Dr. Jay snubbing Larry and Lebron:
Dr.J’s top 10 players of all time (no order)
Jerry West
Oscar Robertson
Elgin Baylor
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell
Michael Jordan
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Magic Johnson
Karl Malone
Tiny Archibald
Lol, speaking of disrespecting someone. It's Dr. J...not Dr. Jay.
Anyways, I have no issue with his list, as it's his own opinion. My list would certainly be different, but it wouldn't mean my list was better.
While I respect the take, I've always strongly disagreed with the "all opinions have equal value". They don't, and leaving Larry Bird off a list of the top-10 players ever devalues his opinion entirely.
I'd love for someone to ask Doc why he left Bird off. Did he just forget Bird when making the list? Did he leave Bird off because of how he fared individually against him? Or felt his team did against Bird's team?
Doc was, what, 2-1 in playoff series in the early 80s. Three close series with Doc having the upper hand. Did not meet in 1983 when Philly were their strongest. Did not matchup in 1984. 1985 when Philly were strong but in semi-transition (working in rookie Barkley, injured and in major decline Toney) or in 1986 when Moses was injured in the playoffs. 2-2 overall in the playoffs.
I know when Doc is asked to give his All-Time five he only names guys he grew up watching and not any of his contemporaries or anyone that came after him. He only picked guys he grew up watching and admiring like Elgin Baylor. I wonder if something like that was a factor in his list. Only 3 guys came into the league after Doc in Magic, MJ and K Malone. The other 7 came in before Doc. Although Tiny and Kareem were only just before Doc went to the ABA but that was another 4-5 years until Doc joined the NBA.
It would just be interesting to hear his reasoning.
I know Doc is a huge MJ fan. He'd always be on those Finals panels in the early 90s. I am guessing he admires Karl Malone for similar reasons as Kareem for maintaining such high standards for 20yrs and finishing as the league's 2nd all time scorer. Magic beat Doc in the Finals 2-1 and won 5 titles in the 80s. I'm sure that 42pt 15reb 7ast effort as a rookie to win the Finals against Doc went a long way to solidifying Magic in Doc's eyes. Inspiring probably the most stylish basketball team of their era if not all time.
Most of all, I just want to hear why he put Tiny in there. What did he love so much about Tiny? How good did he think Tiny would've been without the injuries? Fair chance he'd have been the best little man to ever play the game.
