Is Pau Gasol a top 50 player all-time?

[jehosafats]

All I know is he should have at least one FMVP

[70sFan]

Well, let's agree to disagree. "High quality defender" (as Dhsilv tried to say) and "very solid defender" are simply not things I can say about Pau Gasol myself. He did some intelligent things on defense but was too slow and too soft. Especially for a big in that time period.

RAPM studies shows him as very solid contributor on that end. He wasn't DPOY-level of course, but he became a good defender in LA. I also don't agree that he was slow or soft - he banged up with huge Spurs, Magic, Nuggets and Celtics frontcourts and Lakers always outrebounded their opponents. Pau being soft is a narrative came from him being white European player, but it has nothing to do with reality. I watched 2008 WCF very closely and as a Spurs fan I'd never call Pau "soft" when he battled inside with prime Duncan.

Btw, when was his peak? He was 29YO in 2009-10, and Odom, Artest, Bynum and Kobe were covering his flaws on defense then.

I'd say he peaked defensively in 2008-10 period. Having great perimeter defenders certainly helped him, but I don't agree that Bynum covered his weaknesses. Andrew had more defensive weaknesses himself than Pau.

Also, I wouldn't say "Pau's defense was fundamental to Lakers lineups". He was usually the 4th best defender in our lineups after Odom, Artest, Bynum, Kobe, Ariza (depending on the year or lineup used). I think it would be more accurate to say "Pau's height and versatility as a big was fundamental to our lineups"... because we could play him either at PF or C depending on match-ups and/or the availability of our guys, since we couldn't count on Bynum to be healthy (or to even play well consistently).

So it was fundamental and I would say that because Lakers won their titles with their size. Pau's versatility on offense allowed Lakers to run huge lineups and it also helped them to dominate inside against other big teams like Spurs, Celtics or Magic. I don't say that he was Lakers best defender (I'd say Odom probably was), but without him Lakers whole defensive gameplan wouldn't work.

[Stalwart]

You keep projecting a lot of nonsense. No one even brought up Kobe into this thread until some said Pau isn't Top 50, and it wasn't posters you call "Kobe fans". Like get over it dude, what are you even going on about.

Does the PC board have a different view in general than the world outside of Realgm, yes. That's fine, but don't label posters as biased for holding the same view as the rest of the world because it differs from what you think. It you think the PC board knows more than anyone then so be it, but argue actual points, not baseless accusations at posters.

But you have to remember, he knows more about the game than than 99.99% of the outside world and even most NBA players. Were talking to the experts here

I wasn't referring to myself in the least, I hardly participated in most of those projects, phenomenal as they were. But I do know more than previously banned posters that come back just to defend Kobe's honor.

Well, I think you're a troll but we all have our opinions

[dhsilv2]

Anyway, I think you have it right when you say he was a weak defender but could be a positive with his length when his weaknesses were hidden. It's how I remember him not just in LAL but in CHI too.

I wouldn't call Gasol a weak defender. He was weak at the beginning of his career, but he improved and became very solid at his peak. Even though he wasn't elite defensively, his defense in 2008-10 period was fundamental for Lakers lineups.

Well, let's agree to disagree. "High quality defender" (as Dhsilv tried to say) and "very solid defender" are simply not things I can say about Pau Gasol myself. He did some intelligent things on defense but was too slow and too soft. Especially for a big in that time period. Btw, when was his peak? He was 29YO in 2009-10, and Odom, Artest, Bynum and Kobe were covering his flaws on defense then.

Also, I wouldn't say "Pau's defense was fundamental to Lakers lineups". He was usually the 4th-5th best defender in our lineups. So I think it would be more accurate to say "Pau's height and versatility as a big was fundamental to our lineups"... because we could play him either at PF or C depending on match-ups and/or the availability of our guys, since we couldn't count on Bynum to be healthy (or to even play well consistently).

Anyway, I'm glad we got Pau to provide some needed quality in 2007-08. It was the shot in the arm our roster needed.

This soft stuff with Pau has never made any sense. That guy was going toe to toe and getting physical with all the big guys of that era.

[Primedeion]

You don't seem to understand how many great players have been around. I'd encourage you to brush up on NBA history and it'll quickly become obvious (even to you) that he's not close to the top fifty.

This is popcorn-worthy. The 8-post ballboy who has been on the site two months taking a run at one lf the most respected posters in RealGM history. Nice one, Chaz.

I literally LOL'd, that was great!

