NBA: KG and Dirk..

[Phillip]

Manu and the Spurs owned the Mavs in the 2010/2011 season

lol "owned", when key Mavs players were injured in all 3 Spurs wins that seasons.

as they also owned them in the playoffs the prior postseason

Meaningless. lol swept by phoenix

[ambchang]

It's a tough one, and depends of how you rank them.

If you want to build a championship team:
Dirk
KG
Barkley
Malone

If you are strictly talking about a basketball player:
Barkley
KG
Dirk
Malone

If you are talking about carrying an offense:
Dirk
Barkley
Malone
KG

If you are talking about manning the defense:
KG



Malone




Dirk
Barkley

If you are talking about hunting little Mexican girls:
Malone

If you are talking about finishing with a top flight PG:
Malone
Barkley
Dirk
Garnett

For me, I'd go with the championship criteria:
Dirk
KG
Barkley
Malone

It's rare to find one single player who can really carry an entire offense, and easier to surround him with role players who can defend, nail three pointers, pass, and such as opposed to getting an all-arounder like Garnett, and flank him with a great scorer who can also defend (Pierce).

[TD 21]

You're making the claim. Prove it, with relevant stats, data, and analysis.

I'll start out by saying (which has been illustrated by statistics) that Karl Malone has the biggest dropoff from regular season to post season play among star players.

You're the one making the bold proclamation, so it's on you to "prove it".

I'm well aware of his drop off in the playoffs and obviously this is what keeps him out of the top ten all time discussion . . . but out of a discussion with Barkley, Nowitzki and Garnett? Ridiculous.