The Greatest EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


M

mighty hornet

The HMIC!!
Jordan wears 'greatest' crown
By David DuPree, USA TODAY

This should settle it once and for all: Michael Jordan, who will play in his final NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, is the greatest basketball player ever. Any scale that is used to measure a player's greatness is flawed and open to interpretation, but USA TODAY factored in every aspect of the game to come up with the greatest player and the all-time All-Star team of greatest players. Just as in All-Star voting, the greatest team was selected by points at the positions, not overall points.

Jordan, reluctantly, is the man.

"It's truly an accomplishment, and I take it in a prideful way," Jordan says of his "greatest" title. "But I don't accept it in the sense that I haven't played against the other great players. I've played against some good players and great players in my era, but I don't get to play against the other guys in other eras.

"I think that's unfair to those guys as well as to myself to say I'm the best that ever played because I never played against Wilt Chamberlain. I never played against Jerry West," Jordan says. "I respect the older players and if it wasn't for them, there is no way I could have become the player that I am. I've watched Jerry West. I've watched Walter Davis, David Thompson. They influenced my game. They've got to have a piece of what I've accomplished."

Magic Johnson says there is no debate.

"Michael is the greatest player ever, and Bill Russell is the greatest winner ever and always will be," says Johnson, who joins Jordan in the backcourt on the first team.

Also on the first team are forwards Julius Erving and Larry Bird and Chamberlain at center. The second team: guards Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson, Russell at center and forwards John Havlicek and Rick Barry.

The top 10 players from each decade, picked subjectively, were awarded a varying number of points in 10 categories, ranging from individual statistical titles in the NBA and ABA to All-Star appearances to championships.

How we decided
The top 10 players from each NBA/ABA decade (1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s), picked subjectively, were awarded points in 10 categories that were weighted to best reflect overall skill and accomplishments. The categories are also how to compare players across eras. The totals were added to pick the greatest player and the greatest All-Star teams. The categories include NBA and ABA awards.

Categories used:

NBA MVP awards won (five points each)
NBA championships won (five points each)
All-Star Games selected to play in (one point each)
All-NBA first-team selections (two points each)
All-defensive first team (one point each)
NBA Finals MVP awards (two points each)
All-Star MVP awards (one point each)
Individual statistical titles (two points each) ? restricted to points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage and free throw percentage, the stats the league has used the longest
Career averages (six points each) ? if a player is the NBA career leader in scoring average, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage or free throw percentage
Career playoff averages (five points each) ? for each category the player leads




They add up to best of best
Pos. Player, teams Seasons Points
First team
F Julius Erving 16 84
F Larry Bird 13 75
C Wilt Chamberlain 14 124
G Michael Jordan 13 149
G Magic Johnson 13 102
Second team
F John Havlicek 16 72
F Rick Barry 14 70
C Bill Russell 13 118
G Bob Cousy 13 86
G Oscar Robertson 14 65
* Making the top 10 in points but not on the teams because they trail others at their position are centers Kareem Abdul Jabbar (114 points, fourth overall) and George Mikan (88 points, sixth overall)

Jordan, the only one to earn points in each category, was the overwhelming leader at 149. Chamberlain was second (124) and Russell third (118). The only other players to earn 100 or more points were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (114) and Johnson (102).

Russell won a record 11 NBA titles, five league MVP awards, made the all-NBA first team three times and was on the inaugural all-defensive team in his last season of his 13-year career. Jordan has won six titles, five NBA MVP awards and six NBA Finals MVP awards; made the all-NBA first team 10 times and the all-defensive team nine times; and won 10 scoring titles in his 13 years.

"Michael has done things in sports, forget basketball, sports in general that no other man has done," Johnson adds. "He is always going to be bigger than the game, bigger than sports. He's a world-wide hero. There will never be another Bill Russell, and there will never be another Michael Jordan."

Charles Barkley, one of Jordan's best friends and also among the league's greater players, says Jordan "took the game to a whole new level, and the (Chicago) Bulls would have won two more titles if he didn't retire the first time.

"I put Michael and Magic at the top along with Russell and Oscar. I have to give Kevin McHale credit, too, because he was the best player I ever played against. I'm not on their level. They're icons, I was just another player."

The Guards

The biggest surprise is probably that Cousy beat out West on the second team, but Cousy was the dominant point guard of the 1950s, leading the league in assists eight consecutive seasons and winning six NBA titles. West never won the MVP award and won only one NBA title. He and Cousy were both 10-time All-NBA first-team selections.

"Cousy was Magic before Magic," says K.C. Jones, who played with or against or coached or coached against all 10 players on the two greatest teams. "He was small, but he had the flair and the wild hook off the wrong foot that always went in. If you're talking about performing and winning, Cousy belongs there."

