The usual suspects forming the top 9 of the greatest basketball players list in some order are
- MJ
- LeBron
- Kareem
- Wilt
- Bill Russell
- Magic
- Tim Duncan
- Larry Bird
- Shaq
Who rounds out the top 10 list at #10? Some names that come to mind are
- Kobe
- Hakeem
- Oscar
- Steph
Dirk, Stockton, Malone, Hakeem, Oscar Robertson, Kobe…… make a case for any of them to take the last spot
It’s between Kobe and Hakeem for me
this is a useless exercise, just comparing numbers. nobody active in this forum was watching Wilt, Kareem, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Oscar Roberson, Bill Russell or Hakeem while they were actively playing.
I bet 95% of the responses you’ll get are from people who weren’t even around to watch Shaq and Kobe play
Wrong.
Tier 1: MJ/Bron Tier 2: Bird/Magic/Hakeem Tier 3: Kareem/Shaq/Russell/Wilt Tier 4: TD/Kobe/Curry Tier 5: Admiral/West/KD
Honorable Risers: Jokic / Giannis
AD
Cook tbh
You’ll be shocked on how stacked those teams were with Bill, Magic, Bird, Wilt and they still gets their Top 10 ranking while Kobe won back to back with only one allstar and good role players in a stacked Western Conference with a legit superteam to beat.
Nephews always look at the efficiency but the 2000s is the slowest and least efficient era in the modern ages due to the removal of illegal defense and midrange heavy era.
In fact, check any superstar guards efficiency in that era and look how efficient Kobe vs them
Noteworthy teammates when they won a ring:
Magic - Kareem, Worthy, N. Nixon (16-3-8), J. Wilkes (17-6-2), B. Scott, AC Green, M. Cooper, B. McAdoo
Kareem - O. Robertson, B. Dandridge (HOF 18-7-4) + see LA teammates above
Wilt - Philly: H. Greer (19-5-4), B. Cunningham (21-10), C. Walker (18-7-2), LA - J. West, G. Goodrich (All HOF)
Bird - R. Parish, C. Maxwell, K. McHale, D. Johnson, T. Archibald (All HOF)
Don’t tell me those teams they played with ain’t stacked.
The funny thing is when people try to buff Odom and Gasol to diminish Kobe
Clowns in this thread couldn’t even accept the fact that their top 10 players have superteams while Kobe’s back to back run, only Gasol, Fisher and Ariza played significant roles afterwards while everyone else are out of the league (Artest did played but not with a contending team)
Yeah the crazy thing is Kobe elevated all of those players all the way down to Vujacic, Walton, Farmar, Brown, etc. He turned Gasol from a fringe all star to a hall of famer.