What past players would put the fear of God into today's players?

[sportjames23]

Which players from back when would have today's players shook like GOATbrook does?

[Prometheus]

I wouldn't call it "back when" just yet, but since he's retired...

Shaq.

Centers today would age real fast any time they had to go up against the Diesel.

[sportjames23]

Shaq would eat good in today's NBA.

[pudman13]

Gus Johnson
Wes Unseld
Dave Cowens
Al Attles

nobody messed with those guys.

I would say Bill Laimbeer too, except that people didn't fear him. They just hated him.

[jimmy77x]

Charles Oakley

[Done_And_Done]

Charles Oakley
The X Man
Laimbeer

[Top Gun]

Most of the best centers.

[G0ATbe]

Prime Godbe.

[Mass Debator]

Rodman. This soft generation won't be able to handle his antics.

[Hey Yo]

John Starks

[Marchesk]

http://redsarmy.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/c.jpg

[pudman13]

How could I forget Willis Reed?

Oh, and Rick Barry would put the fear into his own teammates.

[DaRkJaWs]

Def Willis reed, he would show artest how to throw a punch. But in terms of basketball skills, only Wilt would put the fear of GOD into them, not because of physicality or what not but just knowing they can do nothing to stop him on the offensive end and he's blocking every shot they normally get up without players normally blocking them. This is what dominance means, and why wilt and not shaq defines that word. Kareem they would fear on the offensive end but not "fear-of-god" like with wilt. If a 1962 Wilt came down from the sky, you'd have lebron and others begging bill Russell to come out of retirement. Shaq in his peak seasons was unstoppable by others in his era but he didn't put the fear of god into them like wilt did with Russell and every player that was assigned to stop him or score on him.

[Dr Seuss]

Jason Collins

[chocolatethunder]

Jerry Sloan

[SilkkTheShocker]

Not only did Jordan put the dear of God into opposing defenders, he even sent his own father to Heaven to greet him

[DaRkJaWs]

Not only did Jordan put the dear of God into opposing defenders, he even sent his own father to Heaven to greet him
:oldlol: :oldlol: :roll: :roll:

Yeah, ask the pistons how much they feared Jordan, ROFL.

[sportjames23]

:oldlol: :oldlol: :roll: :roll:

Yeah, ask the pistons how much they feared Jordan, ROFL.


MJ scaring the Pistons off the court in 1991:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/158201-the-day-the-bad-boys-walked-out

[sportjames23]

Not only did Jordan put the dear of God into opposing defenders, he even sent his own father to Heaven to greet him


What a piece of shit you are.

[dh144498]

Not only did Jordan put the dear of God into opposing defenders, he even sent his own father to Heaven to greet him


:roll:
:roll:
:roll:

[G0ATbe]

What a piece of shit you are.
It's true:confusedshrug: .

[Lord Bean]

What a piece of shit you are.
ha ha sport jame stll mj ball wanter you mad when peple say thing about jordan but you laugh about le born kobe kevin :lol :lol

stop with mj ball i say ! you never take advice keep ask mj with open mouth but he say NO SPORT JAME i do not want give my ball to you !

let go sport jame its over !! no more mj ball finish!

[BigBoss]

Popeye Jones

[#number6ix#]

None... They would all be good friends... probably follow each other on Twitter

[dubeta]

Most feared players:

1a/1b LeBron and Jordan

3. Bird

4. Shaq

5. Kareem

[Elosha]

Lots of past players would put the fear of God into today's players. Wilt, Moses, Erving, Elgin. But the converse is also true. Truly great players will transcend any era. Anyone think a Lebron, Bird, Shaq or Jordan wouldn't put the fear of God into the players of the 60's?

[DaRkJaWs]

Lots of past players would put the fear of God into today's players. Wilt, Moses, Erving, Elgin. But the converse is also true. Truly great players will transcend any era. Anyone think a Lebron, Bird, Shaq or Jordan wouldn't put the fear of God into the players of the 60's?
No. Shaq wouldn't stand a chance against wilt if he's going to try to be top dog on the court; and lebron would never be able to get to the rim save for a few times against either wilt or Russell...especially if he is consistently trying to dunk on them. If you didn't have a great midrange game in the 60s then you couldn't be an offensive force. Lebron would be like that other great athlete from Akron, Gus Johnson, but a little better because of his passing skills.

[Elosha]

No. Shaq wouldn't stand a chance against wilt if he's going to try to be top dog on the court; and lebron would never be able to get to the rim save for a few times against either wilt or Russell...especially if he is consistently trying to dunk on them. If you didn't have a great midrange game in the 60s then you couldn't be an offensive force. Lebron would be like that other great athlete from Akron, Gus Johnson, but a little better because of his passing skills.

First, even in the micro league the NBA was in the 60's, Shaq and Lebron wouldn't be playing Russell and Wilt every game. You're telling me Shaq couldn't dominate the typical 60's center, or that Lebron would be helpless against average 60's SF's and SG's? Although I agree that the truly great players of the 60's could play very well in any era, any critical analysis of a 60's game tells you that the average player of that era was significantly less skilled, less athletic, and less developed than average players 30-40 years later. And I've watched about as much footage games from the sixties and seventies as I can. That's no insult to those older players, but the game has developed significantly. That's one reason, in my opinion, that some of the greats of those era have such mind boggling numbers; they were all time greats AND they were also playing in a less developed league against a bit less developed competition.

