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Top 30 Basketball Players Of All-Time: Tier List Edition

Thanks to a line from Dom2K’s youtube channel, (link here) we’re going to tier the Top 30 NBA Players off All-Time. I may do all 100 I’ve listed at some point, but for now, this works. I’ve provided a link to my last revision of the Top 100 of All-Time here as well, although searching through the site you can find the original list I did in 2015 and how the list evolved from that. What Dom2K said is there’s a little gap between the best players of all-time. As a result, these tiers will have more negatives and even nitpicks to decide between each. No surprises either (as my Top 100 is no secret), so here is the list in picture form. In the picture I listed them based on rank, but in the article I did it alphabetically. Let’s go through it.

S – Michael Jordan

While not the undisputable best player of all-time anymore, he’s still the best player of all-time, if that makes sense. LeBron can catch him for sure though. I don’t know what good things I can say about MJ that haven’t been said already. The combination of accolades, regular statistics, playoff statistics, records, memorable games/moments, advanced metrics and whatever else is purely in MJ’s favor.

A+ – LeBron James

It’s actually incredible that LeBron’s ceiling at this point is still “greatest ever”. His lack of Championships will still probably always have him falling short of MJ, no matter how ridiculous the teams LeBron has to deal with though. But MJ vs. Lebron is a whole different article (I’m waiting till LeBron retires for what it’s worth).

A – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell

Abdul-Jabbar probably doesn’t really need explanation. Kareem is above the next tier as Of course there’s just one cog that connects the 11 Boston Championships together, and that’s Russell. And no, his teams weren’t much stronger than Wilt’s if they were even stronger at all. They named the Finals MVP after the man!

A- – Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Magic Johnson

All in the same tier for the same specific reasons. All were clear winners who could win in different eras with different pieces (Magic in 1980 and the late 80s, Bird in 81 and then in 86, Duncan won titles fifteen years apart, and as a clear top guy 99 and 07 were vastly different). Each were the alpha dog for a few seasons (Bird from 84-86, Magic from 87-89, Duncan from 02-03). Each have memorable playoff/Finals games and Finals MVPs. And each have a nitpick/negative that often hurts them in an all-time ranking (Duncan for not being completely destructive/superior coach and system, Magic for a shorter career, his actual unclutchness after his 1st ring and a mess defending man to man on quick guards, Bird for arguably feasting on horrific defenders his entire career).

B+ – Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Moses Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Jerry West

All here for many different reasons. The one uniting factor is that at some point, these are all great players, even arguably the best for a year or a few. The difference between them is their negatives. These negatives are much bigger than the A- group. So let’s go over why each are both this high and this low. For Kobe, he’s this high as he was the best or 2nd best player on five championship teams, probably had a best of all-time ceiling at one point and at times was an unstoppable scoring machine (and in the three-peat with Shaq, proved to be an incredible all-around player). He’s this low because with Shaq and Phil Jackson, and in his prime or near-prime he outright missed the playoffs (with modern playoff rules), he’s been outright smashed or embarrassed in multiple playoff series as the clear top guy and his advanced metrics always pointed to someone with crazy great help. Kevin Durant might have capped his ceiling here with his move to the Warriors. It’s impossible to really gauge if he could have won the whole thing without being a part of the Warriors superteam (he had failed several times so far). But he’s this high because his accolades, as well as how he’s played in the Finals with these Warriors, speak for themselves. Malone was the outright best player before Bird in the early 80s, but his peak crashed and team after team gave up on him. Shaq was an absolute monster at his peak (2000 MVP is still one of the best MVP seasons out there), but small injuries, really bad playoff losses (from his rookie year through his last in Miami, he’s been swept out of the playoff six times! Six!) and reliance on a top tier guard (Penny, Kobe and Wade, all at elite status) holds him back. Hakeem’s ’94 Championship is one of the best all-time one man and role player title teams ever. He defeated all his top rivals at his position (Ewing, Robinson and Shaq) as well as other Western Conference top guys (Malone twice, Barkley twice) in a two-year period. He was a destructive defensive force. Also forgotten, his dominance of the 1986 Lakers that got the Rockets into the ’86 Finals. He’s held back because some of the problems the late 80s Rockets had can be attributed to him and his offensive advanced metrics aren’t great (post-moves aside, he was a ball stopper on offense which would not fly later on). Jerry West doesn’t get the love Oscar gets despite 30-8-5 (or 31-7-6, whatever you want to use as a peak year) with good percentages on a more talented team that made the Finals year in and year out as opposed to averaging a triple double on a team that isn’t as good. Almost reminds me Westbrook vs. Curry. But West lost in most of those Finals and you have to hold the time period somewhat against him.

B – Wilt Chamberlain, Stephen Curry, Julius Erving, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Oscar Robertson

