Matching Up the NBA's Best with Their Hall of Fame Predecessors

Matching Up NBA's Best With Their Hall of Fame Predecessors

With the NBA all-star game fast approaching, I thought it would be interesting to match each best NBA position player with three NBA greats at his position from the past. The objective being to determine if any present NBA player can equate with, has a greater effect, or can outshine his predecessors. Distinguishing three former greats at each position was difficult, but on the other hand, considering the surplus of obvious possibles, the choices could hardly be flawed.

Here goes:

Point Guard: Deron Williams. Stellar, solid, sometimes spectacular. Can score big and dish. Makes players better. Knows how to take over a game.

Versus

1. Magic Johnson. Magic wins. Earvin Johnson was more dynamic, electrifying, game-changing. In fact, league-changing. Made “showtime” a team thing. A basketball god. He is one of the top ten players of all-time. Not too far from triple-double for his career. Three MVPs, Nine All-NBA first teams. Could have easily averaged twenty-five points per game for his career if he wanted. Scored forty in the playoffs when needed. No one passed better, more often, than he did. Whatever was needed at the most crucial time, he could supply. Of course, a great NBA winner.

2. Bob Cousy. Cousy wins. Mr. Dribble. Ten All-NBA first teams. A wizard with the ball, one of the top five passers of all-time. Eight consecutive assist titles. Fearless: In an era of dull and low-post, Cousy made fancy chic and efficacious. With relatively limited physical skills, he transformed basketball into art. Unbeatable will to win. The ultimate conductor.

3. Isiah Thomas. Isiah wins. Only the presence of Bird, Magic, and Michael kept him from MVP awards and more first-team All-NBA accolades. As it was, he was All-NBA first three times. No one could make him flinch. If you watched him, you noticed he could not really be stopped in his prime. Twelve-time all-star team selection. Great on defense. No one was a better leader.

In this case, therefore, current NBA player Deron Williams is shut out.

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant (over Dwayne Wade). Has established himself as an all-time great. A superman at times. Over the years, has willed a team to a championship by himself. Motivates others betond their potential. An “A-List” defender. Can handle, shoot, rebound, pass, and can run the break.

Versus

1. Oscar Robertson. Robertson wins. No one can say Oscar was just a point guard. In his time, there were just guards. Of course we all know he averaged a triple double one year. To a mnority, he is considered the greatest player of all time. Averaged near thirty points per game, while having high rebounding and assist totals. Could dominate a game even more than Bryant. Only one championship, but his overall tool kit exceeds Bryant's by a shade.

2. Michael Jordan. Jordan wins. The greatest player of all-time. Perhaps athlete of the century. He and Bill Walton had the greatest charisma ever on a basketball court. Greatest two-way player ever. Ten all-nba first-team selections. Ten scoring titles. Five MVPs, when the competition for MVP was greater than it is today. Etc. Plus, the one you most want to watch ever.

3. Jerry West. West wins. The logo—for a reason. The third greatest clutch player ever, behind Jordan and Russell. Averaged almost thirty points per game (29.1) in the playoffs. Ten All-NBA first-team selections. All-NBA defensive first-team four times. An unstoppable force, so erect and effortless when he did it. Olympic champion. Better assist and rebound averages than Bryant.Averaged twenty-seven points per game. Struck more fear into opponents than any palyer today. Fourteen-time all-star. Perhaps his most profound attribute: He was never satisfied.

So far, today's players are shut out.

Center: Dwight Howard. Evolving. This year has shown occasional unstoppability. The dearth of center resistance in the league has helped. Powerful presence inside, an intimidator. Difficult to deter from getting to the basket. An athlete at the center position.

Versus

1. Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain wins. This is not debatable. Over thirty thousand points. Averaged fifty ppg one year. Never averaged under eighteen rebounds per seasons, and during five seasons, averaged twenty-four or more rebounds per game. As his teams got better, his ppg. dropped into the twenties, but he was still almost indomitable. Best athlete ever at the position. Top-level passer. Four MVPs. Played against the best competition ever—Russell, Jabbar, Reed, Unseld, Petit, etc.

2. Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Jabbar wins. One of the ten greatest basketball players ever. Owns career scoring record. Defensive force of the extra-earthly kind. Nineteen all-star games. First-team all-NBA at age thirty-nine. How good is that? Six MVPs. Played quality ball until age forty-two. Argument could be made that he was the greatest player ever. Had that outsanding John Wooden tutelage. Has eight playoff records and seven all-star records.

