Jordan, Magic or Jabbar?

[Dutchy]

Who's da man? :)

[CMJ]

You left off alot of potential vote getters. I'd go with Chamberlein personally.

[JediBoricua]

I'm sorry. You could say whatever you want, you could name every all star the NBA has ever had, but Jordan would still be the king.

He is the best the world has seen, and will be the best for years to come.

[CMJ]

There are alot of guys I think you could make an argument for. Jordan would win a straw poll primarily because he was the star when the league was at it's peak.

Bird and Magic saved the league, so they deserve consideration too. Doctor J. was kind of the original MJ. Kareem is the all-time leading scorer. Russel won like 10 championships. Marrivich was a scoring machine. Wilt dominated the middle in a way hard to comprehend.

There are dozens of guys who would have a claim.

[Figrin D'an]

CMJ pretty much nailed down my thoughts. It all depends upon your criteria.

[Charley]

I'm not enough of an NBA fan to make a statement for any in particular

[CMJ]

I'm not a really a fan anymore, but I used to be a huge fan of the Association. Now I only get interested come playoff time.

[Figrin D'an]

I have a general disdain for the NBA... I don't even watch when the playoffs start... they're too long, and just not compelling enough to watch. I'd watch NHL playoffs before I turn on an NBA playoff game.


ESPN has been having the College Gameday crew visiting campuses all this week covering spring practices. I'm ready for football again...

[CMJ]

I too am more interested in the NHL these days than the NBA. I usually watch hockey over basketball...unless the Celtics are playing(and no one I like in hockey is on the tube).

It's kinda strange since college basketball is like the best sport known to man. :D

I won't miss football till the Stanley Cup Finals are over. ;)

[Charley]

I almost never watch pro sports. Collegiate is where its at :smokin

[CMJ]

As far as team sports go I'm split....

Pro-
Baseball
Hockey

College-
Basketball
Football

[Charley]

Pro Hockey, I'll concede that much. You just can't get good collegiate hockey action...or at least in Alabama you can't :o

EDIT: Even though Univ. of Alabama @ Huntsville has won the division 2 hockey championship for...like a lot of years. Small potatoes ^_^;

Baseball...I'm kinda blah about. Its not the most entertaining sport to watch, but when I do, I'd rather do it at the college level.

[CMJ]

NT just has a club hockey squad. Of course our club team is apparently really good(for that level of competition). Heck they won the state title acouple of times. I've never really watched them though.

Baseball wise...I give props to the major leagues for one reason above all others. Wooden bats. 'Nuff said.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah those Allumnium bats suck I have no clue why colleges use it, to me it doesn't do good for the game. I like Pro Baseball too better, personally I like Pro Football better than College, I like College football don't get me wrong, but I just like the pro game better. Right now I like College Basketball better than the NBA. The NBA's game has just deteroiated since Magic and Bird left, letting in all these young kinds (high schools College Freshman) I think are hurting the game.

[JMK]

He is the best the world has seen, and will be the best for years to come.
I agree, I think Jordan is the man. He was never the biggest or strongest or fastest, but he wantedit more than anyone, and he got it, and that means more to me than anything else.

[jjwr]

Jordan was at his peak and dominated in a time full of superstars, Magic, Bird, Malone, Stockton, Barkley, etc, etc...so many great players went without rings during the Jordan Years.

College BBall is the only one I really care for, college Football is lame, when the whole thing comes down to a lame-o ranking system to decide who's the best then its hard to put much stock into the whole thing.

[darth_mcbain]

All of the names mentioned here are great, and not to rob any of them of their glory, but I think Jordan was best. What an incredible player!

[CMJ]

JJ, actually Jordan didn't really dominate until Bird and Magic were sliding. Points wise Jordan always put up numbers, but the Bulls won their first Championship in '91. Bird retired in '92...and Magic the same(despite a brief comeback).

What both helps and hurts Jordan IMHO is he never had a rival. Helps, because he was THE man. Hurts because....rivals define you. Half of the reason Bird and Magic were so compelling was the rivalry.

I saw an interview once where Magic said, during their heyday, he'd always check the box scores from the previous night to see what Bird put up.....just to know what hed have to do that night to top him. They both enetered the league in the '79-'80 season and for practically 10 years one of them always won the crown.

