Once and For Tall: Settling the Debate Over the NBA's Greatest Centers

Sparked by the recent discussion on Alonzo Mourning, I began thinking where would he, and other centers of his caliber rank in an all-time sense. Who makes the top ten and who doesn't make the cut? These rankings will heavily favor peak play and career accomplishments.

For the sake of keeping the article short, it will only contain my picks from No. 1-10. The rest, 11-20, should be in another installment, and possibly more later.

The first question to ask yourself is, what is a dominant center? There's no specific definition, but on a general basis, it's one that can anchor a team's offense and defense with the ability to make his teammates better.

The general candidates for the self-proclaimed title of the "Greatest Center of All-Time" consist of usually the same ensemble: Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Shaquille O'Neal.

I'd like to first get out of the way the myth that Kareem was a step below both Russell and Chamberlain defensively. While he may not have been better than either of them, he certainly was just as good and most definitely on the same level.

In Kareem, or Lew Alcindor's prime, the Bucks' defensive rankings were as follows:

1969-1970: third in opponents' points per game (no FG percentage recorded).

1970-1971: third in opponents' points per game and first in opponents' FG percentage.

1971-1972: second in opponents' points per game and first in opponents' FG percentage.

1972-1973: second in opponents' points per game and first in opponents' FG percentage.

1973-1974: third in opponents' points per game and first in opponents' FG percentage.

1974-1975: fifth in opponents' points per game and second in opponents' FG percentage.

Kareem currently ranks third all time in total career blocks (3,189) behind Dikembe Mutombo and Hakeem Olajuwon. Considering blocks per game weren't recorded in his first four seasons in the NBA, it would be conceivable in those seasons he'd roughly get over three blocks per game.

Just for the lack of argument's sake, we'll assume an exact 3.0 blocks per game (presumably more considering his averages when blocks were first recorded), which would amount to a total of an extra 896 blocks. Add that to his current total and he's all of a sudden the NBA's leading shot-blocker.

Considering he would have at least multiple defensive player of the year awards and would be the NBA's leading shot blocker, then all of a sudden Kareem's defensive “softness” becomes a positive and puts him right up there with both Wilt and Russell defensively.

Now that Kareem's defensive myth is covered, it's time to address another myth—that Bill Russell was poor offensively.

I've heard outlandish statements, such as he's as bad as Ben Wallace offensively. He had a better touch around the basket than people gave him credit for, and stats adjusted Russell was one of the more efficient players on those Celtics teams.

There's no doubt with the IQ Russell possesses that he'd be a more efficient player in today's game. That's not the point; determining how good an offensive player is shouldn't just be about scoring.

Russell anchored those dynasty Celtics teams offensively as well—he rebounded the ball and started the break. On offense or in the half court, he was primarily a high post player, which allowed others space to operate around him and get easier buckets.

In a time where assists were harder to get accredited for (but accounting for the pace, it all evens out) Russell had a career average of roughly 4.3 assists per game.

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