What ever happened to the Twin Towers?

Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

Yo mama,... ;-)

candy cane Murdock wrote:Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

+1, How can you compete with how much he broke the game? 100 boards in a single night? no more jumping from free throw - go spend 10 min on wikipedia, then tell me you can vote Magic.

Dennis Rodman duh

B-ball is a TEAM game. The goal is to win TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS, not MVP awards. If it was the latter, sure, you'd argue between Magic (the dude could play ALL positions!) and Wilt (dude!). However, it's not. The guy who was the best TEAM player and contributor was clearly Bill Russell. I intensely disliked the Celtics, especially Auerbach and Heinsohn and McHale and...) and have been a life-long Lakers fan, but the results speak for themselves. Plus, unlike many of the jerks, I mean Celtics, Russell was actually a pretty nice guy.

Oscar Robertson was MJ before there was an MJ. No question he's the man!

Wilt Chamberlain, but that's still true given that Michael Jordan did play.

I went with Magic. Amazingly diverse talent gives him the edge. The guy could play all 5 positions on the court at an all-star level (won a championship as a rookie filling in for Kareem at center). Great shooting percentage, once of the best assist guys ever, good rebounder, great post moves, won 5 championships.

As an aside, to not have Wilt on the list is laughable. Guy was the single most dominate player ever. They changed rules because of Wilt. No one could guard him. 7 years led the league in scoring. 11 times for rebounds, heck he led the league in assists one year just because he felt like it.

Crap, maybe I should've voted "other". I'll say Magic was the greatest ever swiss army knife and Wilt was the greatest sledgehammer.

Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double for an entire season! In your face!

Wilt was probably the greatest offensive star ever in basketball. Except when he had to play against Bill Russell. Russell chose to be the greatest defensive player ever,and proved it time and time again.

Good to see Wilt Chamberlain getting some love. People grossly undervalue his greatness. The Elo fan rankings at basketball-reference.com rank him 69th. That is flat-out nuts.

Magic!!

In every conceivable reality, the entity known as Michael Jordan will find a way to exist and dominate the game of basketball. (And try and fail at baseball for a short while.)

Jackie Moon (since we're using our imaginations)

I think the real question is who is Refing this game?

If you take the refs of today, it is Lebron the whole way. if he drives to the basket the refs will call a foul on someone and he will go to the free throw line. There may even be a technical called for trying to play D against him.

If the is about the greatest player to ever play, it is Jordan then Kobe. No one actually saw Wilt score 100 points.

candy cane Murdock wrote:Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

Absolutely!

I find fault with the premise that this list of alternates are really the "other than Jordan" runners-up.

If Dr J is going to be in the list - then how can you overlook: Karl Malone? Chucky B? Dream? Wilt?!?!?! even John "short-shorts" Stockton? And lets not forget Arvydas Sabonis!, the Warren Moon of basketball.

My .02 -
#1 -MJ.
MJ stands slightly above the next closest players for his will-to-win. No athlete in any sport has ever come close to him in that regard - save maybe Secretariat.

Closest 2nd placers -
Wilt and Bill Russell are roughly equal - who shines the most depends on how you're looking at the gem.

The correct runner-up list
(what this poll should have had) ...goes in this order:
Kobe
Big O.
Bird
Magic
Dream
Lebron
Malone/Stockton/Sabonis/Barkley

People love to hate on Kobe - but if you set emotion aside for a minute - his numbers and accomplishments are inarguable.

Fast forward 10 more years...
The poll should not be "besides Jordan, who is the best?"
But instead should be - "Who is/was the best , period."
It'll be interesting to see how well Jordan still shines in the shadow of 10 more years of Kobe/LeBron accomplishments.

This always boils down to a "who is the best" and "who is the most valuable" discussion. If you look at the top 5 scorers, you'll pick Kareem for your team before you pick MJ because it's simply better to have a good big man. MJ was a better player than Kareem, though. Nobody will argue that.

The other problem is that you inevitably run into fandom, and that's the end of any discussion

I vote for no one. Michael Jordan was the reason the game was invented that that eventually we would all get to see him play. If he wasn't going to play they would never have put those peach baskets on the wall, lo those many years ago.

ckeilah wrote:What ever happened to the Twin Towers?

Amazing piece on them: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8600657/an-oral-history-hakeem-olajuwon-ralph-sampson-1980s-houston-rockets

olperfesser wrote:Wilt was probably the greatest offensive star ever in basketball. Except when he had to play against Bill Russell. Russell chose to be the greatest defensive player ever,and proved it time and time again.

Wilt averaged 28.7 points and 28.7 rebounds against Bill Russell. Hey, it wasn't 100!

Wilt Chambelain...easy.

candy cane Murdock wrote:Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

WILT gets my vote.

John Stockton ... 'nuff said !!!

pcbduffer wrote:Wilt Chamberlain, but that's still true given that Michael Jordan did play.

Wilt still wins

Hello?? It begins and ends with Wilt...not even close!

candy cane Murdock wrote:Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

^^^

Leaving Wilt off of the choices is like leaving Babe Ruth off of a list of options for best baseball player ever.

buddyboy9 wrote:Oscar Robertson averaged a triple double for an entire season! In your face!

That's what I was going to say. The Big O FTW.

I don't watch basketball! Woot why are you excluding me?!

how is magic better then abdul jabbar lol do people not see his mvps. wilt not even listed hahahahha and bull russell has 11 rings and gets 7?

Magic Johnson?!?! Pffft!

Can we vote for ourselves, or does it have to be someone on the list?

I am much more of a college basketball fan. The best player I saw in person was Ralph Sampson. Jordan was very good, but he wasn't as good as Ralph in college.

That was a good time in the ACC. Just about every team had a player that became a household name.

Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest ever. 100 points against the Knicks, 55 rebounds against Russell, 47 games of 50 points or more in ONE season to MJ's 39 in a career. The Big Dipper was the best of all time.

The fact that Bill Russell is below Lebron James is an absolute joke.

candy cane Murdock wrote:Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

Um No. The way Jordan dominated players and teams during that time period was just disgusting. With no Jordan the Bulls fell apart and guess what...When he came back they won a few more championships.

"... of all time?"
I don't know. I can't see into the future.

candy cane Murdock wrote:Even WITH Michael Jordan playing, Wilt Chamberlain was the greatest basketball player to ever play. Period.

Exactly right!