31IndyPacers31 wrote:Kevin, he can't be compared to West, Cousy or any of them? Why not? He is the 12 all time leading scorer. He's scored more points then Jerry West, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Shaq, Clyde Drexler, Larry Bird, Adrian Dantley, Elgin Baylor, Bob Petit, David Robinson and many many more.
The difference is that he played between 100-500 more games than every one of them. He's actually not in the top 40 all time in points per game, as his career average is 18.2 ppg.
To say he is "probably a hall of famer" is an insult to Reggie. He is by far a first ballot hall of famer.
Then why did he never win a single award in his 18 years, was only a 5 time all-star, and only started once. He was never on an All-NBA team, 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. He was never on an all-defensive team, 1st or 2nd. If you look at the other stars playing during his prime (89-99), its hard to make a csae for him being a top ten of that time. Here's my opinion of the real top ten during that time:
1. Jordan
2. Malone
3. Olajuwan
4. Barkley
5. Wilkins
6. Ewing
7. Robinson
8. O'Neal
9. Drexler
10. Richmond
notables: Pippen, Rodman, Hill, Stockdan, Rice, Mourning, and some guys who were bookends of that period: Magic, English, Bird--Garnett, Iverson, Webber, Kidd, Finley
Every guy on that averaged more ppg, rpg, apg in their comparable positions, and all were multiple time all-stars, leading scorers, champions and every MVP winner during those 10 years are on that top 10. Magic won it in 89 and 90, but those were pretty much his last years.
He isn't a one of a kind?
He was the best starting 3 point shooter of his time, but there were definitely better 3 point shooters during his prime. Reggie remains 28th all time in 3pt%. Steve Kerr was the best 3 point shooter during that time, but never started. Dale Ellis had 4 great yeasr in Seattle, and then as soon as he left, his production drastically decreased. If he had remained with the SOnics throughout his entire career like Reggie did with indy, he definitely couldve been as good as Reggie. And considering he had about 9 seasons where he spent the majority of the season coming off the bench, if he had started, he probably wouldve had similar 3pt totals to Reggie. The difference between the two, is that Ellis shot the 3 at a better percaentage.
Look at the list of all time leading scorers, the people ahead of him are dominant players in many different areas of the game. Reggie is the only guy ever, who is a pure shooter that scores 25,279 points. That will never happen again. Yes, Richard Hamilton is a similar player, but Rip has a more all around game. That is incredible that no team was ever able to figure out how to shut down Reggie Miller when his game is basically 1 dimensional. That will never happen again, I can't say that enough.
So your argument for his greatness is that he was
MORE ONE DIMENSIONSAL THAN ANY OTHER LEGEND!!??!?!? If so, you're right. He was a pure shooter. And again, he is on the list of all-time leading scorers, but it was only due to his longevity. Only 3 of the top 30 all-time scorers played more games than Reggie. Some of them played half as much. Rather than looking at his totals, look at his averages. He isn't at the level with any of the greats in any category outside of 3pt.
Okay, thats enough debating for one day. This is a really fun issue to debate, so feel free to keep it going.
One final note, if Ray Allen plays to Reggies age, he is on pace to easily eclipse Reggies 3pt totals.
j/p
