Do y'all agree with Thinking Basketballs top 10 peak list?

[Manny98]

https://youtu.be/FzzlvnncLOQ

The list

1. Jordan
2. LeBron
3. Shaq
4. Hakeem
5. Kareem
6. Bird
7. Curry
8. KG
9. Duncan
10. Magic

[SouBeachTalents]

Idk if he didn't count guys from the 60's, but Wilt definitely has to make that list. If you added Wilt, I would 100% agree with the top 6 he chose, and wouldn't necessarily have any issue with the rest of the list

[Ainosterhaspie]

Idk if he didn't count guys from the 60's, but Wilt definitely has to make that list. If you added Wilt, I would 100% agree with the top 6 he chose, and wouldn't necessarily have any issue with the rest of the list

List is post merger only. It's also an extended peak list not 1 year peak. That throws people off a bit.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Kawhi is clearly ahead of Curry\Garnett\Magic and anybody who thinks otherwise should just give up on watching basketball.

Curry at #7 is a disgrace to basketball. You have to have impact on both ends to be that high. Even Curry's offense flamed out in 2016 when he embarrassed himself in the finals. So what's the hype? Glorified Dame Lillard with better supporting cast

Garnett isn't good enough scorer\offensive player to be on the list - you shoot like 48% TS in your only deep playoff run in 04 and then you were 3rd option scorer in your finals when you won the ring. He's a 6"11 Scottie Pippen.

Magic Johnson also not a good enough defender or scorer to be on this list and had Kareem on his team his whole life

[Gohan]

https://youtu.be/FzzlvnncLOQ

The list

1. Jordan
2. LeBron
3. Shaq
4. Hakeem
5. Kareem
6. Bird
7. Curry
8. KG
9. Duncan
10. Magic

Curry reached a level lebron never reached

[LAmbruh]

12be :(


poor youtuber getting showered in death threats :(

[HBK_Kliq_2]

List is post merger only. It's also an extended peak list not 1 year peak. That throws people off a bit.

Can you tell me the argument for Curry over Kawhi? I'm looking at their 2015 and 2019 playoff runs now.

Kawhi has to guard Jimmy Butler and Giannis in clinching games, while also having an offensive on\off of +18.7

Curry doesn't have to guard a tree and makes Iggy\Dray do all the work on defense, while having an offensive on\off of -1.7

Embarrassing on Curry's part wow

[FKAri]

Curry reached a level lebron never reached

Which season? The one where he didn't get a FMVP vote? or the one where he blew a 3-1 lead? or was it the one where KD took over his team?

[Stephonit]

Kawhi is clearly ahead of Curry\Garnett\Magic and anybody who thinks otherwise should just give up on watching basketball.

Curry at #7 is a disgrace to basketball. You have to have impact on both ends to be that high. Even Curry's offense flamed out in 2016 when he embarrassed himself in the finals. So what's the hype? Glorified Dame Lillard with better supporting cast

Garnett isn't good enough scorer\offensive player to be on the list - you shoot like 48% TS in your only deep playoff run in 04 and then you were 3rd option scorer in your finals when you won the ring. He's a 6"11 Scottie Pippen.

Magic Johnson also not a good enough defender or scorer to be on this list and had Kareem on his team his whole life

Curry's position at #7 truly is a disgrace. He should be top 3. 3 straight 67-plus-win seasons. 5 straight consecutive finals with the same franchise coming out of the Western Conference where 80% of the stars are. He does the unprecedented for 5 years straight years matched by no one else in NBA history unless you consider the more condensed postseasons of Russell relevant.

Kawhi? He cannot get even get past the second round as the favorite on the one team you can say is really his.

[Ainosterhaspie]

Can you tell me the argument for Curry over Kawhi? I'm looking at their 2015 and 2019 playoff runs now.

