Rank 'Em: 15 Best NBA Players

[Goran Dragic]

Duncan is better than Dirk and always will be (4>0)

Robert Horry is better than Charles Barkley and always will be (7>0)

[Killakobe81]

Robert Horry is better than Charles Barkley and always will be (7>0)

LOL i know ... people get mad when les are used in best player debates...

No of course not Spur fan doesnt think Horry is better than Barkley ... but how else do you define the HOF'er from an all-time great?


I have hadthis Barkley debate at a barbershop before. Barkley is a Hof'er a great player but you cant put him with Magic, Bird, MJ Kobe duncan Hakeem because he went ringless.

Many argue he could not win because of MJ ...but when Mj was out hakeem won Barkley did not.

SO when raking the great players of HIS era he is with the Karl Malone and reggie millers but NOT the MJ, Bird, Isiah, Magic.

But of course he is better than horry, Keny smith, even Scottie pippen or Rodman ...who have rings but he don't.

But when you discuss players of the same era rings are the tiebreakers. Period. stats weaker supporting casts are just excuses the ALLtime greats find a way to at LEAST get one. MOST at LEAST two.

Duncn and dirk's career overlap and duncan has played in the same division

[Killakobe81]

for this season Dirk is better than Duncan despite what PER says ..

[Greg Oden]

LOL stats never matter to spurfans unless it helps their argument.

[Sportstudi]

for this season Dirk is better than Duncan despite what PER says ..

You could say the same also about last season. Duncan has had a great career and nobody should doubt that. But the bitterness from some Spur-fans against Dirk is really annoying. Dirk has been better than Duncan last season and also this season no matter what PER is saying. And during Dirk's best years (05-07) you could make some doubts as well.

[Sportstudi]

LOL stats never matter to spurfans unless it helps their argument.

Not to all of them, but to some extent I agree. Some butthurt people have only one hobby: to bash Dallas no matter if they even have arguments or not.

[HarlemHeat37]

Actually, I'm one of the Spurs fans that always gives Dirk credit, I've defended him in plenty of arguments..

With that being said, I can absolutely make the argument for Duncan this year..not for last year, Dirk was definitely better, but I can easily make the argument for Duncan being better this year, just like Nowitzki's fans can make their own argument..

I don't understand the stats comment either..as you can see in a lot of my posts, I use stats more than 99% of the posters on ST and I don't ignore them when somebody posts them against my point, so I don't understand that..

It's also ironic that you sound butthurt in your complaint about Spurs fans being butthurt..

[namlook]

• 1 Kobe Bryant (951) 28,016
• 2 Dwyane Wade (29) 23,774
• 3 LeBron James (929) 23,194
• 4 Kevin Durant (60) 22,008
• 5 Carmelo Anthony (33) 18,193
• 6 Dwight Howard (10) 15,711
• 7 Steve Nash (6) 13,948
• 8 Tim Duncan (13) 12,801
• 9 Dirk Nowitzki (20) 12,491
• 10 Chris Paul (8) 12,444
• 11 Chris Bosh (3) 10,149
• 12 Brandon Roy (6) 7,376
• 13 Kevin Garnett (5) 6,468
• 14 Pau Gasol (0) 6,267
• 15 Paul Pierce (4) 4,996

[Sportstudi]

Actually, I'm one of the Spurs fans that always gives Dirk credit, I've defended him in plenty of arguments..

With that being said, I can absolutely make the argument for Duncan this year..not for last year, Dirk was definitely better, but I can easily make the argument for Duncan being better this year, just like Nowitzki's fans can make their own argument..

I don't understand the stats comment either..as you can see in a lot of my posts, I use stats more than 99% of the posters on ST and I don't ignore them when somebody posts them against my point, so I don't understand that..

It's also ironic that you sound butthurt in your complaint about Spurs fans being butthurt..

Don't get me wrong. I said some of the Spur-fans. Definitely not all of them. I can admit that I recognized you have been fair all the time recently. I was just angry about some idiots simply not willing to admit Dirk's feats. You can check my posts in the past, I never had any problem to give Duncan props.

