Bill Russell unquestionable GOAT!!!!!

[Somebody]

I've always disliked trying to anoint a sole GOAT. It seems like an exercise in futility for the most part, considering how much basketball has changed.

I prefer to do it by decade:

50s: Bob Pettit
60s: Bill and Wilt
70s: Kareem
80s: Bird & Magic
90s: Jordan
00s: TD & Kobe
10s: LeBron
20s: TBA

These guys are guys that I think would be successful in any era, and have had remarkable impacts on the game. Their ability and work ethic would translate to any era.

Bill is as good as any, and has an argument to the be the top.

Good list. I'd go with Russell alone in the 60s and KG/Duncan for the 2000s though

I see no issue with more Celtic (and I guess T-Wolf) love

Ikr. Still find it shocking that no one even considered KG for the 2000s: he blended consistency throughout the decade with a massive peak.

People very easily forget what happens in Minnesota sadly. Seems that all their star players get a certain level of disrespect, or ignored.

Even the pre-shot clock GOAT gets ignored by the Lakers franchise.

[Moranis]

I've always disliked trying to anoint a sole GOAT. It seems like an exercise in futility for the most part, considering how much basketball has changed.

I prefer to do it by decade:

50s: Bob Pettit
60s: Bill and Wilt
70s: Kareem
80s: Bird & Magic
90s: Jordan
00s: TD & Kobe
10s: LeBron
20s: TBA

These guys are guys that I think would be successful in any era, and have had remarkable impacts on the game. Their ability and work ethic would translate to any era.

Bill is as good as any, and has an argument to the be the top.

Good list. I'd go with Russell alone in the 60s and KG/Duncan for the 2000s though

I see no issue with more Celtic (and I guess T-Wolf) love

Ikr. Still find it shocking that no one even considered KG for the 2000s: he blended consistency throughout the decade with a massive peak.

People very easily forget what happens in Minnesota sadly. Seems that all their star players get a certain level of disrespect, or ignored.

Even the pre-shot clock GOAT gets ignored by the Lakers franchise.

Garnett quite simply wasn't as good as Duncan and since they played the same position at the same time it is pretty easy to not include KG on any sort best player of the decade lists as he is always behind Duncan.  Shaq, Kobe, and other players were different positions than Duncan and brought different things to the table so you can more readily compare them.  Also, I don't think anyone ever believed Garnett was actually the best player in the world.  He absolutely deserved the MVP he won, but winning the MVP and being thought of as the best player in the world are not the same thing.  That I believe is also the case for Kobe, and why I don't think he belonged on the best player of the decade list.  If you consider it that way I think it goes more like

Mikan
Pettit
Bill/Wilt
Kareem
Magic/Bird
Jordan
Shaq
Duncan
Lebron

There are of course seasons here and there where someone else might have made a claim, but I think those are the players that were unquestioned as the best players in the world for at least a few seasons in a row (or in the 60's and 80's where two people went back and forth).  Hakeem, Moses, and a few other players certainly were the best player in the world for a couple of seasons, but I just don't think they put it together long enough to include.  It looked like Giannis was going to take the mantle from Lebron, but I don't think he has done it quite yet and who knows if he actually does it as he seems to have regressed some this season.

[Somebody]

I've always disliked trying to anoint a sole GOAT. It seems like an exercise in futility for the most part, considering how much basketball has changed.

I prefer to do it by decade:

50s: Bob Pettit
60s: Bill and Wilt
70s: Kareem
80s: Bird & Magic
90s: Jordan
00s: TD & Kobe
10s: LeBron
20s: TBA

These guys are guys that I think would be successful in any era, and have had remarkable impacts on the game. Their ability and work ethic would translate to any era.

Bill is as good as any, and has an argument to the be the top.

Good list. I'd go with Russell alone in the 60s and KG/Duncan for the 2000s though

I see no issue with more Celtic (and I guess T-Wolf) love

Ikr. Still find it shocking that no one even considered KG for the 2000s: he blended consistency throughout the decade with a massive peak.

People very easily forget what happens in Minnesota sadly. Seems that all their star players get a certain level of disrespect, or ignored.

Even the pre-shot clock GOAT gets ignored by the Lakers franchise.

Garnett quite simply wasn't as good as Duncan and since they played the same position at the same time it is pretty easy to not include KG on any sort best player of the decade lists as he is always behind Duncan.  Shaq, Kobe, and other players were different positions than Duncan and brought different things to the table so you can more readily compare them.  Also, I don't think anyone ever believed Garnett was actually the best player in the world.  He absolutely deserved the MVP he won, but winning the MVP and being thought of as the best player in the world are not the same thing.  That I believe is also the case for Kobe, and why I don't think he belonged on the best player of the decade list.  If you consider it that way I think it goes more like

Mikan
Pettit
Bill/Wilt
Kareem
Magic/Bird
Jordan
Shaq
Duncan
Lebron

There are of course seasons here and there where someone else might have made a claim, but I think those are the players that were unquestioned as the best players in the world for at least a few seasons in a row (or in the 60's and 80's where two people went back and forth).  Hakeem, Moses, and a few other players certainly were the best player in the world for a couple of seasons, but I just don't think they put it together long enough to include.  It looked like Giannis was going to take the mantle from Lebron, but I don't think he has done it quite yet and who knows if he actually does it as he seems to have regressed some this season.

