Top 10 Shooting Guards of all time according to ESPN

[bksballer89]

1. MJ
2. Kobe
3. West
4. D-Wade
5. Drexler
6. AI
7. George Garvin
8. Ray Allen
9. Reggie Miller
10. Earl Monroe

Agree or nah?

 

[Clayton]

Looks about right although Id take George Gervin over AI.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Their PG list pissed me off yesterday, I can't take them seriously after that.

 

[CitySushi]

Looks legit to me. Any current players capable of making that list?

Harden from a pure statistical standpoint will eventually crack that list on his current trajectory.

Don't think Klay will reach Reggie levels, but could eventually be close.

 

[CitySushi]

Their PG list pissed me off yesterday, I can't take them seriously after that.

No way Curry should be at 4. IMO he should have been omitted. He'll definitely be up there, possibly top 5, but that's when it's all said and done. From a career standpoint, CP3 could be considered given that he's done it for far longer.

And my honest opinion is that John Stockton was great, but I'd easily choose Gary Payton over him to start a team.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

No way Curry should be at 4. IMO he should have been omitted. He'll definitely be up there, possibly top 5, but that's when it's all said and done. From a career standpoint, CP3 could be considered given that he's done it for far longer.

And my honest opinion is that John Stockton was great, but I'd easily choose Gary Payton over him to start a team.

Yeah, even most Warriors fans even didn't like him being that high this soon in his career. I'm a huge Curry fan, trust me… he's a joy to watch and reminds me of how fun it was to watch those Run N Gun Suns.

But, no way should 2 elite seasons put him over guys like Thomas, Nash, Paul, Payton, etc. If he continues this dominance another 4-5 years then yeah, put him in the top 5 no doubt, but until then that just looks like a projection rather than based on actual accomplishments in the league.

 

[Mebert]

I am a big fan of Gervin and think he should be quite a bit higher, but I am fine with everything else.

 

[Clayton]

Their PG list pissed me off yesterday, I can't take them seriously after that.

They got #1 and #2 right but...man...its hard to debate the rest because PG play makes every team different.

Curry could end up being #3 by the time he retires. He could also fizzle pretty quickly and then what? Curry is on the list too soon. I think Curry and Thomas are the next 2 guys in terms of prime but Stockton's career and what Stockton's career could've been in THIS era of PG play is something thats hard to discount.

 

[Gooch1034]

Looks legit to me. Any current players capable of making that list?

Harden from a pure statistical standpoint will eventually crack that list on his current trajectory.

Don't think Klay will reach Reggie levels, but could eventually be close.

Any idea how much they look at defensive play when doing lists like this? I haven't a clue but if anything could hurt Harden, its his lack of defense but not sure how much that weighs into things?

 

[Mebert]

Any idea how much they look at defensive play when doing lists like this? I haven't a clue but if anything could hurt Harden, its his lack of defense but not sure how much that weighs into things?

The top 4 on this list all killed it on defense.

 

[Gooch1034]

The top 4 on this list all killed it on defense.

Absolutely! I just wasn't into basketball enough back then to know much about who was good defensively past those top 4 and not sure how much weight defensive play matters deeper down lists like this.

 

[Mebert]

Drexler's advantage on defense was that when he took 18 steps without a dribble it was not an illegal.

 

[winningTorch]

I think this is a fine list.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I don't agree with the list because Andrew Toney isn't on it. He belongs at #4 on the list.

 

[Hornsstampede2.0]

I'll be a homer and point out that MANU GINOBILI did so many diffrent things that his accomplishments are devalued by just looking at stats. There has never been a player quite like him that infinitely transcends his raw stats.

He was probably one of the best defenders at his position during his era. ELITE LEVEL defense
He still is a very good defender even at an old age today.

He was the closer/clutch guy with the ball in his hands taking the shots and freethrows for the peak title years.
It was not Parker or Duncan who had that role. Manu was the guy at the end of games.

Only 2 players in history have an Olympic Gold, Euroleague title, and an NBA title.
Only one made the all-Olympics, all-Euroleague, and all-NBA teams.

He is a hall of famer and maybe one day will go in with Timmy together.

 

[Mebert]

I'll be a homer and point out that MANU GINOBILI did so many diffrent things that his accomplishments are devalued by just looking at stats. There has never been a player quite like him that infinitely transcends his raw stats.

He was probably one of the best defenders at his position during his era. ELITE LEVEL defense
He still is a very good defender even at an old age today.

He was the closer/clutch guy with the ball in his hands taking the shots and freethrows for the peak title years.
It was not Parker or Duncan who had that role. Manu was the guy at the end of games.

Only 2 players in history have an Olympic Gold, Euroleague title, and an NBA title.
Only one made the all-Olympics, all-Euroleague, and all-NBA teams.

He is a hall of famer and maybe one day will go in with Timmy together.

No question he is a first ballot Hall of Famer, but so is everyone on that list except Earl Monroe. You could have Manu at 10 and I don't think anyone would blink, but I would not have him any higher then that.

 

[Edonidd]

AI as in Iverson? He may have taken a lot of shots, but AI was 100% a point guard

 

[Mebert]

AI as in Iverson? He may have taken a lot of shots, but AI was 100% a point guard

He played both. Eric Snow was the starting PG on that 76ers team for years, but after they drafted Iguodala they moved him to PG. About 10 of his 14 years he played SG though.

 

[Edonidd]

He played both. Eric Snow was the starting PG on that 76ers team for years, but after they drafted Iguodala they moved him to PG. About 10 of his 14 years he played SG though.

I don't care what he played, Allen Iverson WAS a PG.

 

[CitySushi]

I'll be a homer and point out that MANU GINOBILI did so many diffrent things that his accomplishments are devalued by just looking at stats. There has never been a player quite like him that infinitely transcends his raw stats.

He was probably one of the best defenders at his position during his era. ELITE LEVEL defense
He still is a very good defender even at an old age today.

He was the closer/clutch guy with the ball in his hands taking the shots and freethrows for the peak title years.
It was not Parker or Duncan who had that role. Manu was the guy at the end of games.

Only 2 players in history have an Olympic Gold, Euroleague title, and an NBA title.
Only one made the all-Olympics, all-Euroleague, and all-NBA teams.

He is a hall of famer and maybe one day will go in with Timmy together.

It'll always be hard for people to judge Manu because he has primarily been a sub his entire career. From a statistical stand point, his numbers don't come close to anyone at the top. From a game stand point, you could easily argue he's a top 10 talent. If he wasn't on the Spurs, I don't doubt he would have put up numbers up there with the best of them. His defense as you said has always been very good.