All of these players dominated a certain aspect of the game at some point, all of them in some way validated their careers with a championship and some unique scoring record or clearly defined skill, and all of them can have their legacies torn apart with very valid arguments. Wilt of course has the sheer force of numbers on his side, but a deeper look at statistics in the 60s show how meaningless that is. For all his scoring records, the regular seasons where a Wilt team actually won the title he scored 24.1 PPG and 14.8 PPG. Remember, the Warriors were 10-28 when Wilt was sent to Philly. He scored the most points because he shot the most (his FG%, while very good, isn’t historically super incredible or anything). He rebounded a lot because the league as a whole was on average short and not that athletic. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t great, but his numbers are never put in perspective. I’ll skip to Oscar because a lot of the same can be said for him. Had he average a 30-9-9 instead of a triple double no one would talk about him historically as much as he is (complete side note, isn’t it funny how Westbrook did a 30-10-10 and won MVP, but the very next season he did the same thing with even a slightly higher shooting % and no one cared. It was the “story” that mattered). Curry is the greatest shooter in NBA history and is single handedly changing how NBA defense works. Great shooting more than anything else matters in basketball. Letting Durant have his team though may hurt him legacy wise (could he have followed up with a 2nd ring or 3rd ring without him?). Dr. J didn’t dominate the NBA like the ABA, and Moses led him to the title. He and David Thompson created the MJ prototype though. Kevin Garnett has been called the greatest defensive player of his generation (I disagree though, I’d pick Duncan) and his MVP season was a sight to behold, but Minnesota as a franchise held him back and he only got Minnesota past Round 1 once. He also needed some offensive help for the Boston title team, although defensively he was amazing there. Dirk Nowitzki saved his legacy in 2011 with one of the greatest playoff runs ever, but his meltdowns in 2006 and 2007 are big red flags.

B- – Charles Barkley, Karl Malone

Both would have rings if it weren’t for MJ. Malone was a better defender (much better) and fundamental basketball player. Barkley was a historic rebounder and had a competitive streak just short of MJ’s. Both are the best examples of top guys who came up just short of being the man on a title team (something the entire previous tier avoided, although Oscar won his as a 2nd guy).

C+ – Isiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, Scottie Pippen

All three have massive, glaring red flags for their careers that shines a huge light on their otherwise fantastic careers. I can’t even project Isiah’s career today. His advanced metrics are a disaster, but some of that is in part to how the Pistons played. He couldn’t shoot from the outside at all. He’s known (and rightfully so) as the team leader and the Pistons won a lot with him at the helm. And the broken foot story is one of legend. When you have a great defensive that beats people down and you can do enough to win that’s all that matters, but I have a tough time projecting Isiah to have tons of success on a team not built that way. D-Wade’s two peaks are ridiculous (the 06 Finals and the ’09 and ’10 seasons) and really the true best MJ impression we got since MJ…but his peak was so short and he wasn’t getting out of Round 1 at that point until LeBron came around. Scottie Pippen is on my all-time defensive team and probably got screwed in ’94. Other than ’94, he ended up being a guy who didn’t fit or someone who couldn’t quite get his team over the hump. To be fair, he wasn’t in his prime post-MJ either.

C – Elgin Baylor, John Havlicek, Bob Pettit

The old guard. Havlicek did quite well for post-Russell Boston, even winning the 1974 Finals MVP. Of course, he snagged eight rings in total and two as the top guy. There’s a Shaq-Kobe similarity there. He’s probably the hardest player to rank. Baylor is often known as the best player not to win a championship (I have that as Malone and Barkley), but he’s also tough to rank as his greatness is tied into Boston beating him and West over and over. He’s credited with taking the game above the rim so there’s that. Bob Pettit is probably the easiest to rank. While he wouldn’t survive today, his Hawks were one of the team to beat Russell’s Celtics in a playoff series. He pretty much dominated the era before Wilt and Russell and didn’t get wiped out by them (as players such as Bellamy and Johnston did). 2 MVPs and 11 All-NBAs, 10 of them first team! I’d rank him higher if it weren’t for his era.

C- – Chris Paul, David Robinson, John Stockton

Three players who at times had out of the world statistics, but never could cross the finish line in first. Chris Paul’s 2008 and 2009 seasons are incredible, especially advanced metrically. He was robbed of the 2008 MVP. His 2008 season is one of four ever to boast at least 20 PPG, 11 APG and 50.0% FG. But, somewhat similarly to Isiah, he could never truly dominate (I assume because of size). He just played in his first Conference Finals (and for all the talk of him being a second guy, he put up a 41-10-7 in the Game 6 Semi-Final clincher to get there)…but unfortunately injuries prevented him from finishing it. It’s a shame really. David Robinson actually win a couple championships, and in 1999 he was an important second guy, but Tim Duncan promptly took over. Robinson of course was supposed to be THE NBA star, but it never quite happened and worse yet, Hakeem bulldozed him in 1995. Stockton’s a weird case because some of his numbers are inflated (assist totals in the early 90s weren’t scored strictly) and he rarely was incredible. He was just very good for a long time. He caught a break in the late 90s with Shawn Kemp heading to the East (Stockton could not deal with Gary Payton, as evidenced by the 1996 Western Conference Finals) and got to feast on horrible PGs in the Western Conference playoffs for two years. His very good, but not great reputation is evidenced by all his All-NBA 2nd and 3rd Teams (and even Defensive 2nd teams), but rarely a 1st team. He had no real weaknesses, but never dominated or took over either. And it wasn’t enough for him and Malone to get the ring. But he was always just really good.

Basketball

It’s Not the Players To Blame…

Criticizing Kevin Durant for leaving the Thunder to play for the 73-9 Warriors isn’t fair.

Oh yeah, it was an unpopular choice for sure. The idea that Durant, at the time the third best player in basketball, would join a 73 win team that had the second best player in the basketball and an entire array of basketball talent was disappointing (to say the least) from a competitive standpoint. When you play basketball in the playground, you never want to stack the team on one side. What fun is that? Legends like Magic, Larry and Michael talked about how they never would have joined one another, they wanted to beat one another. Quite frankly, it seemed like Durant, and LeBron before him (and others) took the coward’s way out. But they didn’t. They did the right thing. And it isn’t their fault that it had to happen that way. I’ll wait until the end of the article about whose fault it is. But first, let’s go through the reasons of why you can’t blame them for making the moves they made.

                Fair or not, everything’s measured through the Championship.

