Top 10 most skilled players ever

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Players who rely the most on their skills and IQ besides their god given athletic gifts and use it for both ends of the court
Not in order out of the first 2

Bird
CP3
Hakeem
KG
Dirk
Kobe
MJ
Manu
Stockton
Penny
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[SouBeachTalents]

How is Kobe more "skilled" than LeBron?

[StephHamann]

this is probably the worst list of all time

[riseagainst]

How is Kobe more "skilled" than LeBron?

why not?

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

this is probably the worst list of all time
WHo should be there

[SouBeachTalents]

WHo should be there

How are Manu & Penny more "skilled" than players like LeBron, Oscar, West, Pippen, Wade

[Young X]

Steve Nash. Elite shooter, elite ball handler, elite passer. His whole game has 0 to do with athleticism or size, just development of skills.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

How are Manu & Penny more "skilled" than players like LeBron, Oscar, West, Pippen, Wade
Oscar and West were before my time and urs............

Lebron and Wade rely on athleticism, speed and power for their games almost all of it. Theyre not very skilled players

Pippen is up there but hes not as skilled as these players. Manu can do it all and same with Penny before he got injured

[StephHamann]

Steve Nash. Elite shooter, elite ball handler, elite passer. His whole game has 0 to do with athleticism or size, just development of skills.

This

MJ is a freak of nature, Nash is pure skill.

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

Steve Nash. Elite shooter, elite ball handler, elite passer. His whole game has 0 to do with athleticism or size, just development of skills.
One of the worst defenders of all time so i didnt include him
Nash isnt more skilled than Mark Price who was a better defender and equal on offense skills
he just didnt have a Dantoni that let him run wild. Watch Dallas Nash the year before Phoenix and compare to Price. Price was more skilled

[B-hoop]

How is Kobe more skilled than MJ? All his moves are worse copies of MJ's moves..

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

How is Kobe more skilled than MJ? All his moves are worse copies of MJ's moves..
Not in order outside of Bird and CP

[Young X]

One of the worst defenders of all time so i didnt include him
Nash isnt more skilled than Mark Price who was a better defender and equal on offense skills
he just didnt have a Dantoni that let him run wild. Watch Dallas Nash the year before Phoenix and compare to Price. Price was more skilledNash's assist numbers and shooting percentages stayed the same after D'antoni left.

A big part of defensive ability is physicality, athleticism and effort which all have 0 to do with skill (not saying it doesn't take skill to be a great defender).

Players like Hakeem, Kobe or MJ are all extremely skilled but a big part of their games are athleticism and physicality, if they had Nash/CP3 physical ability would they be as good as them?

[riseagainst]

the problem with only measuring a player's skills is that certain players could be more skilled than another despite not developing a certain aspect of it due to their lack of athleticism, or lack of height.

For example, who's to say Nash wouldn't have just as good of footwork as Kobe and MJ? If Nash was a few inches taller, he might have developed that part of his game. He was a soccer player before basketball afterall. So i mean, athleticism sometimes could impact what a player can develop. So this is really hard to judge.

[Sakkreth]

the problem with only measuring a player's skills is that certain players could be more skilled than another despite not developing a certain aspect of it due to their lack of athleticism, or lack of height.

For example, who's to say Nash wouldn't have just as good of footwork as Kobe and MJ? If Nash was a few inches taller, he might have developed that part of his game. He was a soccer player before basketball afterall. So i mean, athleticism sometimes could impact what a player can develop. So this is really hard to judge.

But could he do stuff that he does if he had bigger body ? Wouldn't it be tougher to move it as fluently ?

[WillC]

For me, the 'most skilled players' are those who can do everything well, e.g. shoot, pass, dribble, defend, rebound, etc. After all, 'skill' in basketball isn't refined to just dribbling, for example. These players don't have many weaknesses between them and, instead, excelled in a multitude of areas:

Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Oscar Robertson
Larry Bird
Kevin Garnett
Magic Johnson
Rick Barry
Elgin Baylor
Tracy McGrady

(Bill Walton was probably the most skilled big man of all-time but I have trouble putting a center on this list)

Now, if you're talking about the most skilled with the ball in their hands - i.e. with most control over the ball - then the list looks very different. Maybe something like this:

Pete Maravich
Isiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Earl Monroe
Steve Nash
Allen Iverson
Bob Cousy
Nate Archibald
Chris Paul
Penny Hardaway
John Stockton

(That's 11, but who's counting?)

