The 5 tiers of top 20 NBA players

[Kiddlovesnets]

Tier 1: Michael Jordan
Tier 2: Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain
Tier 3: Lebron James, Tim Duncan, Bill Russell
Tier 4: Larry Bird, Shaq O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West
Tier 5: Moses Malone, Kevin Durant, John Havlicek, Dirk Nowitzki, Julius Erving, Karl Malone, Isiah Thomas

Yay or Nay?

[iamgine]

Well you can't put Bird at tier 4 and Magic at tier 2. When they played it seemed the consensus was Bird was better.

[72-10]

These are my tiers, but I might be wrong. It is alphabetized.

Tier 1 (GOAT)
Michael Jordan

Tier 2
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Larry Bird
Wilt Chamberlain
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell

Tier 3
Kobe Bryant
Stephen Curry
Tim Duncan
Julius Erving
LeBron James
Hakeem Olajuwon
Shaquille O'Neal
Oscar Robertson
David Robinson
Jerry West

[superduper]

These are my tiers, but I might be wrong. It is alphabetized.

Tier 1 (GOAT)
Michael Jordan

Tier 2
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Larry Bird
Wilt Chamberlain
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell

Tier 3
Kobe Bryant
Stephen Curry
Tim Duncan
Julius Erving
LeBron James
Hakeem Olajuwon
Shaquille O'Neal
Oscar Robertson
David Robinson
Jerry West

This is honestly a really good and probably the best current list.

One thing though, if you have Curry in Tier 3 should Durant be there as well? Or do you have him lower than Curry?

[72-10]

This is honestly a really good and probably the best current list.

One thing though, if you have Curry in Tier 3 should Durant be there as well? Or do you have him lower than Curry?

It's possible let me think more on it

It's just a postulate, you know; there might not be a greatest of any field in this world.

[Mask the Embiid]

Goat tier
LeBron
Jordan
Wilt
Karee
Russell


2nd tier
Magic
Bird
Shaq
Kobe
Hakeem



3rd Tier
Oscar
Durant
Dingo
Isiah Thomas


you get it

[72-10]

Durant team-hopped in order to win (colluded)

I don't like collusion

He also didn't play a lot of defense during his prime

[72-10]

Goat tier
LeBron
Jordan
Wilt
Karee
Russell


2nd tier
Magic
Bird
Shaq
Kobe
Hakeem



3rd Tier
Oscar
Durant
Dingo
Isiah Thomas


you get it

Aren't you the same poster who put Curry at 11th recently?

[Manny98]

God Tier

LeBron

GOAT tier

MJ
Kareem

Close to GOAT tier

Russell
Wilt
Duncan
Magic
Bird
Hakeem
Kobe

All time great tier

KD
Curry
Wade
KG
Dirk
Oscar
West
Barkley
Malone
Nash
Robinson
West
Pippen
IT

[Kiddlovesnets]

Well you can't put Bird at tier 4 and Magic at tier 2. When they played it seemed the consensus was Bird was better.

Magic vs Bird:

NBA Titles: 5 > 3
Finals MVPs: 3 > 2
Head to Head Playoffs Record: 2 > 1

I fail to observe a reason why one would consider they were equal when Magic was clearly better. Use Lebron as comparison, Lebron > Bird but Magic > Lebron, so clearly Magic > Bird.

[72-10]

Magic vs Bird:

NBA Titles: 5 > 3
Finals MVPs: 3 > 2
Head to Head Playoffs Record: 2 > 1

I fail to observe a reason why one would consider they were equal when Magic was clearly better. Use Lebron as comparison, Lebron > Bird but Magic > Lebron, so clearly Magic > Bird.

Why would you use a team argument in a player comparison? The Lakers were a better team. Magic had more help. Whenever they played each other (at least until the late 80s), Bird toasted Magic. Bird was clearly the better offensive talent.

[Kiddlovesnets]

Why would you use a team argument in a player comparison? The Lakers were a better team. Magic had more help. Whenever they played each other (at least until the late 80s), Bird toasted Magic. Bird was clearly the better offensive talent.

The lakers were a better team because Magic was an outstanding playmaker who made his teammates better.

[Shogon]

1) Bill Russell

2) A bunch of stupid arguing I don't care about

[RRR3]

God Tier

LeBron

GOAT tier

MJ
Kareem

Close to GOAT tier

Russell
Wilt
Duncan
Magic
Bird
Hakeem
Kobe

All time great tier

KD
Curry
Wade
KG
Dirk
Oscar
West
Barkley
Malone
Nash
Robinson
West
Pippen
IT
uhhh...Shaq???

[Mask the Embiid]

Aren't you the same poster who put Curry at 11th recently?
I still have him at 11 all time

[Smoke117]

I'll take Larry Bird at his best over Magic Johnson at his best every time. I don't get why he's always considered the greatest player. Larry Bird was better.

[72-10]

Bird was clearly the better scorer, shooter and threat from deep. Bird could score over doubles. He was a better rebounder than Magic. Bird was better in clutch situations. Of course he did not improve his teammates as much as Magic did, but he still enhanced their opportunities greatly, and he had passing ability that was almost as good as Magic's.

But there is no doubt that Magic made his teammates better.

[Smoke117]

Bird was clearly the better scorer, shooter and threat from deep. Bird could score over doubles. He was a better rebounder than Magic. Bird was better in clutch situations. Of course he did not improve his teammates as much as Magic did, but he still enhanced their opportunities greatly, and he had passing ability that was almost as good as Magic's.

But there is no doubt that Magic made his teammates better.

