Slam Magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of All Time

I don't know how I feel about Shaq being in the top ten. He's damn good, obviously, but I'm not sure top ten is right.

 

So this leaves Jordan, Magic, Lebron, Wilt and Bill Russell.

 

Lebron?


are you serious or is that a joke?

 

I agree that Lebron should have been on this list, albeit much lower. Since he hasn't been listed yet, that unfortunately seems like he'll be in the remaining 5. That's a shame.

 

I'm guessing LeBron won't be on the list. Too early in his career for that. Especially too early for a top-five.

I'd guess you're fifth you're missing is Oscar Robertson.

 

no... he won't be on the list at all... and rightfully so.

 

This list is at least five years old, by the way. If it were recent I'm sure LeBron would be on the list (certainly Grant Hill and T-Mac would off it).

 

I like Shaq at nine. He dominated basketball for a long time, being a great player and popular star during an era where basketball was as like sumo mud wrestling: similar to a very good thing, but so very far away that it was a terrible thing to behold.

 

#5-1:

5. Magic Johnson
4. Bill Russell
3. Oscar Robertson
2. Wilt Chamberlain
1. Michael Jordan

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Discuss.

 

Haven't always been that big of a bball fan ever since MJ left...I am just glad to see him number 1.

 

I'd argue that starting with Bird up to Chamberlain, you could probably lump them all in one giant tie, then put MJ just a notch above that.

 

You know, I could make an argument for any of Wilt, Magic, or Oscar to be #1. But I'm not sure even I'd believe it.

 

MJ wasn't a better basketball player than Magic or Wilt or really any number of these top guys. What sets him apart is the way he dominated the game, the way he made his presence felt. It's quite like that Greatest Football Players List on this board recently. Jim Brown was no. 1, not so much for the numbers or championships, which were duplicated or surpassed in many instances, but more because of the way he accumulated his achievements. It's the same situation with MJ.

 

I don't completely agree. The others maybe could have dominated the game the way he did, but didn't play in a league watered down by expansion so that one player could dominate.

The things that sets him apart in my mind were (1) defense and (2) clutchness.

 

Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time because he is easily the smartest player ever, and unquestionably the most iron willed. No matter how much Kobe Bryant likes to think he's the king in that department, he would have lost to Jordan every time when it counted if they'd played in their primes. Jordan was crushing in his desire to win. Bryant can't come close to being as smart a player as Jordan, and while he's smart enough overall, Jordan was on another level.