Who are the best players you've seen play live?

It's not as easy for me, being a Non-American, to get to live NBA games but over the years I saw Dirk in 03 against Toronto ( think it was still called the Skydome then), Vince and Kobe go at it in 2006 in NJ, Kobe vs the Knicks @MSG in 06 a week after the 81 (I think he had 40 this game), Lebron in 2012 final game of the season against I think the Nets( Wade was sitting out). Also caught the Celtics against the Nets in 2012 with KG/Pierce/Ray Allen( obviously all past their primes at this point).

I haven't been to a live game in like 12-13 years. I wouldn't mind seeing another one but I'm gonna be pissed dropping 100s for a decent seat if I find out the marquee name(s) are load-managing.

The Celtics you would expect: Pierce, Garnett, Walker, Rondo, Allen, Tatum, Brown, White, Holiday, KP.

Non-Celts: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson (yes, it was a bad night), Vince Carter, and someone on that knicks team was probably good but I remember nothing about them.

Giannis, Kyrie, PG off the top of my head from recent ones

Oh, J.Kidd was on that 06 Nets team so should throw his name in too.

LeBron
Shaq
Jokic
Curry
Duncan/Kobe

You know, I'm forgetting I also saw the 94 'Dream Team 2' at the world cup in Toronto, not technically an NBA game of course.

I saw Curry drop 43 live on the Celtics in G4 of the 2022 Finals. I didn't even realize he finished with that much, I just remember him hitting bucket after bucket.

[QUOTE=Wally450;14968696]I saw Curry drop 43 live on the Celtics in G4 of the 2022 Finals. I didn't even realize he finished with that much, [B]I just remember him hitting bucket after bucket[/B].[/QUOTE]

I remember that feeling watching 03 Dirk against the Raptors. I just looked up the stats from that game and he 'only' had 28 but he was 10/15 from the field and 2/3 from deep, hence the feeling of he wasn't missing that game lol.

I saw Dirk hit this game winner live @ the Prudential center in 2011 over the Nets.

[video=youtube_share;jh9Ek2bt6c4]https://youtu.be/jh9Ek2bt6c4?si=ZoOzRdXnhWYOHQrC[/video]

Apparently snookie and Kim Kardashian were there from when she was dating Kris Humphries.

Rockets Harden, Pacers Paul George.

I had floor seats for a Wizards-Pacers game. That night, David West was honestly the best player on the court. I remember him icing the game with buckets from the high post on multiple possessions, and it was like no one in the world could bother him. It's like he said "Ok, let me put these kids to bed real quick" and then just did it with the greatest of ease. Think he had 30 that night.

I don’t get to many games so the best was probably Latrell Sprewell even though he choked that game.

Growing up, I had friends with seats six rows behind the basket at Madison Square Garden. Saw Reed, Frazier, Wilt, West, Havlicek, Monroe, Kareem, Oscar, Lucas. Later, saw Barry and Dr. J with the Nets.

Much later, in Houston, saw Hakeem, Shaq, Kobe, Barkley. Haven’t been to a live game in many years.

Magic Johnson

MJ
Shaq
LeBron
Curry
KD
Jokic


In terms of performances, Curry and KD were the best. Curry went off. I saw him made some crazy shots. It was unbelievable. I saw him play the Clippers, but he usually went off on the Clippers.

KD on a different game. He made the game seemed so easy for him.

I caught Jokic a couple of times. Big dude. He's bigger in person than on TV to me. Similar to KD, the game seemed so easy for him. But I saw a game where it was like a non nonchalant triple double for him and I saw a game where he struggled on the FG%, which is rare.

I caught MJ, Shaq and LeBron on a mid night by their standards. But it was still amazing to watch them play.

It's crazy to see LeBron in person. You wouldn't think a guy that big could move that fast.

Same thing with Shaq but in a different way. Shaq's huge. Biggest person I ever seen.

I saw MJ on his second threepeat. It was a crazy aura about him.

I've been to probably 10 NBA games in various cities over the last 30+ years. Mostly Cleveland & Indy.
Greatest I've seen play live: Michael Jordan.

Biggest surprise how good he was on the floor watching live: Chris Paul. I don't care for the guy, but he was always 1-2 "chess moves" above the defense. Like watching a PG savant play.

[QUOTE=Phoenix;14968699]I remember that feeling watching 03 Dirk against the Raptors. I just looked up the stats from that game and he 'only' had 28 but he was 10/15 from the field and 2/3 from deep, hence the feeling of he wasn't missing that game lol.[/QUOTE]


I envy you for this

[QUOTE=ArbitraryWater;14968962]I envy you for this[/QUOTE]

It was the first live game I ever saw, just happened to be visiting Toronto and the Mavs were in town. Dirk with that beautiful high arching jumpshot just swishing midrange after midrange was like :biggums:

[QUOTE=Phoenix;14968978]It was the first live game I ever saw, just happened to be visiting Toronto and the Mavs were in town. Dirk with that beautiful high arching jumpshot just swishing midrange after midrange was like :biggums:[/QUOTE]

Damn, stumbled onto a goldmine.

Tickets were probably quite affordable too.

[QUOTE=ArbitraryWater;14969127]Damn, stumbled onto a goldmine.

Tickets were probably quite affordable too.[/QUOTE]

IIRC it was around 100 CAD, so at the time I guess around $70 or whatever the USD equivalent would have been.

My Grandpa saw Wilt play in High School as well. They were 3 years apart in age. He said they used to quadruple team Wilt and leave 1 guy to roam on everybody else.

Probably some local low level players.