Maybe if Ewing somehow played with MJ instead of against him we’d remember him in a more positive, different light.

                As a New York Knicks fan, I’ve toyed with the idea that Patrick Ewing was overrated and the Knicks played better without him (the Ewing theory). But that’s not fair. He’s properly rated (mostly outside of New York) and the Knicks franchise hasn’t been the same since he left. But his legacy is of course, that he wasn’t good enough to be the best player for a title team. His failures are measured more than his successes. How about Kevin Garnett? What would we think of his career if he hadn’t left Minnesota and never won that title in Boston? Charles Barkley and Karl Malone are known as two of Michael Jordan’s victims. Dirk Nowitzki played out of his freakin mind to shed the label of a playoff choker. Heck, fans killed Kobe for not winning his own ring until 2009, even though he had three with Shaq. Some guys move to get their rings. Some guys don’t. Would we be criticizing Steve Nash’s MVPs if he had won the title during one of them?

There’s no reason players shouldn’t go out and have the best career they possibly could.

You think Bosh preferred this or carrying subpar Raptor teams to 40 wins every year?

                So how much does legacy mean to these players? For some of them it matters greatly. In fact, I’d argue the biggest difference between players then and players now is that players then cared about their legacy (especially MJ) and now, not so much. They care about their brands now. And you know what, I totally agree. Right now there are people who think Kevin Durant is the best player in basketball. And that’s GREAT for the Kevin Durant brand. If he could guarantee that by going to Golden State, good for him! LeBron thought playing for the Miami Heat was best for him and his brand. We all trashed him for doing it, but he came out of Miami as someone who’s compared to Michael Jordan without someone blinking an eye. He came out of it as the undisputed best player in the world. Does that happen in Cleveland? You think LeBron came back to Cleveland just for the loyalty? No, he came back because it was his best shot at a title. And he was right. These players are grown adults and, like any one of us, should be doing what’s best for themselves. What’s best for their families. What’s best for their money and brand. You think Chris Bosh really cares that people called him soft when joining Miami after those four years changed his career? Why do these adults owe the fans? Because the fans pay money to see them play and buy their gear?

Past players didn’t have to go through what players do today.

Of course Bird wouldn’t have to leave McHale and Parish to win…

Let’s put it this way, if there were 30 teams in basketball in the 80s, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird would have been carrying shit franchises just like LeBron had to. Magic, Bird and MJ can all talk about being loyal and wanting to beat one another, but they also either had stacked teams (McHale, Parish, DJ for Bird, Worthy, Abdul-Jabbar for Magic…and both teams had good role players) or in MJ’s case, was delivered elite-great talent. One of the reason fans are loyal to Kobe is because he allegedly had that old school mentality of being loyal. Of course, that was fiction, Kobe demanded a trade in 2008, rejected going to Chicago for Luol Deng and Ben Gordon cause he thought the Bulls were demolishing their team, and only stayed as the Lakers delivered Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum finally came around. I don’t see Kobe carrying around 45 win teams throughout the late 2000s, let’s just say that (I think there’s some truth for that with MJ too). So, the lesson from the Kobe situation is…

It’s the owners’ fault, not the players.

                Let’s look at the major players that switched to “better” teams. Even the ones that weren’t criticized much for it.

LeBron James

The Decision was embarrassing sure. But what exactly did Cleveland do to keep LeBron around? He carried an absolutely dreadful 2007 Cavs team to the Finals. Let’s actually look at that team for a second. 2nd scorer? Larry Hughes. Hughes the very next year was one of the joke contract New York Knicks. After that we have Drew Gooden, knucklehead that never reached his potential. You had a past his prime Ilgauskas. Role playing Anderson Varejao. Eric Snow was the starting point guard and averaged a whopping 4 and 4 in 23 MPG that season on 42% shooting. Without LeBron this team is at best 25-57. And this was a FINALS team. Let’s see what moves Cleveland made to bring in that Scottie Pippen or Pau Gasol.

For the next season, they added a washed up Ben Wallace and decent shooter Wally Szczerbiak. Both were complete non-factors.

Not quite Scottie Pippen is it…

For 08-09, the Cavs make a big splash by adding scorer Mo Williams! Mo has the best year of his career and makes an All-Star Team. Of course, Williams isn’t a difference maker at all, never made an All-NBA team in his life, never sniffed an All-Star Game before or after this year and shot under 35% in four of the six games against Orlando in the Eastern Conference Finals. But hey, it’s something!

The next year, the Cavs add a 36 year old Shaquille O’Neal, who missed half the season and was a complete non-factor. They also add Antawn Jamison. Jamison, always a one way player at this point would seem to be the difference maker. Well, my favorite Jamison Cavs memory is making 2010 Kevin Garnett look like 2008 Kevin Garnett in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals (a big difference, KG was a 14/7 guy in 2010 after surgery in 2009. KG never scored less than 18 in this series, with a huge 22-12 on 11/19 in the clincher. And Jamison was his primary defender). Jamison was also poor in the series as well.

A 33 year old scorer with no defense and a point guard who had one good (not great, but good) year was the best they could do. And we blame LeBron for leaving?

Chris Paul

Can’t forget about CP3, who demanded a trade to LA and only didn’t get hell for it because of the Laker veto situation that made David Stern to be the bigger evil. Paul had a good team around him as the Hornets were excellent in 07-08. David West was a solid big man. Peja Stojakovic was at the end of his prime, but still a sharpshooter. Tyson Chandler just came around as a defensive and rebounding force (and would win the title with Dallas in that role, as well as help New York become relevant again). Bonzi Wells and Morris Peterson were effective pieces too. This Hornets team was a game away from the Western Conference Finals.