One of the most respected posters? The guy who thinks Pau was a top five player in 09? Lmao

Good one champ.

[tsherkin]

You don't seem to understand how many great players have been around. I'd encourage you to brush up on NBA history and it'll quickly become obvious (even to you) that he's not close to the top fifty.

This is popcorn-worthy. The 8-post ballboy who has been on the site two months taking a run at one lf the most respected posters in RealGM history. Nice one, Chaz.

I literally LOL'd, that was great!

One of the most respected posters? The guy who thinks Pau was a top five player in 09? Lmao

Good one champ.

Buddy, if you don't have the basic effort to know who Doc MJ is and you mouth off like that, godspeed. You wont be with us long.

[Primedeion]

This is popcorn-worthy. The 8-post ballboy who has been on the site two months taking a run at one lf the most respected posters in RealGM history. Nice one, Chaz.

I literally LOL'd, that was great!

One of the most respected posters? The guy who thinks Pau was a top five player in 09? Lmao

Good one champ.

Buddy, if you don't have the basic effort to know who Doc MJ is and you mouth off like that, godspeed. You wont be with us long.

Buddy, if you think post count correlates to basketball knowledge, godspeed. It doesn't get more basic than that.

[tsherkin]

One of the most respected posters? The guy who thinks Pau was a top five player in 09? Lmao

Good one champ.

Buddy, if you don't have the basic effort to know who Doc MJ is and you mouth off like that, godspeed. You wont be with us long.

Buddy, if you think post count correlates to basketball knowledge, godspeed. It doesn't get more basic than that.

Post count is a strawman, that isnt what I said. Try to form coherent, non-fallacious points. Anyway, good luck to you, hope you figure out how to be a quality contributor instead of a troll.

[Primedeion]

Buddy, if you don't have the basic effort to know who Doc MJ is and you mouth off like that, godspeed. You wont be with us long.

Buddy, if you think post count correlates to basketball knowledge, godspeed. It doesn't get more basic than that.

Post count is a strawman, that isnt what I said.

Riiiiight. Take it easy buddy.

[G35]

Pau will defer and make soft moves.

Here is a video of the 2008 Finals, with all the actions of KG vs Pau

Watch on YouTube

Overall imo, Garnett displays stronger moves, more confident moves, while Pau defers instead of taking the ball to the basket with authority:

@:42 Kevin Garnett receives the ball at the top of the key, crosses Pau over going to his left, Pau does not move his feet and KG goes in for a nice dunk

Notice on the very next play Pau receives the ball in the post and it is a ONE on ONE situation, Pau vs KG. The rest of the Celtics stay home. No help for KG.

@1:07 you can see that the Lakers are triple teaming KG

@ 1:39 KG makes a nice back cut leaving Pau flat footed and KG just blew the dunk but it was a nice move

@1:57 look at how the entire Lakers defense has collapsed and in the paint to help with KG

@ 2:31 Pau receives the ball in the paint with KG on his back and no one really helping and he can't finish a short hook

@ 3:00 here is another possession where people overlook and see how unaggressive Pau is; he receives the ball in a one on one situation and KG is all on him. Pau does a short fake, KG doesn't go for it and Pau basically just holds the ball until Kobe has to make a cut to get a shot up. Pau's lack of aggression hurts the offense

@ 3:12 you see the difference when KG receives the ball, he makes quick decisions; so the Lakers know KG is playing well and Fisher doubles to give help, that created an open player where the Celtics swing the ball around for an eventual Rondo jump shot

@ 3:40 here is another sequence where Pau is just not aggressive. He gets the ball on the move and he should have just went strong to the basket and forced KG to foul him. Pau instead turns his back and tries to post up and eventually passes the ball back out

@ 4:36 Pau once again gets the ball on the move, towards the basket and he throws up some SOFT bull shot that doesn't even get to the rim; Breem says it was blocked but I don't think it was, it was just a weak shot

@ 4:52 this is the biggest issue with Pau is when Kobe is on the bench and he should take over. Mark Jackson calls it out, "Kobe's on the bench." Pau gets the ball in the post against KG and he does nothing with it, he passes it back out to Ronnie Turiaf for an 18 ft jumper that misses. This is what the Lakers did not need is Pau deferring. He needs to take those shots and put pressure on the defense.

