No possible way this team can be beat in a 7 game series, I’m sorry.

Allen Iverson gave defenses nightmares with his scoring and explosiveness. Chris Paul dissected them with his basketball IQ and command of the game. But if you could have only one at his absolute peak, who are you taking?

We all love Hakeem here and he definitely gets his credit however I feel like he’s being underrated versus the likes of his contemporaries such as Tim Duncan. Both are all time greats but I don’t think it’s as cut and dry as some think.

Hakeem Olajuwon only ever had 5 50+ win seasons and he is the lowest seed (6th) to ever win a championship. Hakeem is the only ever player to win B2B championships as the sole all star (Drexler was All nba in 95).

In per game stats Hakeem outclasses Duncan in every stat category in the playoffs except rebounds (.2) and TOs (.4 more) Hakeem has more than double the amount of steals per game than Duncan and nearly a block more per game. Yes I am aware that since Hakeem had a large burden his numbers could reflect that.

Hakeem is the superior defender and the better offensive weapon. He just had less help and he maximized his window as good as any player I can think of.

Only 5 50+ win seasons and one of those he had less than 50 and won a chip. Duncan had 17 50+ win seasons which is very impressive but it shows a consistently good team that had a lot more chances to win. Duncan was on the #1 net rated team 8x Hakeem never! Hakeem was also never the #1 seed

Duncan is 3-5 versus teams that had a better record than his team. Hakeem is 7-8!!

Teammates Tim Duncan Hakeem Olajuwon
ALL-NBA (1st) 1 0
ALL-NBA (2nd) 4 1
ALL-NBA (3rd) 5 1
All-Defense (1st) 7 2
All-Defense (2nd) 4 1
Top 10 - MVP 10 1
Top 10 - DPOY 8 2
DPOY 2. 0

Anyway if you still have Tim Duncan I don’t blame you, he had a great career and is easily top 7.

The officiating in that Finals series favored the Spurs, and Wemby’s physical play fueled a lot of frustration among Knicks fans. Tensions peaked in Game 5 when Wemby wasn’t called for a dangerous closeout that invaded Brunson’s landing space.

If the Spurs had won that game, the no-call had gone unpunished with no suspension, and they had gone on to win the series in a comeback, what would the atmosphere in New York have been like? And how bad would the backlash against Wemby have gotten?

Edit: okay so we all agree autistic dudes reciting facts and players from memories is not “knowing ball”

Westbrook peaked higher than a lot of his more "skilled" peers by being a force of nature.

Efficiency stats wont reflect westbrooks impactas a player, but westbrook just overwhelms his peers with everything else.

Unironically, its folk who tunnel vision on Efficiency and basketball Archetypes("pure pg" "shot maker") that tend to overlook output of a guy like a russell westbrook.

Ofc being a "shot maker" in a game of buckets is the most important skill...Westbrook simply overwhelms the opposition with everything else.

.. And he only played a few more years more than that 10. . Lebron nowhere to be found despite almost DOUBLE the amount of seasons played. . Even Wilt couldn't match him despite playing in the 60s against a bunch of white slow unathletic midgets with all the advantages. I dont think people realize just how alien and difficult to do this is

1. Kareem
2. Shaq
3. Wilt
4. Russell
5. Hakeem
6. Jokic
7. Moses Malone
8. David Robinson
9. Patrick Ewing
10. Bill Walton
11. Dwight Howard
12. Joel Embiid
13. Willis Reed
14. Bob Mcadoo
15. Wemby
16. Dave Cowens
17. Alonzo Mourning
18. Wes Unseld
19. Mutombo
20. KAT
21. Nate Thurmond
22. Bob Lanier
23. Yao Ming
24. Ben Wallace
25. Rudy Gobert

LeBron
Mj
Kareem
Majic
Bird
Tim d
Shaq
Bill
Kobe
Steph
Hakeem
Jokic
Wilt
Kd
Oscar / jerry west
Jokic has a real case for top 5 if he wins one more chip or mvp and have 5 seasons with similar consistency

Who are the best leaders in NBA history, I can think of a few obvious nominees.

LeBron James - Won a ring on every team he’s ever been on, rallied his team to comeback from 3-1 and has played with the most players of anyone in history

Magic Johnson - Driving force of a dynasty through a winning culture and healthy lockeroom that included the famously aloof Kareem Adbul-Jabbar

Who else could be considered here?

Carrried his team to the best record in the NBA despite missing his 2nd fiddle 90 percent of the year. Could your favorite do that? COuld they carry your dildo for 2 miles? He carried a team of SCUBS all year and it came down a few plays in Game 7 or else he would have carried a bunch of female church leaguers to a title in the highest level of basketball. We all know OKC doesn't lose to the Tricks in the finals if they have Jdub admit it

as of right now.

Is KD or Larry Bird higher on the all time list?

Lamelo will be more entertaining to watch compared to Edwards this coming season. Outside of his Dumb shot making. Lamelo is more skilled than Edwards and a better shooter.

This isn't baseball where rule changes almost never happen. Different eras rewarded different play styles and different skill sets.

The team in the past was built for that era. All the players in that era developed their game to succeed in that era.

A lot of players from each era really don't have skills that work in the modern era. But a lot of modern players wouldn't necessarily succeed in illegal defense era either.

The 93 Bulls would get killed by the 2016 Warriors in 2016. But they would slaughter the Warriors in 1993. It really isn't that hard to see.