Robertson is the only player to average a triple-double for an entire season (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 1961-62). For his 14-year career, he averaged 25.7 points, 9.5 assists and 7.5 rebounds.

Johnson revolutionized point-guard play with his passing skills and his size (6-9). He won five NBA titles and is the NBA's career assists average leader. He pulled off one of the greatest single feats in playoff history as a rookie in the series-winning Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals. With Abdul-Jabbar home with a sprained ankle, Johnson moved to center and had 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals to help the Lakers win the game and the championship.

The Forwards

Bird had the shot, the passing ability, the flair and the killer instinct, one of the greatest clutch players. "He was slick, and he could shoot the eyes out," says Jones.

Erving first made his fame in the ABA and kept it up in the NBA, making the dunk and the high flying act the envy of every player. Before there was "Be like Mike" there was "Be like Doc."

Says Johnson: "Dr. J is like Bill Russell. They just breed class. You want to call them 'Sir' when you talk to them."

Second-teamers Havlicek and Barry are there because of their consistency.

Havlicek won eight NBA titles and made the all-defensive team five times. He is the Celtics' all-time leading scorer with 26,395 points.

Barry, also an ABA star before moving to the NBA, is the most underrated player to be selected. Barry did lead the NBA and ABA in scoring and won a championship in both leagues.

Karl Malone, Elgin Baylor and Bob Pettit came next.

The Centers

Chamberlain, who passed away in 1999, battled Russell most of his career and was the most physically dominant player of any era.

After the lane had been widened from 6 feet to 12 feet to limit the dominance of the 6-10 George Mikan, a star of the '40s and '50s, the league widened it another 4 feet when Chamberlain came along.

Chamberlain is the only player to score 100 points in a game. He has the other two highest scoring NBA games (78 and 73), and 15 of the top 20 performances all-time. He averaged 50.4 points in one season and 44.8 in another.

Chamberlain and Jordan are also the only two players (at least 400 games played) with scoring averages of more than 30 points. Chamberlain also led the league in rebounding 11 times, in field goal percentage nine times and even once in assists.

"Russell is beneath Wilt because everything is about offense," Jones says. "But Wilt was still a great player. Russell was a communicator and he picked everybody up, and he was also the biggest hustler on the team.

"I can see how Michael and Wilt can be considered the greatest players, but Russell has the titles."

Still, Jones says Chamberlain was a marvel.

"You can't judge Russell on statistics alone, and, by the same token, you shouldn't judge Wilt only on his statistics," Jones says. "He was so good and so dominant that his teammates didn't know how to play with him. He was so good that he got blamed every time they lost. That wasn't fair."

Mikan, with four MVP awards, seven league championships and six scoring titles, also scored highly, as did Moses Malone, with three MVP awards and six rebounding titles.

Abdul-Jabbar had the fourth highest point total of any player in our judging but doesn't make either of the top teams thanks to Chamberlain and Russell. Abdul-Jabbar won six MVP awards and six championships and is the league's all-time leading scorer.

"Kareem was the most graceful big man ever, but Wilt was so strong and Russell won all the time," famed coach Jack Ramsay says, "and now here comes Shaq (Shaquille O'Neal)."

The next generation

O'Neal, the most dominant player in the game today, and teammate Kobe Bryant have won the last three NBA titles and are destined to be considered among the greatest if their careers continue in the same path.

O'Neal, who also led the league in field goal percentage the last five seasons and has been the NBA Finals MVP the last three years, probably won't play long enough to surpass Chamberlain or Russell.

O'Neal and Bryant, with Tim Duncan ? who in his five years has been in five All-Star Games, made all-NBA five times and already has won an MVP award and a championship ? head a list of young stars waiting in the wings.

Bryant, who resembles Jordan in style and manner, always has bristled at comparisons between the two. "His entire career, he has gone above and beyond what everyone has expected of him," Bryant says. "That's quite an accomplishment."

Allen Iverson had the definitive "Is Jordan the greatest?" answer two years ago, and he says nothing has changed his opinion: "You can take Michael Jordan's shoes and try to fill them ? all of us could try to put our foot in ? and they just wouldn't fit. There will never be another Michael Jordan, nowhere near it."

Contributing: Roscoe Nance
 



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BUT YOU WILL DAMN WELL RESPECT HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The greatest talk about the greatest
By HAL BOCK
AP Sports Writer
The greatest said he was the greatest ever.

With a few exceptions, many of the NBA's 50 greatest players agreed that Michael Jordan was the best of all.

Some of their comments:


ELGIN BAYLOR

"I don't think there will ever be another player to have the same impact on the game of basketball as Michael Jordan. If you look up the definition of greatness in the dictionary, it will say Michael Jordan."

DAVE BING

"Michael is the most talented player I've ever seen. Wilt was the most dominating, but Michael has the most talent in every aspect of the game, even defense.