Kawhi has to guard Jimmy Butler and Giannis in clinching games, while also having an offensive on\off of +18.7

Curry doesn't have to guard a tree and makes Iggy\Dray do all the work on defense, while having an offensive on\off of -1.7

Embarrassing on Curry's part wow

The argument is Kawhii does have an extended peak. It's broken up by injury. He was on his way in 2015-16 (not remotely close to top 10 (ATG peak in 2014), but then got hurt and missed the end of the playoffs and most of the next 2 years. That completely disrupts his peak. Then he has a greatish year only he missed a ton of games relative to most other peaks, followed by another year missing a ton of games and flaming out in the conference semis. Yes he has some brilliant moments, but hasn't put together any kind of sustained peak. He's basically disqualified from the specif thing being measured for an incomplete performance.

[Dr Hawk]

Curry doesn't deserve to be that high. He peaked really high in the 16' RS, but his Playoffs were underwhelming. For a whole year, I would 100% pick Kawhi, Duncan, Magic, KG, Kobe, Barkley, Malone, Nash, Dirk over him, just to name some.

[Stephonit]

Which season? The one where he didn't get a FMVP vote? or the one where he blew a 3-1 lead? or was it the one where KD took over his team?

Name the year LeBron led a team to more wins than any of those Curry seasons. Take your time.

[tpols]

What was Magic's "peak"? He seemed to be consistently great but I cant recall some crazy peak.

Mid 2000s Kobe is a GOAT peak so the fact that he doesn't even make this list renders it invalid.

[Akeem34TheDream]

What would Ish stans starting 5 would be like atm? 4 guys are locks imo.
PG:Stephonit
SG:3ball
SF:HBK
PF:?
C:Xiao
A pf is needed.

[Stephonit]

What was Magic's "peak"? He seemed to be consistently great but I cant recall some crazy peak.

Mid 2000s Kobe is a GOAT peak so the fact that he doesn't even make this list renders it invalid.

I think the 1987 season is largely seen as Magic's peak. He checks all the boxes. But if there's criticism the competition kind of left something to be desired.

I don't really know what makes mid 2000s Kobe some kind of peak. He scored 80! Wow! But Booker scored 70! Wow? Still it's an interesting argument.

[tpols]

The true GOAT peaks are

MJ
Hakeem
Kobe
Curry
Duncan

To have LeBron at number two when he was getting absolutely shit on at his "peak" aka '09-'11 is a travesty. And more media marketing.

2009 LeBron was peak bran... and he lost to "peak" Dwight Howard as an overwhelming favorite.

[Dr Hawk]

The true GOAT peaks are

MJ
Hakeem
Kobe
Curry
Duncan

To have LeBron at number two when he was getting absolutely shit on at his "peak" aka '09-'11 is a travesty. And more media marketing.

2009 LeBron was peak bran... and he lost to "peak" Dwight Howard as an overwhelming favorite.

Lebron has a lot of seasons were he was better than Curry in his best season: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014... Even in 2011 he was better, even with his Finals choke.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Curry's position at #7 truly is a disgrace. He should be top 3. 3 straight 67-plus-win seasons. 5 straight consecutive finals with the same franchise coming out of the Western Conference where 80% of the stars are. He does the unprecedented for 5 years straight years matched by no one else in NBA history unless you consider the more condensed postseasons of Russell relevant.

Kawhi? He cannot get even get past the second round as the favorite on the one team you can say is really his.

2 finals MVPS indicates the teams were his. How many finals MVPS did Curry win to show he was a big game player?

[Stephonit]

Lebron has a lot of seasons were he was better than Curry in his best season: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014... Even in 2011 he was better, even with his Finals choke.

2011 LeBron vs. 2016 Curry? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

[Dr Hawk]

2011 LeBron vs. 2016 Curry? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

For the whole season? No doubt.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

The argument is Kawhii does have an extended peak. It's broken up by injury. He was on his way in 2015-16 (not remotely close to top 10 (ATG peak in 2014), but then got hurt and missed the end of the playoffs and most of the next 2 years. That completely disrupts his peak. Then he has a greatish year only he missed a ton of games relative to most other peaks, followed by another year missing a ton of games and flaming out in the conference semis. Yes he has some brilliant moments, but hasn't put together any kind of sustained peak. He's basically disqualified from the specif thing being measured for an incomplete performance.

