Last week I read a blog post where someone listed his all time NBA draft. If I could find it again, I’d link to it, but I can’t and I spent at least 45 minutes looking for it. His draft was interesting to say the least. Of what I can remember, his top 3 went:
1. Magic Johnson
2. Larry Bird
3. Michael Jordan
Bill Russell wasn’t even in the top 10. It sparked much debate and it made me think about how mine would shake out, so here it goes…
1. Michael Jordan. I’ll admit, I’m biased. I often refer to Jordan as either The Great One or God. But remember this, he is often called the greatest who ever played for a reason. Often overlooked because of his scoring was his superb defense. Oh and there’s the 6 rings which would probably be 8 if he hadn’t retired after the tragic death of his father.
2. Larry Bird. The Basketball Jesus himself. Bird was, like Jordan, hyper competitive. He simply hated to lose and no one, maybe not even Jordan, was as clutch as Bird was.
3. Magic Johnson. In football, if you ask me what position you build around, I’d say Quarterback. In basketball, I’d tell you Point Guard. So of course we don’t have a PG appear on the list until the 3rd spot. That said, Magic saw passing lanes that no one, I mean NO ONE else saw, and why wouldn’t you take a guy who can play literally every spot on the floor as he proved when he played Center after Kareem got hurt.
4. Oscar Robertson. This is where I start to have internal debates. However, the only player to ever AVERAGE a triple-double should be a top 5 pick.
5. “Pistol” Pete Maravich. A guy who should always be in the conversation for “Best Who Ever Played” but he isn’t. The reason why is simple, he was on bad teams before free agency existed. However, go to YouTube and look for the footage of the game against the Knicks when he dropped 68 points. He fouls out and even the Knicks players shake their head because they wanted to see what else he would do.
6. Bill Russell. The debate between Wilt and Russell will be eternal, but to me, you take the guy with more rings.
7. Wilt Chamberlain. You get the only guy to score 100 pts. in a game at the 7 spot, you’ve done alright for yourself.
8. LeBron James. Yes he doesn’t have a ring, but does anyone really think he won’t get one? He’ll win at least one MVP award (probably this year) and he’s just flat out dominant. Next year, he might be higher on this list.
9. Shaq. First of all, the man only needs one name. That’s gotta count for something. Remember, he’s two Nick Anderson free throws away from having 5 rings. In his prime, he was an absolute force of nature.
10. Julius Erving. I originally wrote Charles Barkley here. Then I thought about Jerry West. Then Kobe. Then Cousy, Walton, Stockton, Karl Malone, Isiah, Moses Malone, hell I even gave some thought to Sean Kemp and Gary Payton. My point is I gave this position a lot of though, but ultimately, I went with Dr. J. He was Jordan before Jordan. He flew, he dominated, he had one of the greatest Afro’s I’ve ever seen.
The rest of the draft goes like this…
11. Kobe
12. Barkley
13. Kareem
14. Isiah Thomas
15. Bob Cousy
16. Jerry West
17. Bill Walton
18. Hakeem Olajuwon
19. Scottie Pippen
20. Clyde Drexler
21. Earl Monroe
22. Walt Frazier
23. Willis Reed
24. Patrick Ewing
25. Karl Malone
26. Dwayne Wade (yep, I’m serious)
27. John Stockton
28. Chris Paul
29. George Mikan
30. Deron Williams (that one’s straight bias from me…hey at least I admit it)
There it is. My list for right now. In a week I might call myself stupid and re-do the whole thing.
Feel free to leave your thoughts.
