Most unique players to play in the NBA?

[fpliii]

Who comes to mind? In particular, I'm thinking of guys who had unusual skillsets or the ability to fill several different roles (different roles meaning you rarely see them embodied in the same player, for whatever reason) at a high level. Here are the first ten guys that came to mind:

Charles Barkley
Larry Bird
Kevin Durant
Kevin Garnett
Dirk Nowitzki
Magic Johnson
Dennis Rodman
David Robinson
Bill Russell
Maurice Stokes

I've left out the point forwards we've seen since they're the most cited, but they're obviously worthy of mention so feel free to bring them up.

[no pun intended]

Elgin Baylor.

Chuck Hayes.

[AngelEyes]

Magic : 6'9" point guard

Barkley : 6'4" 3/4 power foward with incredible strength, great rebounding, ability to lead the break and finish it with a dunk

Olajuwon : just under 7 feet tall, incredibly quick, could adeptly guard perimeter players

LeBron : 6'8" 250-265 lbs, incredible power, speed, leaping ability. Fantastic passer and can guard every position

Durant : Just under 7 ft tall and is a perimeter player

Sabonis : 7'3" could shoot the three, go to the post and was a fantastic athlete in his youth

Dirk : 7 ft tall, great shooter, including from 3 pt range

KG : 7ft tall, great athlete, great all around player

Bird : 6'9" forward with passing skills of a point guard

Walton : 7 footer with great passing skills and great mobility when healthy and in his youth

Kareem : 7"2", mobile, most unique, unstoppable shot in history of the league

[AngelEyes]

Dr. J : Incredible leaping ability, with enormous hands for a small forward

MJ : incredible combination of speed, leaping ability, strength for a guard. Like Dr. J he also has huge hands

Dantley : 6'5" forward he dominates in the post and shoot a very high percentage

Connie Hawkins : 6'8", 6'9" forward with massive hands and great athletic ability

[willds09]

allen iverson- shooting guard in a point guards body, best crossover until they banned it, crossed mj twice in his prime, played every game like his last, over 20 injuries and still played, best player to led a horrible team to nba finals, theres too much to say about this guy, he talked about tha actually game not practice, 6'0 but played like 6'6, one of tha true 50 greatest players:applause: :cheers:

[AngelEyes]

T-Mac - 6'8" two guard with great shooting ability, great using his left hand, talented passer and great at driving to the basket when healthy

Penny - 6'7"- 6'8" point guard with awesome passing skills, great athlete, good shooting

Grant Hill - 6'8" forward, very good passer, good rebounder, good scorer, great athlete

Ralph Sampson - 7'4" power forward, center - great athlete

Oscar : 6'5" point guard with rebounding skills and great scoring

[KembaWalker]

Ben Wallace? Major defensive presence for a 6'9" center

[AngelEyes]

Ben Wallace? Major defensive presence for a 6'9" center

6'9" is probably very generous, 6'7" is perhaps closer to the truth, which makes his accomplishments all that more impressive.

[xoneatom]

how about yao ming? freakishly tall but can shoot the ball well (fade away jumpers, fts, etc.)

[scott0326]

Jan Vesely, he's white, can't shoot and is good at dunking.

[Force]

No Shaq mention?

That's as rare/unique a player you will ever see. Nobody that height and size has any business having that kind of footwork. Look up what the legendary Pete Newell had to say about his abilities. He said that people think of his size but he suggested for anybody to watch Shaq play 3 games and just watch his feet and you will be blown away that those feet could be moving on a body that size. Unreal. Pete was the #1 authority on all NBA big men and taught plenty of nba stars. I don't think there will ever be anything like Shaq again.

[Djahjaga]

Not that I don't like any thread that leads to an actual discussion of players' abilities (instead of vague concepts like clutchness or will to win), but if you describe any player thoroughly enough, you'll find he's unique.

I think you can say we'll see an X type of player before another Y type of player (i.e. a Carmelo before another Lebron), but, in general, every great player is pretty unique. That's what makes them great.

I always struggle choosing between Barkley, Bird, and Magic. Those guys were all ridiculously unique. How many players can dominate on such little athleticism? How many bigs can pass better than 99% of guards? How many SG sized players can grab 30 boards and shoot so damn well from the field?

NBA history is great.