The next year Chandler only plays half the season and Peja slips. Hornets don’t improve personnel wise in any way. Peterson becomes a 12 MPG guy, and Wells is gone. Hornets fall into a losing in Round 1 team.

Chris Paul gets hurt, but the team remains relatively unchanged other than trading Chandler for Emeka Okafor, who was a one way guy (on defense) his whole career. Chandler for Okafor makes sense when you look at the statline. Of course, Chandler was (and is) a much better player than Okafor. Two emerging young players come to light though, Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison.

Collison is traded for Trevor Ariza and midway Thornton is traded for Carl Landry. Hornets are stuck as a First Round team again, although with an injured West Paul takes the Lakers to six games anyway (one of the best forgotten one man shows in recent NBA history).

Switching out a bunch of role players, trading Chandler for Okafor. Way to trap Chris Paul on a one and done team. And you wonder why he wanted to play for the Lakers…and didn’t mind the Clippers with Blake Griffin.

Dwight Howard

Dwight had led the 2009 Magic to a surprising NBA Finals berth. Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson were all interesting options around him, especially since Dwight wasn’t one to take a lot of shots. Still, this is what Orlando built for Dwight.

Orlando admittedly takes a good shot with Vince Carter. Unfortunately, it’s a past his prime Vince Carter. Magic lose in the ECF.

Carter continues to be a non-factor, Turkoglu is losing his edge, Lewis only played 25 games (and was probably off PEDs). Jason Richardson was a decent addition I guess. To get Dwight elite help the Magic laughably added Gilbert Arenas, who was beyond done at this point.

Penny and T-Mac should be embarrassed their jersey number was used here.

Ryan Anderson emerges as a viable option while Nelson, Turkoglu and Richardson all regress. Arenas, Carter and Lewis are all gone.

Past his prime Vince Carter, a done Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. Just the elite star Dwight was looking for. (Although, to be fair, Dwight is a headcase anyway).

Kevin Durant

Ahha, how can I spin Kevin Durant into this conversation? He just left the guy who won MVP! Well let me ask you something. If your owner, if your boss told you he was going to put money ahead of building a better team or organization. How would you feel? You’d potentially want to leave, right? Well, I present to you the following:

James Harden: October 27, 2012: Traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder with Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward to the Houston Rockets for Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Martin, a 2013 1st round draft pick (Steven Adams was later selected), a 2013 2nd round draft pick (Alex Abrines was later selected) and a 2014 1st round draft pick (Mitch McGary was later selected).

Why was that done? Because OKC didn’t want to go over the luxury tax to pay Harden. You know, the guy who was top three in the MVP race this year. He immediately made the Rockets a Western Conference force. And it was thought Harden was good at that point too. The Thunder put money over winning the title, there’s no way around that. And if Oklahoma City wasn’t serious about winning the title…

….how can I blame Kevin Durant for going to a team that was?

Basketball

Top 100 NBA Players Of All Time – 2017 Revision

Let’s look through my Top 100 and see what’s changed.

Dropped out: Tom Chambers

As time goes on, new players get in. And that means someone has to drop out.

100. Tim Hardaway (-1)

99. Manu Ginobili (-1) – Despite a throwback playoff performance, Manu is obviously done.

98. Alonzo Mourning (-1)

97. Dikembe Mutombo (-1)

96. Yao Ming (-1) – Every day I think Yao is more underrated than I realized.

95. Vince Carter (-1) – I feel like I have to re-evaluate Carter in the future. Is he really better than Mutombo, Mourning, Yao? I wrote the same thing last year.

94. Carmelo Anthony (-1) – It’s kinda a pathetic spot for Melo at this point. The East is an all-time train wreck, and he still isn’t good enough to get the Knicks to the playoffs.

93. Kevin Johnson (-1)

92. Shawn Kemp (-1)

91. Robert Horry (-1)

Everyone dropped a spot as the new player is in the 80s.

90. Chris Mullin (-1)

89. Bob Dandridge (-1)

88. Paul Westphal (-1)

87. Dan Issel (-1)

86. Artis Gilmore (-1)

85. James Harden (NEW) – Big year for Harden, but there was some criticism of his playoff performance against the Spurs. Rockets are a real threat next year though, and Harden can skyrocket through these rankings.

84. Tracy McGrady (-1)

83. Joe Dumars (-1)

82. Sidney Moncrief (-1)

81. Lenny Wilkins (-1)

Harden is the new player, but someone else rose, which is why 84-81 dropped a spot too.

80. Earl Monroe (-1)

79. Tony Parker (-1) – Another Spur who is pretty much done. Great career though.

78. Chris Webber (-1)

77. David Thompson (-1)

76. Jerry Lucas (-1)

75. Pete Maravich (-1)

74. Russell Westbrook (+10) – I’m mixed on Westbrook’s year. His average of a triple double with 30 PPG is impressive, but also an overrated achievement (not unlike Oscar, actually), his team didn’t win anything despite those statistics (lost in Round 1). His advanced metrics were good, not great for the year. I mean, the MVP matters and such, but let’s just no go crazy here. Basketball stats in 2017 are out of whack as it is.

73. Dwight Howard – Seriously, after what he was traded for how can anyone argue he would be any higher? His peak years in Orlando were seriously impressive, but he’s just someone who didn’t want it enough.

72. Chris Bosh – What a shame about Bosh.

71. Dennis Rodman

Westbrook’s the new addition.

