NBA Who are your top 10 players all time in each position?

[Elvis P]

Lets not forget Russell played with an average of 7 Hall of Famers every season (some seasons it was more). ...

So what. Everyone knows some of those pre-Bird Celtics don't belong. Most Hall of Hall voters and vet committee members are from the Eastern Time Zone especially in the past.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Shaq would get killed by a lot of wings but that’s besides the point.

1-on-1 doesn’t prove anything but it’s definitely a factor in my decision when weighing two PGs against each other. Ability to score on your man and defend the ball are pretty important at that position.

No he wouldn't. You're revealing your lack of knowledge. Tall people have an even greater advantage one-on-one. His height would still alter their shot at the rim and what player 6+ inches shorter than him is going to stop him from getting to the rim without the threat of help defense?

 

[Neutrinos]

I think Billups is one of the most overrated stars of the last 25 years or so

No better than Sam Cassell in my opinion

 

[sparxx87]

PG defense is the least important of all positions imo. they need to avoid bad blow-bys but in general PG defense doesn't have same impact as wingers and not even close to bigs.

I wasn’t really comparing it to other positions. It’s important at every position but you’re right, it’s more critical inside... I was just saying I put value in players that can clamp their man and the PG spends a lot of time defending the ball.

Billups gets love for his clutch shot making and finals MVP but he was a pretty underrated defender. I just checked and he only has two all defensive teams. That seems suspicious.

 

[sparxx87]

I think Billups is one of the most overrated stars of the last 25 years or so

No better than Sam Cassell in my opinion

Yeah.. so him and Steve Nash are very comparable

 

[Neutrinos]

Yeah.. so him and Steve Nash are very comparable

Nash is tough to evaluate

If you gave every player in history a score as a shooter and a passer, Nash's combined score might very well be the highest

But he also had some obvious defensive issues that can't be ignored

 

[sparxx87]

No he wouldn't. You're revealing your lack of knowledge. Tall people have an even greater advantage one-on-one. His height would still alter their shot at the rim and what player 6+ inches shorter than him is going to stop him from getting to the rim without the threat of help defense?

Weren’t you the one ... ahh never mind.

Why are you attacking Shaq at the rim? Your advantages are everywhere else?

Only way Shaq beats good two-way wings with jumpers is if you don’t call offensive fouls and allow him to back them down from the top of the arc.

 

[sparxx87]

Nash is tough to evaluate

If you gave every player in history a score as a shooter and a passer, Nash's combined score might very well be the highest

But he also had some obvious defensive issues that can't be ignored

That’s fair.

 

[Voight]

harden is better scorer than al, both in volume and efficiency. al doesn't have much longevity edge and harden beats him easily in prime and peak.

I disagree, and let me know when Harden drags a group of journeyman to the finals and even win one game against a dynasty. AI's peak is better IMO.

 

[Elvis P]

... James Worthy - who retired at 32 years old - has no business being among the top 10 small forwards of all-time. ... In fact, I think I'd take everyone on your honourable mention list ahead of Worthy. Simply put, James isn't worthy of being in the top 10...

This is a funny post. Hall of Famer "Big Game" James was named top 50 all time by the NBA, was a top 2-3 scorer on 4 of Magic's titles, and is considered one of the most clutch playoff scorers of all time. He retired at age 33 with 4 rings, not at age 32.

 

[Elvis P]

... Bill Russell averaged 15 points per game on 44% shooting for his career, ...

This is silly. Russell lead the Celtics to 11 rings in his 13 seasons, is one of the greatest defenders, leaders, rebounders, and shot blockers of all time, and post defense was much tougher due to low post offenses and no 3 point line.

 

[Maestro84]

I disagree, and let me know when Harden drags a group of journeyman to the finals and even win one game against a dynasty. AI's peak is better IMO.

Well Harden nearly took out an even better dynasty the last two years, and AI had a DPOY in Mutumbo. I know AI had a far greater impact to the game than the Beard but as in terms of who's better, Harden has already had a better career than AI and he was a better all around player as well.

 

[Maestro84]

Payton was better than Kidd


It's not tough at all. The numbers clearly show that Richmond was better than Dumars


How is it injuries stopped Hill from being a top 10 SF, but injuries didn't stop McGrady from being a top 10 SG?


