Here is mine: 1. Bill Russell (15.1 ppg, 22.5 rpg, 11 Rings, 5 MVPs, 12 All-stars) 2. Wilt Chamberlain (30.1 ppg, 22.9 rpg, 2 Rings, 4 MVPs, 13 All-stars) 3. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (24.6 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 6 Rings, 6 MVPs, 19 All-stars) 4. Shaquille O'Neal (26.3 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 4 Rings, 1 MVP, 16 All-stars) 5. Moses Malone (20.3 ppg, 12.3 rpg, 1 Ring, 3 MVPs, 12 All-stars) 6. Akeem Olajuwon (21.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2 Rings, 1 MVP, 12 All-stars) 7. George Mikan (23.1 ppg, 13.4 rpg, 7 Rings, 4 All-stars) 8. David Robinson (21.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2 Rings, 1 MVP, 10 All-stars) 9. Bill Walton (13.3 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 2 Rings, 1 MVP, 2 All-stars) 10. Patrick Ewing (21.0 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 0 Rings, 0 MVP, 11 All-stars) Great link here http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/daily...testCenters&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines Bill Russell would be first in that poll of Sportswriters, except for the fact that 2 douchebags had him 7th in their list and one had him 6th, and that's unacceptable and their vote should have been thrown out because of it. I don't have a problem with any of the top 3 being #1, and not really upset if Shaq is there as well, although the Hack-a-Shaq diminished his effectiveness late in games and thus his ranking for me. I don't think anyone else can be in the discussion of best ever. I had a tough time with Walton. He would be high as #5 for me had he not had the injuries, and thus fell to #9. His intangible of making others around him better was unmistakable. George Mikan defined the position. Love this quote on Russell: "He brought a new sound to basketball," Red Auerbach once said, "the sound of his footsteps."
I also have a tough time with Walton. When he was healthy he was among the best. Unfortunately he wasn't healthy often. I'd put Willis Reed in the top 10 in his place.
I agree with you at 1-8, Izzy, but I would take out Ewing and go with Bob Lanier, and maybe even place him at #9 ahead of Walton (placing Walton anywhere on the list is subjective because injuries leave you with a lot of "what if", IMO) Comparing Ewing to Lanier PPG Ewing 21.0, Lanier 20.1 All Stars Ewing 11, Lanier 8 (1 MVP) 0 rings or MVPs for either, but... rebounds pg...Lanier 10.1, Ewing 9.8 (Lanier also better on offensive glass, 2.6 to 2.3) assists....Lanier 3.1, Ewing 1.9 (and Lanier has lower turnover numbers) blocks....Ewing wins this one 2.4 to 1.5 FG %....Lanier .514, Ewing .504 FT %.....Lanier .767, Ewing .740 So statistically, they're virtually identical. Take out the hype factor Ewing gets for having played his whole career in NYC, and I think you have to go with Lanier.