2017 can be his peak then as he was #1 in RAPTOR. He got injured because a clumsy player gave him a high ankle sprain in a similar way that Lebron was injured this season. Still better season then Curry has ever been. 2016 Kawhi's team also had a better net rating in regular season then Curry and he had a washed up supporting cast. 2019 Kawhi's playoff run was about 5x better then any Curry run, so that season can be better as well.

2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 are all better seasons then anything Curry has ever done. 2021 Kawhi as well. Curry just happens to have a better supporting cast, so he made it further in 2015 i guess? even though he had the biggest chokejob in nba history in 2016.

[Stephonit]

2 finals MVPS indicates the teams were his. How many finals MVPS did Curry win to show he was a big game player?

Those 2 Finals MVPs shows 11 media journalists don't know how to evaluate players and their impact on a team or even how to get a story straight. That's of course presuming they weren't already told by their employer what story they were supposed to write.

[ShawkFactory]

What was Magic's "peak"? He seemed to be consistently great but I cant recall some crazy peak.

Mid 2000s Kobe is a GOAT peak so the fact that he doesn't even make this list renders it invalid.

87-90 was definitely his peak

[Stephonit]

2 finals MVPS indicates the teams were his. How many finals MVPS did Curry win to show he was a big game player?

He has better than subjective finals MVPs in series that were already won in lop-sided contests. He had 4 elimination game 6 and 7 comebacks from double digits down at the half.

[tpols]

I think the 1987 season is largely seen as Magic's peak. He checks all the boxes. But if there's criticism the competition kind of left something to be desired.

I don't really know what makes mid 2000s Kobe some kind of peak. He scored 80! Wow! But Booker scored 70! Wow? Still it's an interesting argument.

Booker scored 70 on a lottery team. Kobe did it on a playoff team that he had up 3-1 on the brink of victory if not for a single hail mary shot by Tim Thomas against the 2 seed Pheonix Suns. Kobe outscored the eventual western conference champs 63-62 through 3 quarters. (2006 Mavs) That's a very poor argument to compare him to Booker. He was destroying teams single handedly and making his team competitive instead of lotto.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

2011 LeBron vs. 2016 Curry? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Draymond\Wade had to carry both their sorry asses in the finals and still lost, sounds pretty similar to me. Even Durant doesn't think Curry should be on this list, that's why Durant joined your team because he's not threatened by you ever being a better player then him hahahaa

[Stephonit]

Draymond\Wade had to carry both their sorry asses in the finals and still lost, sounds pretty similar to me. Even Durant doesn't think Curry should be on this list, that's why Durant joined your team because he's not threatened by you ever being a better player then him hahahaa

Of course he was threatened! If he wasn't he wouldn't have worried about facing them again the next year.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

He has better than subjective finals MVPs in series that were already won in lop-sided contests. He had 4 elimination game comebacks from double digits down.

You beat Timofey Mozgov as Lebron's 2nd option in the 2015 finals and then got your soul destroyed by Irving in 2016 and had to be saved by Durant the next two years. Now you're a 11th seed shithole. I don't see what's so impressive.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Of course he was threatened! If he wasn't he wouldn't have worried about facing them again the next year.

He wouldn't have to worry about not winning finals MVP because he's playing with a cuck beta.

[ShawkFactory]

The true GOAT peaks are

MJ
Hakeem
Kobe
Curry
Duncan

To have LeBron at number two when he was getting absolutely shit on at his "peak" aka '09-'11 is a travesty. And more media marketing.

2009 LeBron was peak bran... and he lost to "peak" Dwight Howard as an overwhelming favorite.

Stop with the hyperbole. He has had more sustained greatness and not an easily-defined peak like Curry or Hakeem, but his 09-13 as a player is matched by very few in its excellence. He led the league in pretty much every impact category for 5 straight years (PER, WS/48, BPM, VORP), and got up their with Jordan's best years in 09 and 13.

But again, the issue is that we don't really know his peak. He was playing the best offensive basketball of his career in the playoffs in 2018. That Lebron would destroy 2009 Lebron.

I shouldn't even take this seriously though since you have Kobe and Duncan's peaks over Bird. What has either done, peak-wise, that matches Bird from 84-87?

