Top 75 Players

[Shanemansj13]

Rodman being there is a joke

Bill Walton was at least a lead player on a championship team.

I get that people have issues with longevity, but I don’t.

A player with a short, but brilliantly high ceiling deserves a higher ranking on this list than a player with a long career of good not great, IMO.

Yeah but if we play that game then a handful of others deserve it just as much as him. I believe it has half to do with his amazing college career.
Rodman is definitely a question mark but he was possibly the greatest defender/rebounder of all-time. No problem with him being out too. A couple other question marks too

 

[Shanemansj13]

Joel Embiid wins MVP this year but gets injured in the playoffs and it ends his career. Is he on the 100 year team?

You could say he was had a better career than Walton

 

[fightinfunbags]

You could say he was had a better career than Walton

That’s my point

 

[tlance]

Joel Embiid wins MVP this year but gets injured in the playoffs and it ends his career. Is he on the 100 year team?

Not sure. Probably.

But he would certainly be ahead of some of the guys on the 75 team for me.

Aren’t many MVPs from the last 30 years that I would leave off my list.

 

[tlance]

I don’t have a problem with Rodman, what he did he was great at. He might be on the all time great defensive first team. That puts him there for me.

Compare him to Anthony Davis though.

It is actually kind of silly if you give any thought to what the two players could actually do on the court.

AD was also a DPOY caliber defender at his peak.

And Dennis Rodman hurt chemistry in multiple locker rooms. Only reason he is on the list is because of his bizarre antics that made him famous. He would be somewhere between Robert Horry and Draymond Green without that.

And Draymond is DEFINITELY the superior player.

Don’t see anybody saying Draymond should be on the list.

 

[thunderc]

Compare him to Anthony Davis though.

It is actually kind of silly if you give any thought to what the two players could actually do on the court.

AD was also a DPOY caliber defender at his peak.

And Dennis Rodman hurt chemistry in multiple locker rooms. Only reason he is on the list is because of his bizarre antics that made him famous. He would be somewhere between Robert Horry and Draymond Green without that.

And Draymond is DEFINITELY the superior player.

Don’t see anybody saying Draymond should be on the list.

I disagree with pretty much all of this, to each his own.

 

[ChrisperJ10]

Ok strictly defenders… Ben Wallace won 4 DPOY awards. Top 100?

 

[tlance]

Ok strictly defenders… Ben Wallace won 4 DPOY awards. Top 100?

Good post.

Pretty obvious that he isn’t.

 

[raptorlife4]

Rodman being there is a joke

Bill Walton was at least a lead player on a championship team.

I get that people have issues with longevity, but I don’t.

A player with a short, but brilliantly high ceiling deserves a higher ranking on this list than a player with a long career of good not great, IMO.

Rodman getting Carmen Electra in her prime puts him on the list alone

 

[Robotech]

I mean its tough to disregard the greats but when you watch clips of Bob Cousy dribbling with just his right hand only going left, it's hard to justify his spot over more "skilled" guys. I mean you compare him to Kyrie and it's like...what are we doing here? But at the same time without Cousy there'd be no Kyrie.

TMac, Dwight and Alex English are guys who I think needed to be on the 75 team. Everyone else in that "just missed" category I think has a valid enough reason.

I read a biography about Bob Cousy when I was in grade school. He was actually ambidextrous because he broke his right hand as a kid and had to use his left hand to play handball at school. I guess there aren't any old NBA clips to prove that he was ambidextrous, but I do remember reading about it. I'll have to find that exact book so that I can give you the proper citation.

 

[Robotech]

I mean its tough to disregard the greats but when you watch clips of Bob Cousy dribbling with just his right hand only going left, it's hard to justify his spot over more "skilled" guys. I mean you compare him to Kyrie and it's like...what are we doing here? But at the same time without Cousy there'd be no Kyrie.

TMac, Dwight and Alex English are guys who I think needed to be on the 75 team. Everyone else in that "just missed" category I think has a valid enough reason.

I wonder if a part of the reason is that NBA coaches back in the day were very rigid about what a player could and couldn't do. I believe that a very high majority of the players from the 1950's and older could dunk, but they were all told not to do that.

 

[SJ76]

They just need to redo the list.

I appreciate the history of the league, but there are guys from the 60s and before on this list who couldn’t make a roster today if they took a time machine.

Yeah, I know, training, sports medicine, nutrition, etc.

But the competition for an NBA spot today is many times greater than it was back then. So being a big fish in that much smaller pond just doesn’t mean all that much to me.

