City's 50 best players of all time

[tlance]

Disagree. From at least the mid-70's on, it's always been hard to be the best player in the game.

I don't believe it's any harder now than it was then. To be the best player, you have to be an HoF, all time great level player.

You can make a case that pre-70's, when the league was mainly a bunch of white guys, that it's was easier to be the best player.

But since the league became fully integrated, I think it's basically equally difficult in each era.

It may have been slightly less difficult in an era where there was expansion which can temporarily dilute the talent pool. But even then, I think the difference is fairly negligible.

Every year since 1960 the talent pool has grown considerably.

How many international players were in the NBA in 1970? Kareem literally was the best player when he entered the league his rookie season. That would not be possible today even if players still went to school for 4 years. If Giannis had been born in 1950, he would not have even been an NBA player.

Deeper talent pool = more great players = harder to be the best

Yes, the 1970s were considerably better than 1960, but still not even close to what the league has today in terms of talent.

 

[trojanfan12]

How many international players were in the NBA in 1970?

How many were good enough? At that time, only the Soviet Union was able to compete with our college players.

Deeper talent pool = more great players = harder to be the best

A smaller talent pool can be harder to overcome because there are fewer "spots" available. So only the best get in. You don't have a lot of "roster filler" type players who wouldn't be in the league if you didn't need more bodies to fill out teams rosters.

Kareem literally was the best player when he entered the league his rookie season. That would not be possible today even if players still went to school for 4 years. If Giannis had been born in 1950, he would not have even been an NBA player.

Lebron wasn't the best player when he came into the league, but he was close and that was coming in out of high school. I think that had he gone to college for 4 years, he may very well have been the best player by then.

Sorry, but being the best player has always been hard, regardless of era and I don't buy it being much harder today than in the past.

 

[tlance]

How many were good enough? At that time, only the Soviet Union was able to compete with our college players.



A smaller talent pool can be harder to overcome because there are fewer "spots" available. So only the best get in. You don't have a lot of "roster filler" type players who wouldn't be in the league if you didn't need more bodies to fill out teams rosters.



Lebron wasn't the best player when he came into the league, but he was close and that was coming in out of high school. I think that had he gone to college for 4 years, he may very well have been the best player by then.

Sorry, but being the best player has always been hard, regardless of era and I don't buy it being much harder today than in the past.

That is the point.

Basketball is a global sport today. There are millions more athletes training from early ages with the ultimate dream of playing in the NBA.

More competition makes it harder to be the best. There is much more competition today.

And I never said it was “easy”. Just a lot harder today.

And the notion of expansion weakening the talent pool is silly. It is definitely harder to make the NBA today than it was in 1970. I don’t even think that is debatable.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Eh... I can't be bothered to do a top 50. This is my current top 10

1. MJ
2. Kareem
3. Magic
4. Lebron
5. Shaq
6. Bird
7. Hakeem
8. Duncan
9. Kobe
10. Wilt

Numbers 8-10 can change depending on my mood

If Lebron wins a title with the Lakers he makes #2
If Lebron wins more than 1 title with the Lakers he could make #1