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Originally Posted by bacalaopeace
I'm a huge GP fan, but he wasn't better than Stockton. Nash is one of the most overrated NBA players ever.
I think Stockton and Nash are close to equal overall bc Nash is so porous defensively.
You said "pure pg" and Nash is very much that on offense (which is what a pure pg is about).
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Chris Paul is as good as those guys, but he's the last of a dying breed, and remember the rules are completely different now.
Agreed.
It's more of the fact that a shooting point is preferable to a pure point in most cases (exception being point forwards).
This has been hard for me to admit but the facts are the facts. Rubio is one of my favorite players and he's very much a pure point guard, even moreso bc a pure point can be something of a backhanded compliment in most of it's applications. Kendall Marshall was a pure point guard, for example.
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Stockton and GP had to fight through picks that can't be set now, had to penetrate against lots of contact, had to get shots off against hand checking. It was a different game.
One of these is not like the other. Stockton did not have to penetrate on his own, he had Karl Malone setting picks for him.
Payton was the one who had to gets shots off: Payton averaged 14 shots per game for his career (14.3/36), Stockton was 9.1 (10.3/36).
Payton had 2 years where he averaged over 20 fga/g and four additionally over 18 fga/g. Stockton's career high season was 11.9.
When Payton was at his 6-7 year peak, he was shooting nearly double what Stockton was.
Payton had the clear edge in athleticism and speed: Stockton was drafted 16th (similar to Nash who was 15), Payton was drafted 2nd overall.
Payton was the superior defender: 9x 1st Team All Defense, 96 DPOY. Stockton 5x 2nd Team All Defense
Distance shooting is Stockton's main edge, but he wouldn't do so at high volume. The other thing would be Stockton's Steady Eddy longevity. He averaged 9.5 fga/g at age 39, 7.8 at 40.
Career accolades are very similar:
Stockton 10x AS
Payton 9x AS
All NBA
Stockton 2x 1st, 6x 2nd, 3x 3rd
Payton 2x 1st, 5x 2nd, 2x 3rd + DPOY
Both won 2 Golds in their 2 Olympic appearances (teammates in '96).
Payton is a champ but as a role player, so that doesn't factor in.
This is just a comp between the two, neither is the GOAT point guard: That's Chris Paul.