[surveParticipant]

….John Salley

I dont agree but this is a matter of opinion and he did play with and against all the players mentioned.   Not sure if Salley is being 100% honest, but before we start trashing him, its not the first time fellow athletes have went against popular opinion. I was kinda irked when Larry Holmes said Muhammad Ali was an overrated fighter, but Holmes was his sparring partner for a while and he did beat a past prime Ali.  He did spar with Joe Frazier (who he said hit much harder than Ali). There are other examples, but that one came to mind first.

Salley did name some beasts as he happened to play in the Golden Era.  

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/john-salley-michael-jordan-top-five_n_1789678.html?ref=topbar

[M-DYMESParticipant]

Being controversial is a great way to get recognized.  Somebody wants some attention.

[TomShoeParticipant]

 Here’s what I think of John Salley’s comments.

[joshinator1Participant]

Well John Salley’s controversial opinion is certainly getting him recognized by us. I swear this is like the 8th John Salley topic I have seen the last complete weeks and I mean before that we hadn’t heard from him in years, so his opinion, whether he truly believes it or not, is getting him attention 

[mj23mj23besteverParticipant]

i doubt salley even actually belives that he knows making a statement like that is gonna get attention and hes turing into an attention whore 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 Salley prob broke so he’s saying stuff to get attention to get some type of tv spot..

[NJHooper95Participant]

If you say Jordan isnt the greatest of all-time cool, you can make an argument for that. But to say he isnt top 5 that not a valid argument.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

 then john salley goes on a news station like a day later or sumthing and says MJ is the greatest player hes ever seen….. 

so yes…. it was for attention

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

I dunno I feel like this is getting blow out of proportion.

Maybe I’m hearing it incorrectly but it seemed to me that he wasn’t saying Jordan wasn’t in his top 5 all-time, he said he wasn’t in his top 3 all-time (Magic, Kareem, Bird) and then said that Hakeem was the hardest guy he had to guard followed by McHale. I really doubt he was placing McHale as the 5th greatest player of all time lol.

As far as saying Thomas was the best player he ever played with it’s important to note that he only played 17 regular season and 16 playoff games with Jordan (granted MJ was absolutely dominant in that span) and played with a 21 year old Kobe.

I’m not gonna lie sometimes things look different from the other side of the court. I played alot of ball growing up like most of you guys on this site and it isn’t always the most celebrated guys (the guys with the most tournament MVPs, scoring titles, championships etc) who are regarded as the best by their peers.

[surveParticipant]

 yes, you are correct…it does look different on the other side of the court.  it all depends on the vantage point of the person with the opinion.  I cant remember who it was at the moment at the time, but it was in the Atlantic 10 and one of the players (possibly from UMass) said hands down the best player he ever played against was Aaron McKie.  Eddie Jones was also on the team.  At the time it didnt seem far fetched because McKie was the A10 POY the year before but that year Jones was killing it and was the A10 POY.   In college, I think McKie was much more difficult to guard than Jones, especially if his jumper was falling.  In the NBA their talents had to be adjusted a certain way and Jones ability was more suited to be a star in the NBA but McKie didnt have a bad career either but had to adjust to being more of a role player because of his versatility.  One on one, McKie probably was still better than Jones but Jones was just a killer in the open floor and from deep.

Consensus says that Lebron is the best player in the world but not all NBA players feel that way….a lot of the NBA players feel Durant is better.  Once again its vantage point because offensively, Durant is tougher to guard….and I think thats what those guys mainly look at.  When you see a guy who is impossible to guard.

Also….and I dont give a damn if you neg or not because that neg chit is str8 azz….but you cant say without a doubt that there arent 5 players that couldnt be considered GOATS ahead of Jordan.  Jordan was the best player I have ever seen, then Lebron….but there are 5 others that cases can be made for.

Chamberlain, Robertson, Bird, Magic, and Russell could all stake claim as well as Kareem.  If you talk to those that saw them play, they probably would rank them higher.  Jordan even said himself there is no greatest…just greatest of their eras.  

The funny thing is, people love to spout of stats as an argument but some of the players I named didnt play during a time were some stats were measured and some awards like DPOY were given out.  Some on this site love to say how Jordan was DPOY but had that award been around in Russells day he wouldve won it damn near every year he played and those he didnt Wilt wouldve won.

[GrandmamaParticipant]

Jordan was the best player I have ever seen, then Lebron….but there are 5 others that cases can be made for.

Chamberlain, Robertson, Bird, Magic, and Russell could all stake claim as well as Kareem. If you talk to those that saw them play, they probably would rank them higher. Jordan even said himself there is no greatest…just greatest of their eras.

The funny thing is, people love to spout of stats as an argument but some of the players I named didnt play during a time were some stats were measured and some awards like DPOY were given out. Some on this site love to say how Jordan was DPOY but had that award been around in Russells day he wouldve won it damn near every year he played and those he didnt Wilt wouldve won.

 

That’s ironic.  Aren’t you the same character who created the thread that Jordan wasn’t the greatest ever?  Then you tried using stats as on of your arguments.  Yeah, you’re the guy

[surveParticipant]

 no, I am not the guy, you have me confused…I said Jordan is the "greatest" in my mind.  I said as far as impact on winning and the best pure basketball player, Lebron was my choice.  I also said if I were drafting all time greats, Lebron and Magic would be my first choices.  I dont confuse greatness which a lot is based on achievement, individually, and collectively…. with that of pure talent or with impact on winning from the ground up.  If you read the thread, you would see some like MikeyV were saying Lebron has a ways to go before he can be considered the greatest.  I have no argument with that because his achievements are not quite on par, but I believe he is on pace to overtake that and he doesnt need 6 rings to do it.   So again, Jordan to me is the greatest ever in terms of everything combined talent and accomplishments.  I didnt see Russell and Chamberlain play though, so its just a matter of opinion.  Old timers could use stats as I pointed out above to debate me.  So no, I am not that guy once again if you took the time to read instead of checking the header and commencing to neg just on GP.

[doubledribblerParticipant]

From what I am hearing it seems like some of this is taken out of context. Regardless, John Salley wins. This is like the 80th John Salley thread. I don’t think I had seen his name on this website until he made those remarks. I have NEVER mentioned his name until now.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

I’m certain as big as Bird’s ego is that he wouldn’t say that even in his prime he was better than Jordan. Remember the quote in Jordan’s second year by Bird, "I think it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan." Bird knew when to give respect even if he was very confident that he and his very stacked Celtics were going to beat you.

And then Sally didn’t guard MJ, so of course he wouldn’t be on the list of hardest guys Sally guarded. Nothing wrong with talking about McHale and Hakeem there.

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