Andrew Bynum
The Next Great Center
He did not have the people around him that Russell did. Wilt had little choice but to take it on his shoulders and be the man all the time. Russell just had to play great D and rebound for most of his career because he had the best team around him for a decade and Wilt did win 2 les lets not forget.
Yes, I clearly remember Duncan gutlessly scoring 70 points in the two games in LA, and outscoring the Lakers by himself for extended stretches of games.
I suppose because he scored 5 points in one blowout game in Portland, he should give back his Finals MVP.
How'd Dave do his second year in the league? Oh yeah, he lost in the first round against a team featuring monsters like Alton Lister and Jim Petersen up front.
Good thing Shaq, Hakeem and Kareem were never worried about numbers like Wilt...just think, if Wilt hadn't cared about numbers he might have lead the NBA in assists or something.
Next thing people will be saying is if only Wilt could have shot FT's as good as Russell.
Though there is admittedly some minority dissent in this thread, I'm surprised at how the majority seems to think that Chamberlain is the obvious pick at #1. I'll admit that statistically, he's untouchable, but we know that stats aren't everything. (Compare Karl Malone and Tim Duncan, for example.)
I don't think it's obviously false to put Chamberlain at #1, but it's certainly not an easy choice: Abdul-Jabbar won 6 MVP's and 6 les, 2 finals MVP's, and was a perrennial first-team All NBA and All-Defense member. And his stats aren't anything to sneeze at, for that matter.
Plus, Jabbar let others flourish around him, while Chamberlain was notoriously selfish---the biographies (and even autobiography) I've read paints Chamberlain as cartoonishly self-centered and a locker-room cancer. Both had good players around them for much of their career, but Jabbar capitalized much more. Jabbar was much better in the clutch. And Jabbar was a decent free throw shooter, which meant you could go to him when the game was on the line and not fear the hack attack, unlike with Chamberlain.
I still understand if you want to rank Chamberlain as #1, but it's still very much a live debate, not an open and shut case.
I'll say this: were I starting a team and I had to pick one of these in their prime, I'd pick Kareem.
And you evidentally don't remember the Spurs having to run the offense through Robinson because Duncan was ineffective against the D. It was kind of like 2001...almost.
That is a fallacy. Shaq's prime spanned from 94 to 03, peaking in 2000, he simply got better teammates and coaching after 99.
I would say his passing got better after 95, 96, but he has always been a tough matchup.
His game has always been overrated some bit, yes he was dominant, and yes he was one of the toughest matchup in the history of the league, but he rarely gives 100% (see his playoffs), is only about average on defense, and was never as dominant a rebounder and scorer as he should / could be. How can a man of his agility, size and atheleticism only lead the league in scoring once, shot blocking zero times and rebounding zero times?
Maybe so. But will he be better than this guy? I doubt it.
Offensively? Oden isn't in Bynum's league and likely will never be.
Have you even watched Robinson and Hakeem in their primes? Because you have, you wouldn't say that. Shaq is not the MDE, because he wasn't even the most dominant throughout his career, Jordan and Hakeem were both more dominant than Shaq was.
Shaq just benefitted from having face off guys like ..... who did he face at his so-called prime?
SHAQ = 4 les
This is true because when Shaq was on his best Laker teams. The best of the prior Era, D-Rob, Ewing, Hakeem were no longer in their primes.
Yes I watched them in their primes.
It's sad to me that a player like Shaq could be considered a top 5 Center All-Time.
He cannot hit a shot outside of 8 feet. He was over 60% FTs one time in his career, if memory serves. As was said earlier, he has never led the league in rebounding or shot blocking. For someone who's vaunted himself as MDE, it strikes me as a bit odd that a 7'1" with the size and athleticism to box out anyone was not leading the league every year in defense.
Instead, Shaq's career consists of nothing else but being the heaviest player on the court, someone who can literally knock over the opposing team's center time after time and dunk the ball. Does he get called for a charge? Nope, because more often than not he'd get an and-1 on the play. Shaq has no appreciable skills other than being immensely huge center with good footwork and above average passing. But hey, at least he's really, really lazy.
"If Shaq was 6'3" he would be a starting Point Guard in this league." - Bill Walton
Shaq's good at one thing...high PCT shooting, which is offset considerably by his piss poor ft shooting.
No kidding.
Kareem, Wilt, and Hakeem are pretty clearly the best three. If you wanted a second tier after that, I'd include Russell, Shaq, and pre-NBA Sabonis. Then there are 10 or 15 other players you could make a case for the final four spots (including Duncan and Robinson), and I don't have any particular interest in selecting them.
If it was so easy to score 50 ppg in Wilt's era...how come no one else did it?
How come no one did it before?
How come no one has done it since?
Now there's a loaded question if I've ever heard one.
You'd think someone else would have at least mixed in a 40ppg season....
1. Kareem
2. Chamberlain
3. Russell
4. O'Neal
5. Olajuwon
6. Malone
7. Robinson
8. Reed
9. Walton
10. Parrish
Why not put Russell at #1?
Everyone forgets at how talented he was at pulling 5+HOF teamates out of his ass every year of his career...
If we are talking pure talent, its hard to argue that Hakeem wasnt the most skilled center of all time, followed by D-Rob and Kareem, no one had ever seen big men with the skills they have. Shaq and Wilt were just dominating beaststhat were just to big and strong for anyone to stop, doesnt equate to talent. Russell played on Super teams without much oposition, but its hard to argue with 11 rings and a college national le.
Chicken/Egg?Everyone forgets at how talented he was at pulling 5+HOF teamates out of his ass every year of his career...
Tommy Point to whottt for bringing up the magnificent Sam Jones and Frank Ramsey.
Same reason no one has ever averaged a triple double a game like Big O, they were better than everyone else
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