WARNING LABEL: Dr. J ain’t on the list, and Michael Jordan ain’t #1.
NBA basketball is in full swing so let’s have some fun with something all guys love to do: make a top ten list. This issue, we’re looking at the ten greatest players in NBA history. Our criteria: the player must have (1) earned at least two rings, (2) been a Finals MVP, and (3) been a league MVP. Sorry, Dr. J. So here we go. Let us know if you agree or disagree.
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10. LeBron James: The most physically gifted player of all time is right before our eyes with his two rings in four consecutive trips to the finals, two series MVP awards, and four league MVP awards . Many of us are so busy hating on him because of his decision to leave Cleveland for South Beach that we’re missing out on his greatness instead of being happy witnesses. Just entering his prime, LeBron has returned to Cleveland and is poised to make another title run. |
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9. Wilt Chamberlin: Just as 1968 Olympic Long Jump Gold medalist Bob Beamon was once accused of ruining the sport with his eye-popping 29 foot long jump, which was almost a full meter better than the field, Wilt probably felt some of that backlash too. Dude once scored 100 points in a game! Not impressive enough for you? How about he once grabbed 55 rebounds in a game, averaged over 27 per game, and led the league in assists just to prove he could. Some say he’s not a winner but he sure looked like one back in 1972 when he led the Lakers to 33 straight wins (a USA record for professional team sports) and an NBA title. Too bad he couldn’t make free throws or he would have topped this list. |
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8. Shaquille O’Neal: Most dominant ever! Shaq was the modern day Wilt Chamberlin. Can you imagine Shaq playing back in the 60s with Wilt when most centers were about 6’8” and power forwards like Dave Debusschere and Gus Johnson were 6’5”? Shaq would have doubled his career best 61 points in a game. What he did double was Wilt’s ring total with four and three Finals MVP trophies. Had he and Kobe Bryant been able to get along, he probably would have had a couple more. |
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6 tie. Tim Duncan: Aptly nicknamed the Big Fundamentals by Shaq, Tim Duncan battled Shaq and Kobe to a standstill using mostly Euros and castoffs and almost a decade later secured his 5th ring to go along with three Finals MVP awards by beating King James for the second time in his three meetings with “The Chosen One. “Timmy,” is still dragging his team of misfits to the Finals long after Shaq retired and his mentor David Robinson rode off into the sunset. If he hadn’t missed a crucial layup in game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals, he may have been even higher on this list but who knows, he ain’t done yet! |
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6 tie. Kobe Bryant: He once scored 81 points, and that wasn’t his best game that season. His best game was 62 in three quarters against a very good Dallas Mavericks team. He outscored the Mavs 62 to 61 by himself but since the other Lakers had chipped in with 19, and they were up by 20, the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, saw fit to bench him in the fourth quarter. But those games weren’t flukes. Kobe is climbing up the career-scoring ladder, currently in third place, after passing Michael Jordan and has the Mailman Karl Malone in his sights. Additionally, he has five championship rings and two Series MVP awards. Did I mention he scored 81 points? |
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5. Larry Bird: As a Lakers fan, I can’t tell you how hard it is for me to put the Hick from French Lick ahead of Shaq and Kobe. I mean they both have more rings than Larry Legend, but whereas they were winning championships from the likes of Reggie Miller, Allen Iverson, and Jason Kidd, Larry was beating Dr. J, Moses Malone, Isaiah Thomas, Charles Barkley, Magic, Kareem, and Hakeem Olajuwon. Very simply put, he was the best shooter and best clutch shooter in the best era in basketball. He is, after all, the president of the exclusive 40-50-90 club, meaning he hit over 40% of his three pointers, 50% of his field goals, and 90% of his free throws. As of this writing, he’s still the best forward to ever play the game, but as we stated before, LeBron ain’t done yet. |
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4. Magic Johnson: He was the director of Showtime but the star of Winning time. Picture this. Your Hall of Fame Coach, Pat Riley, draws up a play for you to give the ball to the game’s all-time leading scorer in the NBA Finals in Boston Garden. So what do you do? You score the freaking ball over the best frontcourt of all time, Bird Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. That’s no big deal when you consider that as a 20-year-old rookie, he once played all five positions against the likes of Dr J, Caldwell Jones, Darryl Dawkins, Doug Collins, and Maurice Cheeks in the final in the Spectrum and without Kareem for the win! In 12 years, he went to the finals nine times and won five rings with three MVP awards and, along with Bird, got the NBA off tape delay.
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3. Bill Russell: If Mr. Russell is reading this, he probably snickered at me saying Magic was the star of winning time and about being only ranked third on this list. Dude won 11 rings in 13 seasons! He also won five league MVP awards and the finals MVP trophy is named after him! His teams routinely beat Wilt Chamberlin’s teams, even the one that had Elgin Baylor and Jerry West on it. Bill was such a genius that he won the championship as player/coach. Considered to be the best defender of all time, he also averaged 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists for his career. Russell holds the record for most championships won by an athlete in an American team sport. By the way, he won 2 NCAA Titles and an Olympic gold medal for good measure. |
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2. Michael Jordan: Six finals appearances, six rings, six finals MVPs, and no Finals series went longer than six games. He also won three league MVPs, but we think he should have won more. (Sorry Sir Charles and Mailman.) He took off a couple seasons to prove how difficult baseball really is, then returned to climb to number 3 on the all-time scoring list, throw in a career 50+ percentage for field goal shooting, and a defensive player of the year award to go along with a unprecedented global marketing campaign, and you have the perfect player. Perfect perhaps, but not the best because unlike Bird, Magic, and Russell, he failed to make his teammates better. Had he done that, he might have challenged Russell’s winning percentage. |
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1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Growing up in Chicago, I remember my dad and uncles shaking their heads in disgust and saying, “How are you supposed to beat a team who can get a basket whenever they want one?” They would say that as they watched Kareem take a pass from an over the hill Oscar “Big O” Robertson and dismantle the tough Chicago Bull defense. For 20 years, he was THE factor in the league but we can go back even further. He led UCLA to three NCAA titles and had one loss in his entire career. Had it not been for the silly NCAA rule that prevented freshmen from competing at the varsity level, he undoubtedly would have had four (his freshman team beat the varsity that year and that varsity won the title) despite the fact that the NCAA instituted a no dunk rule in a lame attempt to handcuff him. He played 20 seasons in the NBA, all as a starter and finished with nine Finals appearances, six rings, and two Finals MVPs. Oh by the way, he’s the all time leading scorer and nobody is close. |
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October 13, 2013 at 9:46 am
This is the list… I can find no flaws… I agree with this list and placement but, emotionally I would love to see the line up a little differently… & Maybe the list should go to 11 or 12 because emotionally I need to see a Dr. J. on it!
October 13, 2013 at 11:22 am
Augustus, you wrote a very good article. I am just seeing that you have this magazine thing going. Congratulations and best wishes for much success. But playa, let’s get real. Any Top 10 NBA Players of all-time without Michael Jordan as number 1 is suspect, in my opinion. Further, any Top 10 List that does not contain Oscar Robertson or Dr. J would make me question exactly what criteria you are using?
Michael Jordan
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson
Wilt Chamberlain
Oscar Robertson
Shaq
Dr. J
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Thank you
October 15, 2013 at 1:41 pm
I want a recount