[tpols]

Stop with the hyperbole. He has had more sustained greatness and not an easily-defined peak like Curry or Hakeem, but his 09-13 as a player is matched by very few in its excellence. He led the league in pretty much every impact category for 5 straight years (PER, WS/48, BPM, VORP), and got up their with Jordan's best years in 09 and 13.

But again, the issue is that we don't really know his peak. He was playing the best offensive basketball of his career in the playoffs in 2018. That Lebron would destroy 2009 Lebron.

I shouldn't even take this seriously though since you have Kobe and Duncan's peaks over Bird. What has either done, peak-wise, that matches Bird from 84-87?

He does have more sustained excellence due to longevity but if you think '09 to '14 LeBron was some GOAT peak... I dont know what to tell you. In the playoffs during that time period he lost to Dwight, quit vs the Celtics, had the GOAT Finals choke, and had the worst margin of defeat in Finals history. Was also a Ray Allen shot away from 1/5. That right there is the furthest thing from a GOAT peak.

[Stephonit]

You beat Timofey Mozgov as Lebron's 2nd option in the 2015 finals and then got your soul destroyed by Irving in 2016 and had to be saved by Durant the next two years. Now you're a 11th seed shithole. I don't see what's so impressive.

Curry faced and beat every other All-NBA First Team player one after another in the playoffs. Then the next season took out the two closest MVPs in time to him (one of them the guy you say saves him later) despite coming off of two injuries earlier in the playoffs that caused him to miss games.

Curry is now dragging literally the worst team in the league without him to a possible playoffs berth. Kobe, Harden, LeBron carried teams just as bad? Not even close. Of course Kawhi has always been on a good team so who knows if he could even last half the year without pulling out due to his issues with the added burden of carrying such a team.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Curry faced and beat every other All-NBA First Team player one after another in the playoffs. Then took out the two closest MVPs in time to him (one of them the guys you say saves him later) despite coming off of two injuries earlier in the playoffs that caused him to miss games.

Curry is now dragging literally the worst team in the league without him to a possible playoffs berth. Kobe, Harden, LeBron carried teams just as bad? Not even close. Of course Kawhi has always been on a good team so who knows if he could even last half the year without pulling out due to his issues with the added burden of carrying such a team.

Curry's impact in 2015 title sucks though, Warriors were -1.7 on offense with him on the court.
2016 got smacked around by Irving
2017 had Durant\Klay\Draymond and had to beat Lamarcus Aldridge in the west finals
2018 was down 2-3 to rockets but chris paul got injured

So what year are you pointing too that was Curry's peak? He was never a dominant player in the playoffs.

[mehyaM24]

not a bad list tbh

lebron arguably has the greatest peak, but i understand the ranking (his longevity is so incredible that he's got a case for GOAT with that alone). but we would be remiss not to mention his 2016 finals where he annihilated curry and the warriors - complete and utter destruction. or lebron's 2018 playoff run where he arguably had the BEST offensive impact in history.

[ShawkFactory]

He does have more sustained excellence due to longevity but if you think '09 to '14 LeBron was some GOAT peak... I dont know what to tell you. In the playoffs during that time period he lost to Dwight, quit vs the Celtics, had the GOAT Finals choke, and had the worst margin of defeat in Finals history. Was also a Ray Allen shot away from 1/5. That right there is the furthest thing from a GOAT peak.

He led the entire league in pretty much every impact statistical measure for 5 straight years. You can play your anti-Lebron talking points all you want but that's something that very few people do. As a basketball player, it was one of the GOAT peaks. Is it #2? I probably wouldn't say so. But it's not insane.

But just the fact that you feel the need to repeat all of those things that have been discussed ad nauseam then idk what to tell you. You're not changing anything. People saw that he was very very very good at basketball. It wasn't that long ago.

[Stephonit]

Curry's impact in 2015 title sucks though, Warriors were -1.7 on offense with him on the court.
2016 got smacked around by Irving
2017 had Durant\Klay\Draymond and had to beat Lamarcus Aldridge in the west finals
2018 was down 2-3 to rockets but chris paul got injured

So what year are you pointing too that was Curry's peak? He was never a dominant player in the playoffs.