70. Adrian Dantley

69. Alex English

68. Bob McAdoo

67. Tom Heihnson

66. Tiny Archibald

65. Pau Gasol – Gasol didn’t do much for San Antonio to consider moving him up.

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

54. Hal Greer

53. Nate Thurmond

52. Wes Unseld

51. Chris Paul – I just can’t look past how his teams never succeed in the playoffs.

I really don’t know what to do with CP3. If he can’t get past Round 2 with James Harden next year I don’t know what to think. A big playoff run would skyrocket him in these rankings, because that is all he’s missing really.

50. James Worthy

49. Dennis Johnson

48. Bill Walton

47. Ray Allen

46. Chauncey Billups

45. George Gervin

44. Sam Jones

43. Clyde Drexler

42. George Mikan

41. Jason Kidd

No one moved here. Everyone’s retired.

40. Paul Pierce

39. Allen Iverson

38. Gary Payton

37. Patrick Ewing

36. Dave Cowens

35. Steve Nash

34. Kevin McHale (-1)

33. Walt Frazier (-1)

32. Willis Reed (-1)

31. Rick Barry (-1)

Someone moved up. We’ll get there.

30. Bob Cousy (-1)

29. John Stockton (-1)

28. David Robinson (-2)

27. Elgin Baylor (-2)

26. John Havlicek (-2)

25. Bob Pettit (-2)

24. Scottie Pippen (-2)

23. Isiah Thomas (-2)

22. Dwyane Wade (-2) – Not a difference maker anymore. Still an effective player and could still have some amazing season to put him back in the Top 20, but it’s really unlikely.

21. Stephen Curry (+6) – It was an interesting year for Curry. Very rarely do we see the two time reigning MVP suddenly take a backseat to someone else. But Curry did it without complaint and it worked. It was still a great season for Curry, although even advanced metrically he dropped off. Still, it won’t take much to break into the Top 20 at this point.

Curry moved up and we are still taking into account the other player who moved up, which explains all the drops.

20. Karl Malone (-1)

19. Charles Barkley (-1)

18. Kevin Durant (+16) – Well then. I’d actually put him higher, but let’s be honest his supporting cast was ridiculously stacked. But Durant did become the alpha dog on this Warriors championship team, taking the team away from Stephen Curry, and that can’t be ignored either. Destined for the Top 10 to be honest.

17. Julius Erving

16. Oscar Robertson

15. Wilt Chamberlain

14. Kevin Garnett

13. Dirk Nowitzki – Dirk was okay this year, which isn’t bad. He still intends to play and a strong playoff run can get him as high as 11th on this list, depending on where Durant ends up.

12. Jerry West

11. Moses Malone

Durant is on the charge, but otherwise no changes. Only Dirk can change his legacy really, other than Durant.

10. Kobe Bryant

9. Hakeem Olajuwon

8. Shaquille O’Neal

7. Larry Bird

6. Tim Duncan

5. Magic Johnson

4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

3. LeBron James

2. Bill Russell

1. Michael Jordan

Really, nothing changes based off of what I said last year. Had LeBron been able to knock off this insane Warriors team, he’d be #2 and with an eye on MJ. But, great as performance as he had, it didn’t happen. Still need to see ring #4 before I’m taking him over the greatest winner in league history…or MJ for that matter.

Basketball

The Disappointing State of the NBA All-Star Game

My favorite All-Star game among the four sports is a mess.

          Don’t get me wrong. Apparently the NBA All-Star Game and the weekend as a whole is a success. Early reports stated that ratings for the weekend have been at its highest point in four years. Which perhaps is all that matters.

          But watching the game last night? Watching 24 (estimate, way too lazy to look up just how many players were in the game) of the greatest basketball talents in the world drift through the game like it was a random scrimmage rings empty and hollow. And ultimately disappointing.

          All-Star games aren’t supposed to matter. They are exhibitions. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be meaningful in some way. Those who watch or attend want to see exciting plays from their favorite players, and since this is a game, want to see a winner. This couldn’t be more apparent than at the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star game, which infamously and embarrassingly ended in a 7-7 tie as both teams ran out of available players. Major League Baseball decided that beginning in 2003 the best idea would be to bastardize their world championship each year by having homefield in the World Series be decided by the result of the All-Star Game. Combine that with the other silly rule about each time having a representative in the All-Star Game and you can’t help by laugh at Major League Baseball. The NFL is no better, although this is less of a fault of the NFL. The game resembles a flag football game by necessity as no one wants to risk injury. This didn’t stop the NFL from messing around with its locations and rules anyway. And I’m not quite sure what’s going on with the NHL’s All-Star game other than it seems to be a four team tournament or something. Whatever.

          But the NBA’s All-Star Game? It was pretty perfect all things considered. It obviously had some problems by All-Star Game standards: fan voting, players not going all out for 100% of the time, etc. But the nature of basketball means player competitive juices flow at all times. In no other league can you have 10 of the best players in the world on the court at the same time looking to beat one another. Individual pride is something that seems to matter more in the NBA than any other big sport. And if the game was close, things got good at the end.

          Want proof? Remember in 2013 when Kobe blocked LeBron over and over in the final few minutes? Commentary told us how this was Kobe’s chance to remind LeBron who the best was. LeBron of course got heckled the year before in the 2012 All-Star Game when LeBron passed off a potential game winning shot to Deron Williams. We all cared about that one too. (Side note: One of the hecklers was Kobe…which was funny since he did the same thing in 2001). Speaking of Kobe, how about his coming out party in the 1998 All-Star Game? Knowing all eyes were on him and that he had Michael Jordan on the other side of the ball, Kobe showed off his best moves to show he arrived. What about in 1987, where Magic Johnson, looking to win at all costs, fed Tom Chambers in the pick and roll down the stretch to win the game? How upset were all of us when Michael Jordan’s potential winner in 2003 was ruined by Jermaine O’Neal’s dumb foul on Kobe? My favorite example of this is in 2001. The East were big underdogs because the West had all these monsters (Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, etc.) and the East were led by guards. Only Dikembe Mutombo did all the big man work (22 rebounds) and the East completed a comeback because Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury refused to let them lose. That’s what I miss about the NBA All-Star Game.

