Who do you think is the Greatest NBA player of all time?
360291
Michael Jordan, hands down. No one person has ever or ever will have the talent the MJ has. Not downing Wilt, but he was 6 inches taller than everyone else in the NBA. If we get a 7'8" guy with power, he would dominate. Not because of skill...because of size.
49349
My vote definitely goes to my boy, Lebron James... damn the nigga got it all, style, energy, skills, everything.
577625
If you can only choose four, they have to be:\n\nMichael Jordan (globalized basketball and was the most marketable athlete of all time)\n\nMuhammad Ali (the most recognized face in the world and the most important combo of athlete and persona of all time)\n\nPele (acknowledged as the greatest player from the greatest team in the most popular sport in the world)\n\nI think those 3 are heads and shoulders more important world wide than any others. I think we should leave the 4th spot open. Tiger will earn it over the next 20 years.
618335
I think Kobe is the best player in the league.  He can score at will, & plays hard-nosed defense.  He also has the "IT" factor where he can perform under pressure & win the close games at the end.  He already has 3 rings; yes, Shaq had something to do with it, but all the greats in the history of the NBA had their counter parts (Jordan/Pippen, Magic/Kareem, etc.).  The only other player you can make an argument for is Lebron.  However, he has yet (not saying he won't) to prove himself.
1166009
THE 50 GREATEST PLAYERS IN NBA HISTORY \n\n\n\nKareem Abdul-Jabbar\nNate Archibald\n\nPaul Arizin\n\nCharles Barkley\n\nRick Barry\n\nElgin Baylor\n\nDave Bing\n\nLarry Bird\n\nWilt Chamberlain\n\nBob Cousy\n\nDave Cowens\n\nBilly Cunningham\n\nDave DeBusschere\n\nClyde Drexler\n\nJulius Erving\n\nPatrick Ewing\n\nWalt Frazier\n\nGeorge Gervin\n\nHal Greer\n\nJohn Havlicek\n\nElvin Hayes\n\nMagic Johnson\n\nSam Jones\n\nMichael Jordan\n\nJerry Lucas\n\n Karl Malone\nMoses Malone\n\nPete Maravich\n\nKevin McHale\n\nGeorge Mikan\n\nEarl Monroe\n\nHakeem Olajuwon\n\nShaquille O'Neal\n\nRobert Parish\n\nBob Pettit\n\nScottie Pippen\n\nWillis Reed\n\nOscar Robertson\n\nDavid Robinson\n\nBill Russell\n\nDolph Schayes\n\nBill Sharman\n\nJohn Stockton\n\nIsiah Thomas\n\nNate Thurmond\n\nWes Unseld\n\nBill Walton\n\nJerry West\n\nLenny Wilkens\n\nJames Worthy
1150798
Michael jordan the best player in basketball history duhhhhhhhhhhhh
615970
Yeah besides Jordan LeBron is the best player of all time.
395653
Wilt Chamberlain because he was unstoppable and 100 points, nobody else is ever going to get that again.\n\nBill Russell-8 championships in a row and 11 in 13 years, Micheal Jordan didn't even come close to that.\n\nMicheal Jordan-The Bulls would've never even come close to the NBA Finals if it wasn't for him.\n\nMagic Johnson-He could play all the positions and helped lead the Lakers to a championship in his first year and he beat Dr. J.\n\nShaquille O'Neal-He is so unstoppable. Name one player in the NBA that can stop when he's not in foul trouble.
225936
For me its Kobe Bryant. He is the leading scorer in the NBA right now and he scored 81 points this season! The 2nd Most points in the history of the NBA before Wilt Chamberlain's 100.
