Category Archives: Basketball

We are a week removed from the NBA Finals and its result shook the foundation of my Top 100 (and should have shaken everyone’s Top lists). So let’s look through my Top 100 and see what’s changed.

Dropped out: Mark Price
Unfortunately for Price a new player has joined the Top 100, and that means Price drops out. Perhaps next year I’ll expand to a Top 125.

100. Tom Chambers (-1)
99. Tim Hardaway (-1)
98. Manu Ginobili (-1) – Could be a big playoffs away from going up about 10 spots, but it looks like he’s done and may retire.
97. Alonzo Mourning (-1)
96. Dikembe Mutombo (-1)
95. Yao Ming (-1)
94. Vince Carter (-1) – I feel like I have to re-evaluate Carter in the future. Is he really better than Mutombo, Mourning, Yao?
93. Carmelo Anthony (-1) – Needs something to move up. Not making the playoffs in the East these days is inexcusable if you’re a top player.
92. Kevin Johnson (-1)
91. Shawn Kemp (-1)

Everyone in this group dropped a spot as the new entry is already in the 80s.

90. Robert Horry (-1)
89. Chris Mullin (-1)
88. Bob Dandridge (-1)
87. Paul Westphal (-1)
86. Dan Issel (-1)
85. Artis Gilmore (-1)
84. Russell Westbrook (NEW) – With his first NBA 1st Team selection, as well as being part of a dangerous 1-2 punch with Kevin Durant that almost beat the 73 win Warriors, it was impossible to deny Westbrook a Top 100 spot. I feel like he’s at the level of Tracy McGrady at the moment, but Westbrook is still young and will probably only trend upwards.
83. Tracy McGrady
82. Joe Dumars
81. Sidney Moncrief

Westbrook’s the only new player in the Top 100.
80. Lenny Wilkins
79. Earl Monroe
78. Tony Parker – Looking like he’s close to done as well. Will need a big season or playoffs to really move up at all.
77. Chris Webber
76. David Thompson
75. Jerry Lucas
74. Pete Maravich
73. Dwight Howard (-1) – Drops a spot to Bosh, will explain below.
72. Chris Bosh (+1) – Passes Howard, will explain below.
71. Dennis Rodman

Really liked how Chris Bosh played this year, even though he unfortunately was done after 53 games because of his heart (and his career might be over). While Dwight performed below expectations once again Bosh was the leader of a Heat team that I think could have given Cleveland a run for their money had he been healthy. Combine this with Bosh’s transformation as a top role player/third guy on the Heat title teams and I think his career is slightly more impressive than Howards. Yeah, Dwight had a better peak, but I’ll take Bosh’s overall career this time. Dwight SHOULD be better than what he is though.

70. Adrian Dantley
69. Alex English
68. Bob McAdoo
67. Tom Heihnson
66. Tiny Archibald
65. Pau Gasol – Impressive that Gasol keeps going, but I think I need to see one more good playoff run to consider putting him in the Top 60.
64. Reggie Miller
63. Bill Sharmin
62. Dave Debusschere
61. Robert Parish

No movement here. Only one that can change their legacy is Gasol.
60. Bernard King
59. Elvin Hayes
58. Dolph Schayes
57. Paul Arizin
56. Dominique Wilkins
55. Billy Cunningham (-1)
54. Hal Greer (-1)
53. Nate Thurmond (-1)
52. Wes Unseld (-1)
51. Chris Paul (+4)

CP3 is one of the toughest to rank. His advanced stats are incredible and he’s clearly a positive on his team. How much of it is his fault that he can’t get out of Round 2? Yes, he keeps running into the juggernauts of the West, but he should have at least been able to get by some of them, right? (He had home court vs. the Spurs in 2008 in Game 7 and was up 3-1 on the Rockets in 2015). I think in terms of success CP3 isn’t much different than Dominique. They just can’t get past those juggernauts of their respective conferences. This year injuries cost Paul a chance at a deep playoff run. But he’s running out of time. He’ll probably inch towards the top 40 with these continual great seasons, but unless there’s some playoff success that’s probably as far as he’d go.

50. James Worthy
49. Dennis Johnson
48. Bill Walton (-1)
47. Ray Allen (-1)
46. Chauncey Billups (-1)
45. George Gervin (-1)
44. Sam Jones (-1)
43. Clyde Drexler (-1)
42. George Mikan (-1)
41. Jason Kidd (-1)

We had one player move up…we’ll get there eventually.
40. Paul Pierce (-1)
39. Allen Iverson (-1)
38. Gary Payton (-1)
37. Patrick Ewing (-1)
36. Dave Cowens (-2)
35. Steve Nash (-2)
34. Kevin Durant (+1) – It seems like a minimal move for Durant. On one hand I was super impressed that he got past the Spurs. On the other hand, he needed one more really big performance to get past Golden State and didn’t get it done. His career is impressive no doubt, but I’m going to need more for him to break into the Top 30.
33. Kevin McHale (-1)
32. Walt Frazier (-1)
31. Willis Reed (-1)

All of these drops are because of the player who went up from the 40s. Durant obviously has potential to move up a lot depending on how things go from here.

30. Rick Barry (-1)
29. Bob Cousy (-1)
28. John Stockon (-1)
27. Stephen Curry (+20) – I was ready to put him into the Top 15 until the collapse against the Spurs happened. Despite an incredible year (.318 WS/48!) and a unanimous MVP, we’re left at the end of the season wonder if he’s even the league’s best player (he’s not). He’s failed to dominate in two straight Finals now, winning the first one arguably because the 2015 Cavs were decimated by injuries and simply overmatched. He’s still headed to the Top 20 (and maybe Top 10), but the train definitely slowed down in the Finals.
26. David Robinson
25. Elgin Baylor
24. John Havlicek
23. Bob Pettit
22. Scottie Pippen
21. Isiah Thomas

Only change here is the addition of Curry.

20. Dwyane Wade – Had a chance to add onto his legacy but couldn’t get it done. His best days are past him, but a surprisingly good run could get him to the Top 15.
19. Karl Malone
18. Charles Barkley
17. Julius Erving
16. Oscar Robertson
15. Wilt Chamberlain
14. Kevin Garnett
13. Dirk Nowitzki – As impressive that he’s still the key member of some solid playoff teams, any shot at the Top 10 is probably dead.
12. Jerry West
11. Moses Malone

No changes here. Only Wade and Nowitzki can change their legacies (and perhaps Garnett?)

10. Kobe Bryant – These last three seasons did nothing for me to think he deserves to go any higher. This past season was especially embarrassing and held back the Laker future.
9. Hakeem Olajuwon
8. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Larry Bird
6. Tim Duncan (-1) – Looks like he’s run out of gas, which is a shame. While I wouldn’t rule him out of being an elite role player next year I don’t know if that’s going to be enough to get back into the Top 5.
5. Magic Johnson (-1)
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (-1)
3. LeBron James (+3) – We’ll get to the Kareem vs. LeBron vs. Russell arguments shortly.
2. Bill Russell
1. Michael Jordan

LeBron James obviously put himself into GOAT discussion with his 2016 NBA Finals performance. I still think he has a bit to go to get to MJ (but at least it’s a discussion. That wasn’t guaranteed at all at this point), but he CAN get there. I think he clearly gets to jump Duncan and Magic here. Kareem was a tough choice, but I think LeBron’s been more impressive against better average talent than Kareem was in the 70s (not to say Kareem wasn’t impressive against good teams, it’s just that I find LeBron to be better). Lebron vs. Russell you can go back and forth with all day and I thought about it for a few days. For me it becomes a bit of a hardware argument. It’s not to say LeBron needs 11 rings, but I’d like to see #4 or #5 before I’m taking him over the best winner in NBA history.

Basketball

All Hail the King: A NBA Finals Recap

June 21, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

Never had a NBA Finals been declared over, then not over, then over, then not over so many times.

Everyone thought Cleveland had to split the early games in Oakland to have a chance. In Game 1 Cleveland held a one point lead in the third quarter before Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa surprisingly carried Golden State and pulled away to win by 15. Game 2 was an embarrassment for the Cavs. LeBron once again had nice stats but hasn’t asserted himself. Kyrie Irving was doing a crappy Allen Iverson impersonation, shooting 12 for 35 in the first two games. Kevin Love looked good in Game 1 but wasn’t much in Game 2, and then got hit in the head and would miss Game 3. Klay Thompson said that this Warriors team would beat the Showtime Lakers. It was 2-0 and Cleveland either had to win four straight or win a Game 7 in Oakland. The series was over.

And then it wasn’t. The series shifted to Cleveland where the Cavs blew out Warriors by 30 points. Richard Jefferson provided a spark both offensively and defensively starting for the injured Love. I questioned whether Love should even play in the series anymore. Irving scored 30 and hit as many shots has he did in Games 1 and 2 combined. J.R. Smith finally had a big Finals game and hit five threes. LeBron threw a monster game in there with a 32-11-6. Suddenly, if Cleveland could win Game 4 at home, we’d have a new series.

Then the series was over again. Stephen Curry, the unanimous League MVP who’d been quiet for the Finals so far, decided to remind everyone why he was MVP and dropped 38 with seven threes. LeBron and Kyrie had big games, but no one else really helped. It was 3-1 Warriors. Golden State were 88-16 at that point. They hadn’t lost three in a row in the Steve Kerr era. They lost three games all year at home. No way they were dropping three straight with two at home. The mere glimmer of hope? Draymond Green getting suspended for Game 5 for hitting James low. Justified or not (and I think considering Draymond’s past its perfectly fine), this series was still over. The question at this point was where would Draymond watch Game 5 from and would he make the celebration in time.

The only way LeBron was ever to catch Michael Jordan in the All Time Greats list was to start doing things no one else could do. He had to do something special. LeBron and Kyrie quite frankly kicked the shit out of Golden State in Oakland. LeBron started that special track with a 41-16-7-3-3 and Kyrie helped with 41 of his own. Curry was okay. Harrison Barnes flushed millions of dollars down the toilet. Thompson had a great game wasted. Once again the series wasn’t over, because if Cleveland could win Game 6 at home, well, anything could happen in a Game 7, right?

Game 6 was over by the first quarter (okay fine, Golden State did make some comebacks, but never got the lead). 31-11 Cleveland at the end of the first. LeBron decided to have another holy shit game with a 41-11-8. Curry cheated on defense all game, fouled out and threw his mouthpiece in the stands. Yeah, Game 7 was in Oakland, but looking back its obvious that Stephen Curry was rattled. The pressure was getting to Golden State. Still, both sides were right. Steve Kerr said he would take 1 game on his home floor for a title anytime. LeBron said anything can happen in the two greatest words in sports: Game 7.

Many times Golden State could have put Game 7 away. They began building a lead and had a big second quarter to take a 7 point lead into the half. But Irving brought Cleveland back. They held Cleveland to 40% shooting…but Cleveland kept attacking the rim and legitimately got to the free throw line. Draymond Green played a game so good that I would have been fine with him winning Finals MVP despite LeBron’s greatness (32-15-9 with 6 threes). With the game tied late at 89 all Golden State had to do as they did so many times during the season was hit some big shots and put Cleveland away. There are four plays I will remember from this game down the stretch. I will remember Curry, who clearly seemed rattled by the pressure, going for a behind the back pass and failing miserably. It seemed like this was Curry’s way to tell us that everything was fine and just as it always is. Of course, everything wasn’t and Golden State was falling apart. Curry throwing it away there was a microcosm of that. I will remember Curry failing to dribble past Kevin Love. Arguably the league’s best offensive player couldn’t get by the league’s worst big name defensive player when it mattered. I will remember LeBron’s “Smoke Monster” block as will everyone else. That’s a top five greatest play in NBA Finals history without a doubt. Remember, Golden State never got past 89 points…and that was their best chance at it. I will remember Kyrie Irving’s game winner with 50 seconds left on Curry. I criticized Irving for a crappy Allen Iverson impression in Games 1 and 2. He suddenly became the rich man’s Iverson, an evolutionary efficient version. It’s probably the greatest player type LeBron could ask for as a second guy. A fearless scorer who can make them when they count? It also put one last embarrassment out there for Curry: Cleveland attacked him, the league MVP, down the stretch. And it worked. LeBron also had a 27-11-11 in case that matters.

73-9 now means nothing. Curry now has to wonder about his legacy. The Warriors go into the off-season wondering if perhaps they should add Kevin Durant. But we’re all sure of one thing.

It’s still LeBron James’ league. All Hail the King.

(And congratulations Cleveland…you all deserve it).

Basketball

2016 NBA Finals Prediction

June 2, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

So long Toronto and Oklahoma City. In Toronto’s case they’ve proved me wrong five different times in these playoffs. Sure they lost in six, but they put up a great fight and Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan definitely earned my respect. Hopefully DeRozan doesn’t leave and Toronto sticks around as a regular playoff team each year.

I don’t know if Oklahoma City fans should consider this season a win or not. They weren’t supposed to get past San Antonio and going up 3-1 on the record breaking Warriors seemed unfathomable. I’m not completely surprised that Golden State came back although I did think Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were playing way too well for it to happen. Unfortunately, Durant will have his clutchness questioned (not unlike LeBron five years ago) and really Westbrook should too. It doesn’t mean it’s right, but eventually top stars need to get the job done. And when you’re up 3-1 that means not losing three straight. Durant is where LeBron five or six years ago and I wouldn’t count him out. We definitely got some great basketball out if it…leading to…

NBA Finals

#1 Golden State Warriors (73-9) vs. #1 Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25)

In the end we have the two #1 seeds. It may have felt like a complicated way to get here but in truth the Eastern Conference side has was always going to be the Cavs despite Toronto’s fight. Golden State, despite the 73-9 record, was always a little less certain as the Spurs loomed. Surprisingly Oklahoma City took Golden State to the limit. That plus Stephen Curry’s playoff injury plus Draymond Green suddenly becoming one of the league’s top villains has made the Warriors look vulnerable. Cleveland meanwhile has marched through the East with a 12-2 record with the highest points differential in the playoffs since the 2001 Lakers.