Second, with all due respect to Wilt and Russell, I think players like Shaq and Lebron would give them plenty of trouble. If you look at the (admittedly limited) footage of Russell guarding Wilt, much of it really isn't all that impressive. Lots of time he basically gives Wilt a clear path to the basket or plays baffling weak post defense. And the footage usually shows single coverage or late, ineffective double teams. Again, not to say Russell and the Celtics defense didn't play effectively lots of times, but what I've seen in the footage doesn't usually jump out at me as stellar defense. Now you combine that with the fact that Shaq is heavier and more massive than Wilt, was more physical than Wilt was (or chose to be, doesn't really matter), and it really doesn't take much to postulate that Shaq would give anyone in 60's fits, Russell and Wilt included. Not to say that Wilt couldn't also score often on him also. In my opinion Wilt was more versatile in his scoring arsenal than Shaq, but not generally as physical or explosive. Personally, I think that would have been one of the best center battles of the ages.

Similarly, if you think Lebron, one of the most athletic players of all time, couldn't effectively challenge Russell at the rim, a man only a couple inches taller and not as heavy, ask KG what happens when Lebron goes up for a dunk -- either with his left hand or his right. I do agree somewhat with you that Lebron would be disadvantaged by not having a three point line, since his in between game is the weakest part of his skillset; however, he's still a far better shooter overall than the typical player in the 50's or 60's. Moreover, his overall physical athleticism and size would still make him a dominant force.

I'm not in any way stating that Wilt, and to lesser extent Russell, could not be dominant, top tier players in the 80's, 90's, 00's or today. However, there is no need to tear down players from any era to prop up those from another.

[DaRkJaWs]

Agree with most of what you said above, but let me add some things. First of all yes, thanks to video replay the offense and defensive schemes of today are far superior.

I didn't say lebron would be helpless, I said he would be a half step above Gus Johnson, the high flyer of the 60s who was the strongest forward of the game, was a fantastic rebounder, and was also from Akron. I say a Half step because lebron is not quite the rebounder he was but being a point of forward of sorts allows lebron to dictate the game a bit more. And if you give that lebrons half court game is not anything special, then with lebrons longevity one would have to put him just a little above Gus on the offensive side, as both were pretty equally explosive. The reason we don't talk as much about Johnson is due to the injuries he had to deal with.

Shaq would have to deal with the rules of the 60s...they would call an offensive foul on him every time he pushed back with his shoulder. Compare this to wilt, who had explosive upper body strength that would cause people's feet to slide merely from him stepping backwards. Luckily shaq had great footwork and so he would get his points...but not like he did in the 90s. I say this also because shaq doesn't have the stamina to always use that footwork. And on the defensive side shaq was overall pretty mediocre except for his rookie year and MVP year, people in the 60s would know that anytime they faced shaq as opposed to wilt, that they could take it inside and get away with it. That automatically disqualifies shaq from being feared the way they feared wilt. Offensively in the 60s he would be second behind wilt, I'll give him that much.

[DaRkJaWs]

I think bird would be better than Jordan in the 60s too due to shooting skills, MJ would have roughly the same luck as Elgin although I think Jordan was a little better in terms of dictating the game. He'd still win a couple of championships if the chips fell the right way. But bird would be even better and likely win more often than MJ.

[JohnFreeman]

Artest

[LAZERUSS]

Kermit Washington.

http://thenbadribbledout.com/post/30943933224/the-above-gif-is-from-december-9-1977-in-a

[hateraid]

Charles Barkley

[Wally450]

I read this thread and automatically thought Larry Bird. This guy would eat SFs today for breakfast. He would make players take their talents back to high school.

[LAZERUSS]

http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=127


Rudolph's control of a game and sense of humor is shown brilliantly by looking at the last game of the 1964 NBA Finals. During the heated contest, Wilt Chamberlain hit fellow 7-footer Clyde Lovellette of the Boston Celtics with a punch and Lovellette went down like a shot. Celtic coach Red Auerbach stormed onto the court and demanded that Wilt be thrown out of the game. Wilt told Red if he did not shut up, he'd be down on the floor with Clyde. Red countered with a great line, "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size." Rudolph topped Red's line by saying: "Red, do you have any other seven footers who'd like to volunteer?"

Slightly inaccurate.

Lovellette was 6-9 about 250 by then. It was in game two of the Finals, and the punch ended Clyde's career.

What was amazing, though, was that Lovellette was called for the initial foul, and Chamberlain went to the FT line. No other fouls were called.

[AirFederer]

Bob Cousy

[Round Mound]

Charles Barkley

:applause:

[DaRkJaWs]

http://www.jewsinsports.org/profile.asp?sport=basketball&ID=127



Slightly inaccurate.

Lovellette was 6-9 about 250 by then. It was in game two of the Finals, and the punch ended Clyde's career.

What was amazing, though, was that Lovellette was called for the initial foul, and Chamberlain went to the FT line. No other fouls were called.
Why is it that it ended Clyde's career?

Anyway if that is true then that is the best thing Wilt could have done; after all, the reason for wilts pain and suffering and heart ailment, and early death in 1999, was because of Clyde's vicious elbow to wilts teeth. Wilts death was a homicide, a vicious blow by lovellete that took 39 years to fulfill.

[Milbuck]

This. I shed a tear for MJ after this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSaKPHSEtRM
HGHbe at his peak. Dude would slaughter the league today.

[LAZERUSS]

Why is it that it ended Clyde's career?

Anyway if that is true then that is the best thing Wilt could have done; after all, the reason for wilts pain and suffering and heart ailment, and early death in 1999, was because of Clyde's vicious elbow to wilts teeth. Wilts death was a homicide, a vicious blow by lovellete that took 39 years to fulfill.


Lovellette didn't play the rest of the series, and retired shortly thereafter.

Not saying that that punch was THE reason that he retired, but it was probably not coincidental, either.

[ZeN]

Larry Legend, 2001 Shaq, 90's Karl Malone, Hakeem, All time elite big men pretty much..

[L.A. Jazz]

:applause:
Barkley on the break. Karl Malone too, but guys were running when Charles came full speed.