2nd most versatile player in the league?

hmmm... wat bout Earl Bykins? He can play every position... cept he'd get killed by most opposition!

Shaq plays C... and he did a between the legs crossover at ASW I believe... qualifies as PG material... and I'm sure he can knock down the inconsistent three (SG for ya), he's gets down on the fast break...eventually (SF) and he's big enough to be at the 4 as well as the 5 at the same time! versatile enough???

Your attempts at humor are appalling.

If you're not trying to be funny, you're pretty senile.

Lamar Odom would get my vote. I haven't seen him play C but he did quite a nice job at PF in the olympics + on Miami. He's got nice handles too for his size so he can bring the ball up the court when needed (not that he'll get the opportunity anymore...perhaps when there is 2 seconds left & Kobe has run into a brick wall, Odom might get to shoot it. WOWIE!!)

Ehm, yeah...Odom.

Thank you Jackal!

I take pride in my lame humour! It's unique!

I pretty liked Sit's latest post

i was also thinkin of shawn marion and andre kirilenko

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Antoine Walker? With the Celtics, he played at least four positions -- PG, SF, PF, and C. I know so many people call him overrated all, but I think it's gotten to the point where he's underrated. His decision making skills need some work, but this guy can run the point, shoot the three with consistency, and demand the ball down low. His passing skills are great for a 6'9" player, and he provides great leadership to any team.

the reason we finally sent walker packing was his 3 point shooting. when we drafted him i thought he would help us alot but instead of fighting and useing his speed on the bigger 4's down low he just jacked up 3 after 3. then when we got pierce it was like he felt he needed to prove he could shoot the 3 so he started fireing at the worst damn times. i will say this though, when he got on fire you could shut off the tv and go do something else cause you new the celts would win. problem is he so rarely caught fire. i still think we should have traded walker to indiana when we had the chance.

Tim Duncan

Diaw didn't play PG or C though.

Eh, yeah he did. I think he started at all 5 positions. PG is no question at all, the idea of pairing his ball handling and play making skills with Jason Terry at the point from day 1 was too good to pass up on. I remember distinctly he started at center one night just for kicks (and I guess need) and I believe PF as well.

Eh, yeah he did. I think he started at all 5 positions. PG is no question at all, the idea of pairing his ball handling and play making skills with Jason Terry at the point from day 1 was too good to pass up on. I remember distinctly he started at center one night just for kicks (and I guess need) and I believe PF as well.

http://www.82games.com/03ATL7C.HTM
When it comes to stats, 82games.com is as trustworthy a site as one can find.

Versatility to me means a player who is fundamentally sound in all aspects of the game, offensively and defensively (Sorry Irk ) it shouldn't matter what his height is or what position he plays, if he can effectively be successful at all aspects of the game, he's versatile to me.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Andrei Kirilenko yet, arguably the best defender in the NBA. He can shoot (45% FG, 34% 3PT FG), he can rebound (8 RPG), he can create, he can pass (3 APG), he can block shots (3 BPG), he can steal the ball (2 SPG) and he can score when needed (17 PPG). That to me is versatility, and in terms of that no one comes close to AK-47.

Duncan, KG can all shoot, pass, block, rebound and score too...

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Andrei Kirilenko yet

i was also thinkin of shawn marion and andre kirilenko

How stupid of me! I knew we had some intelligent fans around here somewhere!

Duncan, KG can all shoot, pass, block, rebound and score too...

True, but AK-47 is a better man on man defender than both of them and he also has more range offensively.

Yes, no and no again.

Yes-He is the better defender on the perimeter than KG and Duncan.
No-He isn't the better post defender than Duncan and KG.
No-KG has just, if not more, range than AK-47. Duncan has good range as well.

Diaw didn't play PG or C though.

I think LeBron James will have a chance at becoming the 2nd most versatile player, he's already 6'8 230 or something like that, and he looked pretty strong at the Olympics.

Actually Diaw was a PG coming into the league, and he did play PG many many times.
Also he played center against the Raptors, and got dunked on by Bosh.

Eh, yeah he did. I think he started at all 5 positions. PG is no question at all, the idea of pairing his ball handling and play making skills with Jason Terry at the point from day 1 was too good to pass up on. I remember distinctly he started at center one night just for kicks (and I guess need) and I believe PF as well.

http://www.82games.com/03ATL7C.HTM
When it comes to stats, 82games.com is as trustworthy a site as one can find.

Started at PF (well I guess we can argue who started where, but I'll stick with PF.....since Stotts was crazy enough to start him at center a few days earlier...heck even 82games.com has Diaw playing some PF)
Started at C

Considering I saw my fair share of Hawks games last season, I can vouch that Diaw played PG. 82games.com can differ, but I've seen Diaw-Terry, an ideal backcourt as Terry is a scoring guard in a point guard's body and Diaw is similar to Pippen in his ability to play point forward and handle the ball. But if you don't believe me, Diaw certainly played a few minutes at PG in this game.

Edit, fgrep beat me to it.

Things about Kirilenko is he isn't a natural scorer, if the defense denies him what he wants to do, he doesn't have much of a backup plan. That's one thing that I think will hinder him from even being a big scorer in the league.
He's a very good defender, good rebounder, passer, but his versatility in terms of position playing on extends only to defense, and the forward positions on offense, his handles aren't good enough for him to be a guard. Also on defense he can guard inside, but isn't the greatest at doing that.

I'd go with Odom being just as versatile, not as good a defender, but better passer, rebounder, and scorer.

If you want to add another dimension to the definition of versatility, that being clutch play, AK-47 should be up there. I believe he hit a crazy 66% of his 3 pointers in "clutch" (forget what standards they used)...and it's not like he took 3 and made 2. I remember vividly him hitting a ton of clutch shots last season.

If you want to add another dimension to the definition of versatility, that being clutch play, AK-47 should be up there. I believe he hit a crazy 66% of his 3 pointers in "clutch" (forget what standards they used)...and it's not like he took 3 and made 2. I remember vividly him hitting a ton of clutch shots last season.

I actually heard some Utah fans saying he dissapeared a lot in 4th quarters offensively.

lets see

Grant Hill (when he was playing half a decade ago) played 1-4
Odom on the Clippers played 1-5
Rasheed Wallace 3-5
Clifford Robinson 3-5

KG can all shoot, pass, block, rebound and score too...

And shooting bricks..

The most Versatile player is not measured on how many positions he has played during the year but his stats dominating the all around game. KG would've been the most versatile without having to play SG which many of you might want to discuss he ever did.

The numbers say T-mac followed KG in stats for VI (versatility index), then J-Kidd followed by Duncan.

KG = 11.9
T-Mac = 9.8
J-Kidd = 9.7
TD = 9.5

After that if all of you want to discuss who can play more positions, that's up to you but the 2nd most versatile player was T-Mac.

how about jason kidd?

Yes Jason Kidd should be mentionned.
This guy is just everywhere on the floor!
Too bad he shoots so poorly...

yeah didnt walker play point in like the 98 all star game, although its an all star game a points a point right? but yeah he can pass, rebound, inside and outside threat thats versatile to me....

remember anthony mason a few seasons back didnt he play like point foward or something they called it, sure i read that in an article may be trippin tho