          But last night? It was all about getting the hometown boy the MVP with his 50 points and breaking a Wilt record. Or some Durant vs. Westbrook drama that didn’t go anywhere. Last night there was no one challenging LeBron like Kobe did in 2013, or like Kobe challenged MJ in 1998 (Side Note to this too: MJ did win the Game MVP, so he accepted the challenge obviously). The game was close in the 4th, and Reggie Miller kept bring up during commentary that “this is where the game usually buckles down and players play hard”. Only they didn’t. Someday a team will drop 200 (we’re getting pretty close now). Or even an individual player will drop 100. Maybe NBA fans will like that.

          I’ll just be thinking about when players actually had some pride.

Basketball

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

#10. Kobe Bryant

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NBA MVP: 1x (’08)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’09, ’10)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 2x (’00, ’01)

NBA All-3rd Team: 2x (’99, ’05)

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

NBA All-Defensive 2nd 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: 29th

NBA Career Steals: 14th

NBA Career Win Shares: 15th

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

2nd 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 1st 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 4th. 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 2nd 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 4th 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

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NBA MVP: 1x (’94)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’94, ‘95)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 3x (’86, ’90, ‘96)

NBA All-3rd Team: 2x (’95, ‘99)

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

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

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

NBA All-Rookie 1st 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: 8th

NBA Career Rebounds: 13th

NBA Career Win Shares: 15th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 4th

NBA Career Win Shares: 18th

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): 13th

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 2nd 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 2nd 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

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NBA MVP: 1x (’00)

NBA Finals MVP: 3x (’00, ’01, ‘02)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 1x (‘95)

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

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

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’93)

NBA Rookie All-1st 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: 15th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 4th

NBA Career Win Shares: 11th

NBA Career WS/48: 15th

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

2nd Best Player on One Champion: ’06 Heat

Best Player on One Runner-up: ’95 Magic

2nd 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 2nd 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

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NBA MVP: 3x (’84, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’84, ‘86)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 1x (‘90)

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

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’80)

NBA Rookie All-1st 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 7th 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

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NBA MVP: 4x (’09, ’10, ’12, ‘13)

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’12, ‘13)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 2x (’05, ‘07)

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

NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team: 1x (’14)

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’04)

NBA Rookie All-1st 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: 17th

NBA Career Assists: 22nd

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 2nd 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 10th 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

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NBA MVP: 2x (’02, ‘03)

NBA Finals MVP: 3x (’99, ’03, ‘05)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 3x (’06, ’08, ‘09)

NBA All-3rd Team: 1x (’15)

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

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

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’98)

NBA Rookie All-1st 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: 13th

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): 8th

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 2nd and 3rd options (but not great). Unlike Kobe, Duncan came into the league and was immediately great (NBA All-1st 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 2nd 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 2nd 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

ORLANDO- FEBRUARY 9: Magic Johnson #32 of the Western Conference All-Stars holds the MVP trophy following the 1992 NBA All Star Game on February 9, 1992 at the Orlando Arena in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1987 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Resume

NBA MVP: 3x (’87, ’89, ‘90)

NBA Finals MVP: 3x (’80, ’82, ’87)

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 1x (‘82)

NBA Rookie All-1st 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

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

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

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

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 4th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 6th

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

top100jabbar

Resume

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

NBA Finals MVP: 2x (’71, ‘85)

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

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

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

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

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’70)

NBA Rookie All-1st 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: 7th

NBA Career Offensive Rating: 37th

NBA Career Defensive Rating: 24th

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

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

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

3rd 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

top100russell

Resume

NBA MVP: 5x (’58, ’61, ’62, ’63, ‘65)

NBA All-1st Team: 3x (’59, ’63, ‘65)

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

NBA All-Defensive 1st 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: 1st

NBA Career Win Shares: 17th

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): 3rd

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

top100jordan

Resume

NBA MVP: 5x (’88, ’91, ’92, ’96, ’98)

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

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

NBA All-2nd Team: 1x (‘85)

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

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

NBA Rookie of the Year: 1x (’85)

NBA All-Rookie 1st 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: 4th

NBA Career PPG: 1st

NBA Career Assists: 42nd

NBA Career Steals: 3rd

NBA Career Win Shares: 4th

NBA Career Defensive Win Shares: 19th

NBA Career Win Shares: 17th

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

RDT’s Notes about the 2015 NBA Draft

Arguably more than any other sport the NBA Draft can immediately change the short and long term fortunes of a team. In terms of success in any team sport, that #1 overall pick can single-handedly turn a perennial losing franchise into a NBA Championship contender (like the Cleveland Cavaliers). It only takes the right kind of talent to be in that #1 slot.

The 2015 NBA Draft seemed to have two “sure-things” and one who’s pretty close. I’m just going to jot down some notes here pick by pick.

1. Minnesota selects Karl Anthony-Towns. Is it strange I’m not super into this pick? Everything in the scouting report has written about a strong work ethic and a super high basketball IQ. A lot of the concern is how he’ll hold up playing 30-35 minutes per game, as that didn’t happen at Kentucky. I think he’ll ultimately be the 2nd best player in this draft, probably a 17-8 guy with three point range.