Let’s make the case for Cavs. First off the Cavs have LeBron James. Only the biggest haters of LeBron at this point can ignore the fact that he’s one of the best ten players of all time, one of the top two players in the league right now (and still arguably #1). Most fans have taken LeBron for granted. The fact of the matter is LeBron almost won the NBA title last year with Matthew Dellavedova as his 2^nd best guy. LeBron went for 36-13-9 on AVERAGE (admittedly with a bad shooting %) and wore down the Warriors basically by himself. In fact, LeBron was my pick for Finals MVP even though Cleveland lost. And this year? This year LeBron has weapons. Like Kyrie Irving. Like Kevin Love. If good J.R. Smith shows up then include him too. If they reach their potential this is one scary team. They showed that against the Hawks in these playoffs. LeBron James can turn this series around and this time he doesn’t need to take 28 shots each game to do it.

Let’s talk about Kevin Love. Love seems to be the most inconsistent player on Cleveland. Some nights he’s nailing threes and getting double digit rebounds. Other nights he’s nowhere to be seen and a ghost on defense. His defense probably won’t magically improve, so he’ll have to have consistent big offensive nights in this series. It should be noted that in the two games against the Warriors this year Love has shot 6 for 21. He’ll have to do better than that.

Cleveland will also have to win the offensive rebounding game by a significant margin to win. This is what you were paid to do Tristan Thompson. Kevin Love also grabbed 18 boards against Golden State on Xmas…but it should be noted they still lost that game. Golden State has already beaten three of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA in these playoffs. It doesn’t mean Cleveland can’t win this way though.

All three of these reasons (not just one or two) will have to happen in order for Cleveland to win. Even then I’m not quite sure it will be enough.

For one Stephen Curry seems 100% over his injury and doing Stephen Curry things. He’s absolutely unstoppable in this situation and unlike last year I don’t think someone like Dellavedova is going to rattle him. And even so, Klay Thompson is clearly in peak form right now too. If there’s one thing we learned from Cleveland’s series against Toronto it’s that the perimeter defense is suspect. Lowry and DeRozan ran wild when away from Cleveland. And Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are much better than Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. I don’t have much faith in Cleveland’s defense away from Cleveland. And in Cleveland I don’t expect for Curry to get shut down.

I also think Golden State is a strong enough team defensively to at least hold down the Cavs. Of course LeBron will get his, but will Kevin Love? I get that Kyrie Irving was just getting back into rhythm when the regular season games against the Warriors took place but he looked bad in both. Then again he was good against them in Game 1 before he went down. The Cavs may get big contributions from Channing Frye and J.R. Smith and they will need them, but I don’t know if that’s enough to win a seven game series. Defensively Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala will make Cleveland work for their points. Rebounding wise Green can also beat Cleveland as well (as he did on Christmas). Bismack Biyombo’s rebounding performance in the Eastern Conference Finals really puts a damper on the whole “Cleveland will beat Golden State by outrebounding them” strategy.

All of the intangible factors to go Golden State too. They’ve been here before. They’ve been tested and they’ve won. They’re a 73-9 juggernaut. They have the coaching advantage (although Ty Lue is quite a wildcard). They even have Anderson Varejao, who may not be a factor on the court but you can never like it when someone who’s been on one side for so long is suddenly you enemy (see Horace Grant vs. the Bulls in ‘95 or Robert Horry vs the Lakers in ’04…a Phil Jackson story there).

On Cleveland’s side Kyrie Irving’s played in one Finals game total (although in truth I think he’ll be fine). Kevin Love hasn’t yet and really hasn’t shown me he’s ready for that level of intensity. We don’t really know what difference Ty Lue made other than some stories. If anything, Cleveland had a worse regular season record after David Blatt was fired despite getting Irving back.

The Golden State Warriors are just too good to lose four out of seven. Oklahoma City was close, and I sense that was just the kick in the ass they needed too.

Warriors in 6.

Basketball

NBA Playoff Predictions: Conference Finals!

May 16, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com 2 Comments

So long Portland, San Antonio, Atlanta and Miami. Gotta hand it to Portland, Damian Lillard is a star and definitely the leader Portland needs. If they get some more talent surrounding them watch out. The Spurs going down is a shocker, but kudos to Billy Donovan for outcoaching Gregg Popovich. LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard are great players, but Aldridge doesn’t seem to have the leadership qualities of a top guy and Leonard may be more of a Scottie Pippen type. I guess we’ll see. I don’t think anyone had Atlanta winning a game against Cleveland, although Cleveland suddenly looking like the Warriors in terms of shooting the basketball is terrifying. I was basically one quarter away from calling Miami-Toronto correctly, but Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan proved that they can perform in the playoffs. 2-2, 7-5 total.

Western Conference

#1 Golden State Warriors (73-9) vs. #3 Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27)

I would love as a fan to see Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook upset Golden State and make it back to the Finals. I was just watching the 30 for 30 Magic Moment documentary on the mid 90’s Magic and its crazy how many parallels are here with OKC. They’ve tasted Finals glory. They had one clear star and one up and coming star, only that up and coming star became so good it’s arguable that he’s on the same level as the clear star. Injuries to the top star only furthered that opinion. They are in a smaller market and relatively new (OKC moved from Seattle, Orlando was new). And now that top star is debating leaving (Durant might, Shaq did). The year before that decision, they face a 70+ win juggernaut in the Conference Finals. I don’t want to see this OKC team break up and I feel like only a shot in the Finals might prevent that. This OKC team is fun and great for basketball, just like the mid 90s Magic were.

But the Warriors are running on all cylinders. Somehow the injury to Curry feels like a long time ago. I guess 17 point overtimes from one player will do that. Each time in the regular season Oklahoma City was just plays away from beating Golden State but could never do it. Durant can go for 40 and Westbrook with the 20-10-10, and still Curry might drop 45 and the Warriors will still win. I think there will be a lot of close games and I don’t want to count out OKC since they absolutely shocked me with their victory over the Spurs. But GS has answers to the match-up problems OKC caused in the previous series. Draymond Green won’t allow the Kanter-Adams lineup to flourish. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry can score with Durant and Westbrook. Iguodala can hound Durant. There’s too much to ignore. Get exicted for five games with scores like 118-110 though. Even if the Warriors win four of them.

Warriors in 5

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25) vs. #2 Toronto Raptors (56-26)

I’ve counted Toronto out three times so far as I had them missing the playoffs, losing to Indiana then losing to Miami. I’m obviously continuing the trend here but this time it has less to do with Toronto. The Cavaliers are playing the type of basketball I expected from them when they got together last year. As for Toronto, bravo, Lowry and DeRozan are playing great and they should be proud of a great season. No Jonas and a semi-injured DeMarre Carrol is just way too much for Toronto to overcome on their side.

Cavs in 4.

Basketball

2016 NBA Playoff Predictions: Round 2!

May 2, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

So long Houston, LA, Memphis, Dallas, Detroit, Indiana, Charlotte and Boston. Boston and LA just had a rough deal with injuries. Dallas just doesn’t have enough talent and their best player is just about at the end. It’s too early for Detroit. Indiana had the series in the palm of their hand, but lineups without Paul George were just too awful for Indiana to survive with. George is like the poor man’s LeBron, which really isn’t intended as an insult. Memphis gets some credit for getting to the playoffs with all of their injuries, but this is a team that’s window has closed and is on its way down. Houston of course, is an embarrassment this year and that only continued with their poor playoff showing. Anyway, series wise we went 5-3 last round. Let’s see how we do here.

Western Conference

#1 Golden State Warriors (73-9) vs. #5 Portland Trail Blazers (44-38)

Portland got a huge gift in the first round with both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down. In fact, they became the 2^nd team ever to come back down 0-2 when they lost both of those games by 20+ points. But you gotta win them however you can.

The Stephen Curry injury might allow Portland to sneak one, and of course I always want to give Damian Lillard a game where he goes off (like he did against the Warriors during the regular season). Take a bow Portland, you’ve gotten a lot farther than anyone gave you credit for.

Warriors in 6

#2 San Antonio Spurs (67-15) vs. #3 Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27)

Too bad I can’t change the amount of games right now after the Game 1 beat down San Antonio put on OKC.

I think Gregg Popovich figured out the Thunder years ago to be honest (while Billy Donovan’s still in his rookie year, remember). They need to find a way to cover LeMarcus Aldridge from mid range and hope Kawhi Leonard can’t cover Westbrook and/or Durant. Unfortunately as Game 1 told, Leonard absolutely can shut down Westbrook. Spurs are too deep and too good and it needs to be remembered that they were a historical team too this year.

Spurs in 6

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25) vs. #4 Atlanta Hawks (48-34)

Ever think that LeBron gets bored of beating these Eastern Conference teams? He’s 8-0 against the Hawks in his playoff career, and last year he basically won 4 in a row by himself. The Cavs are better this year while the Hawks clearly aren’t. Only storyline here is if the Cavs can convince me they can win the title this year.

Cavs in 4

#2 Toronto Raptors (56-26) vs. #3 Miami Heat (48-34)

Yeah still don’t believe in the Raptors at all. They barely survived a one man Paul George team. Miami beat Charlotte just as I thought they would, in 7 because one of their guys made big shots (Wade in Game 6). I think this goes 7 though, but Miami steals it in Toronto.

Heat in 7

Basketball

2016 NBA Playoff Predictions!

April 16, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

Note: I wrote in my First Round Predictions on Twitter before any of the games began. This will become especially important when you get to Raptors-Pacers.

What a crazy NBA season. We’ve got one historic team (Golden State), one team that would be historic if it weren’t for Golden State (San Antonio), LeBron leading a dysfunctional Cavs team to 57 wins and a #1 seed, Kobe’s crazy last game and two teams with bonafide stars that everyone’s counting out (and arguably rightfully so) because of the Warriors and Spurs (Thunder and Clippers). Can you imagine counting out a team with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and being completely justified in doing so? Madness right? At least it should make predicting the playoffs easier.

Western Conference

#1 Golden State Warriors (73-9) vs. #8 Houston Rockets (41-41)

Houston is the NBA’s second biggest disappointment, but the only one that’s indefensible. While their main acquisition didn’t work out in Ty Lawson, the Rockets should have still been in contention for a position somewhere in the 3^rd-5^th seed range. And it’s embarrassing why they aren’t there. Dwight Howard just isn’t going to grow up I guess and the window of him being an elite difference maker are now long gone. He could still be a defensive force though. James Harden seemed one of the best stories in the league when he left Oklahoma City and became a star in Houston, but that good will is now gone as he’s acting like a superstar who’s yet to win anything. He’s an awful defensive player and a coach killer. What a shame all around.

Yeah, Golden State’s going to destroy them. I think one of the games will be close and the other three are double digit wins from the Warriors. Like Houston’s going to slow down Steph Curry.

Warriors in 4

#2 San Antonio Spurs (67-15) vs. #7 Memphis Grizzlies (42-40)

The league has passed Memphis by. And no Marc Gasol is just a disaster for the Grizzlies. The Spurs have been the class of the NBA as long as they weren’t facing Golden State.

Isn’t it strange that the Western Conference is the least interesting one for once?

Spurs in 4

#3 Oklahoma City Thunder (55-27) vs. #6 Dallas Mavericks (42-40)

This may be a closer series than one would expect. While Oklahoma swept the season series 4-0, the Mavericks have been playing well, winning 7 of their last 9, to get into the playoffs. Normally I wouldn’t put much stock into that, I like how they’ve been able to win games without big games from Dirk Nowitzki. They’ve also won with a collection of some of the weakest rim protectors in recent memory (David Lee? Zaza? Nowitzki?). They also have one of the league’s best coaches in Rick Carlisle. And while he hasn’t been playing great or anything, if Dirk Nowitzki gets hot I can’t count Dallas out of anything. Nowitzki’s one of the best 15 players of all time and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Of course, Oklahoma has Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, which should render most arguments moot. Dallas’s best bet is to try to win shootouts against OKC because Durant and Westbrook are getting their points. It would help if Dallas could at least slow down Enes Kanter, as he’s had a pretty great season that’s flown under the radar.

To make the case for Dallas, just don’t forget what happened in the 2014 First Round when Dallas took San Antonio to 7 games. Sure it’s a weaker Dallas team, but I don’t like counting out elite legends and elite coaches.

Thunder in 6.

#4 Los Angeles Clippers (53-29) vs. #5 Portland Trail Blazers (44-38)

Portland’s a fun story. Damian Lillard has become a real house of fire (and somehow wasn’t selected for the All-Star game) while C.J. McCollum has locked up the Most Improved Player Award with a surprising 20 PPG season. Fun team for sure.

Clippers are stacked. Yeah, there are some glaring chemistry and teammate issues with DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, but this team is way too talented to lose to Portland here. I think Lillard steals a game or two though.

Clippers in 6

Eastern Conference

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers (57-25) vs. #8 Detroit Pistons (44-38)

Congratulations to Detroit. They are the best 8^th seeded Eastern Conference team by record in a long time, and would actually be the 5^th seed in the West. Boy have times changed. Anyway, we could pick the reasons why the Clippers are going to beat Portland and insert them here. Yeah Cleveland has chemistry issues, but it’s not going to really matter. As a bonus, Reggie Jackson will struggle if guarded by Iman Shumpert, and Andre Drummond can get all the big 17-14 games he wants. LeBron’s too good.