@ 5:17 Turiaf puts up another 10 ft jumper that misses, Pau is five feet from the basket! He's right there! What does he do...turns around and passes the ball back out to a cutting Turiaf who loses the ball. The Lakers get the loose ball and set up another play, Pau AGAIN gets the ball right with his feet on the charge circle. What does he do? Goes up weak again, gets tied up and throws the ball out of bounds. This sequence says it all about how Pau played in this series.

@ 5:44 Again Pau is deep in the lane, KG on his back, all he has to do is do a short turn around hook, KG can't stop that. He gets in the paint where his foot in on the circle again. He does not go up for the easy shot but passes it out for a 3pt shot that Vujacic misses

Now if you think I am being biased listen to what Jeff Van Gundy says about Pau vs KG in the audio:
"And there's no need to help on Pau Gasol against Kevin Garnett."

@ 6:41 a crucial sequence where the Lakers force a long 3ptr by Posey and that rebound would be big for the Lakers to close the gap. If you watch Pau and not the shot, you see that Pau does not block KG out, he actually moves AWAY from KG and allows him to get an easy put back dunk. You put your body on your man to block him out...fundamentals. Kobe was right behind Pau for the weak side, Pau should have blocked out KG. This is where the little things matter.

That's G1, a very winnable game for the Lakers. KG easily outplayed Pau. It wasn't even a contest. Pau looked overwhelmed. KG outscored him, outrebounded him, and he played better defense in their head to head matchup. Pau had several opportunities to impact the game on offense but he deferred, preferring to pass the ball out or not attack Garnett. That hurts your offense when a good defensive team already knows they can attack your second best player on both ends......

[txusto]

He's probably not NBA top 50 but he's more deserved top 75 than Dame for sure.

[dhsilv2]

2008 KG had a great case to having been the best player in the NBA that year...and has a case as a top 10 player ever. Are we really comparing HIM to Gasol??? We're asking if Gasol is top 50 or 75, not top 10!

[G35]

2008 KG had a great case to having been the best player in the NBA that year...and has a case as a top 10 player ever. Are we really comparing HIM to Gasol??? We're asking if Gasol is top 50 or 75, not top 10!

Lets break that down.

So you admit KG outplayed Pau in that series.

Exactly what did KG do statistically:

PPG - 18.2
REB - 13.0
AST - 3.0
STL - 1.7
BLK - 1.0
FG% - .429
TS% - .470

Is that some type of ATG statline? Is that even a special statline? Its good. Its what I would expect from the SECOND best performer on a championship team. I don't think there is a championship series that was won with the best player putting up those stats. On the face the boxscore is good, but the advanced stats are trash. KG was not efficient at all. But that is normal for KG in the playoffs.

Ray Allen scored over 20 PPG and Paul Pierce scored over 20 PPG. That really allowed KG to focus on the defensive end having two other 20 point scorers in this series.

OTOH, this is what Pau did for that series:

PPG - 14.7
REB - 10.2
AST - 3.3
STL - 0.3
BLK - 1.0
FG% - .532
TS% - .572

Pau was very efficient. Pau's boxscore was not so impressive but his advanced stats were pretty good. But you say that KG was at the top of his game and was an MVP level player that year.

So KG was 3rd in the MVP voting that year, Pierce was 14th, and Kobe was 1st. Where was Pau? Hmm let me go to his BR page.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolpa01.html

Pau was nowhere in the MVP voting. In fact, he doesn't have ANY MVP voting years. Pau was never considered an MVP level player.

Paul Pierce was; Pierce was considered an MVP-level player five times in his career:
2001 - 13th in the voting
2002 - 11th
2003 - 11th
2008 - 14th
2009 - 7th

But not once...not one year was Pau ever considered by the voters for MVP. Why is that?

Is Paul Pierce that much better than Pau Gasol...would we say the embarkation line for top 50 be Paul Pierce? Or is Paul Pierce top 75? Or is Paul Pierce top 100?

I think we have to admit that Paul Pierce is categorically a better player than Pau Gasol, having won a FMVP in 2008 and having peaked higher while playing at the same time.

So where would you rank Paul Pierce.....

[LAL1947]

This soft stuff with Pau has never made any sense. That guy was going toe to toe and getting physical with all the big guys of that era.

It was a poor choice of words on my part. When I said "too soft"... I didn't mean he had a weak mindset, that would an unfair thing to say. I just meant he had a weaker body compared to most other big men, which is not his fault. He made use of the tools at his disposal.

I think we have to admit that Paul Pierce is categorically a better player than Pau Gasol, having won a FMVP in 2008 and having peaked higher while playing at the same time.