[JMK]

I think there's a difference there too, Bird and Johnson had a respect/competitive thing going on whereas during Jordan's heyday, everyone, including opponents wanted "to be like Mike". Even guys who were drafted ahead of him like Wilkins couldn't match Jordan's greatness.

[CMJ]

Jordan was just a few years younger than Magic and Bird. His career was just much longer. He didn't really hit his peak until his late 20's-early 30's which is kinda remarkable.

[JMK]

True, the Kobe vs Jordan debate exists now for that reason. Most people that I know would take Kobe @ 24 before Jordan @ the same age. It wasn't until Jordan hit 28 or so that he really made his mark as arguably the best ever. That says alot too, not only about Jordan, but about Bryant, how high is the ceiling for him? If he's this good now, how much will he accomplish when he's 28-30? He already has what, 3 rings? I don't know if Jordan had any at that age yet, but I may be wrong.

[Jedi Master Carr]

The Bull had the Pistons when Isiah was in his prime I remember the two years the Pistons won they always beat the Bulls, Isiah kept them from winning a title one of those years.

[CMJ]

I think MJ was 28 before he got his 1st ring. As for the Pistons they did have the Bulls number for a few years, but before that the Celtics had Detroit's.

It was a definite "You gotta kill the King to become King" thing in the East for awhile.

[JMK]

That Pistons defense of the late 80's was insanely strong. I don't think God could score on that team.

[JediBoricua]

The thing that separates Jordan from the rest is the impact he has had on the sportworld in general. He has retired now for the third time, but it seems as he has never left the league. Every rising star is compared to him, he keeps being the bestselling athlete around. "Tiger Woods is the Jordan of golf, Serena Williams if the woman Jordan of tennis, etc" are remarks that perpetuate his greatness.

Maybe he was not the best player (though I think he was) to ever dribble a ball, but he was and still is the one who has impacted the game and the professional sport scene the most.

[Jedi Master Carr]

yeah the Pistons had a heck of defense, I really liked Isiah back then I was glad when they won their first title.

[Jedieb]

From a purely individual standpoint, you can argue that Chamberlin was the greatest player the NBA has ever seen. He put up numbers that were simply stunning. The man AVERAGED 50 points a season TWICE! Think about that. What was money's best year, 38 pts a game? So Chamberlin dominated the players in his era as much, if not more than Jordan.

What seperates the 2 of them is the post season. Wilt had his share of chances, but Russel and others always got in his way. He won some rings (2 I think, I'm not sure) but he never matched the other dominant player of his era, Russel. It wasn't just that Russel had better teams either. Russel went head to head with Wilt and did whatever he needed to get his TEAM their rings. Wilt may have scored 40 by the end of the game, but Russel had his 20 rebounds and a good number of assists to put his Celtics over the top. IMO, Russel is the one factor that keeps Chamberlin from getting the greatest player ever honors.

Jordan didn't win in his early years, but those were years without Pippen, Phil Jackson, and the triangle offense. Once those were in place he was virtually unstoppable. People say he had no rival to challenge him. I think he did, he just beat them all down. Barkley, Drexler, Malone, etc. One after another he took them on in the regular and post season and he beat them. If he had ended his career on that last shot then the end would have read like this; basket, steal(from Malone no less), winning championship basket. When you consider that the steal and his last 2 championships came against one of the top 3 all time leading scorers you get an idea of why it seemed Jordan had no rivals. He did, they all just walked away as losers.

1. MJ
2. Chamberlin
3. Russel
4. Magic
5. Bird

That's how I stack 'em up.

(I'm omitting Kareem because if I put 2 Lakers in the top 5 I'm liable to burst into flames.) :evil

[Jedi Master Carr]

Chamberland won two with the lakers right? He wasn't a scoring machine then, probably because Jerry West was there. Heck West could be put up there too the man was a great player and a heck of a leader.

[Morgan Evanar]

I prefer Bird and Magic just from a spectator standpoint. In the 80s, the best thing on televisions was a Celtics vs Lakers game. Now no one plays with the same respect those two teams had for each other. They made a lot of money, but they were more teams who just happend to have two amazing passers and shooters. Nowadays theres just too much cash flowing around. Seems like they're playing more for money than because they want to play.

I prefer college for every sport but hockey, although I'll admit pro baseball has been pretty interesting the past two years.