Cavs in 5

#2 Toronto Raptors (56-26) vs. #7 Indiana Pacers (45-37)

My upset special of the playoffs. I was down on Toronto for the regular season and they made me eat my words there, but they don’t have a true superstar (Kyle Lowry?) and I’m not sold on Dwane Casey as a head coach. I think there are some lingering issues from last year’s playoff sweep.

As for Indiana, I believe the playoffs are about big time players making big time plays, and Paul George has come back this season and shown that he can be Indiana’s franchise player. I think he has a big series here as Indiana scores the upset.

Pacers in 6

#3 Miami Heat (48-34) vs. #6 Charlotte Hornets (48-34)

I think Miami from top to bottom is just a better team than Charlotte. Kemba Walker’s emergence has bene impressive and Charlotte has a lot of role players who’ve played well this season. But when it comes down to a close game and someone needs to make some big shots, I’ll take a past his prime Dwyane Wade any day. Heck, I’d even take Goran Dragic. Championship players like Wade usually find ways to get some playoff wins. Think Paul Pierce in Brooklyn a couple years ago (or even last year with Washington).

Unless LINSANITY strikes…of course.

Heat in 7

#4 Atlanta Hawks (48-34) vs. #5 Boston Celtics (48-34)

The Hawks are a veteran team that peaked last year. None of their guys have really stepped up from last year and it feels like the entire team regressed. They kind of feel like they are here by default.

Boston’s been an exciting team ever since they got Isaiah Thomas in the middle of last year. Hell, if they didn’t run into LeBron last year I think they could have won a playoff series. Boston is 69-38 since they got Thomas. Brad Stevens also has done an amazing job coaching Boston. I think the Celtics want this one more.

Celtics in 6

Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, NASCAR

Top 25 Greatest Teams That Failed To Win The Championship

March 28, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

#25: 1988 New York Mets

Notable Statistics
Record: 100-60 (1st in NL)
Won NL East
Led NL in HRs, RBI, Slugging, OPS, ERA
Notable Players: David Cone, Dwight Gooden, Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry
Manager: Davey Johnson
Finish: Lost in NLCS to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 7.

Only two years removed from their ’86 World Series, the Mets were at it again, dominating the National League for the season. The Mets led the NLCS 1-0 and 2-1, but the Dodgers came back to lead 3-2. Future Met and NL Cy Young Award Winner Orel Hershiser blanked the Mets in Game 7 and the Dodgers went on to win the World Series.

#24: 1998 #6 Team, Roush Racing (Mark Martin)

Notable Statistics
Finished 2nd in the Winston Cup Points Standings
1998 Statistics: 7 Wins (2nd), 22 Top 5s (2nd), 26 Top 10s (2nd)
Average Finish: 8.6 (2nd)
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig

Mark Martin’s most impressive single season came at the same time that Jeff Gordon was setting modern day NASCAR records. Year in and year out Martin has finished in the top 5 of the points standings but each year he would just fall short for one reason or another. Usually, Martin would score two or three wins a season and fill out the rest of the year with a steady dose of Top 10s. In 1998 Martin would win seven times, and if Gordon wasn’t out putting up the most ridiculous season in NASCAR history at that time (13 Wins, 5.7 average finish), who knows how many other victories Martin could have gotten.

Consider this. In 1998 Martin averaged 150.4 points a race. That would have beaten Jeff Gordon’s 1997 Championship average (147.2), Terry Labonte’s 1996 Championship average (150.2), Gordon’s 1995 Championship Average (148.8). Dale Earnhardt’s 1994 average (151.4) beats Martin’s ’98, but Earnhardt also won that title by about 400 points. Hell, Martin’s point total in 33 races is actually greater than 2nd place Earnhardt in 2000 (34 races) and Tony Stewart’s 2nd place total in 2001 (36 races). Martin would have flat out WON the Championship in the 36 race 2002 with his 33 race total in ’98.

#23: 1995 Cleveland Indians

Notable Statistics
Record: 100-44 (1st in AL)
Won AL Central
Led NL in HRs, RBI, Slugging, OPS, ERA
Notable Players: Orel Hershiser, Charles Nagy, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, Omar Vizquel
Manager: Mike Hargrove
Finish: Lost World Series to the Atlanta Braves in 6.

A monster offensive team with a monster record. Prorate that 100-44 record to 162 games and you get about 112 wins. You had five guys on this team hit at least 25 home runs that season (again, a shortened season). You had good pitching. The Indians had 10 more wins in the regular season than anyone else in baseball. This Indians team should have tore through the post-season and ended Cleveland’s long lasting drought.

Cleveland ripped through the Red Sox and Mariners in the post-season, but ran into the great pitching staff of the Atlanta Braves. Highlighted with a World Series winning 1 hitter by Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers, the Braves upset the Indians and continued to do quite well in the National League throughout the rest of the decade.

#22: 2005 Indianapolis Colts

Notable Statistics
Record: 14-2 (1st in NFL)
Won AFC South
NFL Ranks: 2nd in Points, 2nd in Points Allowed
Won First 13 Games in the Regular Season
Notable Players: Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney
Head Coach: Tony Dungy
Finish: Lost in the Divisional Round to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-18

An epic upset forgotten by the Colts winning the title the very next season. There was a lot of undefeated talk for the Colts during the 2005 season and it looked like, with New England not being as good as they had been in the last couple of seasons, that this was their year. Elite passing, elite running and a good defense seemed like it would be enough.

The Steelers had other plans, pressuring Peyton Manning all throughout the game, sacking him five times and rushing him everywhere. Peyton failed to complete a pass in the first quarter, and the Steelers ran up an early 14-0 lead. The Colts wouldn’t score a TD until the 4th quarter, but the Steelers would barely hang on 21-18 (this included one of the worst referee overturn challenges in the history of the league, when Troy Polamalu intercepted Manning cleanly and it was ruled incomplete). In fact, we may not be talking about the Colts losing here had Ben Roethlisberger not made the tackle of his life when Jerome Bettis fumbled as the Steelers were looking to ice the game and Mike Vanderjagt made the game tying FG. The Steelers would become the first #6 seed to get to the Super Bowl a week later.

#21: 2000-2001 New Jersey Devils

Notable Statistics
Record: 48-19-12-3, 111 Points (2nd in NHL)
Won Atlantic Division
NHL Ranks: Goals 1st, Goals Against 5th
Notable Players: Martin Brodeur, Scott Niedermeyer, Scott Stevens, Patrik Elias, Alexander Mogilny, Petr Sykora
Head Coach: Larry Robinson
Finish: Lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Colorado Avalanche in 7.

It’s not even that it was an upset victory for Colorado. The Avalanche had a huge 118 point season and seemed destined for the Cup. That doesn’t change just how good the Devils were. The Devils were already the defending Stanley Cup Champions and brought back most of the team from the season before. Martin Brodeur had proven he could win tough, low scoring playoff hockey games with his stellar performance from the season before. Colorado proved to be too talented and too deep for New Jersey though.

#20: 2011 Green Bay Packers

Notable Statistics
Record: 15-1 (1st in NFL)
Won NFC North
NFL Ranks: 1st in Points, 19th in Points Allowed
Won First 13 Games in the Regular Season
Notable Players: Aaron Rodgers (MVP), Ryan Grant, Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews Jr.
Head Coach: Mike McCarthy
Finish: Lost in the Divisional Round to the New York Giants 37-20

In the pass happy post 2007 NFL, Aaron Rodgers put together the greatest QB season in NFL history as the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers ripped through the league with ease. It wasn’t like they were just ranked 1st in points, they scored 35 a game and no one could hang with them. When you have a QB having the best QB season in NFL history at that point, a lot of things that could be considered weaknesses get swept under the rug. The Packers had one weakness, their defense was average at best.
The Giants tore that defense apart. The Giants D caused some turnovers and never let Green Bay get into rhythm. The Giants would find ways to come up with points on each drive of theirs. The big moment? When The Giants looked comfortable taking a 13-10 lead at halftime and Ahmad Bradshaw broke a big run. With six seconds left, Eli Manning took a hot at the end zone and suddenly it was 20-10 Giants. Green Bay never recovered.

#19: 2010-2011 Vancouver Canucks

Notable Statistics
Record: 59-19-9, 117 Points (1st in NHL)
Won Northwest Division
NHL Ranks: Goals 1st, Goals Against 1st
Notable Players: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Roberto Luongo
Head Coach: Alain Vigneault
Finish: Lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Boston Bruins in 7.

It’s quite difficult to beat a team that scores the most goals and allows the least, but that’s what Boston managed to do in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canucks almost lost in the Quarterfinals, luckily winning Game 7 in overtime against the Blackhawks.

Still, the Canucks were stacked, featuring the Sedin twins and 41 goal scorer Ryan Kesler. They just got outplayed in the Stanley Cups Finals.

#18: 2001-2002 Sacramento Kings

Notable Statistics
Record: 61-21 (1st in NBA)
Won Pacific Division
NFL Ranks: 3rd in Offensive Rating, 6th in Defensive Rating
Notable Players: Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby, Doug Christie, Bobby Jackson
Head Coach: Rick Adelman
Finish: Lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7.

First of all, we have to consider all the referee shenanigans that cost Sacramento Game 6. It’s one of worst officiated games in league history.

Getting past that, the 2002 Kings had everything it seemed. A star player in Webber. A crunch time guy in Bibby. A dead eye shooter in Stojakovic. The 2002 Kings were so close. Robert Horry hit a dagger in Game 4 that saved the Lakers from a 3-1 deficit. Were the Lakers beating the Kings in three straight? Not likely. Game 7 went to overtime as well. The Kings were so close to knocking off the Shaq-Kobe Lakers and just couldn’t get it done. It’s a shame, because the Nets were waiting in the NBA Finals and stood no chance of beating that Kings team (the Lakers swept them with ease). The Kings spent the next couple of years losing Game 7s to Dallas and Minnesota. They never had a greater chance than they did in 2002, referees or not.

#17: 1994 Montreal Expos

Notable Statistics
Record: 74-40 (1st in NL)
Led NL in ERA
Notable Players: Pedro Martinez, Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Ken Hill
Manager: Felipe Alou
Finish: Baseball Went on Strike

A really tough break for Montreal as some cite the strike as a big reason Montreal moved to Washington years later. The Expos were on pace for a 105 win season led by some really good pitching led by Ken Hill and Pedro Martinez. Moises Alou was on pace for a great season as well. Montreal would lose most of their players in Free Agency.

#16: 2010 New England Patriots

Notable Statistics
Record: 14-2 (1st in NFL)
Won AFC East
NFL Ranks: 1st in Points, 8th in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Tom Brady (MVP), Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Jarod Mayo, Devin McCourty, Vince Wilfork
Head Coach: Bill Belichick
Finish: Lost in the Divisional Round to the New York Jets 28-21

This was supposed to be the year the New England Patriots got back on track. Ever since their upset loss in Super Bowl XLII the Patriots were in a bit of a funk (for them). Tom Brady got hurt in Week 1 the very next season and while New England went 11-5 they managed to miss the playoffs. The following year they got beat up by Baltimore in the opening round. But Brady was fully healthy in 2010 and showed it, throwing for 36 Touchdowns against merely 4 Interceptions. With the double TE combo of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski causing trouble for the rest of the league, as well as Wes Welker being Brady’s security blanket, it would be difficult to see how the Patriots weren’t going to win this year.

Bring on the New York Jets. The Jets were led by Rex Ryan and were the cause of one of the Pats two losses during the regular season. Still, it looked like the Jets stood no chance as they were destroyed by New England during Week 13 on Monday Night Football 45-3. But all of that didn’t matter. Ryan’s defense swarmed Brady all game and the Jets had a big 2nd quarter and went into halftime up 14-3. And just like that, New England’s return to dominance was stopped in its tracks.

#15: 2015 #4 Team, Stewart-Haas Racing (Kevin Harvick)

Notable Statistics
Finished 2nd in the Sprint Cup Chase
2015 Statistics: 3 Wins (5th), 23 Top 5s (1st), 28 Top 10s (1st)
Average Finish: 8.7 (1st)
15 Top 2 Finishes
Crew Chief: Rodney Childers

One of the best examples of the new eliminator Chase for the Cup format crowning the wrong driver. Kyle Busch, who had an impressive season after missing the first 11 races, was nowhere near as dominant as Harvick was in 2015. Harvick showed his 2014 wasn’t a fluke by reeling off Top 2 after Top 2. Even though he had a good Chase and even finished 2nd at Homestead, Kyle Busch won the season finale and the title. It doesn’t seem right.

#14: 1996 Denver Broncos

Notable Statistics
Record: 13-3 (1st in NFL)
Won AFC West
NFL Ranks: 4th in Points, 7th in Points Allowed
Notable Players: John Elway, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe, Steve Atwater, Bill Romanowski, Alfred Williams
Head Coach: Mike Shanahan
Finish: Lost in the Divisional Round to the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-27

How do we know this Denver Broncos team was great? They brought back basically the same players and won the next two Super Bowls.

So what the heck happened here? Jacksonville, who was only in their 2nd year of existence, put together a 9-7 record and had barely survived the Bills the week before. Denver was a two touchdown favorite here. The first half was played evenly, with Jacksonville surprising everyone by leading 13-12 at the half. Mark Brunell then played what was probably the greatest half of his life. Everytime Denver got close, Brunell would throw a big TD pass and make the lead a double digit one. It’s incredible to hear just how silent Mile High Stadium became. At the ned of the game Mike Shanahan was asked if Elway was coming back next year. Luckily for Denver, he did and they didn’t blow it up.

#13: 2013 Denver Broncos

Notable Statistics
Record: 13-3 (1st in NFL)
Won AFC West
NFL Ranks: 1nd in Points, 22nd in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Peyton Manning (MVP), DeMaryius Thomas, Wes Welker, Julius Thomas
Head Coach: John Fox
Finish: Lost in the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks 43-8

This is Peyton Manning’s record setting year where he trashed all the records with 5,477 yards and 55 TDs. Denver’s defense wasn’t as strong as it would be, but offensively it probably wouldn’t have mattered. They scored a crazy 606 points thoughout the regular season. Only three times did they score under 30 points in the regular season, and two of those were 27 and 28 point outings.

