Originally posted by LA9erFan:
Originally posted by 49ersMyLife:
True, because of the Championships, one can make an argument for Bill. But, as a player, Wilt was much better than Bill. Bill was a decent score, and great on the boards, but Wilt was just as good on the boards and averaged 30 a game for his career...almost twice as much as Bill (I'm too lazy to check stats, but I think it was something like that).
But, Kareem makes a great point. Jordan made the game popular, not only in US but also Worldwide...which is one of the biggest factors in him being referred to as the greatest.
You're right though, the game was so different it's too difficult to compare players from 60s to the players from 90s. One can compare Lebron/Kobe/Jordan, but it's not only difficult, almost impossible to compare them with Oscar, Jerry West, and other greats who played decades before them.
I think Kareem's letter also kinda underscores the fact that we tend to overlook bigs in these discussions. Wings are always a sexier pick, but you can make a good argument that a great big can impact a game more than a great wing is capable of. I know that few will agree with me, but I think Dwight Howard is greatly overlooked in the conversation amongst the best players in the game today. IMO, he became the best player in the league this year, after he developed a very nice post up game. But being that he's a big, he kinda gets lost in the shine of LeBron, Kobe, Rose, Durant, Wade, etc.
I think that's true on an "all-time" basis as well. A guy like Kareem, who was a 6 time MVP and 19 time all-star who was the best player in the league for about 10-12 years is rarely ever mentioned.
Yea, for me, Dwight was the MVP last year...though Rose was right there as well. Dwight had a phenomenal year, and I bet some voters thought they will vote for Dwight for defensive player of the year, so they don't have to vote for him in MVP and can go with Rose.
But, it's so true, people enjoy watching PGs/SGs/SFs over PFs and Centers, and because of their size, ppl take Centers and PFs for granted. I remember when Shaq was dominating in the early 2000s - so many ppl's reaction was - well, he is just too big, it's not really fair. But, that's the skill...being so big and be able to not only over-power your defender, but beat him with quickness as well.
But, I'm on the fence about big men having more impact on the game. I've gone back and forth on this issue. Sure, in some aspects they have a bigger imapct, but players like Rose, Kobe, Lebron/Wade pretty much run the offense. They have the ball in their hands more than any other player on the team, so it's tough for me to say that they have less of an impact than someone like Dwight Howard.
I mean, sure they can't rebound 12 times a game, and Dwight can and he can block shots or change shots more often...but Dwight can't bring the ball up, Dwight can't stand at the top of the key and move the ball around, hell Dwight couldn't pass out of the double team before last year, and is still an average passer.
To be quite honest, my position on it is -