5 straight trips to the finals man—from the West. Each and every year of those 5 years he led in +/- except the year he won unanimous MVP because he had injuries in the playoffs.

As previously stated Curry eliminated the rest of the First Team All-NBA one year. Anyone else you know who did that in the playoffs? Eliminated the MVP before him and the MVP after him both in the same series the next year. Anyone else you know who did that in the playoffs? Led a team to comeback victories in 4 elimination games despite being double digits down at the half. Anyone else you know who did that in the playoffs?

Eliminated his two greatest guard rivals of the era (possible top 20 all-time players both) who were playing at the same time in a game where he went scoreless in the first half and his team was down by double digits. Anyone else you know who did that in the playoffs? Set the record for highest average PPG in a 4-game sweep in a playoffs series. Anyone else you know who did that in the playoffs? (No sorry LeBronto falls short.) Led a team to a sweep despite being down by 17 points in three of the games. Anyone else you know who did that in the playoffs?

Curry did crazy sh*t like this throughout his 5-year finals runs. Hard to pick a particular peak year when you're so consistently good doing incredible things that haven't been done before each and every year.

You say he wasn't a dominant player in the playoffs? Get out of here bozo! He was so dominant he gave you PCTSD.

[Stephonit]

not a bad list tbh

lebron arguably has the greatest peak, but i understand the ranking (his longevity is so incredible that he's got a case for GOAT with that alone). but we would be remiss not to mention his 2016 finals where he annihilated curry and the warriors - complete and utter destruction. or lebron's 2018 playoff run where he arguably had the BEST offensive impact in history.

A 7-game series where referee intervention twice possibly played a role in the victory is supposed to be an example of being "annihilated" and "complete and utter destruction"? So what adjectives do you use when a team gets swept?

[ShawkFactory]

A 7-game series where referee intervention twice possibly played a role in the victory is supposed to be an example of being "annihilated" and "complete and utter destruction"? So what adjectives do you use when a team gets swept?

When speaking about individual performances, Lebron completely annihilated Curry in those finals. Even blocked him what, 3 times? A couple of them in embarrassing fashion.

It wasn't close as to who the best player between those two was.

[Kiddlovesnets]

Its a good list overall, though I feel Duncan's peak was underrated since the 2003 title looked easy but the Spurs were basically his one man show. As a Nets fan I remember this feeling of desperation, that we tried everything to stop him but Duncan was still, dominant.

[mehyaM24]

A 7-game series where referee intervention twice possibly played a role in the victory is supposed to be an example of being "annihilated" and "complete and utter destruction"? So what adjectives do you use when a team gets swept?

back to back 40 point, do-or-die games and then a G7 triple double en-route to a ring. that is pure carnage. nobodies fault but draymond's for being suspended - that was just 1 game though. the warriors had 2 more opportunities and squandered them.

you don't like the superlatives but they absolutely fit.

[Stephonit]

When speaking about individual performances, Lebron completely annihilated Curry in those finals. Even blocked him what, 3 times? A couple of them in embarrassing fashion.

It wasn't close as to who the best player between those two was.

I remember after one of those blocks—the one probably most circulated on social media—Curry immediately struck back and almost stole the ball from a LeBron who was probably still busy congratulating himself from his previous play but the refs saw some weak foul like they had throughout the entire game and fouled out Curry. Only way to ensure the win I guess. Foul out the opposing team's best player! Of course LeBron fans go on about how that game was his greatest performance. Eye-rolling.

[SouBeachTalents]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd2GCwkTd38&ab_channel=MJOMixes


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkm3LVYhInM&ab_channel=FEARKCP

[ShawkFactory]

I remember after one of those blocks—the one probably most circulated on social media—Curry immediately struck back and almost stole the ball from a LeBron who was probably still busy congratulating himself from his previous play but the refs saw some weak foul like they had throughout the entire game and fouled out Curry. Only way to ensure the win I guess. Foul out the opposing team's best player! Of course LeBron fans go on about how that game was his greatest performance. Eye-rolling.

Dude the block (I mean yea there was more than one) was just an embarrassing cherry on top. It doesn't actually matter in this conversation.