Unfortunately the Seattle Seahawks defense was waiting for them and Denver got smashed in the Super Bowl. Everything that could have went wrong for Denver did. I don’t think that takes away from just how dominant Denver was the rest of the season. Even in the post season they handled San Diego and New England with relative ease.

#12: 2007 #24 Team, Hendrick Motorsports (Jeff Gordon)

Notable Statistics
Finished 2nd in the Nextel Cup Chase
2015 Statistics: 6 Wins (2nd), 21 Top 5s (1st), 30 Top 10s (1st)
Average Finish: 7.3 (1st)
Crew Chief: Steve Letarte

In 2007 we got the Jeff Gordon of old. Gordon dominated the NASCAR season that invoked memories of his late 90s dominance. Gordon has approximately a 300 point advantage before the Chase reset everything, and then Jimmie Johnson proceeded to win six of ten Chase races to steal the title from Gordon. Despite Johnson’s run, Gordon kept it competitive. Jeff Gordon would never be this dominant again. This was his best chance at a 5th Cup.

#11: 1990 Buffalo Bills

Notable Statistics
Record: 13-3 (2nd in NFL)
Won AFC East
NFL Ranks: 1st in Points, 6th in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith (Defensive Player of the Year), Andre Reed
Head Coach: Marv Levy
Finish: Lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants 20-19

The first of the four falls of Buffalo might have been the best. Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas made up a great one-two punch that would lead the Bills to four straight Super Bowl berths, and Bruce Smith was the premier Defensive Player of his era. Unfortunately for the Bills the New York Giants had a great gameplan that shut down the Bills offense. Despite this, Buffalo still had a chance to win it…but Scott Norwood famously missed “wide right”.

To get an idea how good this Bills team was, they took out Marino and the Dolphins in the Divisional Round but dropping 44, then kick the crap out of the Raiders 51-3 in the AFC Title game. The 1990 Bills were really good.

#10: 1997 Green Bay Packers

Notable Statistics
Record: 13-3 (1st in NFL)
Won NFC Central
NFL Ranks: 2nd in Points, 5th in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Brett Favre (MVP), Dorsey Levens, Antonio Freeman, Robert Brooks, Mark Chmura, Reggie White, LeRoy Butler
Head Coach: Mike Holmgren
Finish: Lost in the Super Bowl to the Denver Broncos 31-24

The Packers had avoided Denver in the Super Bowl prior as Denver had been upset by Jacksonville in the Divisional round. This time Denver had to come out of the Wildcard round to get to the big game and they did. Waiting for them were the defending Super Bowl Champions and three time MVP Brett Favre. The Packers just completed dispatching one of the powerhouse NFC teams of the last 15+ years in the 49ers. Denver was a big underdog here.

Green Bay couldn’t stop Terrell Davis. Hell, almost no one could. Davis destroyed the Packers for 157 rushing yards. While the Packers were in the game the whole way, Denver just did enough to keep their one score lead and win. If the 1997 Packers had one Achilles’ Heel it was that they at times struggled to contain the rush. And that’s how Denver won. The mid-90s championship level Packer teams came to a close as they didn’t get out of the Wildcard Round in 1998.

#9: 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings

Notable Statistics
Record: 62-13-7, 131 Points (1st in NHL, 2nd All-Time)
Won Central Division
NHL Ranks: Goals 3rd, Goals Against 1st
Notable Players: Sergei Federov, Steve Yzerman, Paul Coffey, Chris Osgood, Mke Vernon
Head Coach: Scotty Bowman
Finish: Lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Colorado Avalanche in 6.

On this list strictly because 131 points in a hockey season is a hell of a lot of points. Both the Red Wings and Avalanche were stacked at this point so despite the big point differential it wasn’t that crazy that Colorado could beat them.

Like the ’96 Broncos, the Red Wings would win the next two Championships, showing that this is a great team. They’d be a title contender in the NHL pretty much for the next 20 years too.

#8: 2006-2007 Dallas Mavericks

Notable Statistics
Record: 67-15 (1st in NBA)
Won Southwest Division
NFL Ranks: 2nd in Offensive Rating, 5th in Defensive Rating
Notable Players: Dirk Nowitzki (MVP), Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Devin Harris
Head Coach: Avery Johnson
Finish: Lost in the First Round to the Golden State Warriors in 6.

There was proof that this Dallas Mavericks team was good: they were close to winning the NBA Title the previous year but only lost the Finals because Wade and perhaps the referees. Still, from an advanced metrics standpoint Nowitzki was unstoppable in 2007. It seemed that at worst, Dallas would have a tough series against Phoenix or San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals to get back to the Finals. But Dallas had every reason to be confident as they had beaten both of those teams in 2006.

What happened was absolutely shocking. The #8th seeded Warriors did whatever they wanted to Dallas and Nowitzki was shut down. Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson hit ridiculous shot after ridiculous shot. Don Nelson, the previous coach of the Mavericks, seemed to have the secrets for stopping Nowitzki. I have little doubt Dallas would have at least lost a tough series to San Antonio or Phoenix had they gotten by Golden State, and really Dallas might have just won the title there. Crazy match-up led to a crazy upset.

#7: 2011 Philadelphia Phillies

Notable Statistics
Record: 102-60 (1st in NL)
Won NL East
Led NL in ERA
Notable Players: Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt
Manager: Charlie Manuel
Finish: Lost Divisional Series to St. Louis Cardinals in 5.

While the 2010 Phillies could have been on here, the 2011 version gets the nod because of the Four Aces. Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt? That’s one of the best pitching staffs in baseball history. While Oswalt wasn’t great, fifth starter Vance Worley was and the Phillies led the NL by ERA by a substantial margin. Plus, it isn’t like they were weak hitting the ball as they had Ryan Howard and Chase Utley on the hitting side as well.

Unfortunately the Cardinals surprised them in the opening round, which included a masterful three hitter from Dan Carpenter in the deciding Game 5.

#6: 1998 Minnesota Vikings

Notable Statistics
Record: 15-1 (1st in NFL)
Won NFC Central
NFL Ranks: 1nd in Points, 6th in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Randall Cunningham, Randy Moss, John Randle, Cris Carter, Robert Smith, Ed McDaniel, Gary Anderson, Robert Smith
Head Coach: Dennis Green
Finish: Lost in the NFC Championship Game to the Atlanta Falcons 30-27

Minnesota had a fearsome defensive line (Randle, McDaniel), a quarterback that dipped into the fountain of youth and returned to a near MVP form he once had in the early 90s (Cunningham), a 1,100 yard back (Smith), a perfect (or near-perfect, we will get to that) field goal kicker (Anderson), a rookie WR who only fell in the draft due to attitude concerns…only he’s turned out to arguably be the most dynamic WR ever (Moss). How could this team lose? They were 3 points away from a perfect regular season.

The Atlanta Falcons were no joke though, being 14-2 themselves and finishing off the Steve Young era in San Francisco. Chris Chandler played the game of his life. And still, Minnesota had Atlanta beat. Minnesota was up 7 and a Gary Anderson FG would put Atlanta away. Anderson missed. With John Randle injured on the sidelines Atlanta tied the game at 27 then won in overtime. Even as a 10 year old kid I remember being shocked at that outcome. I recommend the Missing Rings documentary about them.

#5: 2008-2009 Boston Celtics

Notable Statistics
Record: 62-20 (3rd in NBA)
Won Atlantic Division
NFL Ranks: 2nd in Offensive Rating, 6th in Defensive Rating
Notable Players: Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce
Head Coach: Doc Rivers
Finish: Lost in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals to the Orlando Magic in 6.

At first it seems like the 08-09 Cavs should be on here, but truthfully I don’t find that to be a great team. I find that to be a great player carrying a pretty bad team to insane heights.

What’s forgotten about the Celtics is that Kevin Garnett was injured and missed the entire playoffs. Garnett was still one of the most important defensive players of his generation as his presence alone allowed Boston to play at an elite level. Boston started the season 27-2, which in itself was insane. They slowed down throughout the rest of the year and it seemed age was catching up a little bit. But then Garnett had to sit out the playoffs. Boston still beat a Chicago team that seemed determined to do every single thing they could to win. They took Orlando to seven games despite big trouble trying to guard Dwight Howard inside without Garnett to help. Rajon Rondo went from the Big 3 + Rondo to arguably the best player for the Celtics. If Garnett’s there, Boston probably goes to the Finals again (sorry Cleveland). Remember, the starting five of Perkins-Garnett-Pierce-Allen-Rondo never lost a playoff series where all five played each game, and they proved that by making the Finals in 2010 (Perkins got hurt and didn’t play Game 7 of the Finals), beating both Cleveland and Orlando.

#4: 1990 San Francisco 49ers

Notable Statistics
Record: 14-2 (1st in NFL)
Won NFC West
NFL Ranks: 8th in Points, 2nd in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Joe Montana (MVP), Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley
Head Coach: George Seifert
Finish: Lost in the NFC Championship Game to the Giants 15-13

Everyone talks about the 1990 Bills losing in the Super Bowl (which is even on this list), but the 1990 49ers were a 14-2 juggernaut looking for their third straight Super Bowl. Led by MVP Joe Montana, it looked like nothing was going to stop the Niners from getting it done. The Giants hit five field goals and slowed Montana and the Niners enough to pull it off in Candlestick Park. Give Parcells and Belichick a lot of credit, holding Montana to 13 and Kelly to 19 was no small task.

We were that close to having a team win three straight Super Bowls.

#3: 2001 Seattle Mariners

Notable Statistics
Record: 116-46 (1st in AL)
Won AL West
Led AL In BA, Hits, ERA
Notable Players: Brett Boone, Ichiro Suzuki (MVP, ROTY), John Olerud, Freddy Garcia, Edgar Martinez
Manager: Lou Pinella
Finish: Lost ALCS to the New York Yankees in 5.

The record itself was staggering. The Yankees though did a great job of shutting Ichiro down (4 for 18) and the Mariners couldn’t get by the more experience Yankee team. Perhaps it’s unlucky for Seattle that they ran into the Yankee dynasty, but 116 wins is a number that’s tough to overlook. They ended up with eight All-Stars that year. It’s kind of incredible that they lost.

#2: 2012-2013 San Antonio Spurs

Notable Statistics
Record: 58-24 (3rd in NBA)
Won Southwest Division
NFL Ranks: 7th in Offensive Rating, 3rd in Defensive Rating
Notable Players: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard
Head Coach: Gregg Popovich
Finish: Lost in the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat in 7.

Don’t let the record fool you, this is the best NBA team to not win the title. After steamrolling through the NBA playoffs (only a still young Steph Curry led Warriors team won any games) in a tough Western Conference with a record of 12-2, the Spurs went up against the PEAK of LeBron James.

You know how hard it is to beat one of the seven greatest basketball players of all time at his peak? LeBron had an incredible season that by advanced metrics even surpassed Michael Jordan’s best season. The Heat during the year had a shot at beating the Lakers’ 33 game win streak. There was no question LeBron James was the best basketball player in the world. He had two elite level players with him too: Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. The Heat were the defending NBA Champions.

The Spurs probably came the closest to winning the NBA Title than any team ever without actually winning it. Game 6 the Spurs had a five point lead with 28 seconds to go. LeBron knocked down a three to bring it to two. The Spurs made one free throw, which led to Ray Allen hitting one of greatest shots in NBA history, a three from the corner to tie it up. Miami prevailed in overtime. From there it took a masterful performance from LeBron, a 37-12-4, to win the title from the Spurs. THAT’s what it took to beat these guys. The next year LeBron regressed slightly, Wade wasn’t the same and Kawhi Leonard improved and the Spurs easily won the title.

#1: 2007 New England Patriots

Notable Statistics
Record: 16-0 (1st in NFL)
Only 16-0 Regular Season in NFL History
Won AFC East
NFL Ranks: 1st in Points, 4th in Points Allowed
Notable Players: Tom Brady (MVP), Randy Moss, Mike Vrabel, Vince Wilfork, Asante Samuel
Head Coach: Bill Belichick
Finish: Lost in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants 17-14

The final tally on the New England Patriots 2007 season will forever read 18-1. Somehow Eli Manning escaped a for sure sack. Somehow David Tyree caught the ball on his helmet. Somehow The Patriots, with Brady throwing for 50 TDs that season, 23 of them to arguably to the greatest receiver of all time in his prime, had only managed 14 points. Somehow, somehow, somehow, the Giants upset the Patriots.

With all the spygate stuff out there the Patriots had been looking for blood all season. They routinely ran up the score and no one could really stop them. Only twice did they have scares: Baltimore nearly upset them and the Giants played them tough Week 17. In fact, it was that Giants game that allegedly gave them the confidence and momentum that got them through the playoffs as well. New England was so close to perfection, and instead ended up as the greatest team to not win the title.

Basketball

Five and Five: Was Cleveland Firing David Blatt the Right Move?

January 23, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

In perhaps the most shocking personnel move in NBA history, David Blatt was fired as Head Coach of the 30-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. And it may have been the correct move. So let’s debut what I hope will be a recurring feature at RDT World, Five and Five: Five reasons this is the correct move for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and five reasons this is a bad move for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

First, five reasons why this was the correct move for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No 1: Blatt hasn’t found a way to integrate Kevin Love successfully after a season and a half.

