

If we are referring to the Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, we should keep in mind that the four presidents selected were not chosen because they were considered the "greatest" president of their respective era. They were chosen to represent the nation's birth (Washington), growth (Jefferson), development (Lincoln) and preservation (Roosevelt). So from a basketball standpoint, it should be the ones believed to best represent those four areas or it really shouldn't be referred to as a "Mount Rushmore"; maybe just a who are your four GOAT candidates. I would think Naismith would be a pretty obvious choice as the first one (birth). The rest are pretty tricky for me. I suppose Magic/Bird are good candidates for growth, perhaps MJ for development and I am very unsure who best represents the preservation of basketball.

[prolific passer]

Went with Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Russell. They probably had the biggest impacts on the game in its history.

bird more than wilt?

I know. It was a tough choice. Wilt would be 5th if they ever decide to put a 5th face on it.

[Statlanta]

Russell, Dr. J, Jordan, Shaq

Not the best players but the best combination of league impact, entertainment, winning, and worldwide branding.

[SNPA]

More posters saying they voted for Bird than votes for Bird (I voted him too).

Bird is the best player in the golden era, hard to call it Mt. Rushmore without him IMO.

[LAL1947]

More posters saying they voted for Bird than votes for Bird (I voted him too).

Bird is the best player in the golden era, hard to call it Mt. Rushmore without him IMO.

My voting choices are bolded in the screenie.
I've shrunk the pic so it looks a little blurred.

[70sFan]

Kareem, LeBron, Russell and Jordan.

[ardee]

Went with Jordan, Bird, Magic, and Russell. They probably had the biggest impacts on the game in its history.

It would feel odd to leave LeBron off, who is my GOAT, but yeah I would likely agree with this.

[Jaivl]

Actual answer if they ever did a Mt Rushmore: Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Magic

[uberhikari]

Mt. Rushmore isn't about the 4 best players. It's about who had the biggest impact on the sport. I think of it like this: If you were telling the story of the history of the NBA which players HAVE to be in the story. To me, that's Russell, Bird, Magic, and MJ.

[HeartBreakKid]

Mt. Rushmore isn't about the 4 best players. It's about who had the biggest impact on the sport. I think of it like this: If you were telling the story of the history of the NBA which players HAVE to be in the story. To me, that's Russell, Bird, Magic, and MJ.

How would you be able to tell the history of the NBA without Lebron James, who has been a top player for 20 years? You think the past 20 years will not be part of history?


You could include the story of the 80s by just including Bird or Magic, their careers coincided together. There would be no reason to add both of them.

[Dutchball97]

Mt. Rushmore isn't about the 4 best players. It's about who had the biggest impact on the sport. I think of it like this: If you were telling the story of the history of the NBA which players HAVE to be in the story. To me, that's Russell, Bird, Magic, and MJ.

How would you be able to tell the history of the NBA without Lebron James, who has been a top player for 20 years? You think the past 20 years will not be part of history?

You could include the story of the 80s by just including Bird or Magic, their careers coincided together. There would be no reason to add both of them.

When you're limited to just 4 players I see no good reason to pick either Magic or Bird to "tell the story of the NBA". Kareem won his last Finals MVP when MJ was already in the league.

With Russell, Kareem, MJ and LeBron the only years that aren't covered are the 40s/early 50s as well as during MJ's mid career retirements.

[migya]

Chamberlain was, with Russell, the most impactful player until Kareem and his work is still unmatched today. He rarely gets mentioned.

[penbeast0]

Wilt gets mentioned, Mikan not so much. The real progression of the league would be (NBA only):

Mikan
Russell/Wilt
Kareem/Erving (ABA)
Bird/Magic
Jordan
Shaq/Duncan/Kobe
LeBron

The 4 undisputed best of an era players would be Mikan, Kareem, Jordan, LeBron. The others had a legit rival for that crown (Erving was the best of the ABA but even huge ABA fans didn't think he was more of a generational talent than Kareem).