[Chieflion]

• 1 Kobe Bryant (951) 28,016
• 2 Dwyane Wade (29) 23,774
• 3 LeBron James (929) 23,194
• 4 Kevin Durant (60) 22,008
• 5 Carmelo Anthony (33) 18,193
• 6 Dwight Howard (10) 15,711
• 7 Steve Nash (6) 13,948
• 8 Tim Duncan (13) 12,801
• 9 Dirk Nowitzki (20) 12,491
• 10 Chris Paul (8) 12,444
• 11 Chris Bosh (3) 10,149
• 12 Brandon Roy (6) 7,376
• 13 Kevin Garnett (5) 6,468
• 14 Pau Gasol (0) 6,267
• 15 Paul Pierce (4) 4,996

How old is this bull ? Ya, Paul Pierce is a top 15 NBA player in the league. Same goes for Garnett!

CROFL! Wade is 2nd. LeBron is 3rd!

[Killakobe81]

Who cares? Give the best to Lebron ... he is a force of nature
I want the ring ...

[picc84]

Some of this is just outdated.

Lets be real. Lebron is the best, and cats like Pierce/Garnett/Nash have no business on the list. Its not 2008. Its not even 09. Things have changed a lot just in this year and the nba is different now.

[endrity]

1. LeBron
2. Kobe
3. Dirk, Howard, Melo in any way you want, and this should also be the 1st All-Nba Team. No other guard after Kobe deserves it.
6. Durant, Wade (quite subpar season from him honestly), Paul
9. Duncan, and when the playoffs come around this will go up a bit.
10. Roy, J Johnson
12. Bosh, Nash

My list really ends here, the others are a bit bit below this level, not quite worthy of building a franchise around!

[timtonymanu]

1. LeBron
2. Kobe
3. Howard
4. Durant
5. Wade
6. Melo
7. Dirk
8. Paul
9. Timmy
10. Bosh
11. Roy
12. Nash
13. Gasol

Pierce and KG dont even belong on this list. I'd take Joe Johnson and Deron Williams over them.

[Chieflion]

1. LeBron James
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Kevin Durant
4. Dwight Howard
5. Dwyane Wade
6. Carmelo Anthony
7. Dirk Nowitski
8. Tim Duncan
9. Chris Paul
10. Chris Bosh
11. Deron Williams
12. Brandon Roy
13. Joe Johnson
14. Pau Gasol
15. Zach Randolph? (I don't know, I can't think of anybody.)

[TD 21]

Damn, Paul goes down and people forget him that fast?

I know. This is one of the more surprising, under reported stories of the NBA season. Paul, the past two seasons, was looked at as the consensus third best building block in the league. All of a sudden his team becomes irrelevant, he get's injured and it's as if everyone has forgot how good he is. I'm seeing all these top five player rankings and he's no longer in it, which I find ridiculous. People are way too impulsive in sports nowadays.

Why is Garnett listed, but not Williams? Garnett is no longer a top twenty player; I don't care how much the media loves him, they need to stop playing games. In no particular order...

James, Wade, Paul, Duncan, Bryant, Howard, Anthony, Durant, Bosh, Nowitzki, Gasol, Roy, Williams and Nash, are the fourteen best players in the league. Fifteenth, there are four candidates: Johnson, Pierce, Billups, Yao. Maybe even a fifth in Stoudemire, though I'm 50/50 on that one. Billups is having the best season, but I'm going with Pierce.

[atxrocker]

Kevin Durant. A Texas boy. Always a superstar and a special player. Watch.

[Xylus]

Amare is most definitely outperforming Nash right now, and--SHOCKER--the Suns are playing extremely well.

[Killakobe81]

I know. This is one of the more surprising, under reported stories of the NBA season. Paul, the past two seasons, was looked at as the consensus third best building block in the league. All of a sudden his team becomes irrelevant, he get's injured and it's as if everyone has forgot how good he is. I'm seeing all these top five player rankings and he's no longer in it, which I find ridiculous. People are way too impulsive in sports nowadays.

Why is Garnett listed, but not Williams? Garnett is no longer a top twenty player; I don't care how much the media loves him, they need to stop playing games. In no particular order...

James, Wade, Paul, Duncan, Bryant, Howard, Anthony, Durant, Bosh, Nowitzki, Gasol, Roy, Williams and Nash, are the fourteen best players in the league. Fifteenth, there are four candidates: Johnson, Pierce, Billups, Yao. Maybe even a fifth in Stoudemire, though I'm 50/50 on that one. Billups is having the best season, but I'm going with Pierce.