What’s the deal here? Many fans have put the onus on Kevin Love here, claiming he just put up empty stats for a losing Minnesota team for a few years. And while empty stats are definitely a thing (looking at you Monta Ellis), I argue that Love was in fact a great player for Minnesota. The 2014 Minnesota Timberwolves were better than anyone remembers. They only went 40-42 in the tough Western Conference, but had a 48-34 Pythagorean W-L. This means they were unlucky by about eight games. While his raw stats were impressive (20-15, 26-13, 26-12 peak years, excellent 3P shooting) his advanced stats were also amazing (.245 WS/48, 120 offensive rating, 29% usage in 2014). He only has one (huge) flaw, which is that he’s just as bad defensively as he is good offensively. But Cleveland should have found a way to make Kevin Love work, and that’s on the Head Coach.

No 2: LeBron James didn’t like Blatt and loves Tyronne Lue.

If your superstar player doesn’t want you to be the Head Coach you’re going to have issues winning it all no matter what. A great example of this? The 2004 Los Angeles Lakers where Kobe led to the ousting of Phil Jackson. All that dysfunction is difficult to overcome. Players will often follow their leader on the court over their Head Coach when push comes to shove. Don’t forget, LeBron had basically told Blatt what do so in certain situations (like changing the play so he could hit the game winner against Chicago, and the Tristan Thompson sub controversy against Atlanta), and the team followed LeBron.

No 3: Without LeBron the Cavs were awful.

Anyone remember that stretch where LeBron sat out for a couple of weeks last season and the Cavs fell below .500? What happened there? Why is everyone around LeBron James not able to hold the fort? I understand losing LeBron is a huge piece, but a team with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving should have been able to hold the fort in the Eastern Conference.

No 4: Blatt was severely outcoached by Steve Kerr in the NBA Finals.

Maybe it’s hard to fault Blatt since he was missing Irving and Love here, but Kerr’s switch to Andre Iguodala absolutely sunk a Cleveland Cavalier team that somehow was only two games away from winning the title.

No 5: The 34 point trashing by Golden State in Cleveland last week showed how far behind the Cavs were to winning the title.

The Cavs have had two huge tests this year and failed the both. First, San Antonio outplayed them. But that’s fine, the game was moderately close. Golden State on the other hand absolutely embarrassed Cleveland on their home floor. For Cleveland right now, it’s all or nothing. Winning the East means nothing. Of course Cleveland is going to win the East. But they are going to have to beat San Antonio or Golden State and, especially in Golden State’s case, Cleveland is not in the same league as the top Western Conference title contenders. How Cleveland could not show up in such a huge regular season game was baffling.

Now, five reasons Cleveland made a mistake.

No 1: The Cavs are currently 30-11 on top of the Eastern Conference.

Without Kyrie Irving for most of the season no less! They are on pace for a 60-22 season. LeBron is great, but the Cavs have improved from last season (they’d only need to go 23-18 the rest of the way to match last year’s record). Cleveland has had a couple new pieces too that integrated nicely (like Mo Williams). I mean how many teams even with great players go 30-11 for the first half?

No 2: The Cavs beat the Thunder and the Clippers.

They beat the other two Western Conference contenders this season and in the Clippers case, it was a good win. They were close in San Antonio. The Cavs seem like they can hang with the top teams at least and are capable of beating them. I get that Golden State has their number, but Golden State is just in another world right now.

No 3: Blatt has an 83-40 regular season record and a 14-6 playoff record.

Sure he has a great team, but it’s not like the Cavs lost big games they should have won. The promptly took care of business in the Eastern Conference last season and it was a bit of an upset that they took Golden State to six after losing Kyrie Irving. Even if Blatt wasn’t the best Head Coach and LeBron was amazing, it was clearly a combination that could have won the NBA Title last year. 83-40 is pretty good for a team that was slapped together. Remember, Erik Spoelstra didn’t win the title in the first LeBron year either…and they weren’t guaranteed anything after that either. What if Tyronne Lue is worse?

No 4: We don’t know what Tyronne Lue brings to the table.

All we know is players went to him most of the time and that he’s LeBron’s guy. Should we be placating LeBron? Remember, Doug Collins was Michael Jordan’s guy…then he got fired, Phil Jackson became Head Coach and the Bulls won a bunch of NBA Titles. If Cleveland did this just to placate LeBron and keep him in Cleveland I understand, but there’s a serious risk in regards to a coaching change this late in the season. The best case scenario is that the players play really hard for Lue because they like him. The worst case is that players are forced to learn new things in January and it messes up the team. And if Cleveland falls short…what happens then?

No 5: David Blatt was Dan Gilbert’s guy.

It’s being reported that Tyronne Lue is going to be the guy who “gets on his stars” and holds all players accountable, something Blatt apparently didn’t do. Blatt probably didn’t do this because Gilbert doesn’t want LeBron or even Irving to leave Cleveland. What if Lue gets on his stars and his stars end up not playing well? Can LeBron and Love take criticism? And is Gilbert happy that LeBron’s guy is now the Head Coach?

To be honest, I like the reasons to fire him more. If the Head Coach isn’t doing his job well, then he has to go. The Cleveland Cavaliers want to win the NBA Title now and any distractions need to go. They’re winning the East for sure. They just need to find a formula to beat the Spurs or Warriors and it didn’t seem like David Blatt had that answer.

Basketball

Top 100 Greatest Basketball Players Of All-Time: The Top 10

January 6, 2016 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

#10. Kobe Bryant

Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’08)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’09, ’10)

NBA All-1^st Team: 11x (’02, ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ‘13)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 2x (’00, ’01)

NBA All-3rd Team: 2x (’99, ’05)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 9x (’00, ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ‘11)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 3x (’01, ’02, ‘12)

NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team: 1x (’97)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 4x (’02, ’07, ’09, ‘11)

NBA All-Star: 17x (’98, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ‘15)

NBA Points Leader: 4x (’03, ’06, ’07, ’08)

NBA Top 10 Points: 12x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ‘13)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 3x (’03, ’06, ‘08)

NBA Top 10 PER: 11x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ‘13)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 8x (’02, ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ‘13)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 7x (’00, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’06, ’08, ’09)

NBA Career Points: 3rd

NBA Career Assists: 29^th

NBA Career Steals: 14th

NBA Career Win Shares: 15th

Best Player on Two Champions: ’09 Lakers, ’10 Lakers

2^nd Best Player on Three Champions: ’00 Lakers, ’01 Lakers, ’02 Lakers

Best Player on Two Runner-Ups: ’04 Lakers, ’08 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 8th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 10th

I probably don’t have to argue that Kobe Bryant is a top 10 player in basketball history, but I probably do I have to defend my stance that he’s not in the top 5. So while it isn’t my intention to write a negative Kobe Bryant piece…there’s a chance it’ll come off that way.

First, let’s go over the arguments of why Bryant is in the top 10 and why he should receive some recognition for even being ranked higher.

First, he has five rings. Many will say that he was at least even with Shaq for those first three rings (which isn’t true, although it’s arguable for 2002). Of course the five rings (and two other Finals appearances) is great, but it can’t be forgotten that Bryant wasn’t even All-NBA 1^st team for two of them.

The 81 point game. It’s obviously quite impressive. He arguably could have done this twice too with his 62 point game no one remembers against Dallas (a much tougher opponent than the terrible Raptors team he scored the 81 against) where he only played 32 minutes, sitting out the entire 4^th. Of course, when you were allowed to shoot as much as Kobe could in 2006 (2 assists in the 81 point game, 0 in the 62 point game) an explosion like that was definitely on the table.

He took Smush Parker to the playoffs! Yes, the ’06 and ’07 Lakers were pretty awful and Kobe getting them to the playoffs is a hell of an achievement. We’ll get to that.

Ok, so why isn’t Kobe higher than 10?

He arguably was never the best player in the league for one. He wasn’t even the correct choice for MVP when he won it in 2008 (Chris Paul was). You can argue that he correctly was never the MVP of the league (although, I think I’d give it to him in 2006). Every other player on this list, with perhaps the exception of one, clearly was the best player in the league at one point. Amazingly, for a big time scorer, Bryant was never super efficient, failing to crack 47% shooting for a season even once in his career. His advanced metrics are slightly disappointing.

Secondly, Kobe Bryant was given everything to succeed. He began his career with arguably the greatest low post presence in NBA history. After that he got Phil Jackson as his Head Coach. After pissing off both Shaq and Jackson (read Jackson’s book “The Last Season”. It’s shocking Kobe and Phil got back together after that), he went through a tough season and got Jackson back. When he couldn’t get out of Round 1, he was gifted not only a budding Andrew Bynum, but Pau Gasol for basically free. Has another other big name superstar received so much help in his career? It should be pointed out that without elite help, Kobe could never get past Round 1. He had a chance to in 2006 against the Suns up 3-1. The Lakers lost 4-3.

Twice early on when everyone thought Kobe and Shaq were equals, Kobe had a chance to lead the Lakers but failed. The first time was in the 2002 season, where Kobe led Laker teams were 5-8 while Shaq was out. The 2^nd time was the 2004-2005 season. Despite hand checking being outlawed and the league moving to a perimeter based game, Kobe suffered without Shaq and Jackson, and failed to enter the group of players that guaranteed you a playoff berth when healthy and in their peak.

Lastly, Kobe Bryant’s “clutchness” is slightly overblown. He actually didn’t have a great shooting percentage late in 4^th quarters and absolutely bombed and was saved in the biggest game of his career (Game 7 vs. the Celtics in 2010, Bryant shot 6 for 24, but the Lakers came back with Kobe on the bench). I would probably say he was very good, but not great, when it mattered.

Kobe will historically never be treated fairly. Everyone wanted him to be the next Michael Jordan and while he clearly never was that…he still was great overall and his accomplishments can’t be denied.

#9. Hakeem Olajuwon

Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’94)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’94, ‘95)

NBA All-1^st Team: 6x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’93, ’94, ‘97)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 3x (’86, ’90, ‘96)

NBA All-3rd Team: 2x (’95, ‘99)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 2x (’93, ’94)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 5x (’87, ’88, ’90, ’93, ‘94)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 4x (’85, ’91, ’96, ‘97)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’85)

NBA All-Star: 12x (’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 2x (’89, ‘90)

NBA Blocks Leader: 2x (’90, ’93)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 5x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91)

NBA Top 10 Points: 8x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ‘97)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 10x (’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 2x (’89, ’90)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 14x (’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘99)

NBA Top 10 PER: 13x (’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘99)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’93, ‘94)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 13x (’85, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’99)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 5x (’86, ’87, ’89, ’93, ‘94)

NBA Career Points: 10th

NBA Career Blocks: 1st

NBA Career Steals: 8^th

NBA Career Rebounds: 13th

NBA Career Win Shares: 15^th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 4^th

NBA Career Win Shares: 18^th

NBA Career WS/48: 44th

Best Player on Two Champions: ’94 Rockets, ’95 Rockets

Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’86 Rockets

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 11th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 13^th

Hakeem Olajuwon gets the nod over Kobe for one big reason: there’s a two year stretch where without a shadow of a doubt Hakeem was the best player in the league. After having a huge 1993 and bringing the Rockets back to relevancy, Hakeem followed up with a great 1994 and filled the void left by the retirement of Michael Jordan. Hakeem had a 27-13-4-4 season, leading the Rockets to 58 wins despite not having a real 2^nd guy (Kenny Smith? Otis Thorpe?). The Rockets ripped through the playoffs, only going the distance against Charles Barkley’s Suns in seven games. In the Finals against a superior Knicks team, Olajuwon owned Patrick Ewing and the Rockets came back down 3-2. Hakeem in Game 6? A 30-10-4. In Game 7? A 25-10-7-3. While the Rockets struggled record wise in 1995, Hakeem again led them throughout the playoffs. After getting through Malone’s Jazz and Barkley’s Suns, Hakeem went against 1995 MVP David Robinson and showed him who the real MVP was. Go on youtube and see for yourself, the video is titled Hakeem dominates Robinson. Hakeem would go on to average a 33-12-6 in the Finals against Shaquille O’Neal, and Shaq has gone on record about just how great Hakeem was.

If that doesn’t convince you, Hakeem was always great anyway. He came into the league and immediately led the Rockets to the playoffs. In his 2^nd year he was good enough to lead the Rockets to the Finals with Ralph Sampson and came within two games of upsetting the 1986 Celtics. The Rockets around him imploded basically making Hakeem an earlier version of Kevin Garnett, leading bad teams to the playoffs every year. The best example of Hakeem’s no help? In the 1988 Playoffs, Hakeem averaged 38-17-2-3 including a 41-26 game, yet the Rockets still lost in four. Maybe that shouldn’t have surprised anyone since the season before in Game 6 against Seattle he put up a 49-25 in a losing effort.

Hakeem is the greatest defensive center of the modern era. He beat all of his rivals (Ewing, Robinson and Shaq) in big moments in a two year span and left no question about who the best player in the NBA was when Jordan was gone. And speaking of Jordan, well, one city that doesn’t seem to care that they drafted someone else ahead of Jordan is Houston. That’s how great Hakeem is.

