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  • Puffer
    replied
    The Great One wrote: View Post
    ...Facts - There were only 8 teams in the NBA in each of Bill Russell's first five seasons. In his last year in the NBA, there were only 14 teams. Russell's Celtics also had 5+ other Hof'ers on his team and they only had to win TWO series to win the title in most of those seasons. Their ONLY competition was Wilt's team, the rest of the teams were a bunch of JV teams.
    That means that Russell was constantly playing against the 120 best basketball players in the world (more or less). The NBA was acknowledged as the best Bball league in the world, at the time. Today, with 30 teams, the NBA has 450 players. Each team only has 4 (on average) of the top 120 guys in the league.

    Nothing more needs to be said. Your argument that there was only 8 teams in the league means the talent wasn't watered down.

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  • Puffer
    replied
    KeonClark wrote: View Post
    Not enough love in here for Bill and Wilt, the two giants that ran the game for 15 years. Wilt scored 50 pts a game when 2nd place scored 31. He has more rebounds per game (22.9) than Tim Duncan has points (19). Was putting up Gretzky stats. And Bill was the superior defender and rebounder.

    MJ, Lebron, Bird, Magic, Bill, Wilt, Kareem are all eligible for top 5 imo. If I had to rank it though,


    MJ
    Lebron
    Wilt
    Russell
    Magic
    Bird
    Kareem
    Duncan
    Shaq
    Hakeem/Kobe/Oscar (too hard to call)

    Active players with a chance to get in (in order): Durant, Curry, Giannis, Kawhi
    I like it when I see a little love for Wilt and Bill.

    Leave a comment:


  • Apollo
    replied

    Just funny commentary by two retired NFLers.

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  • Apollo
    replied
    Sonny wrote: View Post
    I mean it is an autobiography disguised as a biography and yeah, no one in the whole thing was really critical against the Messiah.

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  • Sonny
    replied

    Leave a comment:


  • planetmars
    replied
    golden wrote: View Post

    Geez, man. Luka & Giannis alone proves the talent pool is greater than when MJ played, let alone all the non MVP candidates who would be great role players and more competition for Jordan. It’s like all these generational arguments only work IN FAVOR of MJ, but when you turn the tables, they suddenly don’t apply. Lol. At this point, I feel like I’m talking to extremists or Chr1sianL defending DeRozan.
    Ouch.. went below the belt on that one. I don't know. I think the talent level know is on par with the talent in the 90's. Put a list of the top 50 players from both eras together (guys that played against MJ, and the guys that played against Lebron). Sort the list out.. and I would think the list is pretty even in terms of ranking.

    There are far more international players that are elite now.. but IMO not as many talented american's as there were in the 90's. Curry/KD/Kawhi/AD/Harden/Dame are the cream of the crop for sure.. but a pretty steep drop after those guys.

    Leave a comment:


  • golden
    replied
    planetmars wrote: View Post

    There are more talented players coming in from Europe and Africa for sure. But I'm not sure if the entire talent pool is greater. I mean with the improvement in technology, scouting, nutrition, travel, etc.. these guys (including Lebron) are more refined but are they better basketball players?

    A lot of the american kids coming into the NBA are 1 and done's. Their games are not polished. A lot of teams are willing to tank a la Hinkie. I mean Lebron must have been licking his chops getting to play the Titanic division 3/4 times a year. His toughest competition in the East outside of the Celtics was who? Thibs' Bulls? Casey's Raptors lol? He bailed once Giannis started becoming a star, Kawhi came over, and guys like Embiid and Simmons finally had help in Butler.

    Most of the guys in the 90's spent 3 years in college before coming to the NBA. If you were a Euro star you were highly regarded like Petrovic and Kukoc. And because of the lack of analytics back in the day teams cared more about defense than offense and it was much tougher to score due to the system put in place. Yet MJ found a way to win scoring titles and was still heralded for his defense.

    Yeah MJ only got to play against a few non-americans like Hakeem, Mutombo, Petrovic, Schrempf, Smits, etc. But the talent pool for the elite american guys was probably bigger. I could rattle off a list of 20+ guys that MJ got through that were comparable to or even better than the group of guys Lebron had to play.

    And back to my point. Jordan still had to play 26-28 teams a year. Bill Russel I think only had to play 10 teams. And a big majority of the teams were white in what we've seen now being dominated by mainly black athletes. It was a lot tougher on MJ and just as tough on Lebron.. yet MJ won more and didn't have to rely on joining a stacked team (Pippen is overrated, especially on the offensive side of the ball) to do it.
    Geez, man. Luka & Giannis alone proves the talent pool is greater than when MJ played, let alone all the non MVP candidates who would be great role players and more competition for Jordan. It’s like all these generational arguments only work IN FAVOR of MJ, but when you turn the tables, they suddenly don’t apply. Lol. At this point, I feel like I’m talking to extremists or Chr1sianL defending DeRozan.

    Leave a comment:


  • planetmars
    replied
    golden wrote: View Post

    If you're going to take that tact, then the argument for Lebron is: who were best international players when MJ played, other than Hakeem? Aging Sabonis? Detlef Shrempf? MJ didn't have to face: Giannis, Embiid, Jokic, Siakam, Gasol Bros, Dirk, Simmons, Porzingis, Gobert, Manu, Parker, etc..., etc...

