Dominique Wilkins said he could've won titles playing with Malone and Stockton

[sdot_thadon]

You just made my point. They didn't leave their teams for the most part. Same thing with Jordan who won his first series outscoring Pippen by 30 points. Back then stars grew with their teams and played with the cards they were dealt.



Exactly. If Wilkins left and joined teams MULTIPLE times during his prime, playing with other stars, he would also have multiple titles. Just like I said. They wouldn't be celebrated rings or anything, but we would have to acknowledge he technically won.

You don't appear to be as dumb as this post suggests, so we'll chalk it up to emotion? Nobody can watch the NBA long enough to know 90s ball and not see the ripples and trickle down effects. NOBODY could hop teams in the 90s, everyone signed long term contracts and had to force trades to move which were seen in a negative light in that era. However, the guys who bit the bullet and forced their way out paved the way for the next guys to follow suit. Mj was the 1st guy to get a 30 million dollar contract for a year(although it was meant to be a one off thing and not a normal market deal), after that anyone who considered themselves a top guy expected that money. Shaq maybe wasn't the 1st but in my mind was the Og superstar free agent to leave a team, from there other guys saw it as a viable strategy. The way the Celtics were put together was inspired by the 04 Lakers, who were likely inspired by the big 3 Rockets in the late 90s. Meanwhile Boston inspires Miami in 2010 and Miami leads to the Lakers again, and Durants Warriors later. The history is there, but you can always choose to be an idiot crying over Lebron and no one will blink.

[MadDog]

You don't appear to be as dumb as this post suggests, so we'll chalk it up to emotion? Nobody can watch the NBA long enough to know 90s ball and not see the ripples and trickle down effects. NOBODY could hop teams in the 90s, everyone signed long term contracts and had to force trades to move which were seen in a negative light in that era. However, the guys who bit the bullet and forced their way out paved the way for the next guys to follow suit. Mj was the 1st guy to get a 30 million dollar contract for a year(although it was meant to be a one off thing and not a normal market deal), after that anyone who considered themselves a top guy expected that money. Shaq maybe wasn't the 1st but in my mind was the Og superstar free agent to leave a team, from there other guys saw it as a viable strategy. The way the Celtics were put together was inspired by the 04 Lakers, who were likely inspired by the big 3 Rockets in the late 90s. Meanwhile Boston inspires Miami in 2010 and Miami leads to the Lakers again, and Durants Warriors later. The history is there, but you can always choose to be an idiot crying over Lebron and no one will blink.

I wouldn't call others "dumb" and then not have a counter argument. Kind of defeats the purpose of your insult, but hey man, great zinger! Regardless of whether stars could teamhop (they could, but nobody wanted weak rings until they were role players ) is exactly my point. LeBron is doing that now and just had a playoff run where AD: outscored him, played better defense, equaled LeBron in PER and had better winshares. If a star like Wilkins wanted to play with Robinson or Hakeem, and had no problem winning easy rings, more power to him. He and other stars didn't though because they saw that for what it was. Cheap.

[32jazz]

The real Nique what if is what if Atlanta never traded him in 94'? He was finally on a good team. Atlanta was 34-13 at the break and tied with Chicago for 1st place in the East. Yet they traded him to the Clippers (for a vastly inferior Danny Manning) which was NBA purgatory back then, tailed off in the second half and lost to a 47 win Pacers team in the second round.

The more intriguing what if is ....What if the Lakers drafted Nique in 82 instead of James Worthy? The Lakers could have had that go to scorer as Kareem aged. I think he would have been far more efficient playing with Magic than he was in Atlanta.

[sdot_thadon]

I wouldn't call others "dumb" and then not have a counter argument. Kind of defeats the purpose of your insult, but hey man, great zinger! Regardless of whether stars could teamhop (they could, but nobody wanted weak rings until they were role players ) is exactly my point. LeBron is doing that now and just had a playoff run where AD: outscored him, played better defense, equaled LeBron in PER and had better winshares. If a star like Wilkins wanted to play with Robinson or Hakeem, and had no problem winning easy rings, more power to him. He and other stars didn't though because they saw that for what it was. Cheap.