2. The Lakers select D’Angelo Russell. My pick for the best player in the draft. Comparisons to Penny Hardaway and Brandon Roy? That’s absolutely what’s needed in today’s NBA. Hopefully he comes a solid “big” point guard and not a Tyreke Evans type. I wanted him in NY at #4.

3. Jahlil Okafor was selected by the Sixers. I was big on Okafor for a while, but attitude concerns turned me off slightly. My guess he has the biggest chance of being a dud in this top three, considering the mess of the team he ended up on. I mean they can’t just get rid of Nerlens Noel. The Okafor pick might have been bpa, or it might have told us something about Joel Embiid.

4. My Knicks selected KRISTAPS. I usually have a thing for international players, so Kristaps works for me. Obviously I’m hoping for the next Nowitzki and not Bargnani…and I understand we’re more likely to get the latter. But let me be excited for once!

5. Orlando selected Super Mario Hezonja. I really hope we aren’t talking about how bad Kristaps over Super Mario is in a few years.

6. Kings picked Willie Cauley-Stein. I was really into him for defensive reasons.

7. Nuggets picked Emmanuel Mudiay. A good sleeper pick for best player in the draft honestly.

9. Hornets selected Frank Kaminsky. Apparently MJ passed on four lower first round picks from Boston for Kaminsky. I mean whoa. NBADraft.net actually compared him to Sean Marks. So I mean, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

10. Especially since Miami got Justice Winslow. I don’t know if I’m really sold on him, but he sounds better than Kaminsky for sure.

12. Trey Lyles went to Utah. I liked the pick. Don’t know if he’ll be a star, but he should be a solid guy who maybe snags a few All-Star berths.

19. My Knicks picked Jerian Grant. Energy guard. Kinda guy where like if he’s your best player your team is probably like 26-56, but if he’s a 6th man he could hit a few shots to win you a game. I think I like him for now.

23. The Nets selected Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Only making a note of this because the Nets traded him and Mason Plumlee for Steve Blake. In other words, LOL Nets. (I didn’t even realize Blake was still in the league at this point).

26. The Spurs took an international big man: Nikola Milutinov. I’m assuming he’s amazing because Spurs.

27. The Lakers look Larry Nance Jr. Nance got a fair bit of publicity this week as he apparently made a joke (not sure if it was intended to be a joke) about Kobe being a rapist. That’s gonna be awkward.

I don’t really know much about the 2nd round, although the Cavs got my favorite name in the draft: Rakeem Christmas.

Basketball

The Oversaturation of NBA’s Christmas Day Games

Shaq and Kobe provide a big XMas Day draw
Shaq and Kobe provide a big XMas Day draw

The NBA’s Christmas Day games are a tradition that dates back to 1947 in the old BAA. While throughout the 70s and 80s anywhere from four to seven games were played on Christmas, the late 80s ushered in an era where only top teams played…or at least teams with high market value. This article isn’t going to analyze anything about the XMas Day games. Instead, it will be a collection of scattered thoughts.

It’s too bad the NBA season can’t begin on Christmas

I know right? The NBA season starts at the very end of October/early November…and other than opening day no one cares about the NBA for two months until XMas. Why is this the case? The biggest issues for the NBA is that the NFL season is in full swing. The NFL of course is the king of American pro sports until Roger Goodell kills the league (might happen sooner than you think) and the NBA isn’t yet (or maybe ever) topping that. MLB sometimes really hurts the NBA as well. If the MLB postseason takes up those crucial last days of October/first days of November, it’s something else to talk about that isn’t basketball. And while they each aren’t nearly as big news wise, the NBA sharing ESPN space with the NHL and the NASCAR Chase doesn’t help.

It also doesn’t help that the first two months of the NBA season…don’t really matter. This is true for all of the major American professional sports other than football. 2014 was an especially lucky year for the NBA as they had two major stories going: LeBron’s return to Cleveland (and the Cavs “struggles”) and the injury plagued Oklahoma City Thunder. Still, other than LeBron’s literal return to Cleveland has him being back in Cleveland been THAT big of a deal these first two months? Not really right? Hell, even the ratings for LeBron’s return weren’t that great and even paled in comparison to his Heat debut four years prior (I do have a theory on this…which is people like to watch villains. Feel good stories are fine, but unless you’re Michael Jordan basketball feel good stories aren’t that big of a deal).

Do you know when the last time the first two months of a NBA season mattered? The 2011-2012 season! The lockout shortened year actually grabbed headlines before the season began (with the lockout and the Chris Paul-Lakers-Clippers-David Stern Veto situation) and had XMas day games that felt like they mattered. Why did they all feel like they mattered? Each game had either a situation attached to it and wasn’t tarnished by a team not performing as well as they should (you know, since they were all 0-0 at that point). For example: Carmelo lit up the Celtics and made it seem like the Knicks were going to be a real power (they were okay…although they had to be saved by Linsanity at one point), Chris Paul was making his Los Angeles Clippers debut against the Warriors with young Stephen Curry (who did not play well), the Heat and Mavericks had a Finals rematch, Oklahoma City took on Orlando in a game full of future (or even current) superstars (Durant, Westbrook, Dwight), and lastly Kobe and the Lakers took on DRose and the Bulls. All five games felt like big deals.  Does this happen in a normal season? I say no. Clippers vs. Warriors loses appeal as the Warriors still weren’t ready and Chris Paul would have made his debut two months prior. The Knicks might have been in their slump (they were 12-15 at one point). Maybe even Orlando vs. OKC gets tarnished as Dwight battled injuries all season. This all leads me to my second thought.

