Youngsters....witness the greatness of

[rich76]

Larry Bird

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kq53Shq1js

[ProneEisenrott]

Since I was born in 1976, Larry Bird was my favorite player as a young kid. The things he did with the ball in terms of creativity and vision were only surpassed by his pure shooting ability and ultra-competitive nature that rivaled that of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

Speaking of Jordan, like most kids my age, I ended up idolizing "His Airness" and kind of put Bird on my NBA backburner in the late-80s/early-90s, which was unfortunate, but it's hard to blame a kid, right?

Larry Legend was one of the top 5 NBA players I've witnessed in my lifetime.

[rich76]

Since I was born in 1949.....I have seen them all. When I was born George Mikan was the man.

Younger generations of people never saw the Likes of Wilt Chamberlain (7'1" with a 48" vertical-offensive machine- I watched him score 100 pts vs the Knicks in the early 60's) Bill Russell (11 out of 13 Championships and the all time best defensive player I have ever seen) Oscar Robertson (NBA's 1st true "big man" point guard, never missed much, defensive hound, averaged a triple double in back to back seasons before anyone else even though of such a thing) Pete Maravich (the best showman/showboat of all time, did things with a basketball only the Globetrotters do) and others:
Jerry West
Bob Pettit
Elgin Baylor
Bob Cousy
and numerous others

[ProneEisenrott]

My Dad's two favorite NBA players of all time were #1 Bill Russell and #2 Oscar Robertson. Russell used to go up against and routinely slay the giant, Wilt Chamberlain. Robertson averaged a triple double for an entire season, a legendary, inconceivable feat that nobody thought would ever be repeated...until Russell Westbrook achieved it not once, not twice, but four times!!!

I'd say the five best players that I've witnessed were, in no particular order:
Jordan
Bird
Magic
Kobe
Lebron

And it's probably no coincidence that they are all easily recognizable by just a single name.

Honorable mention:
Hakeem Olajuwan
Karl Malone
Shaquille O'Neal
Tim Duncan

Note: In recent decades, the big men don't get the love that the guards and swing men get, but these three were very dominant during their times so I want to include them with at least a mention.

[SiteWolf]

All those mentioned are worthy, but I'll throw another one out there...

....in part because I once literally ran into him in a shopping mall, then got a chance to talk to him......one of the coolest most humble stars I can think of....
Clyde the Glide Drexler

[ProneEisenrott]

Yeah, I'd put Clyde on that Tier 1B, along with guys like

Dirk Nowitski
David Robinson
Steve Nash
Charles Barkley
Patrick Ewing

I'm still trying to figure out where to place Steph Curry on my all-time list. In my opinion, he has a pretty good chance of becoming the greatest shooting guard of all time--emphasis on "shooting."

[rich76]

The best complete PG to ever play this game is John Stockton....IMHO

[ProneEisenrott]

Yeah, Stockton was also amazing, and in some ways in a class all by himself. Just look at how far ahead he is on the all-time assist leaderboard:

1 John Stockton 15,806
2 Jason Kidd 12,091
3 CHRIS PAUL 10,576
4 Steve Nash 10,335
5 Mark Jackson 10,334
6 Magic Johnson 10,141

Only 6 players have ever cracked 10,000 assists, and Stockton is over 3,700 assists ahead of all-time #2. Kind of like a Wayne Gretzky or Jerry Rice thing going on there.

[rich76]

Also re: Stockton.....he also shot over 50% from the floor for his career.

[ProneEisenrott]

Originally Posted by rich76

Also re: Stockton.....he also shot over 50% from the floor for his career.

And at 6'1", 170 lbs, he was built like you or me...well, these days I have an extra 30 pounds on him, but back in my 20s and 30s...

[rich76]

LOL....I plead the 5th