Again you're making a thread about someone else about Lebron, supposedly you're a "new'' poster here so I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt.....But sadly you disappoint. One more time. Who could team hop in the 90s? Can you explain to me how the cba and sound business decisions made it possible in that era? No one was willing to forego the security of a long term contract because economics weren't the same then. I'm not sure you're so familiar with the 90s after all. And if having great teammates constitutes a "weak" ring, then what of Magic's with Kareem and vice versa. Kobe's with Shaq and vice versa. Bird's with his big 3? Duncan's with 3 HOF'ers. MJ's with a 72 win team etc. Lebron got the same help all champions get at some point, people like you are hung up over the how. Lebron got what they all had within the confines of his particular era. End of story.

[sdot_thadon]

The more intriguing what if is ....What if the Lakers drafted Nique in 82 instead of James Worthy? The Lakers could have had that go to scorer as Kareem aged. I think he would have been far more efficient playing with Magic than he was in Atlanta.

Showtime could have been even more entertaining with that setup. One thought is perhaps Nique doesn't develop as sharply as a scorer on that squad though maybe? Everything remaining the same they'd possibly be even better.

[Lebron23]

Just read that the Jazz originally wanted to Dominique Wilkins play the Power Forward position that's the reason he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

[dankok8]

Another common what-if involving Nique is if the Lakers drafted him #1 instead of James Worthy. How good would Nique have been alongside Magic and Kareem in the 80's?

[bizil]

Jus saying IF Nique played with Malone and Stock, they win multiple titles FOR SURE!!! No doubt about it. Nique would have a top 2-3 floor general of all time in Stock dropping him dimes. Nique and Maliman would be the most devastating forward tandem scoring wise of all time. And Nique was the caliber of player that multiple rings VAULT HIM up the top 10 GOAT SF charts. Most list have Nique in the 8-10 range GOAT wise among SF's. If you gave Nique 2-3 rings, that vaults him into top 5 GOAT territory!

And the CRAZY PART is I think Stock's passing ability gets UNLOCKED more with Nique in terms of the passes he would attempt playing with Nique. Stock never played with a MJ-Nique-Doc level freak athletic scoring machine. I'm thinking Nash-Amare type vibes with those two. Even though Nique was a SF and Amare a PF-C.

[Xiao Yao You]

Just read that the Jazz originally wanted to Dominique Wilkins play the Power Forward position that's the reason he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks.

He was traded because Ted Turner sent a million dollars which helped them pay loans to keep the team in Utah. Already had a better 3 in AD anyway.

[RogueBorg]

Went to Greece to win a title, Nique has to be top 5 most overrated to grace an NBA court.

Imagine playing 16 seasons and in that time winning a dunk contest and making 1 ECSF but still having people call you a top 50 player.

Can't really blame Wilkins for this, the Hawks went up against the Celtics, Pistons, and then Bulls, all better teams. He was a great player.

[bizil]

Can't really blame Wilkins for this, the Hawks went up against the Celtics, Pistons, and then Bulls, all better teams. He was a great player.

EXACTLY!!! I LMAO when fools say Nique is one of the most overrated players ever. IF ANYTHING, he's one of the most underrated players ever. I haven't seen too many high profile superstar caliber players in ANY SPORT more underrated than Nique. Nique NEVER PLAYED with a superstar or HOF caliber player in the prime of their career. When u line up the supporting casts of the top 10-12 players during Nique's prime run, ALL OF THEM had better supporting casts than Nique. Or some played with AT LEAST one additional HOFer in the prime of their career. So I'm talking PRETTY MUCH the guys on Dream Team 1. Plus Isiah. The hate Nique catches is hella sad! SMH