Critique My Ranking of NBA Players

Rankerchief wrote:

Clay wrote:

That list is missing a ton of players.

To start ...

No Magic Johnson?

No Bird?

No West?

No Kareem?

Read the first sentence of the OP.

Why isn't that convenient?

On the eve of the opening day of the NBA season, here is an updated top-100, this time including players of all eras. Minimum 500 regular season games played.

1. Michael Jordan 84-93, 95-98, 01-03

2. LeBron James 03-19

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 69-89

4. Wilt Chamberlain 59-73

5. Shaquille O’Neal 92-11

6. Magic Johnson 79-91, 96

7. Larry Bird 79-92

8. Tim Duncan 97-16

9. Kobe Bryant 96-16

10. Hakeem Olajuwon 84-02

11. Moses Malone 74-76*, 76-94

12. Oscar Robertson 60-74

13. Bill Russell 56-69

14. Jerry West 60-74

15. Kevin Durant 07-19

16. Julius Erving 71-76*, 76-87

17. Bob Pettit 54-65

18. Stephen Curry 09-19

19. David Robinson 89-03

20. Karl Malone 85-04

21. Rick Barry 65-67, 68-72*, 72-80

22. Charles Barkley 84-00

23. Kevin Garnett 95-16

24. Dirk Nowitzki 98-19

25. Dwyane Wade 03-19

26. John Havlicek 62-78

27. Isiah Thomas 81-94

28. Elgin Baylor 58-72

29. Dolph Schayes 49-63

30. James Harden 09-19

31. Scottie Pippen 87-04

32. John Stockton 84-03

33. Elvin Hayes 68-84

34. Clyde Drexler 83-98

35. George Gervin 72-76*, 76-86

36. Walt Frazier 67-80

37. Chris Paul 05-19

38. Bob Cousy 50-63, 69-70

39. Bob McAdoo 72-86

40. Gary Payton 90-07

41. Sam Jones 57-69

42. Russell Westbrook 08-19

43. Dominique Wilkins 82-99

44. Paul Pierce 99-17

45. Willis Reed 64-74

46. Kevin McHale 80-93

47. Wes Unseld 68-81

48. Dave Cowens 70-80, 82-83

49. Jason Kidd 94-13

50. Steve Nash 96-14

51. Patrick Ewing 85-02

52. Paul Arizin 50-52, 54-62

53. Hal Greer 58-73

54. James Worthy 82-94

55. Allen Iverson 96-10

56. Ray Allen 96-14

57. Tracy McGrady 97-12

58. Neil Johnston 51-59

59. Bob Lanier 70-84

60. Robert Parish 76-97

61. Nate Archibald 70-84

62. Dwight Howard 04-19

63. Vince Carter 98-19

64. Adrian Dantley 76-91

65. Artis Gilmore 71-76*, 76-88

66. Chris Webber 93-08

67. Carmelo Anthony 03-18

68. Reggie Miller 87-05

69. Walt Bellamy 61-75

70. Kyrie Irving 11-19

71. Dan Issel 70-76*, 76-85

72. Alex English 76-91

73. Pau Gasol 01-19

74. Dennis Rodman 86-00

75. Tony Parker 01-19

76. Pete Maravich 70-80

77. Chris Bosh 03-16

78. Manu Ginobili 02-18

79. Earl Monroe 67-80

80. Bernard King 77-93

81. Grant Hill 94-13

82. Damian Lillard 12-19

83. Alonzo Mourning 92-07

84. Paul George 10-19

85. Jerry Lucas 63-74

86. Draymond Green 12-19

87. Chauncey Billups 97-14

88. Bill Sharman 50-61

89. Chris Mullin 85-01

90. Billy Cunningham 65-72, 72-74*, 74-76

91. Dave Bing 66-78

92. Klay Thompson 11-19

93. Bob Dandridge 69-81

94. Shawn Kemp 89-03

95. Joe Dumars 85-99

96. Mitch Richmond 88-02

97. Nate Thurmond 63-77

98. Kevin Love 08-19

99. Dikembe Mutombo 91-09

100. Dennis Johnson 76-90

Honorable mention:

Cliff Hagan

Lenny Wilkens

Sidney Moncrief

Walter Davis

Amar’e Stoudemire

Bobby Jones

Kevin Johnson

Gail Goodrich

Tommy Heinsohn

David Thompson

Tim Hardaway

Ed Macauley

Ben Wallace

Dave DeBusschere

Richie Guerin

Marques Johnson

Jack Sikma

Gus Williams

Blake Griffin

Andre Iguodala

Gilbert Arenas

Lou Hudson

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard have all since passed 500 career regular season games and thus qualified for my ranking. How would you rank those 3’s careers so far, and how would you rank them from an all-time perspective?

Decent list. I prefer to rank perimeter players and post players separately personally. I'd have Jordan #1 perimeter with Kobe and LeBron tied at 2. I like your post players rankings.

James Harden at #15. Are you high? He should be way lower than 15. Top 10 at least.

look at his numbers wrote:

Are you high?

Most definitely.

Of those three, just add kawhi in your 100 and put the other two on the HM list.

Good post. I’d put Shaq and Wilt below magic and bird. Otherwise no huge arguments.

The GOATs:

1980s

PG - Magic Johnson

SG - Michael Jordan

SF - Julius Irving

PF - Larry Bird

C - Kareem Abdul Jabbar

1990s

PG - John Stockton

SG - Michael Jordan

SF - Scottie Pippen

PF - Karl Malone

C - Hakeem Olajuwon

2000s

PG - Allen Iverson

SG - Kobe Bryant

SF - LeBron James

PG - Tim Duncan

C - Kevin Garnett

2010s

PG - Steph Curry

SG - James Harden

SF - LeBron James

PF - Kevin Durant

C - Dirk Nowitzki

Rankerchief wrote:

melt wrote:

Never mind I see Tony. Is the 500 games regular season only?

Good point—yes, I was referencing regular season games only. If I included playoff games, Kawhi would move into the top 20, Yao would make the list somewhere from 60-80, Sabonis would have to be considered, and Giannis would still miss out until he plays one more game.

Great that Sabonis gets a mention in here, even if he misses based on the criteria. If he was allowed to leave the Soviet Union in his prime (mid 80's), he'd be in the top 10. The US' college elite could always beat the rest of the world's grown men, but Sabonis handed their arses back to them in Seoul, leading to the creation of the Dream Team.

Your ranking is terrible if you don’t have Magic Johnson.

This isn’t frustrating at all...

Later...

look at his numbers wrote:

James Harden at #15. Are you high? He should be way lower than 15. Top 10 at least.

No way. Everyone on the list ahead of him has at least led their team to a finals. Harden is not even top 25 given his history of choking in key playoff games.

When he leads his team to a championship he will deserve to move up the list.

How you figure Shaq is ahead of Hakeem?

No way, and most experts agree, AI was not a top tier of. Horrible shooting %, too many turnovers and made no one better around him. Not a great defender at all. Always played the passing lanes to get steals. Never stopped an individual

Yeah, Iverson had his heyday in which he was a remarkable offensive threat (especially for being 6’0”, 165, which helped his popularity because it’s relatable) but he never won a championship and could be pretty inefficient and self-serving. He doesn’t compare well with some backcourt players you’ve omitted like Dwyane Wade or Chris Paul, who perhaps straddle the decade-lines to their disadvantage.

As for Shaq, I think he’s being rather disrespected because of his decline in his later seasons and because of his enormous stature and resulting style of play—which was not relatable and not the most skill-oriented, but nonetheless hugely impactful. He was a top-2 player on 6 finals teams between 3 franchises that won 4 championships, including a three-peat during which he was the clear MVP (29.9 ppg/14.5 rpg/2.4bpg/55%fg during those 3 playoff runs). He was the single most impactful player between ‘95 & ‘05. I have no real problem with people ranking Bird, Magic or Hakeem ahead of him but to omit him as you have is just willful ignorance.