There are one too many games on XMas…which tarnishes the sifnoficance a bit

While in the 70s and 80s there were anywhere from four to seven games on Christmas, that changed to one or two games throughout the 90s. As a result, you always had a big time game on for Christmas (although, oddly never the biggest game, you’d think MJ would be there every year). I’m going to pick 1995 as a starting point here…and only pointing out how games were marketed. Injuries would just be bad luck.

1995 (2 Games): Rockets @ Magic (Finals Rematch, Hakeem and Drexler vs. Shaq and Penny), Spurs @ Suns (Robinson vs. Barkley)

1996 (2 Games): Pistons @ Bulls (Grant Hill vs. MJ, Pippen, etc…Pistons were 20-6 at this point), Lakers @ Suns (Shaq’s first season as a Laker, Suns were an odd choice though)

1997 (2 Games): Heat @ Bulls (ECF Rematch, Tim Hardaway and Mourning vs. Jordan, Pippen, etc.), Rockets @ Jazz (WCF Rematch, Hakeem, Barkley and Drexler vs. Malone and Stockton)

1998: Lockout

1999 (2 Games): Knicks @ Pacers (ECF Rematch, Knicks vs. Reggie), Spurs @ Lakers (Duncan, Robinson vs. Shaq, young Kobe)

2000 (2 Games): Magic @ Pacers (TMac vs. the defending EC Champs w/Reggie, ambitious because the magic weren’t quite there yet, but TMac was surely a rising star), Trail Blazers @ Lakers (WCF Rematch, Rasheed vs. Shaq, Kobe)

2001 (2 Games): 76ers @ Lakers (NBA Finals Rematch: Iverson vs. Shaq/Kobe), Raptors @ Knicks (Carter vs. Knicks…the overrated draw of the Knicks starts to show around this time though)

2002 (3 Games): Kings @ Lakers (Best rivalry at the time and WCF Rematch, Webber vs. Shaq, Kobe), Celtics @ Nets (ECF Rematch, Pierce vs. Kidd), Pistons @ Magic (TMac and Hill vs. Detroit’s D), this could be an example already of one game too many though.

2003 (3 Games): Rockets @ Lakers (Yao, Francis vs. Shaq, Kobe), Cavs @ Magic (rookie LeBron vs. TMac), Mavericks @ Kings (7 Game WCSF rematch, Nowitzki vs. Bibby, Peja)

2004 (2 Games): Pistons @ Pacers (One of the best rivalries at the time), Heat @ Lakers (the much anticipated Shaq vs. Kobe…Wade was there too obviously)

2005 (2 Games): Spurs @ Pistons (NBA Finals Rematch), Lakers @ Heat (Shaq/Wade vs. Kobe XMas rematch)

2006 (1 Game): Lakers @ Heat (Really pushing that Shaq vs. Kobe draw)

2007 (3 Games): Heat @ Cavs (Wade vs. LeBron…whole thing was wrecked though as this was Miami’s 15-67 season), Suns @ Lakers (Nash vs. Kobe), Supersonics @ Trail Blazers (was supposed to be rookie Durant vs. rookie Oden and Roy). This represented probably the weakest set of games of the last 13 seasons.

2008 would begin the five game setup we have now. Let’s go over these 13 season of XMas games though: don’t most of these feel like a big deal? The NBA smartly pushed their top teams and talents into these games, and also gave the younger stars a chance to shine. Let’s look at 2008.

2008 (5 Games): Wizards @ Cavs (A budding rivalry which was really LeBron destroying them over and over…LeBron vs. Arenas), Celtics @ Lakers (NBA Finals rematch), Hornets @ Magic (CP3 vs. Dwight), Spurs @ Suns (Another good rivalry, Nash and Shaq vs. Duncan, Parker and Manu), Mavericks @ Trail Blazers (Nowitzki and Kidd vs. Roy and if Oden is there somehow?). Wizards don’t belong here, and Mavericks vs. Trail Blazers is one game too many.

Each year would still have its monster games of course, but then also a 4th or 5th game which took the significance away from the Christmas games. 2009 had Lebron vs. Kobe…and for some reason the godawful Knicks vs. Wade and a bunch of nobodies. Let’s look at 2014’s games.

2014 (5 Games): Wizards @ Knicks (Wall vs. Carmelo?), Thunder @ Spurs (Durant and Westbrook vs. the legendary Spurs trio), Cavs @ Heat (Lebron returns), Lakers @ Bulls (Kobe vs. DRose), Warriors  @ Clippers (Curry vs. Blake and CP3)

The two obvious games that don’t belong? Wizards @ Knicks and Lakers @ Bulls. Lakers and Knicks combined records: 14-44. The Wizards are a fun up and coming team sure, but the Knicks are awful and most thought they would be as well. The Lakers too are the same way, and XMas day does not need the draw of Kobe (we didn’t see Wizards Jordan on XMas). Nevermind that it was a crapshoot we’d even get Derrick Rose playing. The other three are good choices. OKC vs. the Spurs lucked out (as long as Pop doesn’t bench anyone) since Durant and Westbrook are healthy. Cavs @ Heat was always going to be a big deal, even if the Heat aren’t anywhere near what they were and Bosh is out (it’s no different than Lakers-Heat in the mid 2000s). Golden State and LAC will be a great game. This is just two games too much.

I think I’ve had enough scattered thoughts about the NBA XMas day games. The NBA is still about a month and a half before they monopolize ESPN (post Super Bowl and All Star Weekend), and truthfully I can’t wait. And we usually get the ball rolling on XMas. I just wish 33% of the league wasn’t playing today. It would be a lot more special that way.