I can play that game too! Duncan was quite simply wasn't as good as Garnett and since they played the same position at the same time it is pretty easy not to include Duncan on any sort of best player of the decade lists as he is always behind Garnett.

Also still find it incredibly amusing that you worship Moses Malone despite being an zealot about raw on/off.

[Big333223]

Mikan
Pettit
Bill/Wilt
Kareem
Magic/Bird
Jordan
Shaq
Duncan
Lebron

I like this list better because I think there's an arbitrariness to using decades as a divider. Shaq's statistical peak ran from, like, '94 to '03 so where does that leave him? Defining eras by the players who dominated I like better and looks more like your list.

[gouki88]

Kevin Garnett was every bit the player Duncan was, and was merely the victim of circumstance.

[Birdman]

Kevin Garnett was every bit the player Duncan was, and was merely the victim of circumstance.

Garnett was on some bad Timberwolves teams..trade places with Duncan and he would won more championships

[gouki88]

Kevin Garnett was every bit the player Duncan was, and was merely the victim of circumstance.

Garnett was on some bad Timberwolves teams..trade places with Duncan and he would won more championships

Totally agree. For me it’s the same with T-Mac and Dwyane Wade. If McGrady played with Shaq he’d have a ring too

[Big333223]

Kevin Garnett was every bit the player Duncan was, and was merely the victim of circumstance.

Garnett was on some bad Timberwolves teams..trade places with Duncan and he would won more championships

I think Duncan elevated the guys around him into championship caliber players. Bruce Bowen? Nesterovic? Brent Barry? Malik Rose? These are not great players but Duncan won with the playing big minutes. Tony Parker even gets HoF chatter. If Tony Parker hadn't been drafted by the Spurs, he'd be just another score-first pg who didn't even score at an elite clip.

Ginobili was great but we never saw him outside the Spurs/Duncan/Pop eco-system and at the end of the day we're talking about someone who made two all star games in his career.

It's true KG had (mostly) worse teams but I don't think the Spurs win as many championships with KG replacing Duncan.

[Moranis]

Kevin Garnett was every bit the player Duncan was, and was merely the victim of circumstance.

Garnett was on some bad Timberwolves teams..trade places with Duncan and he would won more championships

I think Duncan elevated the guys around him into championship caliber players. Bruce Bowen? Nesterovic? Brent Barry? Malik Rose? These are not great players but Duncan won with the playing big minutes. Tony Parker even gets HoF chatter. If Tony Parker hadn't been drafted by the Spurs, he'd be just another score-first pg who didn't even score at an elite clip.

Ginobili was great but we never saw him outside the Spurs/Duncan/Pop eco-system and at the end of the day we're talking about someone who made two all star games in his career.

It's true KG had (mostly) worse teams but I don't think the Spurs win as many championships with KG replacing Duncan.

I think that is correct and people do underestimate KG's talent. His 3rd year alone he had Gugliotta and Marbury as complimentary stars.  I think people forget that Gugs was basically a 20/10 guy in his prime and Marbury was obviously super talented.  KG couldn't make it work with Marbury and they ended up replacing him with an all star in Terrell Brandon (2 all star appearance before Minny and 28 years old when he joined KG).  That Brandon team also had #1 pick Joe Smith.  Obviously Smith wasn't great as a #1 pick, but he was still a solid player.  The following season they added Wally.  That was the first team that won 50 games with KG, Brandon, Smith, and Wally.  They played the Blazers and in the playoffs and lost 3-1.  Lost Smith but added early Billups.  Following season again 50 wins with Smith back added to KG, Wally, Billups, and Brandon (though that is the year Brandon got hurt).  They also had Rasho entering his prime as well as some solid depth with Peeler, Mitchell, Trent, Pack, and Jackson on the bench.  Swept by Dirk's Mavs in the playoffs in large part because Dirk was just flat out better than Garnett in the series.  It continues on throughout his time.  Now obviously KG never played with a legit HOF talent in his prime, but it isn't like TD did either.  Look I get Parker and Manu are both going to make the HOF, but not based on their NBA history alone. 

This idea that KG just didn't play with any talent just isn't borne in reality.  That team was basically started Billups, Wally, Rasho, and Smith/Mitchell (depending on matchup) around KG.  Solid bench depth.  They had 4 players on that team that were top 6 picks in the draft all in or just entering their prime (Trent was also the 11th pick and Peeler was 15th).  The Wolves didn't have the level of success of the Spurs in a very large part because KG quite simply wasn't as good as TD.  KG didn't really elevate the talent of those around them.  In fact, he often clashed with the other star players he played with.  And obviously Pop is a great coach, but Flip Saunders wasn't exactly a bad coach.  KG was a great leader of veterans, but was not really good with young players or those he didn't feel were on his level and as a result a lot of players wouldn't go play with KG.  That is on KG.