#8. Shaquille O’Neal

Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’00)

NBA Finals MVP: 3x (’00, ’01, ‘02)

NBA All-1^st Team: 8x (’98, ’00, 01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ‘06)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 1x (‘95)

NBA All-3rd Team: 4x (’94, ’96, ’97, ‘09)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 3x (’00, ’01, ‘03)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’93)

NBA Rookie All-1^st Team: 1x (’93)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 3x (’00, ’04, ’09)

NBA All-Star: 15x (’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ‘09)

NBA Points Leader: 3x (’95, ’99, ’00)

NBA FG% Leader: 10x (’94, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’09)

NBA PER Leader: 5x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 2x (’00, ’01)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 2x (’00, ’02)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 1x (‘00)

NBA Top 10 Points: 9x (’93, ’94, ’95, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ‘03)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 8x (’93, ’94, ’95, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’03, ‘05)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 8x (’93, ’94, ’95, ’00, ’01, ’03, ’04, ‘05)

NBA Top 10 PER: 14x (’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ‘06)

NBA Top 6 Win Shares: 7x (’94, ’95, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03)

NBA Top 6 WS/48: 8x (’94, ’95, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’05)

NBA Career Points: 7th

NBA Career Blocks: 8th

NBA Career Rebounds: 14th

NBA Career Win Shares: 15^th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 4^th

NBA Career Win Shares: 11th

NBA Career WS/48: 15th

Best Player on Three Champions: ’00 Lakers, ’01 Lakers, ’02 Lakers

2^nd Best Player on One Champion: ’06 Heat

Best Player on One Runner-up: ’95 Magic

2^nd Best Player on One Runner-up: ’04 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 12th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 4th

Shaquille O’Neal could have been #1 on this list. There are two trains of thought of why he never reached those heights. The first is that he never really took basketball as seriously as he could have except for 2000. For a while I agreed with this, reading stories about Shaq not being in shape and several players over the years complaining about that. But once I read Shaq’s book and he wrote about how his body needed to recover more than others due to the pounding he took, I changed the course on my opinion about Shaq’s effort. His body was unique and in a lot of ways its incredible he didn’t break down like Yao or others that were bigger than the standard (well he did at the end). So I tend to agree with the 2^nd course, that if Shaq went all out his body would have fallen apart, and he maximized the strengths his body gave him.

And maximized he did. Shaq dominated the NBA for most of his career and especially in the early 2000s. He was taken for granted, with fans complaining he was only good because of his power and not talent (which was ridiculous). Didn’t matter to Shaq. Once Phil Jackson came into play Shaq was able to channel his focus and energy and basically kicked the NBA’s ass; absolutely dominating in 2000. He probably should have been the 2001 MVP as well (and 2005) and destroyed Dikembe Mutombo in the 2001 Finals.

The Lakers would eventually choose Kobe over Shaq, and Shaq made them pay by winning a title in 2006 (and possibly would have in 2005 had Wade not went down in the Conference Finals). Shaq still had some solid years left at the end of his career too, playing decently in 2009 and becoming a great role player in 2011.

While Tim Duncan held the “best player alive” title for perhaps one season in 1999 post-MJ, Shaq owned it through 2002. During those early 2000s years no could go toe to toe with Shaq. Not Mutombo, not Duncan, not anyone.

#7. Larry Bird

Resume

NBA MVP: 3x (’84, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’84, ‘86)

NBA All-1^st Team: 9x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ‘88)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 1x (‘90)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 3x (’82, ’83, ‘84)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’80)

NBA Rookie All-1^st Team: 1x (’80)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (‘82)

NBA All-Star: 12x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’90, ’91, ‘92)

NBA FT% Leader: 4x (’84, ’86, ’87, ’90)

NBA PER Leader: 2x (’85, ‘86)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 2x (’85, ‘86)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 2x (’85, ‘86)

NBA Defensive Win Share Leader: 4x (’80, ’81, ’84, ’86)

NBA Top 10 Points: 6x (’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ‘88)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 7x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ‘85)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 3x (’81, ’84, ‘86)

NBA Top 10 PER: 7x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 9x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ‘88)

NBA Top 6 WS/48: 7x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ‘88)

NBA Career Points: 31st

NBA Career Rebounds: 50th

NBA Career Win Shares: 23rd

NBA Career WS/48: 20th

Best Player on Three Champions: ’81 Celtics, ’84 Celtics, ’86 Celtics

Best Player on Two Runner-ups: ’85 Celtics, ’87 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 5th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 9th

The moment Larry Legend stepped onto the court he was the best player in the NBA. Boston, during a rare slump, had missed the playoffs two straight seasons and came off a 29-53 year. Bird showed up, and here are your win totals for his first nine seasons: 61, 62, 63, 56, 62, 63, 67, 59 and 57. With Magic, he’s credited with saving the NBA. And how did he do it? Be being great. By being a winner and creating and being a big reason each and every NBA season was compelling. He had a competitive streak that only guys like Jordan and Russell matched. For the stat counters he’s arguably the reason Fantasy Basketball was created (PTS+AST+REB, the Larry Bird League).

We also loved how Bird played. At times he would run around to the opposing team’s bench just to hit a three pointer in their face. He once asked an opposing crowd to get louder when shooting a free throw. He walked into the inaugural three point contest and asked “who’s coming in second?” then of course, won the contest. He led teams that ripped through the two best young players in the league in Jordan and Olajuwon. If it weren’t for Magic and the Lakers, the Celtics might have just won four straight titles.

As for dominance, look at his 1985 season: 28.7 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 6.6 APG, 1.6 SPG, 52-43-88%s. And it wasn’t like the other seasons were much worse. Even after his back betrayed him, he had a great 1990 and put up solid efforts in 1991 and 1992.

He’s 7^th only because of that. If Bird had started earlier or had been able to extend his career, perhaps he could be in the Top 5, but the six players ahead of him were just so dominant at certain points I just can’t put Bird ahead.

#6. LeBron James

Resume

NBA MVP: 4x (’09, ’10, ’12, ‘13)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’12, ‘13)

NBA All-1^st Team: 9x (’06, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 2x (’05, ‘07)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 5x (’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 1x (’14)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’04)

NBA Rookie All-1^st Team: 1x (’04)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2x (’06, ‘08)

NBA All-Star: 11x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ‘15)

NBA PER Leader: 6x (’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 5x (’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 5x (’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13)

NBA Top 10 Points: 12x (’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 7x (’05, ’06, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’13, ‘14)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 5x (’05, ’08, ’09, ’11, ‘12)

NBA Top 10 PER: 11x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15)

NBA Top 4 Win Shares: 10x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ‘14)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 10x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ‘14)

NBA Career Points: 17^th

NBA Career Assists: 22^nd

NBA Career Steals: 30th

NBA Career Win Shares: 10th

NBA Career WS/48: 6th

Best Player on Two Champions: ’12 Heat, ’13 Heat

Best Player on Four Runner-ups: ’07 Cavs, ’11 Heat, ’14 Heat, ’15 Cavs

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 20th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 31st

Like Wilt, LeBron gets criticized for the times he falls short way more than he should be, and his successes aren’t given enough credit. Let’s look at those criticisms and tear (most of) them apart.

He’s 2-4 in the NBA Finals.

Only one of these losses go against LeBron, which is the 2011 Finals where he failed to assert himself in a very winnable series. Other than that, you can’t really blame him. He ripped apart the ’07 Pistons and that Cavs team (absolutely awful without LeBron) stood no chance against the ’07 Spurs. In 2014 the Heat weren’t as strong as the year before as they battled injures (especially to Dwyane Wade) and Kwahi Leonard stepped up and became a superstar. Remember, people thought the 2013 Spurs were the best team in NBA history to not win the NBA title. In 2015 the Warriors from top to bottom were so much better than the Cavs it might have been the biggest mismatch in NBA history once Kyrie Irving went down. LeBron still got it to six games. Has anyone gotten to the Finals with less talent than LeBron on his team?

He’s not clutch.

Yeah, he is. Once again everyone like to point out the failures (like him missing the potential game winning shot in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals) and totally ignore the successes (the 48 Special against Detroit in 2007, the shot vs. Orlando in 2009 and the shot against Chicago in 2015). He has a high FG% late in games, much higher than someone like Kobe.

He gave up on Cleveland.

This was admittedly pretty bad. The 2010 Eastern Conference Semi-Finals was quite embarrassing for LeBron, and we still don’t know what was going on there. But it’s not as if other great players didn’t let their teams down late either. The only ones who escape this really are Jordan, Russell, Duncan and Bird.

The East has been weak throughout LeBron’s career.

It was in Jordan’s too. And it wasn’t like they were all bad teams. Those early Wizards teams had talent (Gilbert, Butler and Jamison), Detroit had won a NBA title and nearly won a 2^nd one, and Chicago was no slouch in 2011 or 2015. Plus he averaged a triple double against the 60 win Hawks last year.

So let’s look at the positives.

He has some of the most clutch games ever.

He has the highest Game 7 scoring average in NBA history. His Game 5 against Detroit in the Conference Finals (the 48 special) gave him no ceiling whatsoever as a player (48-9-7, scored 25 of the last 26 Cleveland points). In perhaps the most important game of his career (up to that point), down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals to Boston with no titles yet to his name, in Boston, he went for a 45-15 on 19/26 shooting, ending Boston’s last shot at a title. He clinched the title with a 26-13. He followed that up in the 2013 NBA Finals, once again down 3-2, with two spectacular games: a 32-10-11 and a 37-12 in the clincher. And in losing, he averaged a 36-13-9 in the 2015 NBA Finals (admittedly did shoot poorly).

He has some of the best Advanced Metrics ever.

In the modern era, he has the best WS/48 season ever (better than Jordan) and four of the top 11 overall. He’s already 10^th on the career win shares list. He had a staggering .399 WS/48 in the ’09 playoffs.

He was undoubtedly the best player in the NBA for six straight years.

Sorry Kobe fans, but give LeBron Pau Gasol in ’09 or ’10 and he’s winning the title too. ’11 Derrick Rose won the MVP and got owned by LeBron in the Conference Finals. ’12 and ’13 are obvious. ’14 Durant might have won the MVP, but it was unclear how effective he was without Westbrook.

LeBron still has a shot at the top 3 (even #1, unlikely as that is). I expect Cleveland to be in the Finals again in ’16 too.

#5. Tim Duncan

Resume

NBA MVP: 2x (’02, ‘03)

NBA Finals MVP: 3x (’99, ’03, ‘05)

NBA All-1^st Team: 10x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’07, ‘13)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 3x (’06, ’08, ‘09)

NBA All-3^rd Team: 1x (’15)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 8x (’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’05, ’07, ‘08)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 7x (’98, ’04, ’06, ’09, ’10, ’13, ‘15)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’98)

NBA Rookie All-1^st Team: 1x (’98)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (‘00)

NBA All-Star: 15x (’98, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ‘15)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 1x (’02)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 2x (’02, ’03)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 4x (’05, ’06, ’07, ’13)

NBA Offensive Win Shares Leader: 1x (’02)

NBA Defensive Win Shares Leader: 5x (’98, ’99, ’01, ’06, ’07)

NBA Top 10 Points: 4x (’98, ’99, ’02, ’03)

NBA Top 8 Rebounds: 12x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 15x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, ’11, ’13, ’14, ‘15)

NBA Top 10 PER: 13x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ‘13)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 9x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03 ,’04, ’07, ‘10)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 13x (’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’07, ’08, ’09, ’10, ‘15)

NBA Career Points: 14th

NBA Career Rebounds: 7th

NBA Career Blocks: 5th

NBA Career Win Shares: 6th

NBA Career WS/48: 13^th

Career Defensive Rating: 2nd

Best Player on Five Champions: ’99 Spurs, ’03 Spurs, ’05 Spurs, ’07 Spurs, ’14 Spurs

Best Player on One Runner-up: ’13 Spurs

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 7th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 8^th

Without a doubt the most consistent superstar ever. I don’t think I have to defend Duncan’s high ranking, but I probably have to defend putting him above Kobe Bryant. The fact of the matter is Duncan got two advantages in his career, and one didn’t really pan out until 2005ish. He was lucky to end up in a great system with Gregg Popovich and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili very good 2^nd and 3^rd options (but not great). Unlike Kobe, Duncan came into the league and was immediately great (NBA All-1^st Team his Rookie Year!), and in year 2 he became the face of the Spurs over David Robinson. He temporarily grabbed the “Best Player Alive” Championship in only his 2^nd year, winning the 1999 Championship and holding off Shaq. Even in Shaq’s three year era of dominance, Duncan (rightfully) took a MVP and took back the Best Player Alive title. His dominant 2003 season is one of the best ever in regards to carrying a team. He wins MVP, gets San Antonio by the Lakers with little help (roster that year, a 19 year old Parker, Stephen Jackson, Bruce Bowen, a washed up Robinson and Manu, who was still a low minute bench guy).

Still, he spanked the Lakers in the 2^nd Round (games of 28-7-8, 28-11, 36-9, 27-14 and 37-16 in the clincher in LA no less). With the Spurs falling apart around him, he carried them in the 2003 NBA Finals with one of the best Finals performances ever (the Spurs had used Speedy Claxton at some points because Parker wasn’t playing well…Speedy Claxton!) Here’s Duncan’s 2003 NBA Finals: A 32-20-6-7Blk in Game 1, a 21-16-7 in Game 3, a 23-17-7Blk in Game 4, a 29-17 in Game 5 and a 21-20-10-8blk in the clincher (that’s right, a near quadruple double no one talks about today for some reason).

He hit a clutch shot right before Fisher’s miracle .4 seconds shot that no one remembers because of Fisher. He won the ’05 title, dealing with Ben and Rasheed Wallace in the Finals. In 2007 with the league changing to favor offense, Duncan’s defense shut down any teams that had a slasher (like LeBron in the ’07 Finals). Continually was one of the best players in the league through 2015, saving himself for the playoffs and taking less money to let the Spurs build their roster (he averaged a 15-10 with 58% shooting in the ’14 Finals win). Even in a loss, he played great in his last playoff series as well, averaging a 18-11 in the Round 1 exit last year against the Clippers (who had DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin in the middle). That included a 27-11 in the Game 7 loss. In Duncan’s entire run in the NBA, he never played for a team that won less than 50 games (’99 lockout season they won 37, but the winning % was higher than a 50 win season).

Today Duncan’s taken a smaller role than ever, but I wouldn’t rule him out for having a big playoffs. It may be Leonard’s team now, but I think everyone knows who the top guy is in the Spurs locker room.

