4 Different Angles: The 10 Best Guards to Ever Play in the NBA

 ^{You may have been wondering when a point guard would come up on this list, amidst mostly shooting guards, but Cousy is here. This guy was a hardwood legend, simply put. He was a thirteen-time All-Star, but more impressively, a six-time NBA champion. His jersey, 14, was retired by the best NBA franchise ever, the Boston Celtics. It is awfully had to ignore his career line of 18/5/7, points/assists/rebounds respectively. Cousy is in a close battle with Larry Bird as the greatest Celtic of all-time.}

4.

 ^{There is a reason that this man is the logo of the NBA, he epitomizes what it means to be an NBA player. He scored over 25,000 points, and was named to the NBA All-Star team thirteen times. West was one of the purest shooters the game has ever seen, and for that, he deserves an enormous amount of credit. We have seen such sharpshooters as Ray Allen and Reggie Miller in our generation, but neither of them get close to what West accomplished in his illustrious career. West was one of the best to put on the gold and purple, the second-most storied franchise in NBA history. His entire body of work places him as my number four guard of all-time.}

3.

 ^{I know many of you think Kobe is much better than Maravich, but I beg to differ. I think that a player should be evaluated by what they did for the game, and Maravich’s ability added to his creativity branded a whole new NBA style of entertainment-oriented sport. That being said, Kobe is one of the most gifted athletes the NBA has ever seen. He is closing in on his fourth NBA championship at the ripe age of 30, which would put him in some elite company. For my money, Kobe is the best player in the game today, bar none. But I still think that he won’t ever reach the expectations put forth of him by the media of achieving the greatness that Michael did.}

2.

 ^{If you think the high-flying NBA of the 21st-century is entertaining, watch some tapes of Maravich. He was the best showman the game has ever seen, because he truly enjoyed playing the sport of basketball. His 24.2 points per game average furthermore displays his greatness on the court. That’s not to mention that behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then Lew Alcindor, Maravich is arguably the greatest college player of all-time. He won pretty much every award in the book, and has his jersey number, 7, retired.}

1

 ^{Jordan is the gold standard by which we compare all great NBA players. He was the best player ever to lace them up, it is not even close. I am quite frankly sick and tired of hearing all of the comparisons to Kobe, because they aren’t even on the same level. We were lucky enough to live in the Jordan generation, and to see the most impressive basketball player ever to walk the Earth. From all the records he has set, to the magical moments he has created, Jordan stands alone on top.}

^{Michael Whittenberg's List:}

^{10. Pete Maravich}

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