David Robinson
Detlef Schremp
Dwayne Wade
Hakeem Olajuwon
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Michael Jordan
Shaq
Tim Duncan

FYI..I listed in alphabetical order by first name.

I am only interested in the players listed above. I realize there are some major players left off. Of note - Bird, Magic, Wilt, Bill Russell, & Kareem.

in basketball, they need to be categorized. you really can't compare shaq and d. wade. that's like comparing montana and lawrence taylor

As of today, based on body of work & how they were "at their best"

MJ
Shaq
Duncan
Dream
Kobe
Robinson
Lebron
Wade
Detlef

Lebron over Robinson with a trip to the finals. Over kobe if he wins

BMX is pretty close...

Michael Jordan
Tim Duncan
Shaq
Hakeem Olajuwon
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
David Robinson
Dwayne Wade
Detlef Schremp


Certainly there is a reason Detlef Schrempf is on your list other than just for fun.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 5/6/2009 7:48a).]

Michael Jordan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Shaq
Tim Duncan
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
David Robinson
Dwayne Wade
Detlef Schremp

Wilt and Russell didn't play in the modern era - i.e. post merger.

What is the criteria you want us to rank them on?

There are numerous stats worth discussing. I'll throw out the two best IMO. Duncan's resume clearly trumps Hakeem's...I just don't think people, even with that knowledge, would draft a Tim Duncan over a Hakeem Olajuwon.

Accordingly, my rankings are based on "unstoppableness" and Wade would be at the top of this list if he didn't shine for one series and then fade into apathy/obscurity.

Michael Jordan - 5 MVP's, 6 Rings
Shaq - 1 MVP, 4 Rings
LeBron James - 1 MVP, 1 Ring sitting on deck
Kobe Bryant - 1 MVP, 3 Rings
Hakeem Olajuwon - 1 MVP, 2 Rings
Tim Duncan - 2 MVP, 4 Rings
David Robinson - 1 MVP, 2 Rings? or 1?
Dwayne Wade - 0 MVP, 1 Ring
Detlef Schremp - yea...

As others have mentioned, is the 2nd question of this thread "which one of these is not like the other?"

How does Detlef Schrempf get included on the list with notable omissions that you have already mentioned?

Not a slam, just curious.

quote:

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Michael Jordan - 5 MVP's, 6 Rings
Shaq - 1 MVP, 4 Rings
LeBron James - 1 MVP, 1 Ring sitting on deck
Kobe Bryant - 1 MVP, 3 Rings
Hakeem Olajuwon - 1 MVP, 2 Rings
Tim Duncan - 2 MVP, 4 Rings
David Robinson - 1 MVP, 2 Rings? or 1?
Dwayne Wade - 0 MVP, 1 Ring
Detlef Schremp - yea...

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ummm....huh? 2 MVPs (along with 3 Finals MVPs) and 4 rings is only good enough for 6th place?

What a bizarre thread.

Duncan haters amaze me.

How can you argue with his body of work? Sure, he didn't have a dream shake that was completely unstoppable for a grand total of 2 years like Hakeem, he doesn't dunk like Lebron, he never clearly dominated everyone in the entire leauge over a 3-year stretch like Shaq did, and he doesn't have the offensive arsenal of Kobe Bryant.

Of course those guys also don't have Tim Duncan's complete understanding of the game, none of them (save Lebron) understood and/or play team defense as well, none of them averaged 20-10 over a longer period (Lebron might, but probably won't), none of them have multiple MVP's, and none of them were the centerpiece of a 4-ring team.

[This message has been edited by MassAggie97 (edited 5/6/2009 9:25a).]

since I don't think you can really compare bigs to smalls in the NBA (the Montana to LT analogy is a good one), I rank them as follows:

Bigs:
Shaq
Tim Duncan
Hakeem Olajuwon
David Robinson

Smalls:
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Dwayne Wade

Other?
Detlef Schremp

Basis for ranking: I thought to myself, "If I'm starting a team, who would I rather have?" It was pretty easy from there...

quote:

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none of them (save Lebron) understood and/or play team defense as well

---

cough jordan cough

quote:

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and none of them were the centerpiece of a 4-ring team

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cough JORDAN cough

wait...is this going to turn into another Duncan vs. Hakeem thread??? Dammit I hate those!!!

This thread gives me a headache.


*goes for more coffee*

Like I said, no one will argue with Duncan's resume. I still believe if a draft occurred today, he'd still go 6th or 7th on that list.

Kobe never did anything without Shaq. Kobe completely blew up a team and has often been accused of being a bad teammate.

Now then, you think Kobe would be picked over Duncan? He has less MVPs. Duncan is a post and posts are more valuable than wings. Duncan is a better team defender, as well as an incredible ball defender. Duncan is easily the better teammate, has accomplished more and has been more consistent throughout his career, and you are going to make the argument that a GM would take a rookie Kobe over a rookie Duncan in the draft?

Seriously?

I'll agree with you that Duncan would be drafted over Kobe. Fair? Not Lebron, mind you...

I think Kobe is more unstoppable then Duncan, though clearly not better to build a team around. How that affects their "ranking" is just semantics.

I think a lot of GM's would take Kobe over Duncan. Kobe has a marketing appeal that can really energize an entire franchise. I'm not saying that is a justification for Kobe being better than Duncan however, because Duncan will clearly have a better career than Kobe.

Not the modern era, call it the "Post Tiny Shorts Era"

Detlef Schremp - unstoppable with the right coach and teammates
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Shaq
Hakeem Olajuwon
Tim Duncan
Kobe Bryant
Dwayne Wade
David Robinson

quote:

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I think a lot of GM's would take Kobe over Duncan. Kobe has a marketing appeal that can really energize an entire franchise. I'm not saying that is a justification for Kobe being better than Duncan however, because Duncan will clearly have a better career than Kobe.

---

If you were going to go by just that, the order would be Jordan, Yao, Shaq, LeBron...

quote:

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If you were going to go by just that, the order would be Jordan, Yao, Shaq, LeBron...

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No doubt...that's why the ranking confused me, based upon using that as the criteria...

Dream > Duncan

hth

[This message has been edited by zachattack (edited 5/6/2009 10:45a).]

And Kobe isn't really that much more marketable than Duncan.
1. He has no personality.
2. His teammates aren't big fans of his.
3. The whole Colorado thing.
4. He ran off the best things to ever happen to him.

the idea you can't compare bigs to smalls is silly.

Shaq is better than Kobe.
Jordan is better than Olajuwon.

In their prime, who would I pick first?

Michael Jordan
Shaq
Hakeem Olajuwon
David Robinson
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Tim Duncan
Dwayne Wade
Detlef Schremp
Shawn Bradley

To be fair, Shawn Bradley's "Prime" consisted of a 4 minute stretch against the Clippers in the 2002 season.

LeBron is 24...has he even hit his prime yet? Same idea with Wade, but he has injury issues.

MJ
Kobe
LeBron
Shaq
Hakeem
Duncan
Wade
David Robinson
Detlef Schremp

quote:

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And Kobe isn't really that much more marketable than Duncan.

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You don't really believe this.

Kelvin Cato
Kelvin Cato
Kelvin Cato
Kelvin Cato
Kelvin Cato
Kelvin Cato

I haven't see a Kobe commercial on TV since Shaq was in town.

Kobe had the #1 highest selling jersey in the NBA this year.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0711/gallery.endorsements.fortune/6.html

Kobe Bryant makes the 6th most endorsement money of any athlete in the world.

In summary, you're an idiot Guitarsoup.