Several comparisons that have probably never been made. Most with good reason.

[Kblaze8855]

Who you taking for your team in 2023?




09 Wade or 99 Duncan

01 Kobe or 2011 Dirk

Current Luka or prime David Robinson

Peak Ray Allen or peak John Stockton

Current Ja Morant or prime Gary Payton

Prime Mutombo or 04 Peja

02 Kwame if you must play him 26 minutes a game foul trouble permitting or an Itouch Touchless 13 gallon trash can:

https://itouchless.com/products/13-gallon-deodorizer-sensor-trash-can-dzt13p

if you personally have to pay the 99 dollars for it and donate it free to the team for the locker room?


2018 Durant or 2004 KG

Current Tatum or rookie Magic Johnson

2006 Arenas or current Lebron

86-87 Jordan vs 2001 Shaq

[Im Still Ballin]

Who you taking for your team in 2023?




09 Wade or 99 Duncan

01 Kobe or 2011 Dirk

Current Luka or prime David Robinson

Peak Ray Allen or peak John Stockton

Current Ja Morant or prime Gary Payton

Prime Mutombo or 04 Peja

02 Kwame if you must play him 26 minutes a game foul trouble permitting or an Itouch Touchless 13 gallon trash can:

https://itouchless.com/products/13-gallon-deodorizer-sensor-trash-can-dzt13p

if you personally have to pay the 99 dollars for it and donate it free to the team for the locker room?


2018 Durant or 2004 KG

Current Tatum or rookie Magic Johnson

2006 Arenas or current Lebron

86 Jordan vs 2001 Shaq

09 Wade. Game is more suited to the modern league. Can replace Duncan's defensive value more easily than I can Wade's offense. Might've been more of a 50-50 if it were '03 Duncan.

11 Dirk. Strengths are too great. Would need to build out a lineup to cover weaknesses on defense.

Prime David Robinson. Like a 7'1" version of Giannis with better defense. Maybe not as dominant in the paint on offense.

Peak John Stockton. Extremely durable, reliable, and consistent. Has the shooting touch to spam threes and the passing to orchestrate a top offense. Also a great defender.

Prime Gary Payton. This one was hard. Ja might be more of an offensive engine but I like Payton's playmaking and defense.

Prime Mutombo. Peja had a tendency to choke I believe. Mutombo gives me Rudy Gobert vibes. I can rely on him to anchor the defense.

$99 Trashcan. Worth the money to free up the rotation.

2004 KG. Gives me more than what KD offers. One of the best defenders ever. Perfect mobility for the modern game.

Rookie Magic Johnson. He's a 20 y/o rookie with significant college experience. Better from day one than Tatum has ever been.

Current LeBron. Even at 38 years old, LeBron is substantially better than Gilbert ever was.

86 Jordan. Thought about this one long and hard. Shaq's durability, conditioning, and FT shooting hurt him here. Did MJ get better by the '90s or was it largely his supporting cast? Haven't watched enough to know. I assume he was as good as ever from day one.

[Kblaze8855]

He wasn’t as good as ever from day one but you could argue he was as good as anyone else ever was from day one. Larry Bird thought so about halfway through his rookie season but it’s not clear.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Tatum has an argument if you lean heavy on scoring and defense but making it is practically sacrilegious. Tatum hasn't done enough to have a real shot in an argument against a to 5 greatest ever player even if just a rookie.

[Wardell Curry]

Who you taking for your team in 2023?

One year only, starting a new roster? One year only, not knowing the rest of the already established team? The rest of their careers with the aforementioned questions? Something else?

[Kblaze8855]

Tatum has an argument if you lean heavy on scoring and defense but making it is practically sacrilegious. Tatum hasn't done enough to have a real shot in an argument against a to 5 greatest ever player even if just a rookie.

And yet in 1980 he didn’t make the all nba team over Westphalia, Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, or Gervin all of which you’d likely take Tatum over. Emotion just weighs in heavily.

[Kblaze8855]

One year only, starting a new roster? One year only, not knowing the rest of the already established team? The rest of their careers with the aforementioned questions? Something else?

One year no clue who else is on the team.

[Real Men Wear Green]

And yet in 1980 he didn’t make the all nba team over Westphalia, Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson, or Gervin all of which you’d likely take Tatum over. Emotion just weighs in heavily.

It's very much the power of Johnson's legend but he's earned that kind of respect. And I will say that Finals game where he jumped center in Kareem's place was a greater performance than anything Tatum has done yet.

[Wardell Curry]

09 Wade, as painful as that is to say.

2011 Dirk.

Prime David Robinson.

Peak John Stockton.

Prime Gary Payton. I can't pick a guy who openly carries the ball worse than anyone in NBA history.

04 Stojakovic.

2018 Durant / 2004 KG - tossup. I can't. Both really good defensively.

Rookie Magic Johnson.

2006 Arenas - I don't remember enough about Arenas' defense to make a decision, but probably Arenas.

86 Jordan vs 2001 Shaq - tossup. I can't. Either way, your shooters are open like never before.

[Wardell Curry]

On another note, I am getting very tired of the NBA turning into a product of 1 guy dominating the ball and having 4 other guys on the perimeter waiting on a 3. This is a product of teams figuring out the advanced numbers and LeBron James in my opinion.

