The Front Row

I would argue best defensive player ever. Think of it like this, he was a 6-6 swingman that literally could play and defend any position on the floor. I'm not even a fan, but growing up and watching what Jordan did, he transcended the game. He made the NBA interesting. He sustained the league. The commissioner would literally beg for him to come out of retirement. Don't think we'll see anything quite like that again. You know his sillouhette. Sure, West is the logo, but how many fans know that? You show them the jump man logo today, and people know it's Jordan.

Wilt end of list. They changed rules because of him.

1. Wilt
2. Big O averaged a triple double for a whole year.
3. Jordan He's game got better when he learned how to shoot.
4. Magic
5. Russell CHAMPION!!
6. Mikan
7. Jerry West
8. George Gervin that man could score
9. Dr. J
10. Bird
11. Hondo
12. Cousey

All that have MJ #1 is media era fans, no doubt he was great but not #1, league had to make a star after Magic and Larry or the league would have been done or back to all teams losing money. MJ traveled more than any other player in the league but refs were directed to look the other way.... MJ was great but was helped by the league and Nike...

And wilt played before the 3 point era which meant he had more guys crowding him in the box. Harder to spread the court back in the 60's and 70's. I don't think Shaq or Hakeem would have been as great if there were not a 3 point line.

Wilt put up numbers that will never be touched. NOBODY will ever average 50 points and 25 boards in one season. No center IMO will ever lead the league in assist again.

Alpha I'm not sure what you're saying about celtics of the 60s. They were truly a great team but as parts I'm not sure. Early Cousy was a great PG but KC didn't score. Sanders was a great defender good rebounder but didn't score much. Hienson I never figured out. Howell was a garbage man got every loose basket. As individules Only Russell, Cousy, Jones, and Hondo were great and not all great at the same time.

Hondo, both Jones and Russell were great at the same time. Cousy was past his prime but the other 4 all played together and dominated the league where other teams just wasnt to their level.

KC Jones was the point and he shut down guys like Jerry West in his prime. One of the best if not the best perimeter defender of his time. Sam Jones was their 2. Jump shot was automatic and he to was a shut down defender. Hondo was #3 and to this day he is still the Celtics all time leading scorer so you know he had serious production. Then Bill Russel was the center. I don't even have to type anything about him.

Jordan was the scoring champion and defensive player of the year in the same season. Imagine combining Lawrence Taylor and Jerry Rice in one player. That's what we're talking here.The thing about Jordan unlike any athlete that we've seen is he was never outplayed in a series by an opposing player. Ever. Any player we list and we can point to a series they were outplayed in by an opposing player, except Jordan. The six years the Bulls won championships you know how many first round games they lost? 0.They went 18-0. Jordan never lost a series he had home court advantage in either. The Pistons beat the Celtics in 1988 and pushed the Lakers and eventually beat them, because they introduced something they hadn't seen, defense. Bird/Mchale were in their prime when the Pistons beat them as was Magic. No way in hell I'm thinking Celts or Lakers could contend with Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman's defense over 7 games. I respect Russell as a great of his era, but Wilt absolutely dominated him. No way I can take a guy built like Scottie Pippen or Rodman and rate him as the greatest center of all time. To hear him talk about how he would guard Shaquille O'Neal is ridiculous to me. Only players I think you can rate above Jordan are centers. Unlike the NBA of today, where it's just raw athleticism with little fundamentals. Jordan was raw athleticism honed to near perfection because of his fundamental base and absurd desire to crush his enemies. Who have we ever seen in sport impose their will on an opponent like Jordan?
The whole "Robertson averaged a triple double" is a bit misleading also, because the pace of the game was absurd, the year he did it the average team scored almost 120 pts per game and shot an abysmal 43%. Many more rebounds to be had. I think of that season as a typical Lebron James season, which means, completely dominant 26 7 7. Kobe has never had a season where he made more shots than he missed. Not even close. His performance in the 2004 Finals is the worst I've seen by a superstar in their prime. His clutch persona is completely overrated. His best shooting percentage is Jordan's at age 40. He's been blown out in the playoffs in closing games with absurd regularity for someone who is such a great "leader" When you place him in the top five you're living in the moment. There is no logical reason to place him above Duncan.
Head to head Magic consistently outplayed Bird. No way you can rate him above Magic.

Here's my top 10.
1. Jordan
2. Abdul Jabbar
3. Magic
4. Wilt
5. Bird
6. Russell
7. Duncan
8. Hakeem
9. Shaq
10. Robertson

Amen brother! He also got away w/massive hand checks on "D" AND on "O"! Actually, finally soured me on the NBA game altogether! Got tired of watching MJ "navigate" Ehlo around the court w/his forearm!