So, IMO, all those guys, Harden, Dame, AD belong on the list before many older players long ago generations and guys like Dennis Rodman.

There is no legit case for Rodman being more deserving than AD or Lillard. None at all.

This is where you lose me. Like you just continue to look at offense only. Rodman was the best rebounder of all time and also one of the best defenders of all time. Those 2 alone make him every bit a top 75 player of all time.


Does anyone on this site count defense at all? or is it just all about scoring this game of b-ball?


And Lillard over AI is laughable.

 

[Robotech]

I mean its tough to disregard the greats but when you watch clips of Bob Cousy dribbling with just his right hand only going left, it's hard to justify his spot over more "skilled" guys. I mean you compare him to Kyrie and it's like...what are we doing here? But at the same time without Cousy there'd be no Kyrie.

TMac, Dwight and Alex English are guys who I think needed to be on the 75 team. Everyone else in that "just missed" category I think has a valid enough reason.

This is from Wikipedia:

"In terms of playing style, Cousy introduced an array of visually attractive street basketball moves, described by the NBA as a mix of ambidextrous, behind-the-back dribbling and "no-look passes, behind-the-back feeds or half-court fastbreak launches".[2] Cousy's modus operandi contrasted with the rest of the NBA, which was dominated by muscular low post scorers and deliberate set shooters.[11] Soon, he was called "Houdini of the Hardwood" after the magician Harry Houdini. Cousy's crowd-pleasing and effective play drew the crowd into the Boston Garden and also won over coach Auerbach, who no longer saw him as a liability, but as an essential building block for the future." (emphasis added)

Bob Cousy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[SJ76]

Ok strictly defenders… Ben Wallace won 4 DPOY awards. Top 100?

Ben Wallace couldn’t guard guys like Magic Scottie and Jordan. Rodman did. He also guarded Shaq and the Mailman pretty well later in his career.


Did Ben Wallace do that?

 

[Robotech]

Unless you are one of the top 20-25 no doubt, all time great best of the best players like Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Jordan, LeBron, Curry, Durant, and others like them, I don't think you can really complain too much about not making it to the top 75 list. There are a lot of worthy players who can be ranked in the 26th to 75th spots.

 

[Robotech]

Ben Wallace couldn’t guard guys like Magic Scottie and Jordan. Rodman did. He also guarded Shaq and the Mailman pretty well later in his career.


Did Ben Wallace do that?

I remember Ben Wallace mostly guarding Shaq in the 2004 NBA Finals, but I think he would've done a good job on old Mailman in that series if he were his primary assignment.

 

[ChrisperJ10]

Ben Wallace couldn’t guard guys like Magic Scottie and Jordan. Rodman did. He also guarded Shaq and the Mailman pretty well later in his career.


Did Ben Wallace do that?

Neither could Rodman.

Magic almost averaged a triple double with solid efficiency vs Rodman.

Without looking, I bet Jordan averaged at least 25 a game against him as well.

No doubt Rodman was a great defender, wasn’t saying otherwise…

 

[SJ76]

Unless you are one of the top 20-25 no doubt, all time great best of the best players like Wilt, Russell, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Jordan, LeBron, Curry, Durant, and others like them, I don't think you can really complain too much about not making it to the top 75 list. There are a lot of worthy players who can be ranked in the 26th to 75th spots.

Yes. Those top 25-30 players are all solid 2 way players. Were great on one side of the ball and either great or pretty solid on the other side of the ball.

You have to find a special spot for Rodman. No one in the NBA has done what he did on defense on guys like Jordan and then Shaq?
And no one was better on the boards.


Then throw in he has as many rings as Lebron has.

 

[SJ76]

I remember Ben Wallace mostly guarding Shaq in the 2004 NBA Finals, but I think he would've done a good job on old Mailman in that series if he were his primary assignment.

Yes of course. What about a young Ben Wallace guarding Jordan? Magic?


No one did what Rodman did in the history of b-ball defense. He guarded 1 thru 5 and did it really good. Then throw in the rebounding

 

[SJ76]

Neither could Rodman.

Magic almost averaged a triple double with solid efficiency vs Rodman.

Without looking, I bet Jordan averaged at least 25 a game against him as well.

No doubt Rodman was a great defender, wasn’t saying otherwise…

Lol you don’t shut down Magic and Jordan. But Rodman had some games where he did. Point is Ben Wallace didn’t have to guard one of the best PGs or SGs of all time. Dude could guard anyone do it very well that’s the point.

“Dennis covers Magic like a blanket,” Laker Coach Pat Riley said of Rodman.