#4. Magic Johnson

Resume

NBA MVP: 3x (’87, ’89, ‘90)

NBA Finals MVP: 3x (’80, ’82, ’87)

NBA All-1^st Team: 9x (’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ‘91)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 1x (‘82)

NBA Rookie All-1^st Team: 1x (’80)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2x (’90, ‘92)

NBA All-Star: 12x (’80, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ‘92)

NBA Assists Leader: 3x (’83, ’86, ‘87)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 1x (‘87)

NBA Top 10 Points: 1x (‘87)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 11x (’80, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ‘91)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 4x (’80, ’82, ’83, ‘84)

NBA Top 10 PER: 10x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ‘91)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 10x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ‘91)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 10x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ‘91)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 8x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’89, ’90, ’91)

NBA Career Assists: 5th

NBA Career Steals: 19th

NBA Career Win Shares: 20th

NBA Career WS/48: 8th

Career Defensive Rating: 3rd

Best Player on Two Champions: ’87 Lakers, ’88 Lakers

2^nd Best Player on Three Champions: ’80 Lakers, ’82 Lakers, ’85 Lakers

Best Player on Two Runner-ups: ’89 Lakers, ’91 Lakers

2^nd Best Player on Two Runner-Ups: ’83 Lakers, ’84 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 4th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 6^th

Took the “Best Player Alive” title from Bird in 1987, only to kind of co-hold it with Jordan for the next few years until he retired. He gets the edge on Bird because he was able to peak when Bird unfortunately fell apart.

Magic was also great right away. While he didn’t make All-NBA teams right away, his performance in the 1980 Finals made him a legend as a rookie. With Kareem being out, Magic played center and had a 42-15-7. Then, we almost lost him, as Magic almost became one of those young guys given way too much too soon. Of course, LA thought it was a good idea for Magic to share point guard duties with Norm Nixon for some reason. Magic rebounded in ’82 with a near season average of a triple double. Magic would peak after Nixon was traded, but still in the 1984 Finals he had one of the most unclutch performances by a top guy in NBA history (threw ball away on a potential game winning play in Game 2, missed two clutch free throws in Game 4 and had two late turnovers to cost LA in Game 7). Still, Magic helped win the ’85 title, then took over for an aging Kareem as the alpha dog on the Lakers. After Hakeem and Sampson roughed up Kareem in 1986, Magic became the best player in the league, leading the Lakers to four more Finals appearances in the next five years, despite Kareem falling apart and retiring. In that five year span: Two Rings, Two MVPs, Four Finals appearances. We also have no idea if LA could have come back in ’89 as Magic got injured in the series.

It should be noted that when Magic joined the Lakers, LA had the following win totals: 60, 54, 57, 58, 54, 62, 62, 65, 62, 57, 63 and 58. He made the Finals nine times in 13 seasons (not counting what comeback in ’96). He took over for Kareem naturally and extended the Laker Dynasty which wouldn’t really return until Shaq and Kobe showed up. And who knows what happens in ’92 if he doesn’t get HIV.

#3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Resume

NBA MVP: 6x (’71, ’72, ’74, ’76, ’77, ‘80)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’71, ‘85)

NBA All-1^st Team: 10x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76, ’77, ’80, ’81, ’84, ‘86)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 4x (’70, ’78, ’79, ‘83)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 5x (’74, ’75, ’79, ’80, ’81)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 6x (’70, ’71, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’84)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’70)

NBA Rookie All-1^st Team: 1x (’70)

NBA All-Star: 19x (’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ‘89)

NBA Points Leader: 3x (’70, ’71, ‘72)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 2x (’76, ’77)

NBA Blocks Leader: 4x (’76, ’77, ’79, ’80)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 9x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76, ’77, ’79, ’80, ’81)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 9x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80)

NBA PER Leader: 9x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’81)

NBA Top 10 Points: 13x (’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82, ‘86)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 12x (’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ‘85)

NBA Top 10 PER: 17x (’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83,’84, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 16x (’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 16x (’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 5x (’78, ’80, ’81, ’83, ‘85)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 6x (’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78, ’79, ’80)

NBA Career Points: 1st

NBA Career Assists: 40th

NBA Career Blocks: 3rd

NBA Career Win Shares: 1st

NBA Career WS/48: 7^th

NBA Career Offensive Rating: 37th

NBA Career Defensive Rating: 24th

Best Player on Four Champions: ’71 Bucks, ’80 Lakers, ’82 Lakers, ’85 Lakers

3^rd Best Player on Two Champions: ’87 Lakers, ’88 Lakers

Best Player on two Runner-Ups: ’74 Bucks, ’84 Lakers

3^rd Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’89 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 3rd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 7th

Kareem’s resume basically speaks for itself. He had an unstoppable (literally) shot with his Sky Hook and that shot became the surest two points in NBA history. He won in the early 70s all the way throughout the late 80s. His longevity is remarkable and is only matched by Duncan in terms of playing at a high level.

Bill Simmons also showed that when considering eras, opponents and minutes played, Kareem’s early 70s stats may have been on par or even better than Wilt’s in the 60s. He helped Oscar win a title and bridged the gap to helping Magic win titles.

Again, not much to say. Best statistical center ever, overall winner, he even won tons of awards too (six MVPs, and probably shoulda won a seventh!)

#2. Bill Russell

Resume

NBA MVP: 5x (’58, ’61, ’62, ’63, ‘65)

NBA All-1^st Team: 3x (’59, ’63, ‘65)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 8x (’58, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’64, ’66, ’67, ‘68)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 1x (‘69)

NBA All-Star: 12x (’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ‘69)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 4x (’58, ’59, ’64, ‘65)

NBA Defensive Win Share Leader: 11x (’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ‘69)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 4x (’63, ’64, ’65, ‘67)

NBA Top 10 PER: 8x (’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’62, ’64, ’65, ’67)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 11x (’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’69)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 10x (’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ‘67)

NBA Top 3 Defensive Win Shares: 13x (’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69)

NBA Career Rebounds: 2nd

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 1^st

NBA Career Win Shares: 17^th

NBA Career WS/48: 24th

Best Player on Eleven Champions: ’57 Celtics, ’59 Celtics, ’60 Celtics, ’61 Celtics, ’62 Celtics, ’63 Celtics, ’64 Celtics, ’65 Celtics, ’66 Celtics, ’68 Celtics, ’69 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 2nd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 3^rd

Russell single handedly modernized basketball the first time, laying waste to the career of 50s centers like Walt Bellamy. He was the most destructive force in the NBA throughout his entire career (even though it should have been Wilt). His peers respected him so much that the voted him for five MVP awards (even during the year Wilt averaged a 50-27). Russell always stepped it up in the playoffs as well, usually limiting Chamberlain when playing against him, and setting some records himself (24.9 playoff RPG, 40 rebounds in a game, 32 in a half). Russell, a lot like Duncan right now, only brought it when he needed to. If Wilt wanted to score 60 or whatever points one night and the game was virtually over, Russell would let him.

Every player from that era (other than, again, Wilt) reveres Russell, and today the Finals MVP trophy is named after him. And as we proved with earlier sections, Russell didn’t always have the most stacked team either. (It should be pointed out he coached the last two titles too).

#1. Michael Jordan

Resume

NBA MVP: 5x (’88, ’91, ’92, ’96, ’98)

NBA Finals MVP: 6x (’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98)

NBA All-1^st Team: 10x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ‘98)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 1x (‘85)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 1x (’88)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 9x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’85)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’85)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 3x (’88, ’96, ’98)

NBA All-Star: 14x (’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’02, ‘03)

NBA Points Leader: 11x (’85, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98)

NBA Steals Leader: 3x (’88, ’90, ’93)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 9x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97)

NBA Offensive Win Share Leader: 8x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 8x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ‘97)

NBA PER Leader: 7x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93)

NBA Top 4 Steals: 9x (’85, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 1x (’88)

NBA Top 4 PER: 11x (’85, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98)

NBA Top 2 Win Shares: 11x (’85, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98)

NBA Top 3 WS/48: 11x (’85, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’97, ’98)

NBA Top 6 Defensive Win Shares: 8x (’87, ’88, ’89, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’96, ’98)

NBA Career Points: 4^th

NBA Career PPG: 1st

NBA Career Assists: 42^nd

NBA Career Steals: 3^rd

NBA Career Win Shares: 4^th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 19th

NBA Career Win Shares: 17^th

NBA Career WS/48: 1st

Best Player on Six Champions: ’91 Bulls, ’92 Bulls, ’93 Bulls, ’96 Bulls, ’97 Bulls, ’98 Bulls

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 1st

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 1st

I assume I don’t really need to argue this. Let’s just close up the top 100 list with some Jordan facts/stories.

Jordan holds the record for playoff PPG as well at 33.4.

Pistons Coach Chuck Daly basically said he was so good it was an embarrassment to the league, and it was insane how hard it was to gear his entire team to stop one man.

Not only was he the best offensive player in NBA history, he was one of the best defensive players as well, even winning Defensive Player of the Year!

His destruction of the Trail Blazers and Clyde Drexler in Game 1 of the 1992 Finals stands tall as the greatest “FU” performance in NBA history.

Averaged a 41-9-6 in the 1993 Finals.

Basically won Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals by himself. (scored 45 of Chicago’s 87 points, Pippen was injured and played limited minutes, layup, steal of Karl Malone, famous game winner ending sequence).

Just to list some of his famous playoff game winners: The Shot vs. Cleveland, The Shot II against Cleveland in ’93, the ’97 Finals Shot against Utah, and of course, the famous Game 6 winner in ’98 against Utah.

There are countless other great game winners out there for Jordan. For example, looking up the “Shot II” I found a video of Jordan beating Cleveland when playing for Washington with a game winner called “The Shot III”.

Scored 63 against the ’86 Celtics in the playoffs. With all the crazy high scoring numbers from Wilt etc., this actually stands as the highest total ever.

Look, MJ’s the best ever. I wouldn’t be writing anything new here. Maybe LeBron has a 1% shot of getting here, but I don’t like his chances.

Basketball

Top 100 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time: #30-#21

December 8, 2015 rdtworldofsport@gmail.com

#30. Willis Reed

Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’70)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’70, ’73)

NBA All-1^st Team: 1x (’70)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 4x (’67, ’68, ’69, ‘71)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 1x (’70)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’65)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’65)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’70)

NBA All-Star: 7x (’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ‘71)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 1x (’69)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 1x (’69)

NBA Defensive Win Shares Leader: 1x (’69)

NBA Top 10 Points: 2x (’65, ‘67)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 6x (’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ‘70)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’68, ’69, ’70, ‘71)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 4x (’68, ’69, ’70, ‘71)

Best Player on One Champion: ’70 Knicks

2^nd Best Player on One Champion: ’73 Knicks

2^nd Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’72 Knicks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 30th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 32nd

Despite Chamberlain still being in the league, or Kareem entering the league, it was Reed who, for at least a brief moment, took the NBA Big Man Championship belt after Russell retired. At his peak, Reed was probably the best center in basketball, averaging a 25-14 in 28 playoff games against Unseld, Russell, Kareem and Wilt.

It also can’t be understated how big of an impact Reed has on his teammates and the city of New York. His big moment…”Here Comes Willis” in Game 7 of the 1970 Finals swayed the entire series (and somehow Wilt didn’t take advantage of Reed playing with a torn quad).

Reed would be higher, but his career was a bit short (650 games) and as a result, like Frazier he wasn’t great for a long time. But he was great.

#29. Rick Barry

Resume

NBA Finals MVP: 1x (’75)

NBA All-1^st Team: 5x (’66, ’67, ’74, ’75, ‘76)

ABA All-1^st Team: 4x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 1x (‘73)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’66)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’66)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’67)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’66, ’67, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ’78)

ABA All-Star: 4x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72)

NBA Points Leader: 1x (’67)

NBA Steals Leader: 1x (’75)

NBA Top 10 Points: 6x (’66, ’67, ’74, ’75, ’76, ‘78)

ABA Top 10 Points: 2x (’71, ’72)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 1x (’66)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 4x (’74, ’75, ’76, ’77)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’66, ’67, ’74, ’75, ‘76)

ABA Top 10 Win Shares: 2x (’69, ’72)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 4x (’66, ’67, ’74, ‘75)

ABA Top 10 WS/48: 2x (’70, ’71)

NBA + ABA Career Points: 21^st

ABA Career PPG: 1st

Best Player on One Champion: ’75 Warriors

Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’67 Warriors

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 26th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 21st

There are two trains of thought about Barry. The first is that he’s one of the top three best offensive forwards in basketball history with Larry Bird and LeBron James. He was a great passer, a great shooter (scoring 35.6 PPG in ’67) and overall just a great player. He was the best player on a tea that took the ’67 Sixers to six games in the NBA Finals and outright won a NBA Title in 1975.

The second? He was probably the biggest asshole in the history of professional basketball. Before you think that doesn’t matter, here’s why it does. Not only did Barry throw away a potential Championship (1976 Western Conference Finals, Barry stopped shooting after a fight with Ricky Sobers allegedly because his teammates didn’t have his back and they dropped Game 7 to the 42-40 Suns), he also lost five years of his prime in the ABA just to follow around his father-in-law. He would abandon the Warriors again later in his career too. If his teammates got along with him, and Barry wasn’t a jerk, could the Warriors have been an early 70s dynasty? Maybe, right?

#28. Bob Cousy

Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’57)

NBA All-1^st Team: 10x (’52, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ‘61)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 2x (’62, ‘63)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2x (’54, ‘57)

NBA All-Star: 13x (’51, ’52, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ‘63)

NBA Assists Leader: 8x (’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60)

NBA Top 10 Points: 8x (’51, ’52, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’59)

NBA Top 4 Assists: 13x (’51, ’52, ’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ‘63)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 3x (’52, ’57, ‘59)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 2x (’57, ‘59)

NBA Career Assists: 16th

2^nd Best Player on Six Champions: ’57 Celtics, ’59 Celtics, ’60 Celtics, ’61 Celtics, ’62 Celtics, ’63 Celtics

2^nd Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’58 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 21st

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 24th

The first real point guard in NBA history, Cousy was the first version of guards like Nash. While clearly the best point guard of his era, I can’t rank him much higher as we’re talking about the 50s and early 60s here. I also can’t rank him much higher because before Russell showed up, Cousy’s Celtics teams were losing in the playoffs every year. Still, once Russel showed up Cousy was able to run the offense and help win titles, and that justifies the Top 30 ranking.