I never thought he was top 5 top 10 definitely. Im not a Hollinger PER freak ...
Paul is a great PG but not much better than Dwill is also top 10 not top 5

[redzero]

Paul is a great PG but not much better than Dwill is also top 10 not top 5

So, you wouldn't call a player who pretty much does everything better than another player much better?

[DAF86]

Are Tim Duncan's numbers really "much better" than Dirk's?

I think that's arguable at best.

Duncan: 19.2 ppg on 14.7 FG att, .518 FG%, 1.70 blks, 11 rbds, 3.1 assts, 32.2 min. PER: 26.54

Dirk: 25.2 ppg on 18.9 FG att, .479 FG%, 1.10 blks, 7.7 rbds, 2.5 assts, 37.9 min. PER: 23.02

Not "much better" but clearly better IMO. Duncan beats Dirk on almost every single "advanced" or "efficiency" stat. Dirk averages more points only 'cause he takes more shots and plays more minutes. If they played a similar amount of minutes I don't think this would be even debatable.

Add to this stats the difference that Duncan makes on the defensive end compared to Nowitzki and I think it's safe to say that Duncan is still the better player.

[Killakobe81]

So, you wouldn't call a player who pretty much does everything better than another player much better?

i said he was better but it is close ...but for my tastes i prefer Dwill.
Paul is great for his size but in the long run I prefer the bigger PG when they are relatively close plus he wins the head2head matchup more than he loses ...

Most like Lebron some prefer Kobe

Some like Dwight some still prefer Duncan

some think durant is beter than melo ...you cant win any of these debates with stats ...

[redzero]

I really don't see the point of explaining why head-to-head matchups are a poor judge of talent anymore.

[boston.balla]

I think people overrate durant badly.

Argument 1: He has one of the highest usage rates in the league and he averages the same assist per possession as dwight. DWIGHT ffs who has wooden hands when it comes to passing.
You can't be a top player when you can't create offense for others. Look at the link below for lebron, kobe, wade etc to see a HUGE difference.

Argument 2: he rebounds well due to height but still less then melo/bron . He shies away from physical contact and is not a good defender. Adequate maybe bc he is playing with great defenders(westbrook is SICK, harden is underrated defensively, shefolosa is great, ibaka is very good). I don't see him boxing out very good, i don't see him posting up, etc. when his jumper is off and the game is physical (playoffs, no easy fts) he cannot carry a team because he does not have the post game or the defensive presence. Despite being very good he is somewhat one dimensional.

Argument 3(personal):
He does not seem to be a true leader, i think people overrate durant and underrate westbrook and the great defenders on okc... thier team is carried by d, not by durant. Counterexample: cavs, heat, sometimes lakers, where the superstar carries the team (up or down). Okc does not fall into this pattern.

My order:

tier 1. lebrons
..............
tier 2. kobe, dwight (ask any sane coach what he means to a team- o and d), dirk(over timmy because of consistency and health), wade
.................
tier 3: melo, timmy, durant, bosh(softness puts him a tier down), roy(underrated), deron, cp3

Note: cp3 this low because he dominates the ball so much that it hurts his team .. like leiso in cleveland which in the past two seasons has been toned down, awesome stat padder but he is too small for the big guards, we all know what that means from a perspective, i mean look at how differently the hornets are playing without him. The same argument can be given towards kobe, but he is still a good defender, much more clutch, does not quit on his team 121-63 style. So he's up one tier and cp3 is just tier3.
.....................
tier 4: pau, jjohnson, pierce, rose, billups = obvious second fiddle guys
..............
tier 5: lopez, westbrook, shaq, ellis, rondo, randolph, marc gasol, etc
..............

look here for stats:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/holli...r%2fstatistics


Wrote the tiers from coaching and game preparing perspective, from a "which guys have the best chance to bring me rings" (leadership, offense, defense, easiness of building a team around them, clutchness, steadiness and consistency, matchup problem maker)

[boston.balla]

Note: cp3 this low because he dominates the ball so much that it hurts his team .. like leiso in cleveland which in the past two seasons has been toned down, awesome stat padder but he is too small for the big guards, we all know what that means from a perspective, i mean look at how differently the hornets are playing without him. The same argument can be given towards kobe, but he is still a good defender, much more clutch, does not quit on his team 121-63 style. So he's up one tier and cp3 is just tier3.

Furthermore, cp3 does not have the lebronesque physical tools to make leiso a reliable play... i don't have anything against cp3 but he is mightily overrated especially defensively which should bring him down a tier 'cause the game is still two ways.