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[url]http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/lists/Top-10-centers-in-NBA-history#photo-title=Centers%20of%20attention&photo=30115811[/url]
Reasons for the choices are in the link.
1. Bill Russell
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Shaquille O'Neal
5. Hakeem Olajuwon
6. Moses Malone
7. George Mikan
8. David Robinson
9. Willis Reed
10. Nate Thurmond
*whew... *I was worried they were gonna have Howard in there.
I still don't think Bill should be no.1
[QUOTE=andgar923]*whew... *I was worried they were gonna have Howard in there.
I still don't think Bill should be no.1[/QUOTE]
Why not?
[QUOTE=andgar923]*whew... *I was worried they were gonna have Howard in there.
I still don't think Bill should be no.1[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I don't think Thurmond should be over Patrick Ewing, though.
The debate for who should be #1 center of all-time seems to always be the toughest one.
Ewing should be on there but then again I know nothing about Reed or Thurmond, in particular Thurmond so maybe they should be ahead of Ewing.
[QUOTE=catch24]Why not?[/QUOTE]
I think they were going for all-time wise.
Although, Howard does have 3 DPOY's under his belt, I don't think that's enough to vault him in the Top 10 yet.
[QUOTE=catch24]Why not?[/QUOTE]
I understand that rings matter, but take away his rings and he isn't as great as some of the other centers. Yes, he's still good and I"m sure somebody can dig up some great games, but I don't see him above Kareem, Wilt, Shaq, Hakeem, David without his rings.
If we base it solely on rings then it's fair.
But Kareem has rings.
Shaq has rings.
Hakeem has rings.
David has rings.
I honestly think that Kareem should be GOAT cause he has the best combination of skill, rings, and accolades.
Wilt has the stats and accolades
Shaq is a combination of Wilt and Kareem
Pat Ewing is better than Reed, and just about every Knick fans knows that.
[B]Correct Lists[/B]
1. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
2. Wilt Chamberlain
3. Shaquille O'Neal
4. Hakeem Olajuwon
5. Moses Malone
6. Bill Russell
7. George Mikan
8. David Robinson
9. Patrick Ewing
10. Willis Reed
My top 10:
[LIST=1][*]Wilt[*]Kareem[*]Russell[*]Olajuwon[*]Shaq[*]Moses[*]Thurmond[*]Mikan[*]Robinson[*]Ewing[/LIST]
[QUOTE=andgar923]I understand that rings matter, but take away his rings and he isn't as great as some of the other centers.[/quote]
Yeah, but if you take away Kareem, Shaq and Hakeem's rings...they're not ranked where they are currently either. Fact is, Russell was the focal-point of those Celtics Championships.
If blocks were a counted stat then? He'd be known as the greatest defender ever (him or Wilt... or both).
[quote]If we base it solely on rings then it's fair.[/quote]
His place in history isn't solely due to the amount of championships he has though. Russell is one of the greatest rebounders, defenders, leaders and coaches the game has seen. We're not talking about Robert Horry here.
[QUOTE=catch24]Yeah, but if you take away Kareem, Shaq and Hakeem's rings...they're not ranked where they are currently either. Fact is, Russell was the focal-point of those Celtics Championships.
If blocks were a counted stat then? He'd be known as the greatest defender ever (him or Wilt... or both).
His place in history isn't solely due to the amount of championships he has though. Russell is one of the greatest rebounders, defenders, leaders and coaches the game has seen. We're not talking about Robert Horry here.[/QUOTE]
If you take away all of their rings Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Hakeem and DRob will be better.... that was my main point.
And of course I understand that Bill was no Horry, I agreed that he was a great player, just not as good as some of the other top centers, which is only a handful all time.
[QUOTE=andgar923]If you take away all of their rings Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Hakeem and DRob will be better.... that was my main point.[/quote]
That's not how rankings work though. You can't take away these players accomplishments to fit what you think works. Had MJ never won a championship? Is he even a top 3 player?
[QUOTE=andgar923][B]If you take away all of their rings Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Hakeem and DRob will be better.... that was my main point.[/B]
And of course I understand that Bill was no Horry, I agreed that he was a great player, just not as good as some of the other top centers, which is only a handful all time.[/QUOTE]
Back in Russell's era, the players used to vote for the MVP. They voted for Russell MVP 5 times.
They even voted him MVP in 1961-62 over these players that year:
Wilt Chamberlain: 50.4ppg 25.7rpg 2.4apg 50.6%fg 61.3%ft
Oscar Robertson: 30.8ppg 12.5rpg 11.4apg 47.8%fg 80.3%ft
Elgin Baylor: 38.3ppg 18.6rpg 4.6apg 42.8%fg 75.4%ft
Jerry West: 30.8ppg 7.9rpg 5.4apg 44.5%fg 76.9%ft
Bob Pettit: 31.1ppg 18.7rpg 3.7apg 45.0%fg 77.1%ft
Richie Guerin: 29.5ppg 6.4rpg 6.9apg 44.2%fg 82.0%ft
I think winning and impact go beyond the stats. Russell's defensive impact was so valuable to those Celtics teams because some of his teammates were poor defenders. He was that good of an anchor for the defense, that his role was played to a perfection.
Perfect example for a player who needed Russell is Bob Cousy. He was a bad defender and never started winning until Russell came along.
KAJ
DUNCAN
Shaq
Hakeem
DROB
Malone
Ewing
WILT
Russell
?