[elementally morale]

It makes very little sense listing all the great players and telling us obvious things like unique speed or unique passing ability. Actually, these are not unique. There are people who were better than others, that's it.


A Few Unique Things Though

the skyhook, the dirk-like fadeaway
earl boykins, spud webb, muggsy bogues and the like
being luke waltonian -- not much of a baller but still making the nba on iq alone
rodman at the time (now it's overplayed, at the time it was unique)
phil jackson's approach to coaching (same as rodman, at the time)



If you like the list, I can think about it some more. If you think these things are not unique, no amount of thinking on my part will be of any help.

[senelcoolidge]

Wilt Chamberlain duh. 7 footer with the speed of a guard (when he was you). Athletic ability and strength unmatched for a big man. Great offensively and defensively. Top class skills. Great passer.

[JerryWest]

Kobe Bryant, chucks a lot but can win games single handedly.

[KembaWalker]

6'9" is probably very generous, 6'7" is perhaps closer to the truth, which makes his accomplishments all that more impressive.

That afro made him seem taller :oldlol:

[willds09]

Kobe Bryant, chucks a lot but can win games single handedly.
queen James, manage to be overrated superstar with tha worst finals 4th quarters performances, unbelievable:applause:

[wally_world]

Jan Vesely, he's white, can't shoot and is good at dunking.

:lol best one

[Beatlezz]

John Amaechi, he gay.

[willds09]

John Amaechi, he gay.
hes not unique hes a disgrace to mankind

[LikeABosh]

Lebron. Unheralded Combination of size, speed, strength, agility, quickness, skill, ball handling, etc.

[East_Stone_Ya]

Anthony Mason

http://www.goerieblogs.com/sports/giveandgo/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Anthony-Mason.jpg

[Whoah10115]

hes not unique hes a disgrace to mankind


The reason you suck is that you easily bring hate onto my team. And I'm left trying to defend things I can't...at least not reasonably.


I was going to respond to your other post but this seems even more appropriate. You are not a troll; you're genuinely useless. Que "U Mad:lol " and whatever else. Just shutup.

[Whoah10115]

Anthony Mason

http://www.goerieblogs.com/sports/giveandgo/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Anthony-Mason.jpg



Awesome choice...trading this guy for LJ to play the 3 is and always will be stupid...tho LJ played great defense, oddly enough (Mason is All-Defense but whatever).

[Teanett]

before dirk and durant there was keith van horn and toni kukoc

[clayton]

Gotta be my boy Kobe. Shooting 6 out of 24 in the finals, and winning dat finals MVP. :bowdown:

[tazb]

queen James, manage to be overrated superstar with tha worst finals 4th quarters performances, unbelievable:applause:

Marsh-mellow, career loser. :lol

[willds09]

Marsh-mellow, career loser. :lol
Melo 2013 finals MVP :applause:

[dh144498]

Kobe: the most skilled player of all time.

[tpols]

Shawn Marion is pretty unorthodox/unique. . His shot timing, awkward footwork, and shooting motion. They all throw the defenders natural rythym/timing off.

[julizaver]

Who comes to mind? In particular, I'm thinking of guys who had unusual skillsets or the ability to fill several different roles (different roles meaning you rarely see them embodied in the same player, for whatever reason) at a high level. Here are the first ten guys that came to mind:

Charles Barkley
Larry Bird
Kevin Durant
Kevin Garnett
Dirk Nowitzki
Magic Johnson
Dennis Rodman
David Robinson
Bill Russell
Maurice Stokes

I've left out the point forwards we've seen since they're the most cited, but they're obviously worthy of mention so feel free to bring them up.

Magic Johnson the first that came to mind.

Toni Kukoc could play all four position with the exception of center. Because of his height he was used as PF in his Bulls days and was considered the tallest pointguard in Europe. In fact his most natural position should be the SF position.

Michael Jordan could play at SG, PG and SF positions.

Charles Barkley is also unique as he could play even at center. He had such power game for his height.

