#63 NBA Player Of All-Time According to InsideHoops

[G.O.A.T]

Dennis Johnson was one of the smartest, best all around, and most respected players ever...and he won 3 rings, one of them as finals MVP, and led a 50+ win team in Phoenix between contending with the Sonics and Celtics. He guarded legends well enough to be 9 time all D team, made no less than 3 game winning plays in the finals, and Larry Bird considers him better than #40 on this list. But he didnt throw the ball away enough in the process of winning less than Marbuiry and being hated by by coaches and front offices and some teammates to be over Pistol Pete. I mean...Pistol scored 45 a game on 38 shots a night while missing the NCAA tournament and losing in the NIT. Then he...scored 31 a game on 27 or 28 shots as he had season of epic awfulness before blowing out his knee showboating to hurt his team for one final time.

Cant compete with that.....

That's my vote.

Dj was dynamite on both ends. He could be the star of a balanced team, shut down the other teams star, was one of the best shot blocking guards of all-time, could be a role player in one game and the focal point of your offense the next. Only Bird was consistently better for the Celtics in the playoffs during those years.

Dennis Johnson is an easy choice now. With Joe Dumars, the decade-later DJ Doppelganger right behind.

Go ahead and count KBlazes' vote too.

a little early for sure, but I'm gonna throw Big Ben's name out there

I've recently slid Ben, Fulks, Davies and Mel Daniels down a tier into the 80's, previously had them in the upper 60's.

There is no doubt these were franchise players on Championship teams, but the circumstances of those teams were so undeniably perfectly suited for that player and the drop off in effectiveness when those circumstances were different during their career's is too severe to deny.

Big Ben is top 100 for sure, but like Gasol or Parker or Manu, it's not time to talk about him yet.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Neil Johnston

NBA champion (1956)
6

[G.O.A.T]

[QUOTE=Deuce Bigalow]Neil Johnston

NBA champion (1956)
6

[Deuce Bigalow]

Because Neil was a horrible defender and when he led the league in scoring the Warriors were the NBA's worst team. You'd have to put guys like Parish, Gilmore, Lanier, Daniels etc. in at center before even considering Johnston. Mikan, Schayes, Arizin and Cousy all had much more team success in an alpha role than Johnston. Plus we saw what happened to Johnston when athletic centers started showing up, his career ended.

Well, the entire 50s and 60s were weak, so I'm not worried about era stuff since this is all-time, every era included. Mikan never got to play when more atletic centers started coming in, Arizin barely played in the 60s, Cousy didn't win anything before Russell and shot 38% I think for his career. Parish? Dude was a role player that was on Bird's team receiving rings. Neil atleast was one of the top players and led the league in scoring and rebounding.

[G.O.A.T]

Well, the entire 50s and 60s were weak, so I'm not worried about era stuff since this is all-time, every era included. Mikan never got to play when more atletic centers started coming in, Arizin barely played in the 60s, Cousy didn't win anything before Russell and shot 38% I think for his career.

Cousy, Schayes and Arizin were all successful before and after the shot clock and into the sixties when they themselves were in their thirties, old for a pro basketball player at that time. The point is that you're talking about different level of players. Those guys I mentioned were franchise guys, you could build a team around them and contend. Johnston was a scorer and mot much else, a very good scorer, but more like a Amare Stoudemire type player and ranked comparably all-time in my estimation.

Parish? Dude was a role player that was on Bird's team receiving rings. Neil atleast was one of the top players and led the league in scoring and rebounding.

There are other guys on this list who were as much of a role player as Parish when they did their winning. But the Chief has the resume to go with the reputation.

He made nearly ten all-star teams, was an MVP candidate for one or two seasons, and was, yes, a role player, though a large role, on championship teams. Additionally Parish was a top ten rebounder for over a decade and was a 20 ppg scorer in his early seasons with the Celtics.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Cousy, Schayes and Arizin were all successful before and after the shot clock and into the sixties when they themselves were in their thirties, old for a pro basketball player at that time. The point is that you're talking about different level of players. Those guys I mentioned were franchise guys, you could build a team around them and contend. Johnston was a scorer and mot much else, a very good scorer, but more like a Amare Stoudemire type player and ranked comparably all-time in my estimation.



There are other guys on this list who were as much of a role player as Parish when they did their winning. But the Chief has the resume to go with the reputation.

He made nearly ten all-star teams, was an MVP candidate for one or two seasons, and was, yes, a role player, though a large role, on championship teams. Additionally Parish was a top ten rebounder for over a decade and was a 20 ppg scorer in his early seasons with the Celtics.

Johnston won a championship alongside Arizin in '56
And he was not a role player on the championship team, nor during his career except his last year.

[TheBigVeto]

Manu Ginobili.

[G.O.A.T]

Johnston won a championship alongside Arizin in '56
And he was not a role player on the championship team, nor during his career except his last year.

I never suggested Johnston was a role player, I said Parish was at certain points of his career. I said Johnston was limited as a player. Just a scorer and once defense was "invented" he stopped scoring and his career was over.