"He's the best ever because of his combination of skills, his competitiveness. Russell, Wilt, Kareem dominated because of their size, but they didn't have Michael's skills."


BOB COUSY

"He's by far the best since Naismith hung up the basket. He touches every base. He could play three, maybe four positions and maybe even center, too. He has no discernible weakness. The keys to basketball, despite the emphasis on big men, is still speed and quickness. He has them in abundance. When I jumped as high as I could, I got to the bottom of the net. When he jumps as high as he can, he's over the backboard. He's the best, without question."

DAVE COWENS

"If you're a young player and you have to have a role model, following up Dr. J with Michael Jordan, it certainly doesn't get any better than that. From all I've heard the last few years, there's nobody anybody wants to see in our league except Michael Jordan. He wanted to be known not only as a great scorer and a winner, but a great defender. And he was. As good as Chicago was offensively, they were better defensively primarily because of Michael Jordan."

BILLY CUNNINGHAM

"I think he was the best ever. The whole package. He's scary sometimes with his defense. The passion he had amazes me. At a certain age, it's more difficult to get up for a game. A big game, sure, it's easy. But he did it for every game. How did he do it? To motivate himself at a level to perform. There's no burnout there. It's something within himself. If I had to play him, I'd pray a lot."

PATRICK EWING

"All I can speak for is people in my era, and from what I've seen, he's definitely the greatest. Unfortunately, I didn't have an opportunity to see Bill, Wilt or Oscar or some of the other guys. But based upon what I've seen, definitely.

MAGIC JOHNSON

"He's an icon, a one-man show. He's won one more championship than I did. He'll be rubbing it in my face for eternity. I was hoping he would stay just one more year to help these young NBA players learn how to be a true professional."

SAM JONES

"I don't know if he knows how good he is. He's tremendous. I've never seen anything like him. He's only 6-6. That's amazing. You seldom see a person that size do those things. He's so creative and to be able to take over a game at that size, it's amazing. Oscar and West were the best, but there's no other version of Jordan, the hang time, how high he jumps, how quick he moves. The guy amazes me. ... He's the best I've ever seen."

JERRY LUCAS

"He's been probably the most important player in the history of the game as far as its success, popularity and growth. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird provided a lift when the game needed it. Michael took it to another level and brought more and more fans.

"He's the greatest player who ever lived, a unique attraction. He's such a competitor. He forced the players around him to play at a higher level. He's a competitor. That describes a special player. When the sport loses him, it's like losing Babe Ruth in baseball. I've never seen a player who can do what he did."

GEORGE MIKAN

"He's the one and only Michael Jordan. He does everything well. He's great offensively and defensively. What else would you want a guy to do? When you see a guy scoring 40 points every time ... and he plays more with his head today. He doesn't rely on instinct anymore. He's always in the right place."

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

"Michael's definitely the best basketball player of all time. He's the greatest offensive weapon to ever play, and probably the best defensive player we've ever seen."

OSCAR ROBERTSON

"Michael is a tremendous basketball player who understands the game immensely. I think Michael learned how to play the game in the pros. Because of TV and media, he became bigger off the court than on it. He is a tremendous marketing vehicle to sell everything. I think he hesitated to say `No more' because he did it once before and that turned out to be a mistake."

BILL RUSSELL

"I cannot imagine anyone playing any better."

DOLPH SCHAYES

"Michael's had the greatest impact on the NBA than any player in history. He was the greatest competitor who came through when asked. He rarely had a bad game. You'd expect 10 percent of the time that he would not do well. He beat those odds.

"He'll surely be missed the first year or two out. He sold out buildings because people want to see him. He got a lot of people who were not fans watching the game. There's nobody on the horizon to take his place, not Grant Hill and not Kobe Bryant. He's the player of the century."

BILL SHARMAN

"Michael Jordan is the greatest all-around basketball performer of all time. ... I don't believe Michael was the greatest shooter or the greatest dribbler or passer or the greatest defensive player, etc. However, I believe he could do all these things better than anyone else who ever played in the NBA."

ISIAH THOMAS

"From all the players I have seen and played against, he's definitely the best player ever. A lot of people like to argue this guy was better or this guy was better. But every player you think of there was some weaknesses and deficiencies in their game. He has the complete package in all facets of his offensive game, and when you break him down defensively, he's also the best defensive player in the game. ... He should be remembered as the greatest of all time."

NATE THURMOND

"He's the greatest that ever touched a basketball, that ever lived, any way you want to put it and without a doubt. I hope I'm alive when there will be an argument of who is another player who comes along who's as good. I hope I'm around to see this guy.

BILL WALTON

"He has no peers but Michael Jordan. He competes against himself. That's the level he's taken it to."