Lebron completely outplayed him. Everyone, including you, knows this.

[FKAri]

What would Ish stans starting 5 would be like atm? 4 guys are locks imo.
PG:Stephonit
SG:3ball
SF:HBK
PF:?
C:Xiao
A pf is needed.

That one DRose stan. Forget his name.

[NBAGOAT]

What would Ish stans starting 5 would be like atm? 4 guys are locks imo.
PG:Stephonit
SG:3ball
SF:HBK
PF:?
C:Xiao
A pf is needed.

there is no pf that gets stanned here unless you want to count lebron. then it's impossible to pick since no one stan stands out for lebron

Edit: just remembered AussieSteve for Barkley. he's smart about it for sure especially compared to most of the guys you listed but he's for sure a big Barkley guy

[warriorfan]

Chef Dingo cooking up another gigantic Kielbasa for the haters to choke on :applause:

[Gohan]

Lmao 2016 curry>>>lebron any season. Don’t care if the got lnjured and lost in the finals

[Chick Stern]

I believe the metrics of TB are suspect. I also think anybody who want to use “peak” to be laughable.
I find most advanced metrics to be pulled out of somebody’s ass, in order to support a preconceived narrative.

[jlip]

You would really have needed to have followed the entire 15 video series to comprehend how Thinking Basketball came to his conclusions. Firstly, this was post merger (e.g. 1977- to present). Then typically, he considered a player's peak to be a 2-3 year stretch, not a single season, not an entire prime or a career. He considered offensive and defensive impact as well as on and off impact. Individual scoring was not the end all be all with his analysis of offensive impact. He paid attention to things that did not show up in the box score such as a player's gravity (attention drawn even when they didn't have the ball). While every player in the series had at least one championship ring, number of rings didn't matter because again he was only looking at a player's peak over a 2-3 year stretch. Players who made the series but not his top 10 were Bill Walton, Kobe Bryant, David Robinson, and Kevin Durant.

[dankok8]

His list is quite similar to mine actually except he has Kareem quite a bit low (I have him #2) and Curry way too high.

[dankok8]

Y'all wanna see a more controversial list? Ben Taylor who is the author of the Greatest Peaks series did a podcast and ranked the 10 greatest peaks ON OFFENSE only.

10. Duncan/Garnett (coinflip)

9. Kareem
8. Durant
7. Kobe

6. Shaq
5. Bird
4. Lebron

3. Magic
2. Jordan
1. Curry

He ranked Curry #1! :lol

[SouBeachTalents]

Y'all wanna see a more controversial list? Ben Taylor who is the author of the Greatest Peaks series did a podcast and ranked the 10 greatest peaks ON OFFENSE only.

10. Duncan/Garnett (coinflip)

9. Kareem
8. Durant
7. Kobe

6. Shaq
5. Bird
4. Lebron

3. Magic
2. Jordan
1. Curry

He ranked Curry #1! :lol
Duncan/KG in the top 10 is honestly more egregious to me than Curry being first. I don't think it's outrageous to believe Curry's 2016 season was the GOAT offensive peak, he was otherworldly that year.

The rest of the list looks pretty good, I'd swap out Duncan/KG for someone like Harden, Barkley, Dirk, Nash etc.

[Ainosterhaspie]

Curry 2016 numbers aren't as good as he was that year. They regularly destroyed teams so badly in three quarters, he sat entire 4th quarters. He left a lot of points on the table year because he was so dominant and that's without taking into account how much space he created for teammates without even touching the ball.

[tontoz]

What would Ish stans starting 5 would be like atm? 4 guys are locks imo.
PG:Stephonit
SG:3ball
SF:HBK
PF:?
C:Xiao
A pf is needed.

Lol good one. Round Mound is a barkley stan who used to put every post in bold. Not as active now but if you start a thread dissing Barkley he will appear out of the ether...




https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/g195/tontoz/Screenshot_20210412-181553.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://app.photobucket.com/u/tontoz/p/4d3aec4a-f9a4-4ae9-8c6c-a4dd08642120)

[dankok8]

Duncan/KG in the top 10 is honestly more egregious to me than Curry being first. I don't think it's outrageous to believe Curry's 2016 season was the GOAT offensive peak, he was otherworldly that year.

