Top 10 NBA Player List: #4 of all-time

Who is the FOURTH (4th) greatest player ever?


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Inspect Her Deck

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Inspired by my man @BmoreGorilla who did this sort of thing for hip-hop MCs in The Booth. I thought I could apply that same concept to here since we're always discussing GOATs in the NBA and what have you, especially in light of LeBron furthering his legacy by winning a championship for Cleveland.

So we just did the threads to determine the no's. 7, 8, 9 & 10 in our top 10 OAT. So far, we got:

10. Kobe Bryant
9. Tim Duncan
8. Shaquille O'Neal

7. Larry Bird
6. Bill Russell
5. Wilt Chamberlain


--------------------------------------------

I will now go about establishing an order from 4-1. Today we are voting for the 4th greatest player of all-time. YOU GET ONE VOTE.

Remember, this is the 4th best player, not the best player so vote on who you think is the worst from amongst this list effectively.

This poll will only be open for 72 hours so get your votes in ASAP.
 

Professor Emeritus

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It's got to be Magic, if only because his teams were always so stacked compared to the competition that he never carried entire teams to the degree that Lebron was regularly forced to. And defense.

Of course the stats and the "skills" comparisons are in Lebron's favor (Lebron was better at literally everything except passing - scoring, driving, shooting, finishing, ballhandling, rebounding, both team and individual defense), so the only thing people can say is "more rings", but Magic obviously had far more talented teams and weaker competition, so you can't really give him all that credit.

The only argument that Lebron had against him compared to some of the other guys was "Finals record", and Magic's the guy who lost four-straight Finals games to three different teams, and NONE of those were the "Tragic Johnson" series where he was blamed for blowing the 2-1 lead against the Celtics. Not to mention that the Western Conference in his era had some of the weakest years in NBA history.

1980: 38-44 Blazers get the #6 seed, 56-win Sonics are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1981: 40-42 Kings/Rockets get the #5 and #6 seeds, 40-win Rockets beat Lakers in 1st round and go on to rep the West in the Finals.
1982: 57-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 52 wins, 48-win Spurs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1983: 58-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 53 wins, 53-win Spurs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1984: 54-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 48 wins, 43-win Mavs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1985: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 52 wins, 52-win Nuggets are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1986: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 51 wins, Lakers lose to 51-win Rockets in WCF.
1987: 65-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 55 wins, 42-win Warriors are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals
1988: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 54 wins, 53-win Mavs are the best team the Lakers have to beat on road to Finals
1989: 57-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 55 wins, 55-win Suns are the best team the Lakers have to beat on the road to Finals
1990: First stacked year in the West in forever, Lakers lose to the 54-win Suns in the WCSF
1991: Another stacked year in the West, 63-win Blazers get taken out by the Lakers on the road to the Finals

The quality of competition that Magic faced on the way to the Finals was just :scust:. It was 50-50 whether he'd even beat ONE 50-win team in the Western playoffs each year, and the rest of the teams were often not even at 45 wins or with winning records at all.




It's going to be tough between Lebron and Kareem.
 
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Ben.

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It's got to be Magic, if only because his teams were always so stacked compared to the competition that he never carried entire teams to the degree that Lebron was regularly forced to. And defense.

Of course the stats and the "skills" comparisons are in Lebron's favor (Lebron was better at literally everything except passing - scoring, driving, shooting, finishing, ballhandling, rebounding, both team and individual defense), so the only thing people can say is "more rings", but Magic obviously had far more talented teams and weaker competition, so you can't really give him all that credit.

The only argument that Lebron had against him compared to some of the other guys was "Finals record", and Magic's the guy who lost four-straight Finals games to three different teams, and NONE of those were the "Tragic Johnson" series where he was blamed for blowing the 2-1 lead against the Celtics. Not to mention that the Western Conference in his era had some of the weakest years in NBA history.

