which of the ringless all time greats would have the best case for top 10 if they had won a title (as the main man)

[Jalether]

1994 and 1995 were “top 10-15 GOAT” invitationals for:

Hakeem
Barkley
Robinson
Malone

Mind you, this was before LeBron, Shaq, Duncan, Kobe, etc., so someone like Hakeem (who won the invitational) has conventional been viewed as top 10… but has essentially been pushed out of it as time goes on, many probably have him outside of it now.

You’re not gonna stay top 10 with just 1 or 2 titles, not anymore. But Malone likely would’ve been in Hakeem’s spot or thereabouts

I agree with this take. The standard required to get in are much higher now

 

[bigde09]

Malone.

 

[boskey]

I voted for Chris Paul. But 2 rings didn't get Isiah Thomas into the top 10 so that can't be right. Probably Karl Malone or Allen Iverson for the narrative...

 

[threattonature]

I'm going to go with David Robinson. Considering he gets one as the man and two others with Duncan, combined with having an MVP and putting up straight video game numbers for a few years I think having that one title as the unquestioned man would be a big boost.

 

[Taadow]

I voted for Chris Paul. But 2 rings didn't get Isiah Thomas into the top 10 so that can't be right. Probably Karl Malone or Allen Iverson for the narrative...

No no no - you were on the right track! We all know Zeke isn’t considered Top 10 candidate because of intraleague politics.

So I say this:

I don’t think anybody on this list becomes Top 10 with ONE ring (Malone being the closest), but the player on this list that changes
the whole picture of the game the most with one ring is Iverson. If The Sixers win that series against The Lakers, the ripple effects are:

- Allen is David, and he killed Goliath (Lakers - Prime Shaq & Kobe)!
- Allen did it all by himself!! His #2 was Keith Van Horn!
- Is Allen the greatest Sixer of all-time? Wilt didn’t win a ring in Philly, and Dr. J had a gang of help…
- Do players even need Practice? Allen didn’t…
- (Tim Duncan argument) Allen is the GOAT PG/“but he was an SG”/it doesn’t matter, he played PG…
- Schits on Ewing, because they had similarly built teams and Ewing didn’t close
- (related to previous) You can win a ring with only one high-volume scorer if they just the will and good defense around them…
…that alone puts the fire under Carmelo, T-Mac, Malone, and others like them like Harden, Vince, etc.
- How is Kobe Top 10? He got beat by Allan head-to-head…

 

[threattonature]

No no no - you were on the right track! We all know Zeke isn’t considered Top 10 candidate because of intraleague politics.

So I say this:

I don’t think anybody on this list becomes Top 10 with ONE ring (Malone being the closest), but the player on this list that changes
the whole picture of the game the most with one ring is Iverson. If The Sixers win that series against The Lakers, the ripple effects are:

- Allen is David, and he killed Goliath (Lakers - Prime Shaq & Kobe)!
- Allen did it all by himself!! His #2 was Keith Van Horn!
- Is Allen the greatest Sixer of all-time? Wilt didn’t win a ring in Philly, and Dr. J had a gang of help…
- Do players even need Practice? Allen didn’t…
- (Tim Duncan argument) Allen is the GOAT PG/“but he was an SG”/it doesn’t matter, he played PG…
- Schits on Ewing, because they had similarly built teams and Ewing didn’t close
- (related to previous) You can win a ring with only one high-volume scorer if they just the will and good defense around them…
…that alone puts the fire under Carmelo, T-Mac, Malone, and others like them like Harden, Vince, etc.
- How is Kobe Top 10? He got beat by Allan head-to-head…

Wilt won in 67 with Philly Warriors.

 

[stepbackj34spud]

Carmelo??? Hahahah

 

[Mantis Toboggan M.D.]

I voted for Chris Paul. But 2 rings didn't get Isiah Thomas into the top 10 so that can't be right. Probably Karl Malone or Allen Iverson for the narrative...

I said Paul too. Malone and Barkley had way too many ugly exits caused by their own mistakes in big moments. Paul routinely got sunk by injuries to either himself or his teammates by comparison while the only teams he was on that were good enough to win were the 2018 rockets (who were already doomed by way of relying on James Har_en as their best player) and the 2021 suns.