Greatest 2nd option of all time

[played0ut]

Who do you think? Reasons would be good too.


I'll say Scottie Pippen, clearly. He's the type of player who would complement virtually ANY superstar.

-High BBIQ
-Good scorer
-One of best perimeter defenders
-He can take over if he needs to, and
-Understands IN HIS HEART how to win, even if it means deferring, even if he has a natural alpha personality
-Does a lot of the dirty work for the team


Consider Tex Winters said that MJ may have needed Pippen more than Pippen needed him. Plug Pippen into any other team with a superstar and they'll be immediate contenders. Plug MJ into any other team with another superstar and they'll have to work on chemistry issues/game overlapping.


Imagine teams with
-Shaq
-Kobe
-Iverson
-Wilt
-Hakeem
-Duncan



whoever. Plug Pippen in and you can see how they'd work. Put MJ instead? Lol with the exception of maybe Hakeem, Wilt (in his later years), and Duncan there will be trades, complaints about touches, major chemistry issues, etc.










Oh, and before people start yapping about how MJ is nothing without Pippen, consider how Pippen unequivocally said that training and playing with MJ was grueling, but definitely made him into the great player he became.

[IncarceratedBob]

Hard to argue against 09/10 Kobe Bryant

[played0ut]

Kobe was great 2nd option 01-03. (He openly admitted being 2nd to Shaq).


He'd never work as a true 2nd option with his mindset. At least not in his prime. He was the man in 09/10.

[IncarceratedBob]

Kobe was great 2nd option 01-03. (He openly admitted being 2nd to Shaq).


He'd never work as a true 2nd option with his mindset. At least not in his prime. He was the man in 09/10.

He was the 2nd option to Pau Gasol according to Win Shares, the ultimate basketball stat according to leading minds, in 2009 and 2010.

[bdreason]

Kareem and Magic.

[K Xerxes]

Frobe is about as good as it gets. Arguments can be made for early 80s Magic, mid 80s Kareem and Pippen.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Frobe is about as good as it gets. Arguments can be made for early 80s Magic, mid 80s Kareem and Pippen.

This. I'd take Frobe

[LAZERUSS]

Purely speculation, but worth mentioning...

The Wilt-West tandem in the 69-70 season were on path for TWO players averaging 30 + ppg.

With a new coach, who made the decision to go with Wilt as the main offensive option, and in the first nine games of the season...

Wilt was leading the league at 32.2 ppg, on a .579 FG% (and 20.0 rpg), while West was second at 30.8 ppg. Chamberlain shredded his knee in that ninth game, and was never the same again, while West did go on to lead the NBA in scoring at 31.2 ppg that year.

[SCdac]

As far as older second-options, David Robinson and Clyde Drexler come to mind. Going with second-options in their prime, definitely the players mentioned already

[Kiddlovesnets]

How about Kareem in show-time Lakers?

[avonbarksdale]

easy kobe in his early days

[LAZERUSS]

How about Kareem in show-time Lakers?

In terms of their half-court offense, KAJ was the primary option until the '86-87 season. BUT, we do KNOW that Magic was certainly capable of being a #1 option, even as early as his rookie season.

[kennethgriffin]

i will admit shaq at the time was more efficient and averaged slightly more ppg 2 out of the 4 years. but the offense went through kobe more often via total shot attempts/play making.

shaq was technically and statistically the 2nd option


shaq has to be the goat 2nd option

[Kiddlovesnets]

i will admit shaq at the time was more efficient and averaged slightly more ppg 2 out of the 4 years. but the offense went through kobe more often via total shot attempts/play making.

shaq was technically and statistically the 2nd option


shaq has to be the goat 2nd option

You just dont know when to quit, do you? Just admit that Kobe was the 2nd option getting his sidekick rings from 00-02, its not that difficult.

[kennethgriffin]

You just dont know when to quit, do you? Just admit that Kobe was the 2nd option getting his sidekick rings from 00-02, its not that difficult.

theres a difference between 1st option and more efficient player


shaq was so efficient that he appeared to be the 1st option. but if that were the case. he would have more shot attempts


having 2-3-4 more shot attempts and 3-4 more assists shows more often than not the ball went through kobe

kobe was the primary offensive option. maybe not the most efficient. but kobe was 1st