And I'm pretty sure just about every advanced statistic shows that during their prime seasons, Garnett was better than Duncan

Payton/Kidd and Dumars/Richmond are 50-50 calls imo.

Hill has a bit more competition at the SF position than Tmac does at the 2 spot, but even then Tmac had a better peak and career than Hill despite all the ailments

KG vs Duncan in comparison:

Rings: 5-1 Duncan
Finals MVPs: 3-0 Duncan
League MVPs: 2-1 Duncan
All-NBA First Team: 10-4 Duncan
All-NBA Teams: 15-9 Duncan
All-Defensive First Teams: 9-8 Garnett
All-Defensive Teams: 15-12 Duncan
DPOY: 1-0 Garnett (lowkey kinda mind-blown that TD never won DPOY tbh)
ROY: 1-0 Duncan
RS PER: 24.22-22.66 Duncan
PO PER: 24.28-21.12 Duncan
RS WS: 206.38-191.42 Duncan
PO WS: 37.84-16.42 Duncan
RS WS/48: 0.2091-0.1822 Duncan
PO WS/48: 0.1939-0.1492 Duncan
RS VORP: 93.97-89.31 Garnett
PO VORP: 18.59-8.82 Duncan

Yeah Duncan's clearly had the better career as he's won more individual awards, had a far superior playoff resume and his advanced statistics are through the roof in both the RS and PO. KG was the more entertaining player in his prime but in terms of who's better and had the more successful career, it's the big fundamental

 

[Aladyyn]

So what. Everyone knows some of those pre-Bird Celtics don't belong. Most Hall of Hall voters and vet committee members are from the Eastern Time Zone especially in the past.

Yep, people just shout out those numbers without realizing:
1) Russell MADE a bunch of these guys HoFers because they got to play on his title teams
2) Every team had a whole bunch of really good players back then, since the league had so few teams

 

[Aladyyn]

The order is pretty loose, I'm kind of firing from the hip on a bunch of these guys

PG:
Magic
Curry
Robertson
Paul
Isiah
Cousy
Stockton
Nash
Payton
Kidd

SG:
Jordan
Kobe
West
Wade
Harden
Sam Jones
Allen
Drexler
Thompson
Ginobili

SF:
LeBron
Bird
Durant
Pippen
Erving
Barry
Havlicek
Baylor
Worthy
Pierce
(Kawhi needs a couple more seasons to get on here)

PF:
Duncan
Garnett
Nowitzki
Barkley
Malone
McHale
Rodman
Green
Pau
Pettit

C:
Kareem
Russell
Wilt
Hakeem
Shaq
Moses
Robinson
Thurmond
Dikembe
Ewing

 

[InjuredChoker]

I disagree, and let me know when Harden drags a group of journeyman to the finals and even win one game against a dynasty. AI's peak is better IMO.

that group of journeyman produced a top 5 defense that year and included even HOFer. they were better defensively than offensively. iverson's impact was pretty much exclusively on offensive side of the ball where harden is clearly better.

and harden/houston rockets have won 9 PO games against the warriors since '15 season.

 

[Neutrinos]

Payton/Kidd and Dumars/Richmond are 50-50 calls imo.

Hill has a bit more competition at the SF position than Tmac does at the 2 spot, but even then Tmac had a better peak and career than Hill despite all the ailments

KG vs Duncan in comparison:

Rings: 5-1 Duncan
Finals MVPs: 3-0 Duncan
League MVPs: 2-1 Duncan
All-NBA First Team: 10-4 Duncan
All-NBA Teams: 15-9 Duncan
All-Defensive First Teams: 9-8 Garnett
All-Defensive Teams: 15-12 Duncan
DPOY: 1-0 Garnett (lowkey kinda mind-blown that TD never won DPOY tbh)
ROY: 1-0 Duncan
RS PER: 24.22-22.66 Duncan
PO PER: 24.28-21.12 Duncan
RS WS: 206.38-191.42 Duncan
PO WS: 37.84-16.42 Duncan
RS WS/48: 0.2091-0.1822 Duncan
PO WS/48: 0.1939-0.1492 Duncan
RS VORP: 93.97-89.31 Garnett
PO VORP: 18.59-8.82 Duncan