So where would you rank Paul Pierce.....

Pierce is ranked #62 on the list.

[Homer38]

2008 KG had a great case to having been the best player in the NBA that year...and has a case as a top 10 player ever. Are we really comparing HIM to Gasol??? We're asking if Gasol is top 50 or 75, not top 10!

Lets break that down.

So you admit KG outplayed Pau in that series.

Exactly what did KG do statistically:

PPG - 18.2
REB - 13.0
AST - 3.0
STL - 1.7
BLK - 1.0
FG% - .429
TS% - .470

Is that some type of ATG statline? Is that even a special statline? Its good. Its what I would expect from the SECOND best performer on a championship team. I don't think there is a championship series that was won with the best player putting up those stats. On the face the boxscore is good, but the advanced stats are trash. KG was not efficient at all. But that is normal for KG in the playoffs.

Ray Allen scored over 20 PPG and Paul Pierce scored over 20 PPG. That really allowed KG to focus on the defensive end having two other 20 point scorers in this series.

OTOH, this is what Pau did for that series:

PPG - 14.7
REB - 10.2
AST - 3.3
STL - 0.3
BLK - 1.0
FG% - .532
TS% - .572

Pau was very efficient. Pau's boxscore was not so impressive but his advanced stats were pretty good. But you say that KG was at the top of his game and was an MVP level player that year.

So KG was 3rd in the MVP voting that year, Pierce was 14th, and Kobe was 1st. Where was Pau? Hmm let me go to his BR page.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolpa01.html

Pau was nowhere in the MVP voting. In fact, he doesn't have ANY MVP voting years. Pau was never considered an MVP level player.

Paul Pierce was; Pierce was considered an MVP-level player five times in his career:
2001 - 13th in the voting
2002 - 11th
2003 - 11th
2008 - 14th
2009 - 7th

But not once...not one year was Pau ever considered by the voters for MVP. Why is that?

Is Paul Pierce that much better than Pau Gasol...would we say the embarkation line for top 50 be Paul Pierce? Or is Paul Pierce top 75? Or is Paul Pierce top 100?

I think we have to admit that Paul Pierce is categorically a better player than Pau Gasol, having won a FMVP in 2008 and having peaked higher while playing at the same time.

So where would you rank Paul Pierce.....

Overall 2008 was not a good series for Gasol and Kobe...But in 2010,Gasol destroyed the Celtics frontcourt with so many offensive rebounds (35 in 7 games, including 9 huge offensive rebounds in the crucial game 7 in a 4 point win)

I don't understand why Kobe fans don't give the credit Gasol deserves, Kobe was the reason but without Gasol's trade, the Lakers aren't close to having the success they had between 2008 to 2010.Only the celtics had a better second option that the lakers during the 2008 to 2010 period in the NBA

[G35]

This soft stuff with Pau has never made any sense. That guy was going toe to toe and getting physical with all the big guys of that era.

It was a poor choice of words on my part. When I said "too soft"... I didn't mean he had a weak mindset, that would an unfair thing to say. I just meant he had a weaker body compared to most other big men, which is not his fault. He made use of the tools at his disposal.

I think we have to admit that Paul Pierce is categorically a better player than Pau Gasol, having won a FMVP in 2008 and having peaked higher while playing at the same time.

So where would you rank Paul Pierce.....

Pierce is ranked #62 on the list.

I can agree with that. So imo, while I think Pau was a great player for the Lakers, I think he is fighting to get into the top 75 players.....

[dhsilv2]

2008 KG had a great case to having been the best player in the NBA that year...and has a case as a top 10 player ever. Are we really comparing HIM to Gasol??? We're asking if Gasol is top 50 or 75, not top 10!

Lets break that down.

So you admit KG outplayed Pau in that series.

Exactly what did KG do statistically:

PPG - 18.2
REB - 13.0
AST - 3.0
STL - 1.7
BLK - 1.0
FG% - .429
TS% - .470

Is that some type of ATG statline? Is that even a special statline? Its good. Its what I would expect from the SECOND best performer on a championship team. I don't think there is a championship series that was won with the best player putting up those stats. On the face the boxscore is good, but the advanced stats are trash. KG was not efficient at all. But that is normal for KG in the playoffs.

Ray Allen scored over 20 PPG and Paul Pierce scored over 20 PPG. That really allowed KG to focus on the defensive end having two other 20 point scorers in this series.