The rest of the list looks pretty good, I'd swap out Duncan/KG for someone like Harden, Barkley, Dirk, Nash etc.

Oh I agree. Duncan/KG would be far lower on my list.

But Curry is still very controversial overall given his criteria. Ben Taylor always values multiyear peaks including postseason very highly. Steph was GOAT-level in the 2015-2016 regular season but mediocre in the 2016 playoffs. And in surrounding years like 2015 and 2017 he was nowhere near that level either.

[Stephonit]

Oh I agree. Duncan/KG would be far lower on my list.

But Curry is still very controversial overall given his criteria. Ben Taylor always values multiyear peaks including postseason very highly. Steph was GOAT-level in the 2015-2016 regular season but mediocre in the 2016 playoffs. And in surrounding years like 2015 and 2017 he was nowhere near that level either.

2017 Curry in the playoffs is comparable to or slightly better than 1987 Magic or 1986 Bird in the playoffs. If he looked nowhere near than he did in the 2016 regular season it is because 2016 regular season Steph was arguably the greatest player to ever set foot on a basketball court.

[Axe]

2017 Curry in the playoffs is comparable to or slightly better than 1987 Magic or 1986 Bird in the playoffs. If he looked nowhere near than he did in the 2016 regular season it is because 2016 regular season Steph was arguably the greatest player to ever set foot on a basketball court.
If that's true then stephen curry would have at least two finals mvp already but unfortunately, that count is still stuck at zero atm. So... ;(

[jlip]

Y'all wanna see a more controversial list? Ben Taylor who is the author of the Greatest Peaks series did a podcast and ranked the 10 greatest peaks ON OFFENSE only.

10. Duncan/Garnett (coinflip)

9. Kareem
8. Durant
7. Kobe

6. Shaq
5. Bird
4. Lebron

3. Magic
2. Jordan
1. Curry

He ranked Curry #1! :lol

Was he ranking the greatest offensive peaks only of the players whom he had as the top overall peaks?

[ShawkFactory]

Duncan/KG in the top 10 is honestly more egregious to me than Curry being first. I don't think it's outrageous to believe Curry's 2016 season was the GOAT offensive peak, he was otherworldly that year.

The rest of the list looks pretty good, I'd swap out Duncan/KG for someone like Harden, Barkley, Dirk, Nash etc.
Why?

You clearly weren't watching basketball meaningfully in the 2000-2004 range. Duncan and Garnett were being compared to Malone and Barkley every day.

After 2003 I feel like Duncan almost separated himself from those guys. He'd already being doing it for years but having the end game results and just borderline carrying a basketball team in every way deserves some mention.

[Gudo]

Why?

You clearly weren't watching basketball meaningfully in the 2000-2004 range. Duncan and Garnett were being compared to Malone and Barkley every day.

After 2003 I feel like Duncan almost separated himself from those guys. He'd already being doing it for years but having the end game results and just borderline carrying a basketball team in every way deserves some mention.

Why not have barkley ahead of duncan/kg in that list instead?

[SouBeachTalents]

Why?

You clearly weren't watching basketball meaningfully in the 2000-2004 range. Duncan and Garnett were being compared to Malone and Barkley every day.

After 2003 I feel like Duncan almost separated himself from those guys. He'd already being doing it for years but having the end game results and just borderline carrying a basketball team in every way deserves some mention.
For offensive peak? Nah, Duncan nor KG have an argument for top 10 offensive peak :lol

[RRR3]

In what universe were KG/Duncan even close to Barkley offensively lol. It’s defense why they get ranked higher.

[RRR3]

Also I’d love to hear the arguments for Duncan/KG being better on offense than CP3 or Harden.


Lost a lot of respect for Ben for that one that’s an indefensible position smh

[ShawkFactory]

Why not have barkley ahead of duncan/kg in that list instead?

Because I don't think that Barkley was better than them. Particularly Duncan at his best.

It's obviously close but if I want to win Barkley might be the 3rd pick of those 3. I'd definitely take Duncan first.

