Yeah KAJ should be up there (shouldn't have been forgotten--but for some reason I always forget him). He wasn't best all time at his peak though, prime LBJ, MJ or Wilt have that locked down.

Duncan, Russell are in the same bredth as well but I tend to not be a huge fan of Russell.

KAJ also won a title in his second year as the undisputed best player on his team.

didn't have WILt's/LBJ's problem in the playoffs.
was much more of a force on defense than MJ.

Also, WILT couldn't shoot FTs, like Shaq, Kareem didn't have that weakness. He literally had no weaknesses.

i dont get it?

After much extremely deep thought here's my top 5:

1) Labron
2) Durant
3) Howard
Tied for 4) Rose and Love.

I still think a healthy Rose is definitely top 5.

Less competitive league especially during the 70s.

KAJ came in out 22 and he was the GOAT in college. Lebron entered the NBA at 18 I believe.

KAJ was better at 23 than LBJ at 23.

unique situations with those guys. contracts are not analogous to value, esp with the old cba. given the option of overpaying joe johnson or doing nothing, i think its pretty obv wat shud be done. moast dont, but i guess thats bc they have no understanding of circumstance.

you can certainly argue kaj over anyone but jordan

I dunno about the less competitive league argument... Fewer teams back then would generally mean better talent 1-12 than teams these days.

I'm not saying you're wrong just suggesting there are arguments to the contrary.

Not as many teams. Playoffs are shorter.
Boston Russell era is over.
Game isn't nearly as popular as it is now. This is the biggest factor. Talent level now is definitely greater than the 70s.

Totally agree ahletes are better now but if players from the 60's and 70's were exposed to the same diet and training advances they'd likely be just as athletic.

I agree with 1-2-3 and there's no question about that for me. Durant's intangibles and Dwight being a moron makes 2-3 easy for me.

But Rose is out until what.. May!? Will he truly be making a "full" recovery by that time? I think he got injured so much this past season, yes in part because of the lockout condensed season, but also because he's actually not that durable. I can't place Rose in the top 5.

Hopefully Rondo gonna Rondo tonight. It would be amazingly epic for LeBron and the Heat to lose in game 7 at home. I'm not a LeBron hater by any means, I just enjoy witnessing epic events.

Hai EYESCREW! I read that Lamar Odom may be on his way back to the Lakers, either by the Mavs re-wording Odom's contract so they can trade him back to L.A. or so he can re-join the Lakers after being traded to another team and then released. #TasteTheRainbow

Alvin Gentry, Suns head coach, said on the radio the other day that he thinks Harden is "a top 10 player" itl

'sup homie!

I keep going back and forth. I want to see the Heat lose but at the same time we both know the best NBA finals matchup would be a Thunder vs Heat matchup so it's hard for me to root against that.

KD is going to style all over LBJ and forever be known as King Durant! Or something like that. Lol

LOL King Durant. Oh man, that's ****in good.

I'll be happy either way. Celtics ridic game 7 upset or Heat vs. Thunder = Crazy Delicious Finals. I am curious as hell though how LeBron is going to play tonight in game 7.

It'll really show his psyche too. Cuz how the **** do you top his game 6 performance!? You really can't.. so it's sort of like okay, he had Maslow's peak experience, where does he go from here? Does he somehow maintain that GOAT level of skill and efficiency, or does he "regress to the mean"?

If he manages a similar performance tonight in game 7 to ensure a Heat victory, then all the true LeBron haters should get a 24 hour self-ban or something.

Alvin would know better than me but until I consistently see Harden have to score against and defend against opponent's starters every night it's crazy to assume he can do so...

I'm not saying he can't or won't I just want to see him do it as a team's number one option.

Imo its weird how much hate lebron gets. Yeah, he's not very self aware and prob a huge narcissist (The Decision fiasco) but he doesn't get in trouble with the law, doesnt get in fights on the court, he's not a dick to his teammates, he plays nice with the media/fans, and afaik has said he would have gone about the Decision differently if he could do it over again.

If LeBron repeats his game 6 performance and people are still hating on his game they probably do deserve a temp ban.

If Boston wins tonight, this will go down as my all time favorite non-Piston playoff series. #1 for me right now is the Houston-Phoenix 1995 series (although I have forgotten virtually all of it). Houston was down 3-1 to a very awesome Barkley+KJ crew and 2 out of the 3 remaining games was @Phoenix, and of course as you know, the Rockets pulled it out and went on to win the NBA championship. Boston winning tonight would be sweeter than witnessing that.

If Boston loses tonight then I'll have that same feeling I had after the Pacers lost game 7 to the Knicks (the Spike Lee year) after going up 3-2 in the series: A classic series that gets ruined cause the wrong team won.

Besides all this the guy should get a little sympathy because his mom sucked off DeLonte West. That would traumatize just about anybody.

Are you saying they should have maxed Joe Johnson? I mean amnesty predictions aside, I never liked that deal. Something about taking a small step backward not to take a giant leap that direction in the future.

of course amnesty fixes all of that unless you're lolNy

Agree on Harden. He's arguably the best player at the thinnest position ITL, and has the type of game where he can fit with any type of team with his ability to shoot, drive, and pass.

I think Ibaka goes for more, but that's only basing it on DAJ's contract however that could be the exception and not the rule under the new CBA.

Anyway I think people assuming OKC isn't going to hang on to their big 4 are wrong.

Dood! What abou Perk's contract? Also Sefolosha and Collison are going to be worth more than league minimums.

15 15 15 15 plus Perk's deal and the rest puts them in hell. Not sure a small market team can afford to pay $50 + million in luxury tax...

A quick google and I pulled up a few mid 80's SI articles and some excerpts below. I'm sure we can find a lot more on the topic. I dont think Iggy is saying Magic was a choker, just that there was a narrative of that in the sports media at the time, and the old articles out there pretty much confirm that narrative was going on during his career. Hell, Kevin McHale called him Tragic Magic.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...9455/index.htm


another article fwiw
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...2425/index.htm

"Johnson In The Clutch: Don't Call Him Magic, Just Call Him Unreliable"

Then the Lakers won the NBA championship 3 out of the next 4 years... Beating the Celtics twice and quieting the critics....