OTOH, this is what Pau did for that series:

PPG - 14.7
REB - 10.2
AST - 3.3
STL - 0.3
BLK - 1.0
FG% - .532
TS% - .572

Pau was very efficient. Pau's boxscore was not so impressive but his advanced stats were pretty good. But you say that KG was at the top of his game and was an MVP level player that year.

So KG was 3rd in the MVP voting that year, Pierce was 14th, and Kobe was 1st. Where was Pau? Hmm let me go to his BR page.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolpa01.html

Pau was nowhere in the MVP voting. In fact, he doesn't have ANY MVP voting years. Pau was never considered an MVP level player.

Paul Pierce was; Pierce was considered an MVP-level player five times in his career:
2001 - 13th in the voting
2002 - 11th
2003 - 11th
2008 - 14th
2009 - 7th

But not once...not one year was Pau ever considered by the voters for MVP. Why is that?

Is Paul Pierce that much better than Pau Gasol...would we say the embarkation line for top 50 be Paul Pierce? Or is Paul Pierce top 75? Or is Paul Pierce top 100?

I think we have to admit that Paul Pierce is categorically a better player than Pau Gasol, having won a FMVP in 2008 and having peaked higher while playing at the same time.

So where would you rank Paul Pierce.....

KG was the best defender in the game by a margin and his impact was seen all over that series, such as Pau's poor performance indicates. Why doc kept going to KG in the post when that isn't his strength is beyond me, but that's a coaching decision...and I'm pretty vocal in my view that Doc's a crappy basketball coach, maybe he's great in the locker room but everything he does in game is awful.

None the less even if you're low on KG and think he's like the 20th best player and high on Gasol and think he's 50th...that's as HUGE 30 spots. The two shouldn't be compared. Right now however we're discussing Pau in more the context of if he's a top 75 player, 55 spots down from 20th. By about 30-35 you're no longer talking about MVP level guys. By 50 you're looking at guys who either had stats that look better than impact or guys who had impact without the stats. You're holding Gasol to a level it feels like, that isn't really fair give where he'd rank.

Gasol was a highly skilled guy who was pretty good at everything a big man should or could be good at and not really great at anything. A flaw or two here and there and a few exceptional skills for a big man. Maybe a bit slow footed but with better hands/passing than all but the most elite bigs. That makes you a top 75 guy... But getting bullied or pushed around by KG doesn't make you soft. We're talking about a guy even Kobe would have looked at and been like "bro, basketball is my life, but it's still a game!".

[G35]

Overall 2008 was not a good series for Gasol and Kobe...But in 2010,Gasol destroyed the Celtics frontcourt with so many offensive rebounds (35 in 7 games, including 9 huge offensive rebounds in the crucial game 7 in a 4 point win)

I don't understand why Kobe fans don't give the credit Gasol deserves, Kobe was the reason but without Gasol's trade, the Lakers aren't close to having the success they had between 2008 to 2010.Only the celtics had a better second option that the lakers during the 2008 to 2010 period in the NBA

I think this is somewhat of a disingenuous argument.

I don't think any Laker fans or Kobe fans are saying Pau was not valuable or a good player. He clearly was.

What I would say is Pau did not reach his potential and that cost the Lakers at times. He had his shortcomings.

Let me ask you, do we talk about Kobe's shortcomings, or do we just praise him for what he did well?

Lets go in a different direction:

- are people who call out Zion for being overweight "Zion-haters" and not giving him the credit he deserves

- are there Harden-haters because they call out his flopping and being out of shape

- are there Kyrie-haters because he talks about flat earth and conspiracies

- are there AD-haters because people call him "street clothes"

Sometimes...just sometimes...people can critique something without being a hater. It does not always have to be a love-fest over players.....

[Homer38]

Overall 2008 was not a good series for Gasol and Kobe...But in 2010,Gasol destroyed the Celtics frontcourt with so many offensive rebounds (35 in 7 games, including 9 huge offensive rebounds in the crucial game 7 in a 4 point win)

I don't understand why Kobe fans don't give the credit Gasol deserves, Kobe was the reason but without Gasol's trade, the Lakers aren't close to having the success they had between 2008 to 2010.Only the celtics had a better second option that the lakers during the 2008 to 2010 period in the NBA

I think this is somewhat of a disingenuous argument.

I don't think any Laker fans or Kobe fans are saying Pau was not valuable or a good player. He clearly was.

What I would say is Pau did not reach his potential and that cost the Lakers at times. He had his shortcomings.

