TEN BEST NBA PLAYERS OF ALL TIME

 With the NBA finals behind us, and a performance for the ages by series MVP Steph Curry,  NBA top ten lists are popping up everywhere, with the question of the day being whether Curry cracks the top ten. Polymath that we are, we weigh in with our own NBA top ten. It's easier said than done. 

1. Bill Russell. Defense wins championships, and Russell won ELEVEN. Think about that. We celebrate Jordan and his six. Russell nearly doubled that. He probably averaged close to 12 blocks per game according to NBA historians who researched the issue. He invented the tap to a teammate to start the fast break. He was THE BEST defensive player in the history of the NBA. No one is a close second. And he won, over and over and over again. When you're starting a team. you must pick Russell first because he was the all time greatest winner in the history of the game, and winning championships is the name of the game. 

2. Wilt Chamberlin. He averaged OVER 50 points per game FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON (61-62). he was the greatest physical specimen of a player the game has ever seen. But unlike other seven plus footers, he was as good an athlete as the six foot point guard. He was in his time the player who dominated the game. He finished with 23, 924 rebounds- nine thousand MORE than Kareem. They had to change the rule book for Chamberlin and outlaw goaltending, because he just plucked balls off the rim, stopping opponents cold. He just didn't win like Russell did and that's why he's number two. 

3. Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The NBA is a big man's game, and Jabbar fills out the top three centers of all time.  38,387 points. An unstoppable sky hook. Two NBA Finals MVP awards FOURTEEN YEARS apart- a remarkable achievement. Six championships. He played longer than Chamberlin and was a better offensive player than Russell. If you were down by one, with two seconds left in game 7, is there any other player in the history of the game that you want taking the shot than Jabbar and his skyhook? Nope. And there's never been another player like him, and never will. 

4. Magic Johnson. A 6-9 point guard who changed the game in 1979 when he entered the league with Larry Bird. He could play all five positions. He brought a type of energy  and joy to the game not seen before him. When you talk about top 5 players, you're looking at people who changed the game. The best individual player anyone will ever see was Michael Jordan. The best athlete, he did remarkable things, but he didn't change the game. The top four players did. 

5. Michael Jordan. Which brings us to MJ. He didn't change the game. He just played it better than anyone ever did. He gets the slightest of nods over Larry Bird. But numbers don't lie, and MJ won.  His teams did a threepeat TWICE- with a sojourn to baseball in between. He was the defensive player of the year in 1988 and he also the preeminent unstoppable scorer. While Kareem is our top choice for one player to take the last shot with the season on the line, MJ was money in the clutch and is the top non-center player who we would want to take that shot. 

6. Larry Bird. Three time champion. Three time MVP. Perhaps the most complete forward of all time. He saw the game like maybe only Magic did. Their ability to make the players around them better makes them stand out from the Chamberlins, Russells, and Lebrons of the NBA. 

7, Oscar Robinson. The Big O. He AVERAGED   a triple-double for an ENTIRE SEASON as a 6'5 point guard.. No one other than Russell Wsstbrook has ever come close to that (double figures in scoring, rebounds, and assists). In his 1962 triple- double season he averaged 30.2 points per game when there was no 3 point shot (along with 12.5 rebounds and 11.5 assists). He could score from anywhere at any time and his assists show he made his teammates better. He was the only player other than Wilt or Russell to win an MVP award between 1960 and 1968. We will take the Big O over Lebron any day of the week. 

8. Jerry West. The Logo (the NBA logo is him). He averaged 47.5% shooting for his career. 12 all star teams. 5 all defensive teams. He averaged over 30 ppg in the playoffs and over 40ppg in the 1965 playoffs (11 games). Yes he only won one championship, but that's because Bill Russell was an immoveable force against his Lakers. 

9. Lebron James. Blah blah blah Lebron. Came back from a 3-1 deficit in a championship series. Blah blah blah. He has no heart, but he has skills, so here he is. 

10. Dr. J. Julius Erving, our last player on our top ten list changed the game. He took it to the air. He flew before Air Jordan and he did things no one has ever seen before or since. 

Honorable Mention. We don't know where Steph Curry should be, vis-a-vis Kobe, and Havlicek, Kevin Durant;  Dwayne Wade; Kawai Leonard; John Stockton; Allen Iverson, and Russell Westbrook. But we know this, we have never seen a player shoot from downtown the way Curry does when he gets hot. Those shots where the ball slips into his hands and he seems way too far away and he doesn't just shoot but launches his shot and hits nothing but net, are just unreal. And happily, Steph is not done yet. 

The big men who didn't make the top ten are legion and legendary in their own right. Moses Malone; David Robinson; Shaq; Elgin Baylor; Hakeem Olajuwon; Karl Malone; Kevin Garnett; Patrick Ewing. 

It's tougher than it seems to make this top ten list. We put Magic as a 6'9 guard as number four because he was so unique. Kevin Durant fans can howl in rage- Durant is seven feet tall and a total freak of nature with his athleticism and ability.  If Chamberlin is number two, then how about Hakeem who dominated or David Robinson who was as complete as player as Kareem was? 

We did our best, now it's time for you to tell us how wrong we are.