MJ turned Scottie Pippen into one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History...

To compare Wilt Chamberlain to LeBron James is the ultimate insult to Wilt!! First and foremost, Wilt has two Championships while LeBron has yet to win one. Second, Wilt was the ultimate scoring machine that could post up, get points off rebounds, fast breaks and he even had a very nice jumper and finger roll game (BTW, the jumper and finger roll was his main two scoring weapons when he was not using his post game). LeBron refuses to embrace the post game and relies on fast break points, put-backs, drives to the hole, and a very weak outside shooting game!!

Wilt never lost in the playoffs to a team that had less Hall-of-Fame players than his team had, and that says quite a bit!! Wilt has led the league in assists and even averaged almost 9 a game one year, something neither Jordan not LeBron as ever done. Wilt was one of the best defensive players ever, and while LeBron has the tools to be one of the best, he is generally not put in that category at this point in his career.

Had Wilt not been asked to lower his scoring in order to do other things like rebound (Wilt was the best rebounder in NBA history), play defense and feed the fast break, he would have put the scoring marks out of reach of EVERYONE!! Wilt was top 3 overall at least (to me, he is #1 over Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson),and no lower than 3rd All-time. Lebron can only hope to be as good as Wilt was!!

Here is is my Top 10 (This is just individual player, not team player)

1) Wilt Chamberlain (Simply unstoppable in every facet of the game outside of free-throw shooting. Unmatched scoring machine and one of the best defensive player ever. The ultimate endurance athlete to hit the NBA, lots of times played the entire game!!)

2) Michael Jordan (Killer instinct unmatched!! A fast break nightmare, athleticism that was simply unreal, developed a nice outside game later in his career, and with all due respect to Walt "Cylde" Frazier and Bobby Jones, the best defensive guard in NBA history!!)

3) Oscar Robertson (No one had a better combination of scoring, rebounding and passing in one package than Oscar. He would have won more if he was not helping to carry the old Cincy Royals in his prime. Did not have the overall defensive skills that Jordan had)

4) Magic Johnson (There was no position that he could not play, but he mastered one. Could rebound but was not a strong rebounder. Could score but was not a strong scorer, but no one has his vision when it came to passing and setting up teammates, not even John Stockton!!)

5) Larry Bird (Extremely underrated! Was not the best athlete, but his pure basketball skills was off the charts!! Not much he could not do on the court, and outside of Jordan and Russell, no other player outmatched his opponent mentally than Bird did!!)

6) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (He had the one shot in the NBA that was just unstoppable, yet he had a very nice game. Was an effective rebounder, especially early in his career, played adequate defense, and was a very effective scorer.)

7) Shaquille O'Neal (Very few could match his power game. Could have been a stronger rebounder but was effective nonetheless. His free-throw shooting made him a liability at times, but outside of Wilt, the strongest player to ever play in the NBA, sorry Artis Gilmore!!)

8) Tim Duncan (The Big Fundamentals in his prime probably could not be defended! He never did anything fancy, but he was one of the steadiest player to ever play in the NBA!! His bank shot is just classic.)

9) Kobe Bryant (Should probably put him higher when its all said and done, but this guy was the one player that when he was on, outside of MJ, was the greatest scorer from the guard position to ever hit the NBA!! All due respect to Jerry West, who had a nice game in his own right, but Kobe could do what he could do and then some!! To me, he is the closest player to Jordan)

10) Dr. J. Julius Erving (Shame that he spent those years in the ABA, but that should not discredit what he could do on the court. Dr had a nice overall game and one of the original high-risers in the NBA, with all due respect to Elgin Baylor, Connie Hawkins, etc...)

Honorable Mention: Bill Russell (His limited offensive game kept him from being Top 10. Was the best TEAM player in NBA history though), Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Hakeem Olajuwon, Moses Malone, John Havlicek, Bob Petitt, Karl Malone, John Stockton

1) John Havlicek
2) Jerry Lucas
3) Jimmy Jackson
4) Clark Kellogg
5) Herb Williams
6) Larry Siegfried
7) Michael Conley, Jr.
8) Greg Oden
9) Luke Witte
10) Granville Waiters

LOVE THE WAY YOU THINK....BUT I DONT SEE THE FOLLOWING

ALLAN HORNYAK
KELVIN RANSEY
DAVE SORENSON
MICHAEL REDD
JIM CLEAMONS