#27. John Stockton

Resume

NBA All-1^st Team: 2x (’94, ‘95)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 6x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’92, ’93, ‘96)

NBA All-3^rd Team: 3x (’91, ’97, ’99)

NBA All Defensive 2^nd Team: 5x (’89, ’91, ’92, ’95, ’97)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (‘93)

NBA All-Star: 10x (’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’00)

NBA Assists Leader: 9x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ‘96)

NBA Steals Leader: 2x (’89, ’92)

NBA Offensive Rating Leader: 3x (’96, ’00, ’01)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 17x (’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 15x (’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’00, ’02, ’03)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 11x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘00)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 14x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 12x (’88, ’89, ’90, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02)

NBA Career Assists: 1^st

NBA Career Steals: 1^st

NBA Career Points: 41^st

NBA Career Offensive Rating: 4^th

NBA Career Win Shares: 5th

2^nd Best Player on Two Runner-Ups: ’97 Jazz, ’98 Jazz

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 25th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 22nd

Bill Simmons nailed it on the head: Stockton was often very very good, but rarely great and had some luck towards the end of his career. Like Ewing, Stockton was often in a slightly lesser class than his contemporaries. You’d never put Stockton in the same class of Magic or Isiah. He would sometimes end up behind Kevin Johnson, Mark Price, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Penny Hardaway on All-NBA Teams. Gary Payton took the best PG in the NBA championship belt from him pretty much the moment he was ready to (and proved it in the 1996 Western Conference Finals where he destroyed Stockton). Simmons claims assists were easier to get in the early 90s, but I don’t know how true that actually is.

Why is Stockton so high then? Well, he was very good for very long. While I normally would take elite peaks over a long period of very good (like we did with Durant), Stockton’s was so long that it was hard to ignore. Plus, it wasn’t like he was just another good PG, he was still the 2^nd best PG in the NBA in the late 90s. Of course, luck had a big factor in that too. Other than Payton, all the other point guards of the 90s fell apart, and it wasn’t until Kidd and others showed up that point guard became deep again. Stockton’s head to head match-ups. In the late 90s, after the ’96 Conference Finals against Payton, he avoided any top tier point guard. In the 1997 playoffs, we went up against Derrick Martin, Nick Van Exel, Matt Maloney and Steve Kerr. In ’98 it was Maloney, Avery Johnson, Van Exel and Kerr.

Lucky as that seems, there is one thing that I think could have helped Stockton greatly. If Stockton came along ten years later, I think he benefits the same way (if not better than) Steve Nash did when he won two straight MVPs. I don’t mean to discredit Stockton. He was still the most fundamentally sound PG ever and he helped Karl Malone greatly.

#26. David Robinson

Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’95)

NBA All-1^st Team: 4x (’91, ’92, ’95, ’96)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 2x (’94, ‘98)

NBA All-3^rd Team: 4x (’90, ’93, ’00, ‘01)

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 1x (’92)

NBA All Defensive 1^st Team: 4x (’91, ’92, ’95, ’96)

NBA All Defensive 2^nd Team: 4x (’90, ’93, ’94, ‘98)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’90)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’90)

NBA All-Star: 10x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’00, ‘01)

NBA Points Leader: 1x (’94)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 2x (’91, ’96)

NBA Blocks Leader: 2x (’91, ’92)

NBA PER Leader: 3x (’94, ’95, ’96)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 2x (’94, ’95)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 5x (’94, ’95, ’98, ’99, ’01)

NBA Offensive Win Shares Leader: 2x (’94, ’95)

NBA Defensive Win Shares Leader: (’91, ’95, ’96)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 5x (’92, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00)

NBA Top 10 Points: 6x (’90, ’91, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 8x (’90, ’91, ’93, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 11x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 2x (’92, ‘95)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 11x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 12x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ‘02)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 2x (’94, ‘95)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 13x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03)

NBA Career Points: 36th

NBA Career Blocks: 6th

NBA Career Rebounds: 30^th

NBA Career PER: 4th

NBA Career Offensive Rating: 28^th

NBA Career Defensive Rating: 4th

NBA Career Win Shares: 12th

2^nd Best Player on One Champion: ’99 Spurs

Role Player on One Champion: ’03 Spurs

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 25th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 29th

The question about Robinson is this: how much does a killer instrict, or lack thereof, matter in basketball? In Robinson’s case it seemed to matter a lot. Despite jaw dropping statistics at points of his career (he has a 23-12-2-4.5 season) when push came to shove Robinson seemed to come up short. Robinson got to be the face of the 1988 US Olympic Team…the team that shockingly won the Bronze and let to the Dream Team. He took a couple of years off to fulfill his military commitments…turned the Spurs around and led them to season after season of early playoff exits (in his first ever Game 7, he put up a 20-16…but shot 7 for 21 in a tough three point loss to the Blazers with Kevin Duckworth as the opposing center). The next year his Spurs were shocked by the seventh seeded Run TMC Warriors.

When Michael Jordan retired for the first time, the field was wide open. Could Robinson become the alpha dog of the NBA? He already was dominating the league statistically.

No. In 1994 Hakeem Olajuwon took the torch from Jordan, and the Spurs lost an opening round series despite homecourt advantage.

David Robinson won the NBA MVP in 1995. This time he finally got the Spurs to the Conference Finals. Then he was destroyed by Hakeem. And that was that. Despite a great ’96 season the Spurs would go through another early playoff loss, and then Robinson went down in 1997. Tim Duncan, who never was statistically dominant as Robinson had the killer instinct Robinson lacked. Duncan would lead the Spurs to the title in 1999 (and again in 2003). Robinson was a great 2^nd guy in ’99, but he was a mere role player in 2003.

So what happened? This was someone that according to Simmons had been up in trade discussion for Jordan! This is someone with a 71 point game and a quadruple double! I guess a killer instinct does matter. Robinson had the potential to be one of the best, if not the best ever, but instead he’s merely great. How weird is it that being great is considered a disappointment?

#25. Elgin Baylor

Resume

NBA All-1^st Team: 10x (’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’67, ’68, ‘69)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’59)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’59)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’59)

NBA All-Star: 11x (’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’67, ’68. ’69)

NBA PER Leader: 1x (’61)

NBA Top 10 Points: 10x (’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’67, ’68, ‘69)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 7x (’59, ’60, ‘61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 4x (’59, ’61, ’63, ’65)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’59, ’60, ’61, ‘63)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 4x (’60, ’61, ’62, ’63)

NBA Career Points: 28^th

Best Player on One Runner-Up: ’59 Lakers

2^nd Best Player on Seven Runner-Ups: ’62 Lakers, ’63 Lakers, ’65 Lakers, ’66 Lakers, ’68 Lakers, ’69 Lakers, ’70 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 15th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 12th

Most difficult player for me to rank for sure. I have tons of respect for Jerry West and can’t look past the fact that Baylor retired and the Lakers finally won the title after that.

Baylor put up some holy shit stats in na era of racism (as we’ll get to with Oscar) and while also performing military. How crazy is that? At the same time, we know not to put that much stock into statistics at that time. Baylor helped show that the NBA game was more of a vertical one than a horizontal one…but does that mean he’s a top 15 guy like everyone else seems to think. I don’t know. For some reason, I don’t think so.

#24: John Havlicek

Resume

NBA Finals MVP: 1x (’74)

NBA All-1^st Team: 4x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 7x (’64, ’66, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’75, ’76)

NBA All-Star: 13x (’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ‘78)

NBA Top 10 Points: 6x (’64, ’67, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 7x (’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74)

Top 10 Win Shares: 6x (’67, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 1x (’73)

NBA Top 10 PER: 4x (’67, ’70, ’71, ’72)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 11x (’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73)

NBA Career Points: 13^th

NBA Career Assists: 32^nd

2^nd or 3^rdBest Player on Seven Champions: ’64 Celtics, ’65 Celtics, ’66 Celtics, ’68 Celtics, ’69 Celtics, ’74 Celtics, ’76 Celtics

Role Player on One Champion: ’63 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 14th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 17th

Had a modern game, perhaps more modern than Baylor. I take him above Baylor though for succeeding a little later, being a part of Championship teams and also for being a great defensive player. Havlicek was also known for making clutch plays…for example “Havlicek steals the ball”.

He’s just as difficult to rank as Baylor considering the era he peaked in and a question of how well his game would translate to today, modern or not. Like Baylor, his Advanced Metrics aren’t anything special. Still one of the all-time great Celtics though.

#23: Bob Pettit

Resume

NBA MVP: 2x (’56, ’59)

NBA All-1^st Team: 10x (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 1x (’65)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’55)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 4x (’56, ’58, ’59, ’62)

NBA All-Star: 11x (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65)

NBA Points Leader; 2x (’56, ’59)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 1x (’56)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 1x (’59)

NBA PER Leader: 4x (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59)

NBA Top 5 Points: 10x: (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64)

NBA Top 5 Rebounds: 10x: (‘55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 10x (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 11x (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65)

NBA Top 5 PER: 11x (’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65)

NBA Career Points: 35^th

NBA Career Rebounds: 17th

Best Player on One Champion: ’58 Hawks

Best Player on Three Runner-Ups: ’57 Hawks, ’60 Hawks, ’61 Hawks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 17th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 14th

Why Pettit over Baylor? Pettit did more (like win the Championship) with a lot less than Baylor had to work with. Pettit dominated for a solid decade and didn’t falter when Russell entered the league. He was clearly the top dog before Russell, winning a pair of MVPs and being a mainstay on the 1^st team. He also gets the nod over Havlicek simply for because of better Advanced Metrics as well.

Why is Pettit so low? Unlike Baylor, Pettit’s game probably wouldn’t work today. It’s a small detriment. But Pettit beat whomever was in front of him (including Russell) and there’s something to be said about that.

#22: Scottie Pippen

Resume

NBA All-1^st Team: 3x (’94, ’95, ’96)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 2x (’92, ‘97)

NBA All-3^rd Team: 2x (’93, ’98)

NBA All-Defensive 1^st Team: 8x (’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99)

NBA All-Defensive 2^nd Team: 2x (’91, ’00)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’94)

NBA All-Star: 7x (’90, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97)

NBA Steals Leader: 1x (’95)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 1x (’95)

NBA Top 10 Points: 2x (’92, ’95)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 1x (’92)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’92, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 5x (’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 5x (’91, ’92, ’94, ’95, ’96)

NBA Career Steals: 6th

NBA Career Assists: 30th

2^nd Best Player on Six Champions: ’91 Bulls, ’92 Bulls, ’93 Bulls, ’96 Bulls, ’97 Bulls, ’98 Bulls

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 24th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 27th

There are two trains of thought when it comes to Scottie Pippen.

#1: Overrated. Only succeeded because he player with Michael Jordan.

#2: Most destructive perimeter defender off all-time. Best 2^nd banana of all-time. The best all-around player of his generation.

I’m in camp #2. Did Pippen benefit by playing with Jordan? Of course he did. But he learned from that. Playing with Jordan allowed Pippen to be one of the most focused players in NBA history. When Scottie Pippen locked you down…he locked you down. There wasn’t anything you could do about it. Since the advent of the three point line, only two players have ever led the NBA in Defensive Rating that wasn’t a power forward or center. Kawki Leonard did it last season (14-15). The other is Scottie Pippen. Consider that in Pippen’s prime you had great defensive players like Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Dikembe Mutombo, Gary Payton and even Michael Jordan. The fact that Pippen never won a Defensive Player of the Year award was astonishing.

Last bit about Scottie, his 1994 season was brilliant. Losing Jordan for nothing, Scottie led the Bulls to 55 wins and arguably was cheated out of a trip to the Conference Finals. He led his team in five categories. He also was a major part in taking the 2000 Trail Blazers to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Jordan didn’t play on either of those teams.

#21: Isiah Thomas

Resume

NBA Finals MVP: 1x (’90)

NBA All-1^st Team: 3x (’84, ’85, ’86)

NBA All-2^nd Team: 2x (’83, ’87)

NBA All-Rookie 1^st Team: 1x (’82)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 12x (’84, ‘86)

NBA All-Star: 12x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ‘93)

NBA Assists Leader: 2x (’84, ’85)

NBA Top 10 Points: 1x (’83)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 10x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ’89, ’90, ‘93)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 1x (’85)

NBA Career Assists: 7th

Best Player on Two Champions: ’89 Pistons, ’90 Pistons

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 23rd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 19th

I hope you’re ready to throw Advanced Metrics out the window for this one. Bill Simmons points out that when the Pistons clinch the Championship, the entire team raises him to the sky, clearing indicating who their leader was. Despite stats saying otherwise, Isiah is what made those Pistons teams go.

It’s hard to give Isiah’s career proper justice because some of his stats are so bad. In fact, when the Detroit won the title, Isiah’s counting stats weren’t close to his peaks. Yet there Detroit was each year in the late 80s, contending for the title. To be clear though, a list of 80s stars would go Magic, Bird, Jordan…then Isiah. And let’s not forget when the 1992 Dream Team was selected there was outrage about Stockton making it over him.

Of course, it doesn’t change that Isiah was great when he needed to be. Isiah damn near broke his ankle (officially a severe sprain) in Game 6 of the 1988 Finals, yet he gutted it out and scored 25 in the third quarter in what was a one point loss. He also dropped 16 points in the 90 seconds in a playoff game against the Knicks. Just amazing clutch performances.

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