Yeah Duncan's clearly had the better career as he's won more individual awards, had a far superior playoff resume and his advanced statistics are through the roof in both the RS and PO. KG was the more entertaining player in his prime but in terms of who's better and had the more successful career, it's the big fundamental

Firstly, championships are completely irrelevant when it comes to discussing the talent level of individual players

Secondly, being selected to more All-NBA teams, or more All-Defensive teams, proves only that Duncan had a longer prime, not that he was a better player

Garnett came into the league out of high school, whereas Duncan, I believe, played all 4 years at Wake Forest, so there was no learning curve with Duncan

Garnett also suffered knee injuries once he got to Boston, so his prime wasn't as long as Duncan's

So take Garnett's advance stats during his prime from '98 - '08, and compare them with Duncan's best 11 seasons and see who comes out on top

 

[Maestro84]

Firstly, championships are completely irrelevant when it comes to discussing the talent level of individual players

Secondly, being selected to more All-NBA teams, or more All-Defensive teams, proves only that Duncan had a longer prime, not that he was a better player

Garnett came into the league out of high school, whereas Duncan, I believe, played all 4 years at Wake Forest, so there was no learning curve with Duncan

Garnett also suffered knee injuries once he got to Boston, so his prime wasn't as long as Duncan's

So take Garnett's advance stats during his prime from '98 - '08, and compare them with Duncan's best 11 seasons and see who comes out on top

When making these lists you have to evaluate what their careers were from start to finish and in this case, Duncan has had the better career. Peak for peak you can make an argument for, but when evaluating where a player ranks all time, you gotta look at their entire careers and not just their peak stretches.

Again, if we’re going peak vs peak, then KG is right up there, but in terms of their whole careers from start to finish, I’d still put Dirk and Malone ahead of him (let alone TD).

 

[Neutrinos]

When making these lists you have to evaluate what their careers from start to finish and in this case, Duncan has had the better career. Peak for peak you can make an argument for, but when evaluating where a player ranks all time, you gotta look at their entire careers and not just their peak stretches.

Again, if we’re going peak vs peak, then KG is right up there, but in terms of their whole careers from start to finish, I’d still put Dirk and Malone ahead of him

That's fair

"Top" is so open to interpretation. Is it the top 10 "best" or top 10 "greatest"? Depending on which it is, you could wind up with 2 very different lists

 

[Neutrinos]

If you were drafting a team, would anyone take James Worthy over Paul George, Vince Carter, or Chris Mullin?

 

[Neutrinos]

And speaking of Vince Carter, how is it he didn't get at least an honourable mention at either SG or SF?

 

[Maestro84]

And speaking of Vince Carter, how is it he didn't get at least an honourable mention at either SG or SF?

VC was pretty overrated. He had some awesome dunks in his peak years, but in terms of career achievements, he massively underachieved.

 

[Neutrinos]

VC was pretty overrated. He had some awesome dunks in his peak years, but in terms of career achievements, he massively underachieved.

Carter is one of six players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game in 10 straight seasons. He is also one of six players in league history to record 24,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, 2,500 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 3-point field goals

He's also 23rd all-time in points scored


Dunks aside, he had a Hall of Fame career

 

[Maestro84]

Carter is one of six players in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game in 10 straight seasons. He is also one of six players in league history to record 24,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, 2,500 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 3-point field goals

He's also 23rd all-time in points scored


Dunks aside, he had a Hall of Fame career

He hasn't been an all-star since 2007 (when he was only 30), and he's only made 2 All-NBA teams in his whole career (1 second and 1 third). He was also quite inefficient from the field and was sub-par on defense, which was a big reason why VC-led teams never made it far. Also, the highest he ever finished in the MVP race was 10th; additionally, he's only finished in the top 15 MVP race like 2 or 3 times at most....and excluding that iconic dunk contest, the only accolade he's won was the ROY way back in '99. Vince also quit on the Raptors (the team he was supposed to take to the promise land) in the most humiliating way possible for both parties. As exciting of a player that Vince was, he gets overrated a lot by some fans

 

[Aladyyn]

If you were drafting a team, would anyone take James Worthy over Paul George, Vince Carter, or Chris Mullin?

Depends on the circumstances. Are we transporting prime Worthy into 2019 or am I getting rookie Worthy fresh out of the draft?