Top 75 Players

[MHSL82]

The NBA's 75th Anniversary Team, ranked

Where 76 basketball legends check in on our list.

www.espn.com

 

[MHSL82]

 

[MHSL82]

If I thought it were fun enough for enough people to get a good sample size of votes, I’d like to rank the above players that weren’t on the Top 75 (76 technically) and then systematically ask if spot 85 is better or not than spot 84. Then the winner of that versus number 83.

But I don’t think I’d get enough people wanting to do that.

 

[wildturkey]

If thinks go down a certain road with AD given his injury pattern, and that road is certainly possible, they are gonna look real dumb putting Davis on that list. He shouldn't be on it now anyway but I'm sure their thought process was he was gonna keep putting up more accolades.

 

[MHSL82]

If thinks go down a certain road with AD given his injury pattern, and that road is certainly possible, they are gonna look real dumb putting Davis on that list. He shouldn't be on it now anyway but I'm sure their thought process was he was gonna keep putting up more accolades.

I think that there are many players there that they are assuming will produce worthy stats or accolades. But with this, when they get to the top 100 or if they do something in between, those in my second post wouldn’t make it (like TMac, Vince Carter, etc.) because there would be people during that time (in 25 years) who will be placed in the Top 100 because of what they anticipate. You would almost need to do a Top 100 now and Top 150 then. But that makes no sense.

I think they should be backwards looking of who made it. This would still include modern players, like LeBron, of course, but not for some others. But I think you also need a certain number from each era, including now, to get buy in from fans and players. Featuring only retired or near retired players may cause some disconnect… not that this list is all that important.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Dwight is a pretty big snub if you ask me.

Kyrie - talent wise- absolutely belongs there- but his injuries and craziness kept him off.

Klay needs more longevity. Green is great but not top 75 great.

Pau is pretty damn good.

Some tough guys to leave off. Hard to find too many guys I would take off that made it though.

Who are the last 5 guys ON the team?

I would say Howard deserves it over Lillard and Anthony Davis.

ESPN has some old school guys like Dave Bing, Bill Sharman , Dave DeBusschere, Billy Cunningham, Dolph Schayes as their last few in- I cannot accurately opine on their inclusion.

How Lenny Wilkins did not make their top 15 coach list but made the top 75 players list is just insane to me.

 

[WiggyRuss]

If thinks go down a certain road with AD given his injury pattern, and that road is certainly possible, they are gonna look real dumb putting Davis on that list. He shouldn't be on it now anyway but I'm sure their thought process was he was gonna keep putting up more accolades.

As things stand today- I think Dwight deserves it more than AD and Lillard.

 

[WiggyRuss]

I think having guys like Rodman and Parrish in their are tough.

Rodman is probably the best rebounder in NBA history- so I guess I can accept that--- but Parrish over Dwight seems insane to me. Dwight was an MVPlevel guy nearly many times--- 5 time First Team all NBA , a Defensive Player of the year 3 times. Parrish was a very good player- but top 75 for him seems insane--- more of a function of his team than of his own talent- and when you are talking about top 75 of all time I think you have to go with individual talent over being a perfect cog for a team.

if anyone is building a team- NO ONE in their right mind takes prime Parrish over prime Dwight.

James Worthy kind of fits into that category too- but he is def. better than Parrish and Rodman overall. However- no doubt in my mind Kyrie Irving is a more talented player than James Worthy.

 

[broncosmitty]

Dwight is a pretty big snub if you ask me.

Kyrie - talent wise- absolutely belongs there- but his injuries and craziness kept him off.

Klay needs more longevity. Green is great but not top 75 great.

Pau is pretty damn good.

Some tough guys to leave off. Hard to find too many guys I would take off that made it though.

Who are the last 5 guys ON the team?

I would say Howard deserves it over Lillard and Anthony Davis.

ESPN has some old school guys like Dave Bing, Bill Sharman , Dave DeBusschere, Billy Cunningham, Dolph Schayes as their last few in- I cannot accurately opine on their inclusion.

How Lenny Wilkins did not make their top 15 coach list but made the top 75 players list is just insane to me.

I’d have Howard higher than Melo too.


The guy who should be bumped, if we’re going off real career and not talent or college, is Bill Walton. His fourth best season he was 12-12 guy.

 

[broncosmitty]

If I’m building a team, I take Grant Hill and Cade over Bing.


I’d also take Ja Morant over Bob Cousy. But that isn’t what the list is about.

 

[CitySushi]

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.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I think having guys like Rodman and Parrish in their are tough.

