[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

Assuming a pool of every player drafted in 1978 or later (the Larry Bird draft)…who would you rank as the top 10 players?

Assume as if you are able to start a team today, and you can select any player in his rookie year to start building that team.

1. Jordan
2. Magic
3. Bird
4. Hakeem
5. Shaq
6. Duncan
7. Kobe
8. LeBron
9. Barkley
10. David Robinson

Hon. Mention: Karl Malone, D-Wade, Dirk, KG, Pat Ewing, Isiah Thomas, John Stockton

[tbp82Participant]

1.) Kareem

2.) Shaq

3.) Duncan

4.) Hakeem

5.) Robinson

6.) Ewing

7.) Magic

8.) Lebron

9.) Kobe

10.) Jordan

 

You always start your franchises with big men and point guards. Shooting Guard/Small Forward is the most unimportant position in basketball.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

If i had to pick which rookie i’ll want to start a team with, it’ll be tough but it would be either Magic or Bird…This might surprise alot of people,but i’ll pick Shaq 3rd,Jordan would be 4th,Lebron 5th then Duncan 6th then Olajuwon……

I believe Duncan was more offensively advance as a rookie then Olajuwon was..Alot of people are now saying Kobe might be the 2nd best player ever..But then there are some that say how can he be ranked ahead of Shaq when he played fiddle to Shaq in LA?

 

[Anton123Participant]

 tbp82

Kareem was drafted in 69 (69 ha-ha), you’re 9 years off

And your list is downright pathetic, sorry

I don’t see much of a problem with Maniac Maciej‘s list, why has he got all the negs?

[tbp82Participant]

Sorry on the Kareem at 1 I thought it was every player that played from then up.

[bobo33-15Participant]

Well assuming that no previous knowledge of how any of these stars careers would turn out my list would be defo very big man heavy. You just can’t teach the skill that some these big men had nor are their physical attributes comparable to our generation’s big men.

1. Shaq
2. Hakeem
3. Duncan
4. Ewing
5. Robinson
6. Magic
7. Bird
8. Jordan
9. Worthy
10. Malone

I know many will complain about how i left out the likes of LeBron, Kobe, KG or Dirk but if your remember these guys were at the time of their draft seen as a high risk/igh reward picks. So that being the case, I would have rather taken a more established collegic star instead (tho don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t always work out either ex. Joe Smith, Ed O’ Bannon, Michael Olowokandi but I’m not making that mistake again)

 

[WolfRobParticipant]

1. Jordan

[WolfRobParticipant]

 I also think Shaq is the most DOMINANT BIG of all time. Kareem might be more skilled, but Shaq was just unstoppable. 

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

ps. I was assuming that we have knowledge of how good they are going to be…I am just trying to find a way to see how everyone ranks the 10-best players of the last 33 years. I figured once we get past Bird or Magic, not too many people in hear have seen any of those players play and that was a completely different era. 

pps. Anyone who says Kobe is the second-best player of all-time probably started watching basketball in 2000 or so…or they were born in 2000 or so.

[Jlv2011]

and Jeremy Lin any day of the week.

[PlatypusParticipant]

My Starting Line up

PG Mateen Cleaves

SG Adam Morrison

SF Marcus Fizer

PF Brian Scalabrine 

C Sam Bowie

[HAMingtonGoiN11Participant]

1. Jordan

2. Shaq

3. Magic

4. Bird

5. Duncan

6. The Dream

7. Isaiah

8. Kobe

9. K. Malone

10. Lebron

[seniokasParticipant]

1. Jordan

2. Shaq

3. Magic

4. Bird

5. Duncan

6. The Dream

7. Kobe 

8. Lebron

9. Malone

10.Barkley

 

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

 1. Jordan (now that Wilt is not elgible for the list)

2. Magic

3. Bird

4. Kareem

5. Lebron

6. Kobe

7. Shaq

8. Hakeem

9. Maravich

10. Dwight Howard

[Ghost01Participant]

^^^ The thought of someone listing Wilt (selfish, stats first/win second player) ahead of MJ is concerning.

1. Jordan

2. Magic

3. Shaq

4. Bird

5. Lebron

6. Hakeem

7. Kobe

8. Duncan

9. Isiah

10. D Wade

[iguapops420Participant]

 Yes Maniac, it is so ignorant to think Kobe is 2nd best of all time. Players such as Lamar Odom and Andre Iguodala are ignorant for thinking this.