That is one area you can draw a distinction between Johnston and other stars of the era. Those other players continued to excel even after the likes of Russell & Chamberlain were unleashed on the NBA, Johnston did not and could not have.

The second area of distinction is in how much success you could have building around them. With Johnston in a featured role and as the leagues leading scorer, Philadelphia won 12, 23 and 33 games and never qualified for the postseason.

When they were a contender from 1956-1958, Arizin was their best player. Their is evidence of just how much more respected Pitchin' Paul was than Gabby in the MVP voting for those seasons as Arizin finishes 2nd, 3rd and 5th in the voting receiving over 10% of the possible first place votes while Johnston never received a single first place vote and in total garnered just one single fifth place vote in any of those seasons.

[Kblaze8855]

I watched an old interview on the era and it was mentioned that the first time he(Johnston) played Bill Russell he was held scoreless for the first 36 minutes and he had led the league in scoring the previous season.

[G.O.A.T]

I watched an old interview on the era and it was mentioned that the first time he(Johnston) played Bill Russell he was held scoreless for the first 36 minutes and he had led the league in scoring the previous season.

Boston continued to set merry pace in NBA Eastern Division, running unbeaten string to 11 by beating Minneapolis 107-104 and Philadelphia 111-89 as Big Bill Russell outdefensed Warriors, grabbing 49 rebounds for NBA record and holding Neil Johnston scoreless from field.

*The only small correction is that Johnston had won the scoring title in 1955 (as well as '54 and '53) not 1956. Pettit was the '56 Champion and it was Arizin (as the result of a philosophical change in approach) who led the Warriors in scoring with Johnston playing a slightly reduced role.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Been reading a lot about Pistol Pete lately. osme articles GOAt posted and some of a book written on him. I can say one thing for sure...

A modern athlete acts the way he did hes respected less than Marbury. Dude shit talked his coach on the Hawks, then quickly hated his coach on the Jazz for wanting him to play off the ball...he called his Hawks GM classless....and didnt invite his coach on the Hawks to a meeting he called to try to bring the team together(He invited the whole team and the front office...but not the coach). He called the Jazz GM a "Lying backstabbing son of a bitch" in the press. When Truck Robinson(a 23/15 all nba first team teammate who later wondered if they would be better without Pete) remarked that they didnt have enough ball movement....he just stopped shooting in protest and didnt take shots in a close loss that was 5 in a row.

Another teammate slammed him in the media for being unwilling to make sacrifices for the team. So he says he will...next game he only take 4 shots and gets 15 assists in the win. Next game he stops and drops 40. People have said he couldnt both pass and score...he just picked one depending on the night. Kinda feels true.

Id want that guy nowhere near my team. Id watch him play....I just dont want an emotional investment in a team with that guy on it.

Kinda fitting that he blew out his knee throwing a midair pass...behind the back...through the legs...on a 3 on none break. Biggest turnover machine, teammate angering, coach killing, front office hater of all time....blows out his knee acting an ass. Was never the same.

From what I can tell if Pete became last year or two on the Jazz pete earlier he might have won something. But he pissed too many people off. Fans. Teammates. Coaches. Everyone but the people who wanted him to do something flashy as they lost.

Is there a video of that?

[NewYorkNoPicks]

Annnnnd in place of him you chose someone that's never played in the second round of playoffs.

This is about the 63rd best PLAYER of all time based on individual talents and performances, not a guy who could have been easily substituted.

What has Gasol done as a #1? Made the playoffs twice i believe?

McGrady could carry an entire team by himself, see his 02 magic team for reference.

Put a prime T-Mac with Kobe and thats a much more dangerous team than one with a prime Gasol.

Its that Robert Horry syndrome, championships get you pverrated by simpletons

[L.Kizzle]

[QUOTE=Deuce Bigalow]Neil Johnston

NBA champion (1956)
6

[tmacattack33]

Why the F does Pau Gasol have more votes than Alonzo Mourning?

Holy crap!

[Legends66NBA7]

Dennis Johnson was one of the smartest, best all around, and most respected players ever...and he won 3 rings, one of them as finals MVP, and led a 50+ win team in Phoenix between contending with the Sonics and Celtics. He guarded legends well enough to be 9 time all D team, made no less than 3 game winning plays in the finals, and Larry Bird considers him better than #40 on this list. But he didnt throw the ball away enough in the process of winning less than Marbuiry and being hated by by coaches and front offices and some teammates to be over Pistol Pete. I mean...Pistol scored 45 a game on 38 shots a night while missing the NCAA tournament and losing in the NIT. Then he...scored 31 a game on 27 or 28 shots as he had season of epic awfulness before blowing out his knee showboating to hurt his team for one final time.

Cant compete with that.....

Seriously... I even stated before, I don't mind McGrady over Pistol Pete either, who at least performed come playoff time, regardless of his teammates.

Dennis should have gotten this spot. I can't think of another player right now that should be ranked higher.