    The basketball talent pool is exponentially larger today than when MJ was in his prime. Probably even bigger just in the US alone, let alone adding the explosion in the rest of the world, including Canada.
    There are more talented players coming in from Europe and Africa for sure. But I'm not sure if the entire talent pool is greater. I mean with the improvement in technology, scouting, nutrition, travel, etc.. these guys (including Lebron) are more refined but are they better basketball players?

    A lot of the american kids coming into the NBA are 1 and done's. Their games are not polished. A lot of teams are willing to tank a la Hinkie. I mean Lebron must have been licking his chops getting to play the Titanic division 3/4 times a year. His toughest competition in the East outside of the Celtics was who? Thibs' Bulls? Casey's Raptors lol? He bailed once Giannis started becoming a star, Kawhi came over, and guys like Embiid and Simmons finally had help in Butler.

    Most of the guys in the 90's spent 3 years in college before coming to the NBA. If you were a Euro star you were highly regarded like Petrovic and Kukoc. And because of the lack of analytics back in the day teams cared more about defense than offense and it was much tougher to score due to the system put in place. Yet MJ found a way to win scoring titles and was still heralded for his defense.

    Yeah MJ only got to play against a few non-americans like Hakeem, Mutombo, Petrovic, Schrempf, Smits, etc. But the talent pool for the elite american guys was probably bigger. I could rattle off a list of 20+ guys that MJ got through that were comparable to or even better than the group of guys Lebron had to play.

    And back to my point. Jordan still had to play 26-28 teams a year. Bill Russel I think only had to play 10 teams. And a big majority of the teams were white in what we've seen now being dominated by mainly black athletes. It was a lot tougher on MJ and just as tough on Lebron.. yet MJ won more and didn't have to rely on joining a stacked team (Pippen is overrated, especially on the offensive side of the ball) to do it.

    Leave a comment:


  • G__Deane
    replied
    golden wrote: View Post

    You missed his most important world record.
    Made Tiger look like a virgin

    Leave a comment:


  • golden
    replied
    KeonClark wrote: View Post

    He was 7-1, around 280 pounds, 7-8 wingspan, incredibly athletic (track and field star), INCREDIBLY strong (they say he benched 500), widely known as one of the top 3 passing bigs of all time, and played 48 minutes a night. Anybody who thinks this guy wouldn't be good in 2020 is clinically insane.
    You missed his most important world record.

    Leave a comment:


  • NeedTristanThompson
    replied
    golden wrote: View Post

    I feel bad for Kareem. The disrespect is off the charts. Even off the court... the guy was a total introvert, yet still stood up for civil rights at a dangerous time and has never been recognized by anybody for anything, except maybe the Sky Hook.
    I didn't know about all that! What did he do?

    Also gotta love those classic commentator voices hahaha. Why don't all the commentators sound like that anymore?!

    Leave a comment:


  • KeonClark
    replied
    MixxAOR wrote: View Post

    Wilt averaged 50 playing in converse. He dererves all the respect.



    i played in converse once stupidly and busted my heel. shit hurt for 2 weeks.
    He was 7-1, around 280 pounds, 7-8 wingspan, incredibly athletic (track and field star), INCREDIBLY strong (they say he benched 500), widely known as one of the top 3 passing bigs of all time, and played 48 minutes a night. Anybody who thinks this guy wouldn't be good in 2020 is clinically insane.

    Leave a comment:


  • MixxAOR
    replied
    KeonClark wrote: View Post

    Then why wasn't anybody else doing it? Like I said, when Wilt averaged 50, 2nd place averaged 31.

    That "6-5 white guy guarding him" thing is SO exaggerated. The average player was about an inch shorter than today. You think he was the only tall guy around? The average center was 6-10, today it's 6-11 .It wasn't just Wilt and Bill, Willis Reed, Nate Thurmond, there was some big tough bangers back then.

    If we're throwing out Wilts stats on era, then hockey should do the same for Bobby Orr absolutely killing it in the 60s in a 6 team era. But they don't, he's usually ranked 2nd or 3rd, sometimes 1st, because despite the evolution of the game, he dominated against his peers.
    Wilt averaged 50 playing in converse. He dererves all the respect.



    i played in converse once stupidly and busted my heel. shit hurt for 2 weeks.

    Leave a comment:


  • Apollo
    replied
    The Great One wrote: View Post
    Players and analysts only put Russell and Wilt on their all time list out of respect. Nobody really believe they're the best.
    They do deserve respect. It's hard to say how they would perform against today's talent but they earned the right to be in any conversation about the all time greats. Basketball was almost a different sport back then compared to where it is now. Like comparing tackle football to ultimate frisbee.

    Leave a comment:


  • KeonClark
    replied
    The Great One wrote: View Post
    I saw a Wilt stat line the other day - 54 points, 34 rebounds, 24 blocks, 11 assists.

    Come on, just use your common sense. You think that's possible in today's game? or even in the 90's or 80s? lol. He was probably being guarded by a 6'5 guy the whole game.
    Then why wasn't anybody else doing it? Like I said, when Wilt averaged 50, 2nd place averaged 31.

    That "6-5 white guy guarding him" thing is SO exaggerated. The average player was about an inch shorter than today. You think he was the only tall guy around? The average center was 6-10, today it's 6-11 .It wasn't just Wilt and Bill, Willis Reed, Nate Thurmond, there was some big tough bangers back then.

    If we're throwing out Wilts stats on era, then hockey should do the same for Bobby Orr absolutely killing it in the 60s in a 6 team era. But they don't, he's usually ranked 2nd or 3rd, sometimes 1st, because despite the evolution of the game, he dominated against his peers.

    Leave a comment:

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