You’re going off tangent.
Kareem, Magic, Jerry, Wilt, Dr. J, Drexler, Shaq in Miami etc... None of these players won all their rings as the number 1 option and in the case of Kareem and maybe Dr. J dropped all the way to 3rd option. It's never even brought up. Nobody asks if Magic would have won without Kareem and Pat Riley. Or if Kareem would have won without Magic, Oscar Robertson and/or Pat Riley. Nobody asks if Tim Duncan would have won without Greg Pop and the Spurs organization.
If you're trying to line up a list of 20 greats you have to evaluate them the same. Otherwise it's always going to an emotional list based on who someone likes/dislikes. And here's the best example of that:
Kobe before Pau and after Shaq didn’t win a playoff series so what are you talking about?
Shaq left LA and immediately won a chip while outside of his prime.
Kobe doesn't get credit for winning as the 1A with Shaq while we turn around and say that he also doesn't get credit for winning as the number 1 to Pau Gasol's 2. Then in the very next sentence we turn back around and give Shaq credit for winning as the second option to Dwyane Wade.
It only took 2 sentences to show how you emotionally evaluate 2 great players and their accomplishments differently based on who you like/dislike. IF this is how we look at 2 different players then lets change the list to the average person's top 100 favorite player's list.
Shaq needed someone to average 15 ppg?
Shaq had anywhere from 10-15 different teammates that averaged 15 ppg before 2000. Yet he still had a 500 playoff record? Then from 2000-2004 he ends up with a .711 winning percentage in the playoffs. I wonder who he played with during that time?
(Who?) 27.6 ppg 5.7 rebs 5.3 asts
Shaq: 26.4 ppg 13.8 rebs 3. asts
Instead of asking could Tmac, who didn't practice hard, match this body of work over the span of 4 years, we look for low moments in that span and ask could Tmac match those. fukk asking if James Harden could match Lebron in being a driving force for a team that went to 4 straight finals and winning 2. Let's instead look for that low moment Bron had where he averaged 17 7 and 7 as the 5th leading scorer in the series. Let's ask if James could put up a stat line like that and score more than 11 pts in 4th quarter for the WHOLE SERIES. If he can, then lets tell everyone thet the Heat would have went to 4 straight finals and won 2 if they followed James Harden....
Disingenuous argument basked on someone you dislike
Back injuries have nothing to do with working hard.
If by his words he didn't take practice serious, then its safe to assume that he didn't take rehab serious either. And not taking rehab seriously can obviously lead to more injuries. I mean "you ever play a sport before"?
Adding Tmac to a player like this:
Shaq:"I got hurt on company time, so I’ll rehab on company time"
Doesn't automatically lead to 3 straight championships. T
This is how women that have not been held accountable move. THey'll say something then when someone points out a flaw in what they said they'll deflect to something else. If you follow them to that and do it again, they'll deflect again. If you don't, they'll walk away feeling like they didn't have a flaw in what they said...
You don't want to address Manu having a 100 defensive rating and Jrue Holiday having 109 because it exposes analytics for not being foolproof. Steph is the same defender (in ability) whether with Olajuwon on Kevon Looney. But playing with Hakeem makes those numbers go up