David Robinson Ranked #20 All-Time By ESPN

[Thomas82]

I don't agree with all of those players ahead of him though:

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/...-nbarank-16-20

[T_L_P]

I love Stockton and his grittiness as a player, but I don't believe any sane GM would pick him in an all-time draft over David, even with all those extra years of play. That could be just me.

[barbacoataco]

Stockton is the only one I would put below DRob.

[Kikoluna]

Those rankings are insane. I couldn't believe someone had the audacity to put curry ahead of the great scottie pippen.

[baseline bum]

Those rankings are insane. I couldn't believe someone had the audacity to put curry ahead of the great scottie pippen.

I would put Curry ahead of Pippen. He had an MVP year leading his team to a ring and he's way better this year. I'd put Curry ahead of Durant too.

[GSH]

Any All-Time Top X list is going to make people scream. They count on it. That's why they just keep on making and re-making them. Sometimes I think they intentionally make them stupid, because that generates even more hits.


BTW - who the is Kevin Pelton? And why is a guy who lives in a dorm room and expert on players who retired before he was born?

[SpurPadre]

Dirk should not be ranked ahead of Da Admiral, not without ever having been dominant on defense. No way.

[baseline bum]

Dirk should not be ranked ahead of Da Admiral, not without ever having been dominant on defense. No way.

Dirk carried a so-so supporting cast to a le through one of the most brutal championship paths I have seen since the 95 Rockets. He absolutely deserves to be above Robinson. He should also be above Malone.

[ViceCity86]

Dirk carried a so-so supporting cast to a le through one of the most brutal championship paths I have seen since the 95 Rockets. He absolutely deserves to be above Robinson. He should also be above Malone.

Agreed.Dirk definitely ahead of Robinson.He carried a so so team to a championship,kinda like Duncan in 2003 and Hakeem in 1994.Just because a player might be a more complete player,doesn't make him better.Sidney Moncrief was a complete player on both sides of the ball,doesn't make him all time great.

Robinson had more rounded game than Dirk,particularly on defense,but he couldn't carry a team on his back to a le like Dirk.That carries more weight.Spurs fans who argued for Robinson over Dirk,do it because of their insane hate for their rival,Mark Cuban,nut punching Terry, ty Mavs announcers.etc.

[SpurPadre]

Lol, how quickly people forget Da Admiral' s supporting casts sans TD. And is the argument really solely based on a playoff run to a le? That's not how espn is basing their rankings.

[SpursFan86]

Malone/Barkley/Dirk can all be reasonably argued, but Stockton? outta here

Also think KG gets really underrated...shame he played all of his prime years with an absolute joke of a supporting cast. I'd take him over Barkley and Dirk.

[TheGreatYacht]

Dirk, the Mavs, Dallas, and the Cowboys.

[baseline bum]

Lol, how quickly people forget Da Admiral' s supporting casts sans TD. And is the argument really solely based on a playoff run to a le? That's not how espn is basing their rankings.

I haven't forgotten how ty David's supporting casts were. I bring them up all the time when I about how McCombs was a horrible owner. But Dirk went out and carried his team to a le, no what ifs. He didn't luck into it, he carried the Mavs to wins over really strong Lakers, Thunder, and Heat teams with homecourt only in the OKC series. That team reminded me so much of the 1999 Spurs the way you just knew they were going to close out tough games. It is one of the most impressive le runs I have ever seen out of a player. I have hated the Mavs forever but I was actually rooting hard for them to beat Miami because it was so crazy to see what he was doing in such a hard path without another allstar on his team.

[SpurPadre]

I haven't forgotten how ty David's supporting casts were. I bring them up all the time when I about how McCombs was a horrible owner. But Dirk went out and carried his team to a le, no what ifs. He didn't luck into it, he carried the Mavs to wins over really strong Lakers, Thunder, and Heat teams with homecourt only in the OKC series. That team reminded me so much of the 1999 Spurs the way you just knew they were going to close out tough games. It is one of the most impressive le runs I have ever seen out of a player. I have hated the Mavs forever but I was actually rooting hard for them to beat Miami because it was so crazy to see what he was doing in such a hard path without another allstar on his team.

I get what you're saying but you're still basing a player's superiority over the other primarily on the strength of one playoff run? I just don't think that's fair nor truly reflective comparison.

[Sean Cagney]

I remember one idiot a long time ago saying move D Rob and Pippen out of the top 50 for two guys he mentioned but I forget their names, now they have him ranked #20 and rightfully so because D Rob despite whatever he was labeled honestly was a freak of nature and put up some crazy numbers in his prime. Dude was the most athletic big man of all times and was a pleasure to watch, too bad he didn't get a team around him until later in his career. I still wonder how he lead that team to 62 wins and nearly to the finals.

I haven't forgotten how ty David's supporting casts were. I bring them up all the time when I about how McCombs was a horrible owner. But Dirk went out and carried his team to a le, no what ifs. He didn't luck into it, he carried the Mavs to wins over really strong Lakers, Thunder, and Heat teams with homecourt only in the OKC series. That team reminded me so much of the 1999 Spurs the way you just knew they were going to close out tough games. It is one of the most impressive le runs I have ever seen out of a player. I have hated the Mavs forever but I was actually rooting hard for them to beat Miami because it was so crazy to see what he was doing in such a hard path without another allstar on his team.