3. 

   Bill Russell. Russell wins. Averaged 22 rebounds per game in his career. Averaged fifteen points could have avaeraged twenty on a team other than the dominant Celtics. He and Michael Jordan are the two greatest clutch players ever—with Russell being the greatest winner ever. One would pay to see Russell play as well as any player ever. Dominated more talented competition (Wilt, Petit, Lucas, Reed) when it counted. No one willed a team to victory better than Rusell. Revolutionized the game with his shot-blocking ability.

Small Forward. Lebro n James. The best player currently. His winner's will can be questioned, as well as his abiltity to perform in the crucial moments. Otherwise, he is as unique a talent as the game has seen. Like Jordan, he can average thirty a game whenever he chooses. A very good, not a great passer. Wonderful ball-handler, rebounder, and shot blocker—for his size.

Versus

1. John Havlicek. Havlicek wins. Incredible will. One of the five most intelligent players ever. Made others exceedingly better. Twenty-six thousand points. Eleven first or second all-NBA. Defensive standout. One of the top three two-way players ever. Eight-time NBA champion. Other superstars looked to him as an example. When other star players were spent, Havlicek was not, thus he had more championships than they did. If Jerry West was not on the logo, Havlicek probably would have been.

2. 

   Rick Barry. Barry wins. Nine times first-team all-league, NBA-ABA. Perhaps the ABA's greatest player. Champion in NBA and ABA. He was the only star on his NBA championship team, thereby cracking the theory that two superstars are needed. Twenty-five thousand points. Totally unstoppable offensively. His will to win ranks with Havlicek , Jordan, and Russell. Best foul shooter ever, with a .900 percentage. Very good rebounder (6.5 for career), and superb passer. Super competitive on defense. Holds the record for steals in a four game playoff series, and only Michael Jordan averaged more in a championship series.than Barry did (40.8 in the 1967 NBA Finals). One of the ten most watchable players ever.

3. Julius Erving. Erving wins. By a hair. One of five players to score thirty thousand points lifetime. Average 8.5 rebounds per game for his career. Thirteen times NBA-ABA first or second team. He, Pete Maravitch, and Bob Cousy rank as the most creative players ever. Brought the dunk to the public consciousness. Most dominant player in the ABA. Perhaps the most all-around physically skilled player ever. Excellent shot-blocker and passer.

Power Forward. Dirk Nowitzky. A scoring marvel. Fairly good, not great rebounder. His ability to score from all angles and depth on a basketball court gives his team immeasurable value. Leadership can be questioned. Hard offensive force to contain. Most consistent power forward extant.

Versus

1. Bob Petit. Petit wins by a lot. Perhaps the greatest power forward to ever play. Ten first team all-NBA first teams. Averaged sixteen rebounds and twenty-siz points for his eleven years. Eleven-time all-star. Scored fifty in 1958 Finals Game Six against Bill Russell and the Celtics, the year Petit's Hawks 1958 won it all. Only NBA player to play at least five years and average more than twenty points per game. He dominated the NBA all-star games he played in. Would have to be included on any all-time NBA first-team twelve-man roster. A giant.

2. Karl Malone. Malone wins. The NBA's second leading scorer of all-time. A circus-type strong man. Huge immovable force around the court. Excellent, though not great, rebounder. Better to-way player than Nowitzky. Eleven times first-team all-NBA. Should not have been ranked as high as #18 by Slam in 2009, but still a great player. His will to win can be questioned. Statistics get him to his height, rather than championship intangibles of other greats. Underrated passer, however.

3. Charles Barkley. Barkley wins. Undoubtedly. If not for Michael Jordan...fill in the MVP awards. Better than Nowitzky at everything. Much better rebounder and defender. Very good in the clutch. Intimidated opponents. Could play both forward positions at six-foot four, and sometimes center. Brought the ball up court when necessary—or when he felt like it. Eleven-time all-star. Averaged twelve rebounds per game for his career. All-NBA first or second ten times. Became an excellent passer. One of four players in history with 20,000 points, ten thousand rebounds, and four thousand assists.

Sorry, but today's players, in comparison with yesterday's, get shut out. “Oh I believe...in yesterday.”