I don't enjoy watching that type of basketball. Team basketball is basically dead. Golden State is the exception, but that's just because Steph is a crack addict that runs around the court more than almost everyone when needed.

[Kblaze8855]

It's very much the power of Johnson's legend but he's earned that kind of respect. And I will say that Finals game where he jumped center in Kareem's place was a greater performance than anything Tatum has done yet.

Sure but it must also have been nice to have this guy the previous game:



https://youtu.be/AMIC4zKK_nE



While Magic had the Westbrook quadruple double(turnovers).

[SouBeachTalents]

Wade was a better player in ‘09 than Duncan was in ‘99

That’s brutally close, I might actually roll with ‘01 Kobe on this one

I’m going with D-Rob, I think he’s easier to build a team around than Luka

Ray, but certainly close

Payton, one of the easier choices here

I don’t know how you don’t choose Peja for todays game, Dikembe is at best a Gobert who’s defensive limitations will get exploited in the playoffs

Definitely the Itouch

Brutally close, but I think KD’s ruthlessly efficient scoring is more dangerous for today’s game than KG’s ATG defense and all around game

I think I’m going with rookie Magic on this one

Arenas would be a baller today for sure, but I’m going with LeBron

Arguably the easiest choice of the options, peak Shaq over 2nd year Jordan all day

[dankok8]

These are actually very tough to choose. But 2023 NBA means I'll probably almost always choose guards over bigs. Or not!

2009 Wade 2009 Wade would be a cheat code and even though Timmy would also feast I think 2009 Wade is just too good. You can argue that's the 2nd best SG peak after MJ.

2001 Kobe Not a slam dunk but I don't see Dirk over any version of prime Kobe.

DRob His offensive numbers today would be much better and he played insane defense. Honestly he's a slightly different version of Giannis today. He'd be a total monster.

prime Ray Shooting is more valuable than what Stockton brings. Stockton is actually a bit of an overrated playmaker despite high assist tallies.

Payton His offensive stats would be a lot better in today's era and his defense is better than Jrue.

2004 Peja Mutombo might be be unplayable on offense. And his defensive value goes way down with so many 3pt shots. He's mostly a vertical defender and shotblocker and not so agile like DRob and KG to cover the court.

Trash can Kwame was mediocre then and would be a totally useless player now. Lumbering big that can't shoot LOL

2004 KG Prime Garnett could average 27-28 ppg on good efficiency easy in this era and he's a GOAT-level defender.

Rookie Magic Again.. any old legend with a semblance of offensive skill averages much better numbers today. Tatum despite his numbers feels like a standard top 10/15 player whereas rookie Magic just had it.

Lebron Arenas was never that efficient even though Agent Zero could probably average almost 40 since he would take 12 threes LOL I still think a healthy Lebron at this age is a better overall player by a lot.

Shaq MJ missed most of that season to injury. Jordan is the better player but you don't get credit for a few playoff games to the point where I take you over a top 5 peak ever.

[Kblaze8855]

I do wonder what teams do with absolute peak athleticism Jordan with 3-4 shooters. They can’t keep guys like Giannis out of the lane and even 86 Jordan was a much better shooter. It would be Morant athletic ability in a bigger body with elite defense.

[Kblaze8855]

Shaq MJ missed most of that season to injury. Jordan is the better player but you don't get credit for a few playoff games to the point where I take you over a top 5 peak ever.

Made it 86-87 for clarity.

[Phoenix]

Made it 86-87 for clarity.

87/88 MJ if you wanted to make it even more interesting.

[iamgine]

09 Wade or 99 Duncan

01 Kobe or 2011 Dirk

Current Luka or prime David Robinson

Peak Ray Allen or peak John Stockton

Current Ja Morant or prime Gary Payton

Prime Mutombo or 04 Peja

02 Kwame if you must play him 26 minutes a game foul trouble permitting or an Itouch Touchless 13 gallon trash can

2018 Durant or 2004 KG

Current Tatum or rookie Magic Johnson

2006 Arenas or current Lebron

86-87 Jordan vs 2001 Shaq

[AlternativeAcc.]

Duncan. Don't like Wade's game... rather have a stoic beast at Center and 3 point shooters. Basically a Gobert who can actually score, pass, and not be atrocious offensively.

Dirk. Kobe's early days get inflated due to rings. Dirks shooting and team play is more crucial. His experience in 2011 trumps Kobe's youthful energy but simplistic mindset.

Robinson. two-way dominance too good to pass up.

Ray Allen. Favor his volume 3pt ability and was a capable go-to scorer at his peak.

Payton. Not all that close,

Peja. Mutumbo too one-dimensional on the side less important. Peja one of the greatest shooters ever.

Durant. two or three tiers better offensively than Garnett, similar defensive versatility.


Tatum. Guarantied elite scorer and defender. Plays well off-ball.


LeBron. Not close.


Shaq. Not close.

[Reggie43]

Stockton easily. In his prime he could have scored as much as Ray if he wanted to but was too focused on setting up teammates plus the obvious advantage on defense, physicality/dirtiness, doing whatever it takes to win.

[dankok8]

Made it 86-87 for clarity.

If it's 86-87 Jordan then I'd take him over Shaq.