Best Showman in NBA History

kendogg · Post #1 » by **kendogg** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 1:31 am

I wanna keep the list short, but yet I wanna go beyond 4 because I think after the top 4 it gets a lot harder. So I'm going to ask, what are your top 8 best showmen of all time? This is a subjective question obviously, as players can be entertaining in different ways (handle, scoring, athleticism, trash talk, personality, etc)

1. Jordan
2. Pistol Pete
3. Magic
4. Bird
5. Iverson
6. Dr J
7. Barkley
8. Dominique

An Unbiased Fan · Post #2 » by **An Unbiased Fan** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 1:35 am

1) Magic
2) Pistol
3) Kobe
4) Wilt
5) Vince
6) MJ
7) Nique
8) AI
9) Dr. J
10) Curry

eminence · Post #3 » by **eminence** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 1:45 am

Hmm, fairly subjective, personally I absolutely love Curry as a showman, favorite I've seen since I started watching early 00's.

Nowitness · Post #4 » by **Nowitness** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 1:53 am

eminence wrote:Hmm, fairly subjective, personally I absolutely love Curry as a showman, favorite I've seen since I started watching early 00's.

Yeah, Curry in that 73-9 season was some of the most entertaining basketball I've ever watched, he just put on a show every big game. Kind of annoying now with how good they are, but I think people will look back and appreciate the entertainment factor.

I'd probably round out a top five with:
Magic
Jordan
Shaq
Dr. J

bizil · Post #5 » by **bizil** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:03 am

No particular order

Freak athlete wise

MJ
Nique
Vince
Kemp
Doc
Bron
Kobe
T Mac

Handles wise

AI
Curry
Irving
Zeke
Tim Hardaway
Jamal Crawford
CP3
White Chocolate

Passing wise

Magic
Zeke
Pistol Pete
Cousy (original flashy PG)
Bron
Bird
Kidd
White Chocolate

TaylorTRoom · Post #6 » by **TaylorTRoom** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 2:10 am

Sky Thompson?

Unbiased hater · Post #7 » by **Unbiased hater** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:51 am

Shaq - He was interesting on the court with dunks, trash talk , dominance, posterizing players, breaking boards and dislocating baskets and of the court with giving nicknames to himself , making movies, commercials and videogames, dissing players that he have problem with, rapping and dj-ing etc., giving funny interviews, was part of Shaq and Kobe duo that won 3 straight NBA titles . Had rivalries with a lot big mans - Hakeem, Mourning, Ming, Rodman, Sabonis but most interesting ones are with Robinson where he told that Robinsons refused to sign him autograph when he was a kid and against Divac where he was making fun of him in the bus after 2002 WCF.

Wilt - Dominant player who was chasing records and scored a lot, interesting off the court too with his bragging about women and talk about other players, had great rivalry with Russell that was interesting for those who watched it then.

AI - One of the most exiting players with very unique style of play, with posssibly best crossover in the history where he had crossovers on Kobe , Jordan , famous crossover where he stepped over Lue. Interesting personality off the court and had big influence on the pop culture , he is one of the main reasons why hip hop is mainstream today .

Mcgrady - One of the best dribblers, ballhendlers and drivers to the basket, good scorer, among best players in history if we look his prime , had rivalry with Kobe and was part of the Mcgrady - Ming duo that was exiting to watch.

Vince - Probably the best in game dunker and best style dunker, , winner in maybe best dunk contest in history, great scorer with interesting personality and charisma .

Barkley - Great scorer , at one point second best active player in NBA, had big rivalry with Jordan, loved to talk trash and to have fights on the court and was tough guy. Beside that he was very funny which why he had roles in a lot of shows, commercials, videogames and movies.

MJ - Great scorer , considered as best player of all times by majority of fans, media and experts, could score in different ways, invented a lot of moves and ways to score, great in game dunker, participated in first dunk contest where he competed against biggest names in that time. Beside his qualities as a player he was doing a lot of things on the court that were interesting- trash talk , shrugging , revenge games. Had rivalries with a lot of great players bc everyone wanted to beat him . Was part of the best team in NBA and best team in international competitions . Was very charismatic and bc of that he improved popularity of the basketball and he and his name was in a lot of commercials , video games and in cartoon movie.

Curry - Best shooter of all times , can score far from the three point line , one of the most exiting players in history of NBA. Beside that has very unique celebrations after he score and is very relatable to the kids.

Dominique - Best player in Hawks history , main reason why Hawks fans choosed to be fans of that franchise. In his prime competed with Bird and English for best scorer and best player . One of the best in game dunkers and best power dunker in history of NBA, participated in first dunk contests .

