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You have to have one guy represent the modern era; they can't all be pre-1990s. Even Mount Rushmore has Teddy Roosevelt So I say Wilt, Bill, Kareem & Shaq.
teddy was THE MAN! a boxer, a wrestler, a judoka, a hunter, and fighter and a hell of a leader too! now by those criteria im on the fense, shaq does train jiu jitsu (or he used to) and loves mma, duncan boxes in the off season with jesse james leija. so by those criteria who was/is the better leader? have to go tim duncan on that one.
I love Duncan, and I like Shaq. I watched them both from rookie seasons. But I have to give that 4th spot to Hakeem.
Shaq could be played to get into foul trouble, and he was never all that smart plus the last few minutes of the game he could be neutralized by fouling him and making him shoot ft.
Duncan was and is great but Hakeem was just a scosh better in my opinion. Just every basket had to be worked so hard for against him. And he had a great post up game obviously (dream shake) as well as a 17-20 footer he could and did hit very consistantly. I hated when my Spurs had to play against them, DRobinson had the hardest time against him over anyone else.
Even Horry who played with Shaq, Duncan, and Hakeem picks Hakeem as the best big he played with.
I still remember a photo I saw of the Madision Square Garden sign from a 1950's pro basketball game. It read "Geroge Mikan vs. New York Knicks." That shows the stature the Mikan had in the league at that time.
Indeed, I mentioned that around here just the other day. And apparently his teammates gave him the cold shoulder in the locker-room, not suiting up alongside him and taking the stance that as per the marquee, they were literally going to let him go out there alone 1 on 5 lol.
Moses Malone definitely deserves a mention (though I'd still rank Olajuwon, Shaq, and possibly Duncan ahead of him). How the heck did I forget him, especially being a 76ers fan?!?
This is kind of fun. BTW Tim Duncan has played plenty of center in his career especially since David Robinson retired... but it says big men anyway.
So I'm quickly putting Shaq and Hakeem on the mountainface. Shaq has 4 titles and was the most physically imposing and exhausting player of all time. In his prime the whole team had to get bruised trying to help out. Olajuwon because of his quick reactions and soccer goalkeeping instincts is the greatest defensive bigman of all time: altering shots, creating TOs while shutting down his own man. He also may have had the best technical offensive game w/ apologies to McHale and Abdul-Jabbar.
Now it gets harder although I'm a bit biased against old time players (pre 1975 or so) because their was far less talent and size back then. If in 1968 1 million kids wanted to be NBA stars, by 1988, 20-30 million wanted to (bear with me on the numbers).
So Bill Russell is out, half of the league's best players were already on his team and at his size in modern times, he wouldn't be much better than Ben Wallace.
Wilt Chamberlain had slow-twitch muscles and didn't have the footwork and agility to play as well in the modern game.
Karl Malone deserves a mention for having probably the best stats of any PF ever but he didn't win a title and didn't dominate on defense.
Can't mention the Mailman w/o mentioning Charles Barkley, but he played even smaller than his 6'4, incredibly efficient offensive player but a very very poor defender the last half of his career.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is going on the mountain. 6 titles, monumental stats, an early positive ambassador of the NBA, what's not to like.
Other candidates: Pat Ewing (too many jump shots, got abused by Hakeem in the finals), David Robinson (never as good as Tim Duncan and not a go-to scorer), Moses Malone (head down mess, effort and mediocre D), Bill Walton (great for only short period of time), Tim Duncan (4 time champ, complete game), Kevin Garnett (one title, awesome defender), Elvin Hayes (one title, so-so shot selection and D), Wes Unseld (one title, great leader, limited game), Robert Parish (good for so long, never great), Kevin McHale (surprisingly close to the mountain).
OK I'm done, the fourth has to be (surprisingly) Tim Duncan!
Wilt had a high jump of 6'5", and ran the 100 yard dash in 10.9. Wilt would of been great in any era, especially if he was motivated to play. He didn't love basketball like Jordan, or Lebron, he played basketball to make a living. As for strength, just look at his shot put numbers.
Anyone that saw him play will tell you he was the most dominate player ever, including today.
Wilt had a high jump of 6'5", and ran the 100 yard dash in 10.9. Wilt would of been great in any era, especially if he was motivated to play. He didn't love basketball like Jordan, or Lebron, he played basketball to make a living. As for strength, just look at his shot put numbers.
Anyone that saw him play will tell you he was the most dominate player ever, including today.
According to legend Wilt's vertical was 54 inches Yeah, slow twitch muscles my ass. He would be great in any era.
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So I say Wilt, Bill, Kareem & Shaq.
Yeah, slow twitch muscles my ass. He would be great in any era.