Let me ask you, do we talk about Kobe's shortcomings, or do we just praise him for what he did well?

Lets go in a different direction:

- are people who call out Zion for being overweight "Zion-haters" and not giving him the credit he deserves

- are there Harden-haters because they call out his flopping and being out of shape

- are there Kyrie-haters because he talks about flat earth and conspiracies

- are there AD-haters because people call him "street clothes"

Sometimes...just sometimes...people can critique something without being a hater. It does not always have to be a love-fest over players.....

What do you mean by thatin bold...I hope you're talking just after 2010, because 2008 to 2010, it was difficult for the Lakers,Kobe,Pau,Phil,etc to do better...

For the criticisms, the criticisms that are justified, I understand that and that doesn't make you a hater and I didn't say that you were someone who was a Gasol hater, even if you could give more credit for the period from 2008 to 2010....But in other situations sometimes when someone criticizes a player even when he played very well and he is stubborn about it, no matter what and you don't give credit in his accomplishment,that's a hater

[G35]

KG was the best defender in the game by a margin and his impact was seen all over that series, such as Pau's poor performance indicates. Why doc kept going to KG in the post when that isn't his strength is beyond me, but that's a coaching decision...and I'm pretty vocal in my view that Doc's a crappy basketball coach, maybe he's great in the locker room but everything he does in game is awful.

None the less even if you're low on KG and think he's like the 20th best player and high on Gasol and think he's 50th...that's as HUGE 30 spots. The two shouldn't be compared. Right now however we're discussing Pau in more the context of if he's a top 75 player, 55 spots down from 20th. By about 30-35 you're no longer talking about MVP level guys. By 50 you're looking at guys who either had stats that look better than impact or guys who had impact without the stats. You're holding Gasol to a level it feels like, that isn't really fair give where he'd rank.

Gasol was a highly skilled guy who was pretty good at everything a big man should or could be good at and not really great at anything. A flaw or two here and there and a few exceptional skills for a big man. Maybe a bit slow footed but with better hands/passing than all but the most elite bigs. That makes you a top 75 guy... But getting bullied or pushed around by KG doesn't make you soft. We're talking about a guy even Kobe would have looked at and been like "bro, basketball is my life, but it's still a game!".

I disagree with this point.

Because you think KG is so much greater than Pau, then Pau should not be able to play a good series vs KG?

So then what happened with Dirk vs KG in 2002? KG was a seven year veteran, so no experience mismatch and Dirk completely obliterated KG. The Mavericks swept the Wolves and it was a 4-5 matchup, so nothing egregious and Dirk put up all time numbers vs KG. This is prime vs prime.

In the 2008 KG vs Pau matchup, KG had been in the league 12 years...I think this was the last year of his prime years. But Pau was in the middle of his prime, KG was 31 and Pau was 27. Pau didn't get much better than he was then, he was at his best. The problem wasn't his physical ability but how he plays the game. He played soft against KG in the 2008 series, he learned over the next two years he had to play a little more aggressively. But that was always how Pau played. I know the rest of the Lakers always had to tell him to take more shots, be more aggressive getting his own shot.

But as far as top 50, I don't think the top 35 players is where the MVP level players end. Some players who were MVP level did not actually get an MVP but ranked high in the voting several times....for example Paul Pierce and you can make that case for several other players:

Look at the all time MVP shares leaders and you can see many who never won the award:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/nba_mvp_shares.html
Chris Paul
Patrick Ewing
Joel Embiid
Dwight Howard
Kawhi Leonard
Alonzo Mourning
Billy Cunningham
Jason Kidd
George Gervin
Tracy McGrady
Dominique Wilkins
Gary Payton
Dwyane Wade
Clyde Drexler
Scottie Pippen
Sidney Moncrief
Anthony Davis
Wes Unseld
Chris Webber
Elvin Hayes
Grant Hill
Bob Lanier
Carmelo Anthony - ranked 80th

Stopping a Carmelo and if you keep going down the list and you see a lot of names that did receive MVP votes that I mentioned:

Chris Bosh - 161
Elton Brand - 149
Kevin Love - 128
Draymond - 153
Lamarcus Aldridge - 169
Al Jefferson - 178

So while RGM does not respect the opinions of pretty much anyone outside of the Players Comparison board, there are others who voted that these were MVP level players. It is fascinating to come up with reasons why no one ever voted for Pau as MVP level, whether in Memphis, LA, or Chicago.....