Greatest players to only play for one team

[johnnygreen]

I read this article of ranking the 10 greatest NBA players who only played for one team.

https://clutchpoints.com/nba-ranking-10-greatest-players-who-played-one-team

The list from the article was:
1. Kobe Bryant
2. Bill Russell
3. Tim Duncan
4. Magic Johnson
5. Larry Bird
6. Dirk Nowitzki
7. John Stockton
8. David Robinson
9. Isiah Thomas
10. Manu Ginobili

Stockton stuck out as the only player not to win a title. Then again, as much as I liked Ginobili, he doesn't belong on that list.

How about we add two caveats to this topic. The first being the player had to win a title. And second, the player could also still be playing.

[cletus1985]

Reggie should be on the list.  I think Manu would have to go IMO  to make room,  title or not.

I also don't agree with doing current players.  Karl Malone left the Jazz in his final season,  you can't predict the future of anyone.  For me,  no props until you've completed the task.

[Roy H.]

Please tell me that list isn't supposed to be in order?  It's laughable that Kobe would be ahead of Russell, Bird, Magic or Duncan.

And where are Jerry West, John Havlicek, and Dr. J (only one NBA franchise)?

Others:  Sam Jones, Kevin McHale, Elgin Baylor

Still playing: Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard

[johnnygreen]

Please tell me that list isn't supposed to be in order?  It's laughable that Kobe would be ahead of Russell, Bird, Magic or Duncan.

And where are Jerry West, John Havlicek, and Dr. J (only one NBA franchise)?

I figured we could make a better list. I did list the names in order per the article. Yes, they had Kobe #1.

[Donoghus]

Kobe being #1 is utterly ridiculous.

[tazzmaniac]

What first stuck out to me is Kobe being #1 on that list.  The author ought to be sanity checked. 

I don't see why winning a championship should be a requirement to make the list.  Teams win championships not individuals no matter how great they are. 

[Donoghus]

I'm going to go out on the limb and guess that the author was born in the mid to late 90s.

[Roy H.]

Please tell me that list isn't supposed to be in order?  It's laughable that Kobe would be ahead of Russell, Bird, Magic or Duncan.

And where are Jerry West, John Havlicek, and Dr. J (only one NBA franchise)?

Others:  Sam Jones, Kevin McHale, Elgin Baylor

Still playing: Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard

If we're considering retired players only, I think my list would be:

1. Bill Russell
2a. Magic Johnson
2b. Larry Bird
4. Tim Duncan
5. Jerry West
6. John Havlicek
7.  Kobe Bryant
8. Dirk
9. Elgin Baylor
10a.  Dr. J
10b. David Robinson

(Well, truth be told, if it was *my* non-objective list, I'd keep Kobe off of it all together).

[Donoghus]

Stick to fishing.

SPENCER SEE
Spencer is a part-time NBA writer at ClutchPoints. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball. He is also a life-long fan of LeBron James.

[Roy H.]

Stick to fishing.

SPENCER SEE
Spencer is a part-time NBA writer at ClutchPoints. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball. He is also a life-long fan of LeBron James.

I'm going to go out on the limb and guess that the author was born in the mid to late 90s.

Yeah, I'm going to guess he didn't watch a lot of Bird and Magic, let alone Russell.

[Redz]

With Haslem retiring, I’d like to see a list of worst players to play entire career with one team (10 years or more).  Not that he was awful.  Just unusual to see a non-star player stick with one team that long.

[BASS_THUMPER]

UNCLE DREW.....




He played for the Harlem Buckets for 15years!!!!




He stayed Loyal to the Buckets...!

Today he is working with Kids in Harlem...




*sippin*

[Moranis]

George Mikan was the best player in the world on the best team in the world for 6 straight years (well I guess technically they were the best team for only 5 of the 6 years).  Now he only played those 6 seasons, retired for a year and then came back and played a partial season at a lower level.  So is 6 years not enough for him to be considered even though he was clearly the best player in the world on the 2nd most dominant team in the sports history (basing that on most titles in shortest time).  Obviously a different sport back then, but you have to compare players to their era and you won't find many better than Mikan in that regard.  Now his career only being 7 years obviously sets him apart but in that time (it was pre-MVP award, but he'd have at least 5 if not 6), he has 6 1st Team All NBA and 5 Championships, which makes his resume comparable to most everyone on that list and better than a lot of them.

So is his career just too short to be considered. 

Speaking of older guys you have Bob Pettit, Bob Cousy, and Dolph Schayes.  Pettit and Cousy won MVP's and Schayes never did, but was close several seasons.  They all won titles and had a whole bunch of 1st Team All NBA seasons. 

[liam]

Bird!

[Roy H.]

George Mikan was the best player in the world on the best team in the world for 6 straight years (well I guess technically they were the best team for only 5 of the 6 years).  Now he only played those 6 seasons, retired for a year and then came back and played a partial season at a lower level.  So is 6 years not enough for him to be considered even though he was clearly the best player in the world on the 2nd most dominant team in the sports history (basing that on most titles in shortest time).  Obviously a different sport back then, but you have to compare players to their era and you won't find many better than Mikan in that regard.  Now his career only being 7 years obviously sets him apart but in that time (it was pre-MVP award, but he'd have at least 5 if not 6), he has 6 1st Team All NBA and 5 Championships, which makes his resume comparable to most everyone on that list and better than a lot of them.

So is his career just too short to be considered. 

Speaking of older guys you have Bob Pettit, Bob Cousy, and Dolph Schayes.  Pettit and Cousy won MVP's and Schayes never did, but was close several seasons.  They all won titles and had a whole bunch of 1st Team All NBA seasons.

For a top-10 list, Mikan’s career wasn’t long enough.