Is Shaq top 5 ever? Why, why not?

[guy]

Named IBM Award (2000, 2001)

BTW, what the hell is that?

[boozehound]

Give an example strong enough that should knock a man down this list. Dis raps against Kobe do not count.

waiting the entire off season to address a medical issue. then when asked about it, said "I got hurt on company time, I can heal on company time". Maybe if you worked year round, but since you have 3-5 months of offseason every year.... very unprofessional.

[Godfather]

waiting the entire off season to address a medical issue. then when asked about it, said "I got hurt on company time, I can heal on company time". Maybe if you worked year round, but since you have 3-5 months of offseason every year.... very unprofessional.

And that is enough to drop him spots on the all time list...GTFO hater.

[bleedinpurpleTwo]

And that is enough to drop him spots on the all time list...GTFO hater.

absolutely. remarkably unprofessional. to miss the 1st half of the season that way? regular season records do, in fact, mean something. home court is very important in the NBA. plus, it shows very poor leadership.

[Godfather]

absolutely. remarkably unprofessional. to miss the 1st half of the season that way? regular season records do, in fact, mean something. home court is very important in the NBA. plus, it shows very poor leadership.

Yeah and then he won 3 straight titles for the Lakers, as the leader and most dominant player...by far.

[bleedinpurpleTwo]

Yeah and then he won 3 straight titles for the Lakers, as the leader and most dominant player...by far.

no. the titles came before the big toe.
but that doesnt matter. regardless, it reflects upon his professionalism, or lack thereof.

can a player do ANYTHING as long as he wins championships?

[guy]

can a player do ANYTHING as long as he wins championships?

LOL, yea I believe they can if thats the case. All that matters is what they does on the court. Like I said, his unprofessionalism in 2003 played a great deal in ending that dynasty. Maybe they win a title if it wasn't for that, which means he would probably be ranked higher with another title. So like I said, we're already penalizing him due to his unprofessionalism.

I just think this argument that only seems to be attached to Shaq is pretty ridiculous. Lets be serious, Shaq had all the tools to win even more championships, MVPs, scoring titles, etc, which would've made him the GOAT, but his work ethic and attitude is probably what stopped that from happening. He's already penalized for it in that sense, so I don't see why we should penalize him even more.

[plowking]

He has a case. He's generally considered top 4-9 among most fans. Too dominant 2000-02 Finals. I usually put him somewhere in #7, a position that would be higher if
1) he wasn't getting injured as much as he did (for a season, I'll take a guy who plays 80 games and is 90% as good as Shaq instead of a 55-60 game Shaq)
2) he had the defensive impact of a guy like Hakeem
3) he won his titles against stronger individual competition.



I don't understand how anyone could leave him out of the top-5. Even if he had won 0 titles, he'd still rank among the greatest, thanks to his unsurpassed dominance on the game. After all, people were starting making GOAT claims for Jordan even after his first title (even more often after his second). Shaq was called the GOAT center by some after the 2000 Finals. Both by then had won less than Wilt did. So, if players who had played only for 7-8 years and hadn't matched Wilt's winning either had a claim, then Wilt does for sure.

When Wilt spent his prime, no-one except Boston was winning. So, if Wilt was branded a loser, because of not managing to win championships so should West, Baylor, Oscar, Willis Reed before '70, practically anyone not playing for Boston.

BTW, Wilt was the best player in both teams he won the championship. In 1967, it was a no-brainer. In 1972, you may argue either him or West for the regular season, but West had the worst playoffs of hs career, while Wilt was the Finals' MVP.

You mean the dominance that gave him 0 titles in his prime? He was only able to win later on in his career where he was on a stacked team.

[Scott Pippen]

You mean the dominance that gave him 0 titles in his prime? He was only able to win later on in his career where he was on a stacked team.

To give you rough idea, imagine a playoff series with Kobe & 2006 Lakers vs the East All Star team (with everyone in prime). That is what it was like for Wilt and the Warriors/Sixers to play against Bill Russell's Celtics. At that time everyone in the NBA was building their team to take down Celtics.

[plowking]

To give you rough idea, imagine a playoff series with Kobe & 2006 Lakers vs the East All Star team (with everyone in prime). That is what it was like for Wilt and the Warriors/Sixers to play against Bill Russell's Celtics. At that time everyone in the NBA was building their team to take down Celtics.

Less teams to compete with at the time. You're acting as if every team was a pushover in Shaq's time as well.

[gts]

Give an example strong enough that should knock a man down this list. Dis raps against Kobe do not count.

he did, but i'll add some more, showing up in camp out of shape taking half the season to get his game legs, letting imjuries that happened in may go until october to be repaired, telling the free throw shooting coach the lakers have hired to leave him alone... calling out tex winter in film rooms telling him to shut up old man when tex critized his lack of help defense... the man is a portrait of a person who had all the skills to be the greatest to ever play but settled... that's why he's not a top 5 player, you can't put him ahaed of guys that dedicated themselves to being the best they could be and succeeding, magic, bird, kareem wilt and jordan spent every possible moment becoming a better player and a better team mate, shaq didn't so that's why he is a top 5 center and a top 10 player

[plowking]

BTW, what the hell is that?

Its an award thats determines who is the most valuable to their team, though its worked out on the computer through a series of formulas and what not.

http://www.basketballattic.addr.com/ibm.htm

That's a list of all the winners.

[Allstar24]

...

[Kiddlovesnets]

I'd rank those players above Shaq:

1. Michael Jordan: The goat.
2. Wilt Chamberlain: The best NBA player in NBA franchise history before MJ showed up.
3. Magic Johnson: Best PG of all time.
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The only Center who could ever challenge Wilt.
5. Larry Bird: Best SF of all time for sure.
6. Bill Russell: The one who won the most rings.
7. Oscar Robertson: Mr Triple-Double.
8. Jerry West: Second Best SG of all time and don't forget his figure is still on NBA's logo.

Therefore, I'd say Shaq is an elite top 10 NBA player of all time but he's not so close to the spot of Top 5 as some of you guys claimed before.

[Anti404]

I'd rank those players above Shaq:

1. Michael Jordan: The goat.
2. Wilt Chamberlain: The best NBA player in NBA franchise history before MJ showed up.
3. Magic Johnson: Best PG of all time.
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The only Center who could ever challenge Wilt.
5. Larry Bird: Best SF of all time for sure.
6. Bill Russell: The one who won the most rings.
7. Oscar Robertson: Mr Triple-Double.
8. Jerry West: Second Best SG of all time and don't forget his figure is still on NBA's logo.

Therefore, I'd say Shaq is an elite top 10 NBA player of all time but he's not so close to the spot of Top 5 as some of you guys claimed before.

You do realize that just because you write or think something doesn't make it fact, right?
After reading a lot of your posts, I think you believe exactly that.