I know Dirk played his butt off but it did not hurt that Terry, Stephenson and a few others blacked out and shot the lights out in those playoffs. They were not a great supporting cast so to speak overall but during that run he had some guys shooting very high % from outside. I agree with what you said though.

[apalisoc_9]

Surprised how underrated KG is in these list. Only other i can think of that won am mvp award with a bigger impact on defense..TD is the other one.

Hes at least better than Barkley.

[will_spurs]

I don't have an issue with Dirk being ranked above D-Rob. Malone, Stockton and Barkley, on the other hand...

[Kawhitstorm]

I haven't forgotten how ty David's supporting casts were. I bring them up all the time when I about how McCombs was a horrible owner. But Dirk went out and carried his team to a le, no what ifs. He didn't luck into it, he carried the Mavs to wins over really strong Lakers, Thunder, and Heat teams with homecourt only in the OKC series. That team reminded me so much of the 1999 Spurs the way you just knew they were going to close out tough games. It is one of the most impressive le runs I have ever seen out of a player. I have hated the Mavs forever but I was actually rooting hard for them to beat Miami because it was so crazy to see what he was doing in such a hard path without another allstar on his team.

Bruh, it would have been impressive if:
-They actually played the #1 seed Spurs who had upset them in 2010 as the #7 seed
-Brandon Roy wasn't playing on a wheel chair
-Pau Gasol wasn't burnt out from playing center for a team that made 3 straight Finals appearance
-Ibaka was able to do anything besides jump & run at that point along w/ James Harden not being a 2nd year role player
-LeBron actually showed up in the Finals & the Heatles actually had a dependable role player outside of the Big 3 (no Battier/Ray Allen)

-Not to mention Dirk shooting 41% in the Finals (Barea/Terry took over the series from the 4th quarter of Gm 5 all the way to the closeout game while Finals MVP was struggling)

The Heat would have swept them if LeBron didn't go scoreless in the 4th quarter of Gm 2/4 (thanks to Chandler/Marion). Had Karl Malone went up against 2011 LeBron instead of Jordan he would have two chips (The Jazz's 98 run would have been epic if Jordan didn't eat their hearts out).

Please don't ever compare what Dirk did to what Hakeem('94)/Tim('03) accomplished while taking down HOFers in the PRIMES while not having even a borderline all-star on their squad.

-Tyson Chandler won DPOY the following year & was an all-star level player when he was healthy (i.e. 2011 playoffs)
-Jason Terry was the best 6th man in 2010-11
-Marion was the best wing defender in the 2011 postseason
-Kidd was the smartest player in the league & the best floor general
-Carlisle was the mastermind that bamboozled LeBron
- ass Barea played out of his mind after the 1st rd
-DeShawn was also a nice 3-&-D player in the Finals & Peja made it rain on the Blazers

What LeBron did in 2012 is more impressive considering Bosh missed a good chunk of the postseason & Wade was starting to get wobbly along w/ Ray Allen not being on that squad. Let's not forget about a used car sells-man being the Heatles coach.
-Knicks (Carmelo/Chandler/JR/Amare)
-Pacers (Granger/West/Hibbert/G.Hill/PG)
-Celtics (The Big 3s last stand w/ Rondo playing out of his mind)
-OKC (Harden coming off a dominant 6th man season, Ibaka w/ a jump shot along w/ a more experienced KD/Westbrook)

LeBron had a historic game at the Garden to stave of elimination when Bosh/Wade were dealing with injuries (45/15 & shutdown Pierce):

[Mal]

Lol at Westbrook over Parker for career.

[polandprzem]

Any All-Time Top X list is going to make people scream. They count on it. That's why they just keep on making and re-making them. Sometimes I think they intentionally make them stupid, because that generates even more hits.


BTW - who the is Kevin Pelton? And why is a guy who lives in a dorm room and expert on players who retired before he was born?

All those top lists are mainly opinions. That's why they are never right. But never right to many people that were not making a list. Everybody looks different on many factors and what's more important.

So it causes many discussions as you said - they will keep making them.

[Russo21]

Karl Malone- Championships: None. Always makes me smirk lol

[houston spurs fan]

Will Duncan be in the top 10?

[Horse]

Dirk carried a so-so supporting cast to a le through one of the most brutal championship paths I have seen since the 95 Rockets. He absolutely deserves to be above Robinson. He should also be above Malone.

Get the out of here. 7 fter who couldn't rebound or play D. Drob was all world.

[Horse]

I haven't forgotten how ty David's supporting casts were. I bring them up all the time when I about how McCombs was a horrible owner. But Dirk went out and carried his team to a le, no what ifs. He didn't luck into it, he carried the Mavs to wins over really strong Lakers, Thunder, and Heat teams with homecourt only in the OKC series. That team reminded me so much of the 1999 Spurs the way you just knew they were going to close out tough games. It is one of the most impressive le runs I have ever seen out of a player. I have hated the Mavs forever but I was actually rooting hard for them to beat Miami because it was so crazy to see what he was doing in such a hard path without another allstar on his team.

Thunder were not ready, lakers old, heat chokers. Drob as a basketball player is worlds better than .

[SanDiegoSpursFan]

I'll be pissed if Duncan isn't top 8.