Pistol P - One of the best dribblers and ballhandlers in NBA history , known for attractive style of play with a lot of dribbles and no look passes .

bledredwine · Post #8 » by **bledredwine** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:59 am

Jordan - only player to have circus shot a part of the regular repertoire
Nique - awesome dunks
Curry - prime season hit insane shots
Pete M - obvious
Rodman - ridiculous antics and dives for the ball, annoyed players, tough defender

Ballerhogger · Post #9 » by **Ballerhogger** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:28 am

In history
Dr. J
Elgin Baylor
Kobe
MJ
Nquie
Iverson
Shaq
MJ

Gregoire · Post #10 » by **Gregoire** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:51 am

1. MJ
2. Magic
3. Maravich/JasonWilliams
4. Shaq/Wilt
5. Curry

Joao Saraiva · Post #11 » by **Joao Saraiva** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:46 am

For me:
Vince Carter
Allen Iverson
Chris Paul
John Stockton (I know I know for most he wasn't that exciting)
Shawn Kemp

jschmitty · Post #12 » by **jschmitty** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:52 am

bizil wrote:No particular order

Freak athlete wise

MJ
Nique
Vince
Kemp
Doc
Bron
Kobe
T Mac

Handles wise

AI
Curry
Irving
Zeke
Tim Hardaway
Jamal Crawford
CP3
White Chocolate

Passing wise

Magic
Zeke
Pistol Pete
Cousy (original flashy PG)
Bron
Bird
Kidd
White Chocolate

Maybe Steve Nash in the handles and passing categories?

Dupp · Post #13 » by **Dupp** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:15 am

Nash is definitely my personal favourite but when I hear showman I think magic.

Eskobar13 · Post #14 » by **Eskobar13** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:25 am

Shaq for sure. The guy who made me love the Nba through his dunks, antics on court, thrash talk and the segments I used to see about him on Nba Action.

Unfortunately he has managed to almost entirely cloud that idea of him since he retired. I have a sad feeling this is happening with a lot of people.

Dupp · Post #15 » by **Dupp** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:04 pm

Eskobar13 wrote:Shaq for sure. The guy who made me love the Nba through his dunks, antics on court, thrash talk and the segments I used to see about him on Nba Action.

Unfortunately he has managed to almost entirely cloud that idea of him since he retired. I have a sad feeling this is happening with a lot of people.

Identical opinion from me. Shaq got me really into the league and I loved him and now I can’t stand him.

Post #16 » by **penbeast0** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:08 pm

A few older talents that were pure showmen:

Calvin Murphy -- one of those guys that could get so hot, Kobe would stand back and go "Whoa" even though he was under 6 foot tall. Could hit anything from anywhere.

Nate Archibald -- Like Allen Iverson with great court vision rather than tunnel vision . . . and even worse defense.

Roger Brown -- "The man with a thousand moves" was one of the great streetball players ever to make it at the pro level.

Walt Frazier -- Mr. Cool with the fastest hands to ever play the game.

Earl Monroe -- more the Baltimore version than the Knicks version.

JulesWinnfield · Post #17 » by **JulesWinnfield** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 12:43 pm

I had to read this thread twice to make sure i wasnt missing a Westbrook mention. Dont know how we get this far without it. His athleticsm, motor and competitive fire are off the charts and the areas of his game that you may take issue with from a basketball standpoint shouldnt hurt him much in a category like this. His reckless abandon may even be an asset. Watching him semi nightly in 2017 in particular was one of my favorite nba experiences ever

Post #18 » by **Clyde Frazier** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 3:34 pm

Yank3525 · Post #19 » by **Yank3525** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 5:00 pm

Kobe and Iverson were the most fun to watch when they were on their game IMO. However, as a collective group those J-Will, C-Webb, Vlade Kings were a real treat to watch.

bizil · Post #20 » by **bizil** » Tue Jul 17, 2018 6:26 pm

jschmitty wrote:
bizil wrote:No particular order

Freak athlete wise

MJ
Nique
Vince
Kemp
Doc
Bron
Kobe
T Mac

Handles wise

AI
Curry
Irving
Zeke
Tim Hardaway
Jamal Crawford
CP3
White Chocolate

Passing wise

Magic
Zeke
Pistol Pete
Cousy (original flashy PG)
Bron
Bird
Kidd
White Chocolate

Maybe Steve Nash in the handles and passing categories?

Nash FOR SURE could belong in both. IF I was doing a top 10, he would have made it. I think I tried to include legends from the 60's to 80's for a couple of spots and missed him. He and Steph combine shooting, passing, and handles better than ANYBODY in NBA history. And both have that showman swag to go with it. And Mark Price had sick combo of the three.