Slam Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of All Time

I will post this list 20 players at a time until I reach the Top 10.

#56-75:

56.Robert Parish
57.James Worthy
58.Sam Jones
59.Kobe Bryant
60.Lenny Wilkens
61.Jason Kidd
62.Bob Lanier
63.Dennis Johnson
64.Chris Webber
65.Chris Mullin
66.Mark Aguirre
67.Connie Hawkins
68.Spencer Haywood
69.Dennis Rodman
70.Kevin Garnett
71.Dave Bing
72.Alonzo Mourning
73.Bill Walton
74.Grant Hill
75.Tracy McGrady

Discuss.

 

Garnett, Kobe, and Kidd could arguably be higher- T-Mac and Grant Hill probably shouldn't be on the list.


And Bill Walton should probably be higher. He had a lot of injury problems, but he still has a couple rings and an MVP (and a sixth man of the year ).

 

In terms of sheer talent and ability, Walton belongs in the top 10. Had he been injury free (it all started with a freak foot injury when he was growing up), he would have amassed much greater stats than he did. As it was, he still did well. A tremendous offensive and defensive force, and easily the best passing big man of all time.

 

I believe Kobe should be in the top 10.

 

Talk to me about T-Mac when he gets out of the first round of the play offs. Until then, he does not deserve to be on the list at all.

 

I wonder if Nique will make this list?

 

[image=http://i28.tinypic.com/ftdeh0.jpg]

 

Kobe should NOT be in the top 10.

Top 10 should be (in varryign order):

Jordan
Magic
Bird
Dr. J
Barkley
Malone
Kareem
Moses Malone
Isiah Thomas
Bob Pettit

 

no wilt or russell in your top ten?

 

Or Clyde Drexler?

 

Wow Kobe is that low.(In referance to top of the page post) To each his own I guess.

(In referance to next top ten post)

I agree with most of those picks except a few: I think Oscar Robinson has to at least crack the top ten, and Wilt has to be in there as well.

 

What Armenian_Jedi said. Russell and Wilt have to be in the top ten. Definitely Wilt.

 

Wilt should have been 1A, Russell 1B. Jordan should be #2, because, after all, he represented corporate America in the '90's, which (obviously) in turn represents all of the United States. The image of U.S. basektball went truely global with The Dream Team, of which Jordan was a part of. Without the legacies of Wilt or Russell, there would be no Jordan, and no dynasty, because the Lakers and Celtics both represent the NBA's two original dynasties (it's not like the Lakers just won titles here in La La Land, they did so as well in Minnesota). They kept the name when they moved here to keep the franchise history alive, whereas Boston will always have the Celtics. Wilt died in '99, but Russell is still alive, but both of course still played the same sport, where so much of the influence from how the sport grew/got important in America are still alive (Wooden, Walton, Russell, Kareem, Dr. J, Pee Wee Reese, etc). Magic/Bird brought basektball back into popularity in the 80's, but didn't go global until the next decade. That doesn't happen, maybe Jordan doesn't happen. Just because Jordan was the force in basketball in the 90's doesn't mean he should automatically be considered the greatest influence. 20 years from now, somebody is going to say that one of the foreign born players is the greatest ever, because they had the biggest impact on the sport, then. 20 years after that, etc, and so & so on.

 

And drop Barkley and Isaiah for the love of all that is holy.

 

Well in defense of Jordan's position atop the game in regards to influence. I have to say that in the eighties, and before of course the NBA marketed on great teams it was a strategy they took. But slowly they came out of it towards the end of the eighties with Magic, and Bird you could probably throw Nique, Isiah in there too. Yet you can't deny Jordan's impact on the game going global especially when the NBA put it's marketing machine behind the nineties most dominant player. From advertisements to movies Jordan was the face of the NBA during a time period when it's marketing went abroad, and it was his face that the world associated with american basketball. I think even twenty years from now the world will still recognize him as the best despite the fact that Kareem is the highest scorer, and Wilt owns the single game scoring title with Lebron possibly going to more All star games once his done playinng.

It might seem unfair, but Jordan's track record is going to be hard to beat espically when he was basically the NBA's first most known ambassador.

 

Top 10 should be (in varryign order):

Jordan
Magic
Bird
Dr. J
Barkley
Malone
Kareem
Moses Malone
Isiah Thomas
Bob Pettit

No Jerry West, Wilt, Russell, Hakeem, or Oscar Robertson (who might be the best player of all around player of all time) ?????

 

I decided to post the next 25, so here are #31-55:

31.George Mikan
32.Earl Monroe
33.Nate Thurmond
34.Dolph Schayes
35.Walt Bellamy
36.David Robinson
37.Billy cunningham
38.Paul Arizin
39.Dave DeBusschere
40.Alex English
41.Scottie Pippen
42.Nate Archibald
43.Adrian Dantley
44.Clyde Drexler
45.Bernard King
46.Bob McAdoo
47.Gary Payton
48.Artis Gilmore
49.Jerry Lucas
50.Pete Maravich
51.Hal Greer
52.Reggie Miller
53.Allen Iverson
54.Dan Issel
55.Tim Duncan

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Discuss.

 

Duncan should be much, much higher. He's either one of the best centers ever to play the game, or the best power forward ever. The Big Fundamental is still unstoppable come playoff time.

 

how did AI and Reggie Miller get ahead of Duncan?!

 

QFT x 1000


Pippen would be higher on my list, also.

 

#11-30:

11.Elgin Baylor
12. Hakeem Olajuwon
13.Karl Malone
14.Bob Petitt
15.John Havlicek
16.Moses Malone
17.Isiah Thomas
18.John Stockton
19.Charles Barkley
20.Walt Frazier
21.Rick Barry
22.Bob Cousy
23.Elvin Hayes
24.Dave Cowens
25.George Gervin
26.Kevin McHale
27.Dominique Wilkins
28.Patrick Ewing
29.Willis Reed
30.Wes Unseld

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Discuss.

 

How is Robinson ahead of Duncan? Not mention the likes of Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, Dominique Wilkens,Adrian Dantley ...

Those are all nice players who put nice stats, but Duncan's value goes far beyond stats. Rings, baby, rings.

 

Duncan is also a whiner on a despicable team. I hate the "rings" argument, because even in basketball, where one player can make a bigger difference than in almost any other team sport, championship teams need multiple guys. Duncan would not have won anything without Robinson, Parker, and Ginobli.

I'll concede that Duncan belongs on this list, but I don't find him impressive enough to warrant significantly higher placement. Of course, I don't find LaDainian Tomlinson particularly impressive either, so maybe my sensibilities clash so badly with yours that my making such an argument is useless.

 

not to derail this thread but...

in 7 seasons he has:

led the league in rushing twice
led the league in rushing touchdowns 3 times
rushed for the 18th most amount of yards in NFL history(will be top 5 in two seasons)
already scored the third most amount of rushing touchdowns in NFL history
already scored the seventh most amount of touchdowns in NFL history
thrown for an additional 7 touchdown passes
caught 458 passes(at this pace, he'll be the only RB to crack the top 20 of most receptions ever)
broken the single season rushing touchdowns record(28)
broken the single season touchdowns record(31)
broken the single season points scored record(186)



but you're right, none of that stuff is impressive.

 

#10-6:

10. Julius Erving
9. Shaquille O'Neal
8. Jerry West
7. Kareeem-Abdul Jabbar
6. Larry Bird

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Discuss.