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

pps. Anyone who says Kobe is the second-best player of all-time probably started watching basketball in 2000 or so…or they were born in 2000 or so.

—————————————————————————————————————–

 

I’ve been watching the NBA since the mid 80s and I think Kobe is the second or third best player I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t the passer or rebounder that Magic or Bird were (not that a career RPG of 5.3 and a career APG of 4.7 are bad for a SG) but he was a more versatile and unstoppable scorer not to mention he was a much better defender as well. Another thing going for him as well is his continued success. Bird and Magic both played at a high level for 12 years, while Kobe has been playing at an All-Star level for 15 years and counting. He’s now in his 16th season and his numbers are better than his career averages!

If I were to make a top 10 list since the 1978 draft, this is probably what it would be right now:

1. Michael Jordan

2. Magic Johnson

3. Kobe Bryant

4. Larry Bird

5. Hakeem Olajuwon

6. Shaquille O’Neal

7. Tim Duncan

8. Lebron James

9. David Robinson

10. Karl Malone

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

First of all, if you want me to put any stock into anything Lamar Odom says, we are probably never going to agree on anything.

How many titles do you think Shaq would have won if he had Magic Johnson instead of Kobe?

 

[thparadoxParticipant]

1. Jordan – most dominant scorer ever, plus amazing D. The gap between him and the next best SG (kobe) is huge, so you take him first. you can get a solid big in round 2.

2. Shaq – uniquely dominant interior scoring. Underrated as a passer/defender. FT% is a weakness, but makes up for it

3. Lebron – Say what you want, but he dominates in pretty much everything. Again, he sticks out as the best SF. No real weakness in his game. Scary part is that he’s still improving.

4. Tim Duncan – Nobody is more reliable. Extremely talented passer and defender. Not as dominant on offense as shaq or robinson, but still very very good.

5. David Robinson – very similar to Duncan, but more dominant on offense. Not as good a passer or clutch player as duncan.

6. Chris Paul – I think he’s the best PG ever. Does he have a weakness? Truly incredible pick and roll man. He’s basically John Stockton with extreme athleticism.

7. Magic Johnson – pretty even draw with CP3 if you ask me. less of a weapon because of shooting, but huge and versatile. great leader

8. Larry Bird – extreme competitor. incredible IQ, passing, shooting ability. He’s more valuable in today’s game where volume 3 pt shooting is a more accepted strategy. (can you imagine if he took 5 or 6 threes per game?)

9. Hakeem Olajuwon – defensively he was great. never reached the dominant level of offense as the other guys on here. 

10. Kevin Garnett – at his peak he was terrific. again, not dominant on offense, but his D, reboudning, passing, as good as any big man.

…barkley, kobe, wade, ginobili (great player, his career minutes are limited), dirk, stockton, malone, derrick rose, Alonzo Mourning, Dwight Howard, amare, billups, ray allen, steve nash, durant, pippen, pierce, ben wallace

[Maniac MaciejParticipant]

Chris Paul ahead of Magic Johnson. That’s bold.

It is also completely insane though. 

[PulseGlazerParticipant]

Okay, is Moses Malone is eligible?  If not his exclusion for some of these guys is fairly absurd.

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

Nope Moses Malone wasn’t eligible according to the 1978 stipulation. He started playing in 1974 in the ABA and in 1976 in the NBA. Otherwise I would have probably had him at #9 just ahead of David Robinson.

[aamir543Participant]

Damn, this thread has been flooded with negs. This is a really hard list, and it is really hard to compare guys from different positions.

For me, Larry and Magic should be tied at wherever you have them, I may put Kobe ahead of them, that’s opiniom.

Shaw and Hakeem are interchangable, very close.

Duncan is the best power foward, follwed by Malone, and any list like this needs to include Malone, followed by Barkley.

But If I had to rank mix the positions and rank them, Kobe would be ahead of the bigs like Shaq and Hakeem

[OhCanada-Participant]

1. Michael Jordan

2. Magic Johnson

3. Larry Bird

4. Kobe Bryant

5. Shaquille Oneal

6.Hakeem Olaujawon

7.Lebron James

8.Tim Duncan

9.David Robinson/Karl Malone

10.John Stockton/Isaiah Thomas

Sorry couldnt make my mind up on the last two positions, just didnt feel right leaving any of those guys out of the conversation.

[Author]

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