[RRR3]

Because I don't think that Barkley was better than them. Particularly Duncan at his best.

It's obviously close but if I want to win Barkley might be the 3rd pick of those 3. I'd definitely take Duncan first.
This is just talking offense though. It’s hard to argue there’s been a better offensive PF than Barkley. Only Dirk would have a case.

[Gudo]

This is just talking offense though. It’s hard to argue there’s been a better offensive PF than Barkley. Only Dirk would have a case.

I was going to say. Dirk and barkley are better scorers than duncan/kg.

[ShawkFactory]

So I missed that this was just an offensive peak. Carry on.

KG/Duncan shouldn't be there over Barkley or Dirk if that's the case obviously :lol

Although Duncan had to carry a team offensively and did it well for several years. KG not quite as much

[dankok8]

Guys the peak list in the OP is overall peak meaning offense and defense.

But on this podcast he was ranking these same peaks by offense only and had that list that I posted with Curry #1 and Duncan/KG #10.

[ELITEpower23]

https://youtu.be/FzzlvnncLOQ

The list

1. Jordan
2. LeBron
3. Shaq
4. Hakeem
5. Kareem
6. Bird
7. Curry
8. KG
9. Duncan
10. Magic

Wait where is Ko-

Oh, the list stopped at ten that's why we don't see his name yet.

[Horatio33]

Booker scored 70 on a lottery team. Kobe did it on a playoff team that he had up 3-1 on the brink of victory if not for a single hail mary shot by Tim Thomas against the 2 seed Pheonix Suns. Kobe outscored the eventual western conference champs 63-62 through 3 quarters. (2006 Mavs) That's a very poor argument to compare him to Booker. He was destroying teams single handedly and making his team competitive instead of lotto.

Tim Thomas 3 pointer wasn't a hail Mary. It was a standard 3 after he pump faked a defender out of his shoes. It was a clutch shot.

Talk about game 7 in that series when Bryant gave up and stopped trying. Like in game 7 in 2008 when his team got destroyed by 30 plus points in a finals game. Or game 4 of the 2008 finals when his team lost a 24 point lead in a finals game.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Kawhi is clearly ahead of Curry\Garnett\Magic and anybody who thinks otherwise should just give up on watching basketball. that would be something like 99.99999827% of basketball fans. You have just single handedly ruined the NBA business model.

[Kobe_Bryant]

lol@ peak lebron over peak shaq.. what


and I averaged 35. dropped 81 and had more 50+ games in 2 years than 8 out of 10 guys on that list had combined for their entire career

[HoopsNY]

https://youtu.be/FzzlvnncLOQ

The list

1. Jordan
2. LeBron
3. Shaq
4. Hakeem
5. Kareem
6. Bird
7. Curry
8. KG
9. Duncan
10. Magic

Look where KG is on this list. lol

Imagine that KG is ranked 8th in terms of peaks in the modern era. You literally can't make this stuff up.

Now look at someone like D. Wade:

2005-11 RS: 27/5/7/2/1 on 57% TS%

2005-11 Playoffs: 27/6/6/2/1 on 58% TS%

Wade went to 2 finals and won a FMVP. Sure, he didn't win an MVP, but he was legitimately in the conversation of being the best player in the league for a time and if not for LeBron's meltdown in 2011, he would have won another FMVP. Not to mention, KG's peak was better than Kobe's?

Yet KG is up there ahead of his peak.

[Kobe_Bryant]

where does this rank

- #1 all time guard scoring leader
- #4 all time scorer overall
- #1 all time guard playoff scoring leader
- #4 all time playoff scorer overall
- have the 2nd highest single game record with 81 points
- have a 27ppg career scoring average as a starter ( only topped by Jordan and Wilt )
- only 5 guys have averaged more points in a single season
- i've averaged 40+ points for an entire month 4 separate times
- i have 6 games of 50+ ( #2 all time )
- i have 26 games of 50+ ( #3 all time )
- i have 135 games of 40+ ( #3 all time )
- i'm one of only 2 players ever with 30,000 points and 5,000 assists
- i led 5 title teams in assists
- i averaged basically 30/5/5+ for 4 championship runs


behind boris diaw i guess