1980: 38-44 Blazers get the #6 seed, 56-win Sonics are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1981: 40-42 Kings/Rockets get the #5 and #6 seeds, 40-win Rockets beat Lakers in 1st round and go on to rep the West in the Finals.
1982: 57-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 52 wins, 48-win Spurs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1983: 58-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 53 wins, 53-win Spurs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1984: 54-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 48 wins, 43-win Mavs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1985: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 52 wins, 52-win Nuggets are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1986: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 51 wins, Lakers lose to 51-win Rockets in WCF.
1987: 65-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 55 wins, 42-win Warriors are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals
1988: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 54 wins, 53-win Mavs are the best team the Lakers have to beat on road to Finals
1989: 57-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 55 wins, 55-win Suns are the best team the Lakers have to beat on the road to Finals
1990: First stacked year in the West in forever, Lakers lose to the 54-win Suns in the WCSF
1991: Another stacked year in the West, 63-win Blazers get taken out by the Lakers on the road to the Finals

The quality of competition that Magic faced on the way to the Finals was just :scust:. It was 50-50 whether he'd even beat ONE 50-win team in the Western playoffs each year, and the rest of the teams were often not even at 45 wins or with winning records at all.




It's going to be tough between Lebron and Kareem.
Great post, ppl always get on Bron for playing in a weak East but turn the other way when speaking on Magic who had the way better teams as well.

Side Note: the East Bron faced in 2012 is madly underrated, Melo Knicks in the first round (even though that Knicks team was an injured mess; above .500 though). Great Pacers squad with Granger and West at their best (top 5 defense, had the Heat down 2-1, 50 win team if adjusted W/L% due to lockout). Then the Celtics in their last great year with Rondo at his best, KG still a defensive best/top 20 player, Pierce still an All-Star/19ppg. had Heat down 3-2, top 5 defense). All teams top 5 in defense
 

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It's got to be Magic, if only because his teams were always so stacked compared to the competition that he never carried entire teams to the degree that Lebron was regularly forced to. And defense.

Of course the stats and the "skills" comparisons are in Lebron's favor (Lebron was better at literally everything except passing - scoring, driving, shooting, finishing, ballhandling, rebounding, both team and individual defense), so the only thing people can say is "more rings", but Magic obviously had far more talented teams and weaker competition, so you can't really give him all that credit.

The only argument that Lebron had against him compared to some of the other guys was "Finals record", and Magic's the guy who lost four-straight Finals games to three different teams, and NONE of those were the "Tragic Johnson" series where he was blamed for blowing the 2-1 lead against the Celtics. Not to mention that the Western Conference in his era had some of the weakest years in NBA history.

1980: 38-44 Blazers get the #6 seed, 56-win Sonics are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1981: 40-42 Kings/Rockets get the #5 and #6 seeds, 40-win Rockets beat Lakers in 1st round and go on to rep the West in the Finals.
1982: 57-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 52 wins, 48-win Spurs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1983: 58-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 53 wins, 53-win Spurs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1984: 54-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 48 wins, 43-win Mavs are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1985: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 52 wins, 52-win Nuggets are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals.
1986: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 51 wins, Lakers lose to 51-win Rockets in WCF.
1987: 65-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 55 wins, 42-win Warriors are the best team Lakers have to beat on road to Finals
1988: 62-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 54 wins, 53-win Mavs are the best team the Lakers have to beat on road to Finals
1989: 57-win Lakers are only team in the West with more than 55 wins, 55-win Suns are the best team the Lakers have to beat on the road to Finals
1990: First stacked year in the West in forever, Lakers lose to the 54-win Suns in the WCSF
1991: Another stacked year in the West, 63-win Blazers get taken out by the Lakers on the road to the Finals

The quality of competition that Magic faced on the way to the Finals was just :scust:. It was 50-50 whether he'd even beat ONE 50-win team in the Western playoffs each year, and the rest of the teams were often not even at 45 wins or with winning records at all.




It's going to be tough between Lebron and Kareem.
Lebron never carried any team
 
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