467409
Truth is, there are about 8 players in NBA history who have a legitimate argument to be called the best (or most dominant) player of all time...\n\nThey are:\n\n1) Wilt Chamberlain\n2) Bill Russell\n3) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar\n4) Larry Bird\n5) Magic Johnson\n6) Oscar Robertson\n7) Michael Jordan\n8) Shaquille O'Neal\n\nTim Duncan probably comes the closest to matching the skill level of these guys, in terms of fundamentals...but Duncan does not have a claim to be called the best ever...\n\nWilt was really the most dominant player ever (on BOTH ends of the court), and his basketball skills far exceeded those of Shaquille O'Neal. Although Jordan's strong suit is his scoring, his scoring feats really pale in comparison with Wilt.\n\nRussell led his team to 11 NBA titles in his 13 year career. Were Jordan around back then, he'd be just another guy who lost to the Celtic machine.\n\nJordan and Shaq are the only players on the above list who had the luxury of playing against what amounts to 'high school' players. The level of competition and overall skill levels of todays players is not as good as during, for example, the 1980s. But players today are adjusting to the way the NBA wants the game played. Traveling is never called, nor is 'palming' the ball (probably no one under 25 today even knows what 'palming the ball' even means...)\n\nThe All Defensive teams were not selected until after the 1969 season, so Wilt only made that team 3 or 4 times, but would have made it more often had there been such a thing in the '60s. So the idea that Jordan is the greatest defender ever because of his All Defensive number of selections is not well-founded.\n\nIf anyone thinks that todays players are more highly skilled than players of the 60s 70s and 80s, we need only look as far as the U.S. recent international performances, or lack thereof. Teams from Europe are beating our NBA "All Star" teams on a regular basis the last few years, because they (the Europeans) are still playing the game the way the U.S. played it in the 60s and 70s, when the U.S. truly dominated the world in basketball. They have taken the way we taught them the game and are now using that style against us. The U.S. international teams have been pathetic during the 21st century.\n\nMcGrady is not even close to being the best player of all time... there's no argument that one can make to place him anywhere near the company of the guys on this list. Being able to dunk doesn't make you the greatest player of all time.  If you think T-Mac is one of the two greatest players ever, you obviously haven't watched very much basketball.
716599
Ah, I would probably say Bill Russell for the best defensive player, but all I really know about him is from what I've read about him. I've read that he's an incredible shot-blocker who would block a shot in a way that he'd tip the ball to himself or a teammate, instead of blocking shots into the stands. \nI've read in Big Men Who Shook the NBA by Mark Heisler that someone wanted to find some totals of Bill Russell's blocks. In an era where blocks weren't tallied, it was pretty difficult. But, he was able to find someone who was recording Wilt Chamberlain's stats, and on one occasion Wilt had blocked about 25 shots. And Bill was the best at it, at the time, so you can imagine how many blocks he'd get. Also, the fact that Bill won 11 championships in 13 seasons is pretty amazing.\n\nHere're some stats I've from http://www.hoophall.com/index.htm:\n\nCollege Playing Highlights:  \n-Four-year letter winner under Hall of Fame coach Phil Woolpert\n-All-America (1956)\n-Led San Francisco to back-to-back NCAA championships (1955, 1956)\n-Along with Hall of Fame teammate K.C. Jones, led USF to 55 straight wins and two straight undefeated seasons\n-USA Player of the Year (1956)\n-Scored 1,636 points (20.7 ppg) and grabbed 1,606 rebounds (20.3 rpg) in 79 games\n-Two-time All-Conference, State, District and American\n-NCAA Most Outstanding Player (1955)\n-Member, gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic Team (1956) \n\nPro Playing Highlights:  \n-Won an amazing 11 NBA championships with Boston Celtics in 13 seasons (1957, 1959-66, 1968-69)\n-NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961-63, 1965)\n-All-NBA First Team (1959, 1963, 1965)\n-All-NBA Second Team (1958, 1960-62, 1964, 1966-68)\n-NBA All-Defensive First Team (1969)\n-Twelve-time NBA All-Star (1958-69)\n-MVP All-Star Game (1963) after 19 points and 24 rebounds\n-Holds the NBA single-game record for most rebounds in a half (32) vs. Philadelphia on Nov. 16, 