JERRY WEST

"I have to think he's the greatest player ever. Not because of his ability to score, but because of his total game. To me he's the best offensive player and the best defensive player in the league for a number of years. To be the defensive player of the year with all the other things he had to do, to me, he's a marvel. He has separated himself from the rest of the good players as far as I'm concerned. He's the modern day Babe Ruth."

LENNY WILKINS

"He became the greatest. I won't say he was when he first started, but he developed into, I think, the greatest player who ever played basketball. I think he combined all of it, the athleticism with the skill. And every year he improved his skill. And also the mental toughness it takes to come out night in and night out and deliver your best performance. ... You know I've seen a lot of great players, but never one who could dominate a game like Michael could."
 
You said all that to make what point? Nobody has ever said that Jordan wasnt the greatest. You wasted space with this crap.

And who gives a damn about basketball before 1980. Real sports fans know that anything before then wasnt really basketball.....And dont give me that junk about players like Mikan and Russel....neither of them would even make an NBA franchise today.

Bob Cousy....pahlease
 
Originally posted by SAME OLD G
Kobe hit for 46 last night.
Click to expand...
how _ _ _ can you get.


:smh::smh:

This is about Michael Jordan, universally regarded as the greatest ever!!!!!!!!!!


take that crap about a regular season game between non-playoff teams over there------------------------->


In the words of Panthro,

sheesh!
:shame:
 
Jordan saved the NBA and for that he was rewarded. He was the cash cow who you dare not allow to be compromised so he was held to a LOWER standard than the players before him.
 
Originally posted by SAME OLD G
Kobe hit for 46 last night.
Click to expand...

You shole is right SOG.

Did you see the double pump wrap around from the other side of the lane dunk on Sprewell? Aaaaaw man. I know Sprewell wanted to choke Kobe. Even the Knick fans had to give it up. Man I know Spee is mad that they made him try to check Kobe.
 
Originally posted by Get Ready
Nobody has ever said that Jordan wasnt the greatest.
Click to expand...
Yeah, nobody but you!!!!
:lol::lol:



And who gives a damn about basketball before 1980. Real sports fans know that anything before then wasnt really basketball.....And dont give me that junk about players like Mikan and Russel....neither of them would even make an NBA franchise today.

Bob Cousy....pahlease
Click to expand...
After Mr. Jordan, I didnt even bother to see who else was on there. Besides, this aint about them, this is about Mr. Jordan being the greatest ever!!!!!


but all yall can talk about is what kobe scored last night.

how smalltime can you get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This comparison is so damn unfair, that I ought to leave it alone




but I won't!!!


The greatest ever vs 46 points last night!!!
bahahahahahahahahahaha

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao:
 
Originally posted by Get Ready
Did you see the double pump wrap around from the other side of the land dunk on Sprewell? Aaaaaw man. I know Sprewell wanted to choke Kobe. Evne the Knick fans had to give it up. Man I know Spee is mad that they made him try to check Kobe.
Click to expand...
A double pump wrap around vs 6 Finals MVP!


:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :jump: :jump: :jump: :jump: :slap: :jump:
 



Originally posted by Prodigy
but I need help?
Click to expand...
Yes you do.

What you don't understand is that this Jordan/kobe stuff has been going on a long time here on TSPN.
The few times kobe does something worth a damn (and that's very few and very far between), his fan club (GR, Suge, Ice Man, SOGGY, jag4life) will always let us know about it. They are so full of it, they'll even let us know even when he shoots 12 out of 31.

So, stop crying like a lil ____________ when something is posted about Jordan. The article I posted is from today's USA Today!

Damn, stop being such a moron.
 
:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

He called me a MORON!

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

I didn't mean to get under your skin.

:bawling: :bawling: :bawling:



Hey... quick... how many rebounds did Jordan have in the 11th game of the '86-'87 season?





"moron"



:bawling:
 
Originally posted by mighty hornet

The few times kobe does something worth a damn (and that's very few and very far between), his fan club (GR, Suge, Ice Man, SOGGY, jag4life) will always let us know about it. They are so full of it, they'll even let us know even when he shoots 12 out of 31.
Click to expand...

Dude, I am a Lakers fan!!! Kobe is a part of the greatest franchise ever!!! I will be a Lakers fan after Kobe has retired with his 10 rings.
 
Originally posted by jag4life


Dude, I am a Lakers fan!!! Kobe is a part of the greatest franchise ever!!! I will be a Lakers fan after Kobe has retired with his 10 rings.
Click to expand...

Precisely. I couldn't have said it any better. I was a Lakers fan when Kobe was in Italy..... and I will still be a Lakers fan when Kobe is a 20 year vet in the Hall.
 
I agree with the first team selection...the only change I would personally make would be on the second team.

Center: Bill Russell
Forward: Karl Malone
Forward: Rick Barry
Guard: Oscar Robertson
Guard: Jerry West
 
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