Greatest NBA Player of all-time

[StanMarsh51]

I'll take Kareems best 11 over Jordans.

I'd argue otherwise, especially when you look at the advanced/sabermetric stats that attempt to take overall play into account...

Looking at player efficiency rating (PER) for instance, Jordan's got 4 seasons better than Kareem's best season. Kareen's second best PER would be Jordan's 8th best.

Looking at value over replacement player (VORP), Jordan has 9 seasons with a VORP over 8.0, whereas Kareem has 3. In fairness to Kareem, VORP data isn't available for his first 4 seasons because some stats weren't recorded those years (blocks, steals, breakdown b/w offensive and defensive rebounds), but if even if you assume that he would've had a VORP of at least 8.0 in those 4 seasons, he's still 2 behind Jordan.

 

[jon2tanman]

I'd argue otherwise, especially when you look at the advanced/sabermetric stats that attempt to take overall play into account...

Looking at player efficiency rating (PER) for instance, Jordan's got 4 seasons better than Kareem's best season. Kareen's second best PER would be Jordan's 8th best.

Looking at value over replacement player (VORP), Jordan has 9 seasons with a VORP over 8.0, whereas Kareem has 3. In fairness to Kareem, VORP data isn't available for his first 4 seasons because some stats weren't recorded those years (blocks, steals, breakdown b/w offensive and defensive rebounds), but if even if you assume that he would've had a VORP of at least 8.0 in those 4 seasons, he's still 2 behind Jordan.

Win shares per 48 minutes are very close for both players during their best 10 years. I guess it's apples vs oranges, since we can both cherry pick stats. All I know is no one has dominated the game from high school till retirement like Kareem, and he did it without the sports media shoving it down our throats.

 

[tlance]

Win shares per 48 minutes are very close for both players during their best 10 years. I guess it's apples vs oranges, since we can both cherry pick stats. All I know is no one has dominated the game from high school till retirement like Kareem, and he did it without the sports media shoving it down our throats.

PER tends to be skewed toward perimeter players, and win shares seems to favor bigs.

I really wish there was one stat that could be held above the rest, but there really isn't. PER has the most potential, but it doesn't penalize nearly heavily enough for missed shots and TOs. Stat stuffers like Russ come out way ahead of more efficient guys like Kawhi.

 

[Mike A. S.]

Larry Bird needs to at least be on the list here!

 

[DirtDirtDirt]

Larry Bird needs to at least be on the list here!

I loved Larry Legend, but with todays freak athletes, I think Larry is one guy that wouldnt have been as good in this era of basketball

 

[ChrisWebber]

Umm where is this man?

 

[thunderc]

I loved Larry Legend, but with todays freak athletes, I think Larry is one guy that wouldnt have been as good in this era of basketball

We will just have to disagree on that one. He was truly legendary.

 

[Mike A. S.]

I loved Larry Legend, but with todays freak athletes, I think Larry is one guy that wouldnt have been as good in this era of basketball

I can agree but I think that can pretty much be said for anyone from a long time ago compared to know. It's simply a different era. Athletes train much harder these days so they're basically all better athletes now than the ones from way back. But I'm just trying to compare how everyone was in their era.

 

[rmilia1]

Top 5 imo

1. Michael Jordan
2. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
3. Magic Johnson
4. Oscar Robertson
5. LeBron James