Rodman is probably the best rebounder in NBA history- so I guess I can accept that--- but Parrish over Dwight seems insane to me. Dwight was an MVPlevel guy nearly many times--- 5 time First Team all NBA , a Defensive Player of the year 3 times. Parrish was a very good player- but top 75 for him seems insane--- more of a function of his team than of his own talent- and when you are talking about top 75 of all time I think you have to go with individual talent over being a perfect cog for a team.

if anyone is building a team- NO ONE in their right mind takes prime Parrish over prime Dwight.

James Worthy kind of fits into that category too- but he is def. better than Parrish and Rodman overall. However- no doubt in my mind Kyrie Irving is a more talented player than James Worthy.

I would take Dwight over Parrish any day of the week, it seems like they are putting older generation guys in there bc they feel the need to not disrespect that era. Great players but I think other guys deserved to be in the top 75 over them

 

[ChrisperJ10]

As things stand today- I think Dwight deserves it more than AD and Lillard.

Lillard god rest his soul, shouldn’t be on that list. Like him as a player but he’s a dollar store Iverson.

 

[PackJason.]

I pretty much stopped watching the NBA by 2000.

So to me, all of the '80s and '90s guys are underrated.

 

[MHSL82]

Lillard god rest his soul, shouldn’t be on that list. Like him as a player but he’s a dollar store Iverson.

He got the “your team has punished you with no talent around you” discount.

 

[tlance]

Lillard god rest his soul, shouldn’t be on that list. Like him as a player but he’s a dollar store Iverson.

I disagree.

Not many more exciting to watch than Allen Iverson.

But his teams really didn’t have any more success than Lillard’s.

Yes, he made a Finals. But damn the East was terrible back then. That 6ers team had no shot against the Lakers.

Dame losing to the Warriors in the West Finals is pretty similar,

And I 100% would want Dame on my team over AI. Just a better team player IMO.

 

[ChrisperJ10]

I disagree.

Not many more exciting to watch than Allen Iverson.

But his teams really didn’t have any more success than Lillard’s.

Yes, he made a Finals. But damn the East was terrible back then. That 6ers team had no shot against the Lakers.

Dame losing to the Warriors in the West Finals is pretty similar,

And I 100% would want Dame on my team over AI. Just a better team player IMO.

Maybe dollar store Iverson was a bit harsh. My bad.

I agree the East was dogshit, but so were the teams Iverson played on.

Jesus! Mutombo was like 50 lol

Snow, McKie?

Getting a win vs the Kobe/Shaq Lakers in the finals pretty much by himself is impressive.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

I think having guys like Rodman and Parrish in their are tough.

Rodman is probably the best rebounder in NBA history- so I guess I can accept that--- but Parrish over Dwight seems insane to me. Dwight was an MVPlevel guy nearly many times--- 5 time First Team all NBA , a Defensive Player of the year 3 times. Parrish was a very good player- but top 75 for him seems insane--- more of a function of his team than of his own talent- and when you are talking about top 75 of all time I think you have to go with individual talent over being a perfect cog for a team.

if anyone is building a team- NO ONE in their right mind takes prime Parrish over prime Dwight.

James Worthy kind of fits into that category too- but he is def. better than Parrish and Rodman overall. However- no doubt in my mind Kyrie Irving is a more talented player than James Worthy.

Hard disagree on Howard vs Parish. Yes, Howard had the better prime, but Parish was better for longer. Parish was an all-star at age 37 while Howard today at 36 is done.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Maybe dollar store Iverson was a bit harsh. My bad.

I agree the East was dogshit, but so were the teams Iverson played on.

Jesus! Mutombo was like 50 lol

Snow, McKie?

Getting a win vs the Kobe/Shaq Lakers in the finals pretty much by himself is impressive.

yeah AI didn’t have much support. I compare to a better version of what Lebron had in his first stint. Didn’t have Larry Hughes too but it was a very good defensive team like LBJ had but lacking offensively. McKie, Snow, Mutumbo, Ratliff and Lynch were all solid defenders. AI carried that offense, I mean McKie was their 2nd option. Opposite for Lillard, I think he had some good offensive weapons but the defense was usually lacking in a more competitive West. Hard to compare.
They beat a decent Indiana team before O’Neal was playing All-Star level. Then they beat Vincanity with basically no help. They did beat the Bucks with Ray, Big Dog and Cassell…a pretty good series win.

 

[raptorlife4]

AD, Dame should not be on this list

I actually think Harden is questionable as well

And Kawhi has missed a lot of time in his career.