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So, what four big men do you put on your Mount Rushmore.
Here I go:
Tim Duncan
Bill Russell
Wilt
Kareem
I had a tough time leaving out Shaq and Hakeem. But I argue that Hakeem's prime is limited to a fewer number of years than that of the rest of them. As for Shaq, I already had two Lakers on the list, and I just couldn't see myself putting him above the others.
And your location gives away your bias against Duncan.
What's a big man? Like how big? 6'10" minimum? (Bill Russell was 6'9")
And your location gives you away that you have a bias for Duncan. (By the way, I like Duncan and prior to Ginobli, I thought of Duncan as THE Laker killer.)
Tim Duncan isn't a center. Not sure why he is there.
Even so, I would put Shaq and George Mikan over Duncan - maybe even Bill Walton.
Edit: I think you're valueing longevity so I guess Walton would be out. But Shaq for sure is in.
mikan i can understand, he was THE big man of his era and lead the way for so many. shaq maybe, but even shaq will tell you hes behind duncan.
but bill walton? i mean take the longevity factor out of it, dude was better then average but an all time great? not so much. he really only had 2-3 years of solid productivity, and his college days just didnt translate to the nba as well as expected. he was very good, but no way is he ahead of duncan, thats just silly.
i personally would take tim off and put mikan for the historical factor.
They actually changed the rules of the game because of him....
However, this is a really brutal task in paring the list down to 4.
Kareem, all-time leading scorer and tons and tons of MVP's
Russell and Wilt are hard to argue with.
It's so hard to compare eras and players.
I will take the cowards way out and leave Duncan out of the discussion since he's still playing.
Shaq is def. in the discussion, absolutely dominant but he didn't maintain that dominance for as long but he played in a lower pace era where he wasn't the 7-footer beating up on 6'7 centers.
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!
Mt. Rushmore has four presidents. So if we are picking four big men the first three are automatic:
Bill Russell
Wilt Chamberlain
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
The question is who is fourth? For me it boils down to Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaquille O'neal. Hakeem schooled the young Shaq in the '95 Finals. But the league literally changed the rules to deal with Shaq in his prime. Today's zone defenses which allow doubling players off the ball in the post was a direct response to Shaq's dominance in his prime.
If forced to pick I'd go with Shaq. His peak was higher.
Mt. Rushmore has four presidents. So if we are picking four big men the first three are automatic:
Bill Russell
Wilt Chamberlain
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
The question is who is fourth? For me it boils down to Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaquille O'neal. Hakeem schooled the young Shaq in the '95 Finals. But the league literally changed the rules to deal with Shaq in his prime. Today's zone defenses which allow doubling players off the ball in the post was a direct response to Shaq's dominance in his prime.
If forced to pick I'd go with Shaq. His peak was higher.
Not sure how you can mention Shaq or Hakeem without mentioning Duncan as well. He is equal or greater than each of them in titles. I'd say Hakeem at his peak is probably a better all around player than Duncan or Shaq at their peaks. But I would still take a prime Duncan over a prime Shaq. Duncan was a better all-around player.
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