Is Larry Bird a top 15 player of all time?

[Purch]

[JamStone]

Of course you don't how else would you explain those one-hit mo-town wonders...

What is there to explain? No player on the 2004 Detroit Pistons is or should be considered one of the greatest players of all time. None of them even break the top 50, much less get into the conversation of top 20 or top 10. So what is there to explain? They won as a collective group of very good players with no individual great players. That was part of the intrigue of that team and what was so impressive about them manhandling a Lakers team that had Kobe and Shaq in their prime with two Hall of Fame role players. Or did you forget what happened?

[Ashy Larry]

definitely .... top ten in my book.

[midnightpulp]

Bull !!! This is absolute bull . Going back to back shows dominance. Winning a le here and there shows that the front office was good enough to make adjustments from previous years. But when you do it two, three, four times with the same team, then that shows the mental toughness of that team and it's leader. Duncan failed to even get back to even try to defend his le. The 80's Celtics were just as good as the Lakers, but Magic wanted it more than Bird. Slice it up however you want it, but Bird failed to defend his le.

In every sport, from boxing to tennis, and everything in between, defending your crown is the hardest thing to do, because everyone is giving you their best shot. Now you want to say it holds know weight in basketball because Kobe has mad a career of it? Get the out of here. Kobe going to the finals and winning the last two is a greater feat than anything Duncan has ever done. Not to mention the fact that he has a three-peat as well. Anyone can luck up and win a le. The Pistons are a perfect example in two situations. The lucked up in 89 when Magic and Scott went down and the swept a great Laker team. And they lucked up in 04 when Malone went down and they beat a great Laker team that had Kobe and Shaq feuding. The difference between those two Pistons teams was the 89 team came right back and showed it wasn't luck. The 04 team didn't.

A Lakaluva special. Comparing an individual sport to a team sport.

Truthfully, rings are a team accomplishment, and if you rooted for the front of the jersey instead of the back, you'd understand that.

[O.J Mayo]

Also, to add on the mystique of non-top 15 greatest players of all time, we have 3 time MVP Moses Malone who won the 83 Finals.

Adding another top 15 player of all time would be Tommy Heinsohn and Scottie Pippen. Dennis Rodman should be in the top 15 too considering he has repeated with not one, but 2 teams. He should be number 1 on the all-time list.

[Koolaid_Man]

What is there to explain? No player on the 2004 Detroit Pistons is or should be considered one of the greatest players of all time. None of them even break the top 50, much less get into the conversation of top 20 or top 10. So what is there to explain? They won as a collective group of very good players with no individual great players. That was part of the intrigue of that team and what was so impressive about them manhandling a Lakers team that had Kobe and Shaq in their prime with two Hall of Fame role players. Or did you forget what happened?

I'm convinced with all the evidence presented to me that Detriot beating LA was Kobe's way of denying Malone a ring since he tried hitting on Nessa...

Kobe losing 2 finals is impressive...he would already be 1 up on MJ...he could have had 10 les when it's all said and done but those 2 missed opportunities will prevent him from reaching the 10 le mark.

[Latarian Milton]

Also, to add on the mystique of non-top 15 greatest players of all time, we have 3 time MVP Moses Malone who won the 83 Finals.

Adding another top 15 player of all time would be Tommy Heinsohn and Scottie Pippen. Dennis Rodman should be in the top 15 too considering he has repeated with not one, but 2 teams. He should be number 1 on the all-time list.

naw pippen & rodman were just minions at most. if they were considered 15 greatest of all time you would have to arrange another slot for Robert Horry who tallied 7 rings with 3 different teams.

[O.J Mayo]

naw pippen & rodman were just minions at most. if they were considered 15 greatest of all time you would have to arrange another slot for Robert Horry who tallied 7 rings with 3 different teams.

Nope. They were on all defensive (Rodman and Pippen) and all NBA teams (Pippen and Heinsohn).

I would also nominate Joe Dumars because he repeated too. He was also the 1989 Finals MVP.