[Fudge]

How is Duncan not there, bro?

[riseagainst]

Skills i think have 0 dependencies on athleticism, i'm doing this really fast so i'm not digging deeper into them:

passing, court vision, play making, foot work, playing off the ball, playing the passing lanes, free throw shooting, create your own shot (kind of iffy, but if you are shorter and less athletic than your defender, i guess i'm more inclined to say that is a skill)

just for a start.

[Young X]

KG's skill level is unbelievable. He can shoot from anywhere inside 22 feet, has post moves, great passer, could handle the ball better than any big, can defend any position, can rebound. Even played PG briefly in the playoffs as a 7 footer. Crazy.

[SouBeachTalents]

For me, the 'most skilled players' are those who can do everything well, e.g. shoot, pass, dribble, defend, rebound, etc. After all, 'skill' in basketball isn't refined to just dribbling, for example. These players don't have many weaknesses between them and, instead, excelled in a multitude of areas:

Michael Jordan
LeBron James
Kobe Bryant
Oscar Robertson
Larry Bird
Kevin Garnett
Magic Johnson
Rick Barry
Elgin Baylor
Tracy McGrady

(Bill Walton was probably the most skilled big man of all-time but I have trouble putting a center on this list)

Could those two defend?

[Soundwave]

How is Kobe more "skilled" than LeBron?

Better handles, better shooter, faster first step, more agile in the air, more moves as a whole, better footwork.

But yeah other than that it's a wash, lol.

[Soundwave]

Could those two defend?

T-Mac was a pretty good defender actually when he wanted to be.

[WillC]

Could those two defend?

Rick Barry? Absolutely. He was a terrific defender (and one of the most underrated players of all-time). There have been few players in history with his combination of shooting/scoring, passing and defense/rebounding. He was Larry Bird before Larry Bird but with better defense.

As for TMac, he was a sensational defender.... for a few years. Then he seemed to lose his defensive intensity and, instead, became known as a one-man offensive juggernaut.

I watched an old All-Star Game recently (maybe 2000 or 2001, I forget). I think it was TMac's first game. The commentators were raving about his defense (I think he was guarding Kobe). It's easy to forget about how good he was at that part of the game, given how he went on to play later in his career.

[StephHamann]

To give an example, i think Doug Mc Dermott is the most skilled player of this years draft.

Other guys might be better defenders, scorers etc. but X and O wise Doug is the best.

[WillC]

To give an example, i think Doug Mc Dermott is the most skilled player of this years draft.

Other guys might be better defenders, scorers etc. but X and O wise Doug is the best.

McDermott is definitely a skilled player, but is he better than Jabari Parker?

McDermott is the better shooter, but Parker beats him in nearly every other category.

[pudman13]

Now, if you're talking about the most skilled with the ball in their hands - i.e. with most control over the ball - then the list looks very different. Maybe something like this:

Pete Maravich
Isiah Thomas
Magic Johnson
Earl Monroe
Steve Nash
Allen Iverson
Bob Cousy
Nate Archibald
Chris Paul
Penny Hardaway
John Stockton

(That's 11, but who's counting?)

Perhaps the most skilled of them all with the ball in his hands was Ernie DiGrigorio, but given his size, lack of athleticism, inability to defend (probably due a combination of the last two factors), and eventually injuries he's a completely forgotten man.

Walt Frazier should probably be on this list also.

[WillC]

Perhaps the most skilled of them all with the ball in his hands was Ernie DiGrigorio, but given his size, lack of athleticism, inability to defend (probably due a combination of the last two factors), and eventually injuries he's a completely forgotten man.

Excellent suggestion.

[KirbyPls]

Better handles, better shooter, faster first step, more agile in the air, more moves as a whole, better footwork.

But yeah other than that it's a wash, lol.

:lol

[robert_shaww]

Players who rely the most on their skills and IQ besides their god given athletic gifts and use it for both ends of the court
Not in order out of the first 2

Bird
CP3
Hakeem
KG
Dirk
Kobe
MJ
Manu
Stockton
Penny
:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

perfect list.

[kennethgriffin]

- kobe
- hakeem
- bird
- nash
- maravich
- barry
- iverson
- dirk
- stockton
- garnett

[Phenith]

I'm surprised Grant Hills name hasn't come up in this thread yet.