1957\n-Celtics's all-time leading rebounder (21,620, 22.5 rpg) in 963 games; second best in history\n-Holds career playoff record for most rebounds (4,104, 24.9 rpg) in 165 games\n-Holds NBA Finals record for highest rebound per game average (29.5 rpg, 1959) and by a rookie (22.9 rpg, 1957)\n-Holds NBA Finals single-game record for most free throws attempted in one half (15, April 11, 1961) vs. St. Louis; most rebounds (40, March 29, 1960 vs. St. Louis and April 18, 1962 vs. Los Angeles); most rebounds by a rookie (32, April 13, 1967 vs. St. Louis); and most rebounds in a quarter (19, April 18, 1962 vs. Los Angeles)\n-Grabbed a career-high 51 rebounds vs. Syracuse (Feb. 5, 1960), making him one of two players ever (Wilt Chamberlain) to grab more than 50 boards in a game\n-Had seven games with 40 or more rebounds\n-Led the NBA in rebounding in first three seasons (19.6, 22.7, 23.0) and five times overall\n-Led the NBA in minutes played (1959, 42.5 mpg) and in 1965 (44.5 mpg)\n-Scored 14,522 points (15.1 ppg) in his career and averaged 16.2 ppg in 165 playoff games\n-Declared Greatest Player in the History of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America (1980)\n-NBA 25th Anniversary All-Time Team (1970)\n-NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team (1980)\n-NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team (1996)\n-Celtics retired his jersey number 6\n-Named "Sportsman of the Year" by Sports Illustrated (1968)
339800
Michael Jordan - greatest basketball player ever\n-----\nJackie Robinson - set a major precedent on sports history\n-----\nDick Butkis - the dirtiest and most feared football player ever (and unlike Lawrence Taylor did not get his edge from being high on cocaine)\n----\nBabe Ruth - no great athlete as ever been as in poor of physical health as he was, a sports anomaly\n----\nWayne Gretzky - indisputably the greatest hockey player to ever play\n----\nDale Earnhardt - unlike petty, won his races and championships in an era of regulated racing (Petty's car was just faster than everyone elses when he was racing)\n----\nArthur Ashe - not only his tennis, but his legacy and foundation will make him remembered for decades to come\n----\nPele - another milestone in sports history by going pro as a minor, and one of the greatest soccer players of all time\n----\nNolan Ryan - a symbol of longevity as well as holder of numerous pitching records and quite possible the greatest pitcher to ever take the mound\n----\nCharles Barkley - even though he never won an NBA title, the 6-4 power forward had a phenomenal NBA and collegiate career, and often dominated players half a foot taller than him. He is one of the greatest anomalys in sports history.
356069
come on now that shouldn't even be a question. Jordan is the best basketball player there ever was and ever be. There will NEVER i repeat NEVER be another Jordan. The best player EVER!
416058
There have been many greats like Wilt Chamberlain, but many peeps will undoubtedly say Jordan. But you can't forget Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J, Larry Bird, "Sir" Charles Barkley, Ervin "Magic" Johnson, Shaq...but Jordan is King
38229
Ok this is my list \n1) Michael Jordan\n2) Oscar Robertson\n3) Shaquille Oneal\n4) Wilt Chamberland\n5) Larry Bird
22431
Wilt Chamberlain:\n\nscored 100 points in a single game\nscored over seventy points on five occasions\naveraged more points per game in his career than jordan\naveraged fifty points per game one season\naveraged over 25 rebounds per game in five seasons\nlead the league in assists one season\n\nTrue Jordan was probably a better team player and he did win many more championships (which may arguably be the best indicator of a great player; but if this is true then it could be Bill Russell won eight championships) but I believe that Wilt Chamberlain is the single best, most dominant player to ever play NBA basketball.
749632
1-Chamberlain (Once avg 50 ppg and 25 boards in a season... \n                           he changed the game)\n2-Julius Erving (Has his championship ring... a combination of \n                          athleticism and creativity like no one else who\n                          has ever played the game)\n3-Sir Charles (Greatest ballplayer never to win a championship)\n4-Billy Cunningham (Skilled in every area of the game, and\n                         completely unselfish....a winner)\n5-Iverson (The most overrated player in NBA history...will never \n                        a champion unless, like Gary Payton, he is willing  \n                        to come off somebody's bench late in his career)