Bird was also much better defensively.

[72-10]

Bird was also much better defensively.

Better team defender, for sure. Just as a sidenote, though, I'm left scratching my head at some of Magic's incredibly high steals rates from the early part of his career, however, and how he never even made an All-Defensive second team for this despite playing for a big team in Los Angeles. Must have been a result of the run-and-gun West Coast play of the day.

Bird got lots of steals, as well.

['Toine=MVP]

Tier 1 - Jordan

Tier 2 (2-4) - Bird, Shaq, Wilt

Tier 3 (5-8) - Kareem, LeBron, Russell, Magic

Tier 4 (9-10) - Duncan, Kareem

Tier 5 (11-16) - Moses, Kobe, Durant, Dr J, Oscar, West

Tier 6 (17-20) - KG, Dirk, Robinson, Baylor

The non-Lebron/Durants that have been in the league for a while are unlikely to every crawl up this list, though Giannis has pretty much no limit to where he could end up.

[Wally450]

In what world is LeBron under Wilt?

['Toine=MVP]

In what world is LeBron under Wilt?

The one we all live in.

[RealSkipBayless]

These are my tiers, but I might be wrong. It is alphabetized.

Tier 1 (GOAT)
Michael Jordan

Tier 2
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Larry Bird
Wilt Chamberlain
Magic Johnson
Bill Russell

Tier 3
Kobe Bryant
Stephen Curry
Tim Duncan
Julius Erving
LeBron James
Hakeem Olajuwon
Shaquille O'Neal
Oscar Robertson
David Robinson
Jerry West
:applause: :applause:

[Im so nba'd out]

:applause: :applause:
Imagine having a shirtless picture of skip bayless as your avatar

Imagine actually applauding that shitty list


Imagine

[Wally450]

The one we all live in.

If anything, LeBron is in the same tier as Wilt. No trolling. His accomplishments along side Wilts failures, but his recognition back in the day puts them on the same level.

[Smoke117]

Better team defender, for sure. Just as a sidenote, though, I'm left scratching my head at some of Magic's incredibly high steals rates from the early part of his career, however, and how he never even made an All-Defensive second team for this despite playing for a big team in Los Angeles. Must have been a result of the run-and-gun West Coast play of the day.

Bird got lots of steals, as well.

Steals doesn't necessarily equate to good defense. Iverson racked up a lot of steals and he was a terrible defense player. He got a lot of steals because he was always jumping into passing lanes whether it was a good idea or not and most of the time he was putting the team defense off balance and hurting them overall. As far as Magic, I just have to go by what I've heard. I wasn't born till 84 so I didn't really start paying attention to basketball till 94, but common thought seems to be that he wasn't much of a defensive player so he couldn't have been getting these steals from great defense. Chris Paul is a good example of a player who gets a lot of steals and in a good way. He has never been a player who just jumps into passing lanes nonstop, but gets a lot of his steals off careless ball handling by opposing players. He will only ever jump into a passing lane if knows the pass is going there and doesn't just because he thinks he can get a steal.

[TheCorporation]

Goat tier
LeBron
Jordan
Wilt
Karee
Russell


2nd tier
Magic
Bird
Shaq
Kobe
Hakeem



3rd Tier
Oscar
Durant
Dingo
Isiah Thomas


you get it

Thicc list


Repped :applause:

[superduper]

Imagine having a shirtless picture of skip bayless as your avatar

Imagine actually applauding that shitty list


Imagine

Bran stans are FUMING :applause:

[Stephonit]

Bird was clearly the better scorer, shooter and threat from deep. Bird could score over doubles. He was a better rebounder than Magic. Bird was better in clutch situations. Of course he did not improve his teammates as much as Magic did, but he still enhanced their opportunities greatly, and he had passing ability that was almost as good as Magic's.

But there is no doubt that Magic made his teammates better.

Is it? How does one know this?

[RealSkipBayless]

Bran stans are FUMING :applause:
bran stan?

:roll: :roll:

[GimmeThat]

a 5 on 5 sport with a roster size of 12-15, and there's 5 tiers of the top 20 players

time to take away Wilt's ring for being a defensive anchor

[TheCorporation]

God Tier

LeBron

GOAT tier

MJ
Kareem

Close to GOAT tier

Russell
Wilt
Duncan
Magic
Bird
Hakeem
Kobe

All time great tier

KD
Curry
Wade
KG
Dirk
Oscar
West
Barkley
Malone
Nash
Robinson
West
Pippen
IT

Bingo

[Real14]

Lebron is tier 5 and Kobe is tier 2

[TheCorporation]

Lebron is tier 5 and Kobe is tier 2

Knicks are tier...73?

[72-10]

Steals doesn't necessarily equate to good defense. Iverson racked up a lot of steals and he was a terrible defense player. He got a lot of steals because he was always jumping into passing lanes whether it was a good idea or not and most of the time he was putting the team defense off balance and hurting them overall. As far as Magic, I just have to go by what I've heard. I wasn't born till 84 so I didn't really start paying attention to basketball till 94, but common thought seems to be that he wasn't much of a defensive player so he couldn't have been getting these steals from great defense. Chris Paul is a good example of a player who gets a lot of steals and in a good way. He has never been a player who just jumps into passing lanes nonstop, but gets a lot of his steals off careless ball handling by opposing players. He will only ever jump into a passing lane if knows the pass is going there and doesn't just because he thinks he can get a steal.

They say Alvin Robertson was often guilty of this as well; gambling on defense and jumping the passing lanes for the sake of the steal and thereby throwing his team's defense off when he missed.