who is the greatest NBA player of all time

[cherb]

There's really no other response besides Jordan. You could maybe make an arguement for Bird, Kobe, Magic and maybe one or two others, but at the end of the day it's MJ.

[jameshood]

I think "Bryant".

[jbombard]

Even though back in the day when MJ was in his prime, I was a Knicks fan and hated him, still got to give the man his props. The man was ridiculous. He would be falling over backward at some weird angle and the ball would go in. He would constantly make shots that made your jaw drop and go WTF. When he was hot (which was most of the time) the man was unstoppable. There have been a lot of great players since then(and before), but I can't recall anyone who made my jaw drop as often as MJ did.

[Deleted]

I am guessing a number of you never saw Jordan at his prime.

The man is the best ever end of. What was probably the most misacknowledged part of his game was his defensive contribution. The man was a beast on D.

What it basically comes down to is this.

5 secs on the shot clock.

Your house, wife, life the full monty is on the line if your team doesn't win. There is only one person in the world ever you wanted shooting the fade away jump shot to clinch it.

[superstarz]

I see most going with MJ, which I agree.

Anybody who says Kobe are delusional. I hate when they compare Kobe's 5 championships to MJ's six. Kobe won 3 of those with Shaq and two of those Shaq was the man carrying Kobe to wins. The other I will give Kobe and Shaq equall footing. The last two are all Kobe and he deserves those as much as MJ but no way does he come close to MJ. Kobe was good and notch below but no way better. Also if you try to say MJ had Pippen and try to compare Pippen to Shaq you are smoking something.

Lebron is probably the greatest talent I have ever seen but he would have to reel off alot more championships but in the end he did ditch the Cav's to go play with Wade and the Heat.

Magic Jonhson is 2nd greatest.

Kobe himself thinks he is better than MJ.

Only one argument kobe fans have is kobe has 5 rings thats why his better than everyone else.
but MJ has six.
Just wait till this year when Dwight Howard and Nash win kobe his 6th.
Kobe fans are going to say he is the GOAT because he has six rings.
Thats all they say.

[Logonov]

I grew up in the windy city at the tail end of jordan's career in Chicago. One thing i learned from Jordan is that it was never enough to just practice, he literally just outworked everybody every minute of every day. Honestly i think this behavior changed the way Kobe Bryant played the game. Kobe works out more than damn near anybody in the league. I think his work ethic he got from jordan is beginning to affect lebron.

There's allegedly a story that Lebron called Kobe during the Finals vs the Mavericks, Lebron was asking for advice and kobe apparently replied that he had no idea the Finals were still going on and that he was in the middle of doing laps in the pool when lebron called him. This is what lit a fire under Lebron's butt apparently last season.

[fixit]

Jordan, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Kobe, Russell, Olajuwon, Duncan, Bird, Robertson...maybe LBJ might end up knocking Oscar from #10 all time, but those other guys are untouchable.

[mentalcase222]

There are many greatest NBA players but i like Michael Jordan, Bill Russell.

[rnbwtrout]

just like MJ made pop music famous throughout the world...

another MJ made basketball famous throughout the world.

[glo]

With current foul rules Michael Jordan would easily outclass LJ. Factor in how you can essentially ignore traveling now compared to when Jordan was playing and it would be no contest.

[Aristeia]

All you guys saying Bryant kind of make me disgusted, no way, not even in the top 20...

It's either Magic or Jordan, that's it.

[bbqislands]

i would have to say Michael Jordan. Simply because of the way he dominated the league in his time.
and the way he revolutionized the game.
and when LeBron James retires he would be almost at Jordans level of greatness.


what do you guys think

Of course Michael Jordan is the greatest NBA player all time.

[WillFeral]

I have changed my choice to Shawn Bradley

[Vvhooya]

Other than MJ I like Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson.

[buck008]

For my money it's Jordan, Russel, Magic, Kareem, Bird in that order. The only two current players with a chance at cracking the top 5 are James and Bryant. Kobe might be there already. Lebron is should have quite a convincing resume when he is done.

Watching Jordan play was just a thing of beauty. He played on a team with future Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen (and if you don't think he was that good, you similarly didn't watch him play) and played against the likes of Stockton, Malone, Barkley, Ewing, etc etc and he just clearly outclassed all of them. I was a fan of the Heat back then when they had guys like Hardaway and Mourning. Even the fans knew we were, at best, the fourth best team in the conference. When you go into a season knowing you are pretty good but don't think you have any chance of winning anyway because of the guy sitting on top of the conference, that says something.

[Manataurus]

IMO the G.O.A.T. is Wilt Chamberlain. Best scorer and rebounder of all time. Even led the league in assists for a couple years, just to show that he could. Also, CHIPS are the single most over-rated way of judging a player ever. If winning the big game was the highest of criteria, then why aren't Kerr and Horry in this conversation? They've both won multiple times, Kerr with the Bulls and Spurs and Horry with the Lakers, Spurs and Rockets.

[SL1200]

i would have to say Michael Jordan. Simply because of the way he dominated the league in his time.
and the way he revolutionized the game.
and when LeBron James retires he would be almost at Jordans level of greatness.


what do you guys think

I think lebron james is a steroid user and until he's tested like lance armstrong i will never put him on the same level as a Jordan.

As far as who is the GOAT, as a Bulls fan i'll always say Jordan, but there have been alot of great players and it's hard to compare players from different eras.

[Googolplex]

Michael Jordan, it's a nobrainer.

[Skarsguard]

Michael Jordan, it's a nobrainer.

How is it a nobrainer when his numbers can't touch Wilt's. No player will ever avg 50 ppg it's just not going to happen ever I could see somebody maybe beating his 100 points in a game but 50 points per game just think about that Jordan only had 34 Wilt had over a hundred. Will also had 11 season where he had the most rebounds Jordan never led in that area ever. Wilt also led the league in Asst. Jordan never done that either. Wilt has the record for most triple doubles and is the only player with a double triple double 20 instead of 10 points. I know I know your thinking what about shooting jordan had to be a better shooter right well not completely true Wilt has the most consecutive seasons leading NBA in field goal percentage and is has the record of 18 games without a field goal missed. Wilt was a more complete player Jordan had a better jump shot that is it also Jordan had a 3 point line Wilt didn't 3 points do help pad some of Jordan's numbers.

[Toxigen]

Spud Webb

/thread