(1) Lakers Vs. (3) Suns

[rise]

Jeffx: I really think Kobe should be on that list and LeBron will probably get very high on that list by the time he retires.

[The X]

Wilt Chamberlain
Michael Jordan
Oscar Robertson
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Jerry West
Elgin Baylor
John Havlicek

This is my top ten list. To me, these are the immortal players. Of course, Kobe can't crack this list yet. But I do think he's in the second ten, Sauru.

Loving that you got West & more notably Havlicek in your top 10

[shadowgrin]

I really think Kobe should be on that list and LeBron will probably get very high on that list by the time he retires.

Why? Kobe hasn't done anything that changed the game unlike the players in that list.

[benji]

I like that he thinks Kobe should be on the list but forgets a certain former teammate of Kobe's.

Rick Fox.

[koberulz]

Wilt Chamberlain
Michael Jordan
Oscar Robertson
Bill Russell
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Jerry West
Elgin Baylor
John Havlicek

This is my top ten list. To me, these are the immortal players. Of course, Kobe can't crack this list yet. But I do think he's in the second ten, Sauru.

Is that in any sort of order?

[Jeffx]

Loving that you got West & more notably Havlicek in your top 10

Having read my posts over the years, you know I tend to favor the old-skool cats, X.

And yes, it is in order. At number 10, it was a toss-up between Hondo and Dr.J.

[koberulz]

Why is Magic higher than Bird?

[Sauru]

because he is a hater

[shadowgrin]

...because the Celtics are one of the Knicks conference rivals back in the old days, so yeah Sauru is right.
And unlike us that can only form an opinion based on stats and having watched a few highlight games of the players in those period, Jeffx actually was alive back then and watched more games than all of us in that time.
The only one here that I know of who can match up those number of watched games is Sauru, but he's too senile now to remember anything worthwhile about basketball back in the day.

[rise]

The only one here that I know of who can match up those number of watched games is Sauru, but he's too senile now to remember anything worthwhile about basketball back in the day.

Shame.

[Jeffx]

Yeah, I'm definitely a Bird-hater, but I always respected the dude's skill(I just feel Magic is slightly better). I also respect him for not buying into that "great white hope" nonsense the media(and some fans) tried to put on him back then. All he wanted to do was win. I LOL'd when he talked about the coach putting a white player on him - "you must not want to win tonight". One of the NBA's best trash-talkers. If his back didn't betray him(and if Len Bias had lived), he would have won another title.

BTW, my hate for Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller is WAYYYYY above Larry's.

[Andrew]

BTW, my hate for Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller is WAYYYYY above Larry's.

Out of interest Jeffx, did you happen to catch that 30 for 30 film on ESPN, "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks"?

[Jeffx]

Out of interest Jeffx, did you happen to catch that 30 for 30 film on ESPN, "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks"?

Haven't seen it yet, Andrew. I don't have cable. I'll probably watch it at my dad's house.

[Andrew]

I thought it was pretty well done. Funny to see the reactions of Pacers fans after Walsh drafted Reggie in 1987, really bashing him for passing on hometown hero Steve Alford who went on to have a very forgettable NBA career.

[Sauru]

if bias does not die bird wins more than 1 more, it all changes if that bullshit does not happen

[benji]

The great thing about Len Bias is that it allows everyone to live in this fantasy of him being an all-time great instead of an epic bust like almost everyone else in that draft. (And the next few.) All the standard pre-draft hype and hyperbole continues to linger because it was never extinguished by his NBA career like so many others have had happen.

[Sauru]

his legend will forever be bigger than his game thats for damn sure. so long as people like me go around telling everyone how the celtics would have rolled off 3 or 4 more in a row. in hind sight we should have just taken mark price. i liked price

[Jeffx]

I don't know about 3 or 4 more, but at least 1 or 2. I always felt Bias at worst, would have been a solid 10-year All-Star player, averaging double-digits in scoring and rebounding.

[Sauru]

with bias bird does not have so much weight to carry either maybe extending his career some.... maybe not the man didnt know how to ease up

[Andrew]

The great thing about Len Bias is that it allows everyone to live in this fantasy of him being an all-time great instead of an epic bust like almost everyone else in that draft. (And the next few.) All the standard pre-draft hype and hyperbole continues to linger because it was never extinguished by his NBA career like so many others have had happen.

This.

Not to disrespect the memory of Len Bias, but it always reminds me a little of those features on old streetballers in Slam magazine, where they'd make claims like "If I had a jumpshot, no one would be talking about Michael Jordan". The mystique of the what-if carries more weight than it really should.

[NovU]

I guess It was like Bird saying, "If I could jump over the skateboard, nobody would be talking about Michael Jordan."

[Jeffx]

with bias bird does not have so much weight to carry either maybe extending his career some.... maybe not the man didnt know how to ease up

Easing up wasn't in Larry's vocabulary. There's no way he should have played in Game 5 vs. Indiana in the '91 playoffs.

[koberulz]

I guess It was like Bird saying, "If I could jump over the skateboard, nobody would be talking about Michael Jordan."

I'm intrigued as to exactly how Larry thought this would improve him as a basketball player...

[Andrew]

Easing up wasn't in Larry's vocabulary. There's no way he should have played in Game 5 vs. Indiana in the '91 playoffs.

Agreed but having said that, I can't help but admire that he did choose to play, ill-advised or not. Little to prove and every reason to sit that one out, yet he was too proud and determined for that. He once said he wouldn't sit on the bench with a "broken fingernail" and that game certainly exemplified that philosophy.