Dirk would've gone down as a soft, gifted offensive player if he hadn't won in '11. Putting him as the alpha of the mid 00s (Miami choke, GS choke) is ing hilarious.![]()
These are not necessarily players who win every single year, but the most dominant individuals
1940s/early 50s: George Mikan - The first superstar in the league, really dominated the game with his low post scoring and rebounding
Mid 50s: Neil Johnston - The league was hitting a lull in talent. Cousy had a case as well
Late 50s: Bob Pet - Was on the verge of dominating the league, until the arrival of ....
60s: Wilt Chamberlain - The numbers he put up are still unmatched. He totally dominated the league with his size and athleticism. Russell was good, but Wilt was better individually
70s - Kareem: Captain skyhook had the unique combination of skill and size, and dominated the league for a solid decade. Dr. J would have taken the mantle, but he was playing in the ABA. Walton would have been the successor, but his foot didn't hold up.
Early 80s - Moses: The guy couldn't speak, but he was the best offensive rebounder the league ever saw. He bullied his way in the paint, and absolutely dominated the league as an individual in the early 80s
Mid 80s - Bird: He couldn't run, he couldn't jump, but he could play basketball. 3 straight MVPs, court vision that remained one of the best in the history of the league, share-eyed shooting for a big, rugged rebounder.
Late 80s/Early and late 90s - Jordan: You can make a case for Magic in the late 80s, but Jordan really was the man as he put up insane stats year after year to his way of the le of the best player in the history of the league
Mid 90s - Hakeem: Thanks to the baseball odyssey of Jordan, Hakeem became the best individual player in the league. I am the one in the camp that even if Jordan DID stay in the game, the Rockets would have won those b2bs. In fact, I believe the Bulls will likely not get the 2nd 3-peat if it wasn't for Jordan's mini-retirement.
Early 00s - Shaq: 3-peat, gave jobs to the likes of Scott Pollard and Mengke Bateer, warped the way the game was played just because of his dominance.
Mid Early 00s - Duncan: From a statistical standpoint, Duncan was as good as Shaq in the early 00s, but Shaq got the rings. But from 02 to 05, Duncan carried the Spurs to two NBA les, one of which while the Spurs were supposedly rebuilding.
Mid 00s - Dirk: The Mavs may have choked in the finals in 06, but Dirk put up impressive numbers during the time. I always felt Dirk was underrated throughout his carreer.
Late 00s to now - Lebron: He had been the consensus best player in the game for a while now, and it really actually started around 08 or so. He had a few disappointing playoff series, but any team with a Lebron the last decade had been a contender, regardless of the quality of the supporting cast. That's dominance.
Dirk would've gone down as a soft, gifted offensive player if he hadn't won in '11. Putting him as the alpha of the mid 00s (Miami choke, GS choke) is ing hilarious.![]()
Case in point.
As much as I like Dirk, he doesn't belong on that list. The Mavs were not a force long enough for him to be there. You have to consider Kobe, like it or not. Winning b2b FMVP at least puts him in the conversation, unless you want to bias the results.
I crowbarred Dirk in there because I really couldn't put anybody on the list from 06 to around 08. The best player in those couple of years was Dirk. Kobe had huge numbers but he was exposed as a me-first chucker, Wade didn't really didn't have the numbers to back him up, Nash was overrated, and Duncan wasn't as dominant as he was in the early 00s.
As for Kobe, when he won b2b FMVP, Lebron was clearly the man. It wasn't even Kobe's best stretch in his career, he just had a better team around him.
Being absent from the list doesn't really mean much. Shaq nudged Duncan in the early 00s despite how historically great Duncan was, and Duncan nudged Garnett in the next few years. Same with the Bird/Jordan/Magic scenario. Magic was an all time great, but the years he really dominated were also the years Jordan dominated, but Jordan was just better. Likewise for Rick Barry, Jerry West, and Bill Walton. Loved those guys, but their peaks just wasn't high enough when compared to Wilt, Kareem and such.
Since when has "me first" not meant "alpha"? The term "alpha" means "first". He was atop the league during those years, despite his ty personality and chucking ways.
Racism plays a part in your takes sometimes
Coupled with the 1st 5th it's why The Bag stays in Texas.
Fine by me. Defending champs and youre down there shining shoes. Faster, Cub.
I was just checkin' assholes, %. You always come to mind immediately.
NOW you talk. So quick to dispatch old friends huh. When the forum wanted you gone and called you chicken , I covered for you you old fart.
Me.
lol wut
You telling me if you could choose one player for a must-win game during those years you'd choose Dirk? I don't even think Mavfan would choose him over Duncan and LeBron.![]()
Dirk's should be replaced with TD. He was still the Alpha upto 2008.
there are a lot of firsts, alpha means first in line on the totem pole, as in best in the league.
Yes. Especially when Dirk carried the Mavs over the Spurs in 06.
And yes with regards to Lebron as well. There's an argument in 08, but I'd take Dirk over Lebron for 06 and 07.
Duncan was great in that series too, without the Manu foul, we would have 3peated
, without Amy you'd be 3peated in less than 2 months.
For the 00's it's Duncan, Kobe and Lebron... that's already 3 phases for 00s early, mid and late... not sure how creating mid early stuff makes sense
Then if you have to choose one name for 00s it's Duncan and it's not even close.
Without Amy Im light 4
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the newest thing in south Texas.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You can dish it, mother er, but, you cannot take it.
Im right here Cubs, unlike you last June.
Tee hee.
Another HH37 schtick shows up on the black market.
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