Given the size - Arvydas Sabonis was 2.21 man (7ft 2) with the skill set of a pointguard in terms of vision, creativity and passes. Very unusual for a man his size. Very sad he do not fullfill his potential. Had he went to NBA at 20 I am sure he could be one of the greatest players ever. In my evaluation I think he would be more of a 22-24 ppg 14-15 reb pg 4 apg for 38 mpg player rather than 30 ppg 12 rpg as Shaq was in his prime. And he was used at PF for Soviet team untill he ruptured his Achilles. I believed that in his younger days he was better rebounder than D. Roninson for example. And the video footage from his two pre-NBA meetings shows that (he had 24 rebounds for him vs 15 rebounds for the Admiral).
The fact that at 39 years he was the best player in Euroleague sums it all.

[Solid Snake]

allen iverson- shooting guard in a point guards body, best crossover until they banned it, crossed mj twice in his prime, played every game like his last, over 20 injuries and still played, best player to led a horrible team to nba finals, theres too much to say about this guy, he talked about tha actually game not practice, 6'0 but played like 6'6, one of tha true 50 greatest players:applause: :cheers:


His 95-96 year isn't considered his prime. He was still BETTER than anyone, but that's not his prime. His prime was the early 90s.

[jstern]

The first person that come to mind was Dennis Rodman. His ability to rebound was just amazing to watch. I remember pausing a game between Knicks and Bulls. Ewing had an easy rebound, alone by himself, Dennis Rodman about 3 feet away behind him. Seeing that still, Ewing so freaking tall, going up for the ball with those long arms, there's just no way that Dennis Rodman could possibly get that rebound. I mean the ball was about a foot away from Ewing. Dennis Rodman got the rebound. It was just so entertaining to me.

[Shepseskaf]

Spud Webb - slam dunk champion at 5'7".

[willds09]

His 95-96 year isn't considered his prime. He was still BETTER than anyone, but that's not his prime. His prime was the early 90s.
First of all that was 96-97, second, m.j was still in his prime

[AngelEyes]

First of all that was 96-97, second, m.j was still in his prime

It was a good play, but like many plays I feel like the hype was overblown. It was an effective move and it caught Jordan off guard but it wasn't some earth shattering move.

[TaLvsCuaL]

Stockton, never a short/skinny white guy was so tough :lol

[willds09]

It was a good play, but like many plays I feel like the hype was overblown. It was an effective move and it caught Jordan off guard but it wasn't some earth shattering move.
It probably was hyped up a Lil bit, but we talking about Iverson here, has one of a kind player

[Just2McFly]

hes not unique hes a disgrace to mankind
:roll: :roll:

[pauk]

Lebron James - I am honestly trying to be as unbiased as possible here but i would be lying to myself if i thought i saw something more unique than this... Ive never seen a guy with the combination of size, speed, strength, quickness, agility, endurance, cardio and injury tolerance/recovery he possess.... He has also great allround set of skills, one that sticks out as it does just for Magic is his ballhandling/vision/passing which for a guy 6'9"-260 is very unique aswell.... all this all in all allows him to play/dominate almost all positions and even efficiently guard all positions.... you cant say this about any other player in NBA history....... He is Magic offensively , He is Pippen defensively, both one of the most unique players ever in their own right, he is both and MORE...

Magic Johnson - 6'9" PG.... could play/dominate from almost all positions (offensively)... enough said...

Charles Barkley - Certainly maybe (i say "maybe" only because of Rodman) the most unique PF i ever seen, was 6'4" but played much bigger than that...

Scottie Pippen - Could do it all on both ends, especially defensively where he could extremly efficiently basically guard all positions.... a lighter Lebron offensively/overall, but with even more defensive focus/intensity... which is more than enough to say he was unique...

Kevin Durant - Perimeter scoring arsenal at near 7 feet, is a pure shooter, that moves like a cat.

Larry Bird - At 6'10" was perhaps the most skilled player i ever seen with my own eyes.... could score as anybody, could shoot as anybody, could rebound as anybody, could pass as anybody.... you name it...

Shaquille O'Neal - The most physical behemoth ive ever seen and could move, run, jump overall like nobody i ever seen at that ridicilous size...

Dennis Rodman - At 6'7" PF, the best rebounder & defender i ever seen....


Those stick out for now, there are many more that were unique in one way or the other... im sure maybe Russell, Wilt and Oscar would be up there aswell if i ever saw at least ONE game from their prime, instead of just listening to stories...

[upside24]

Shawn Marion is pretty unorthodox/unique. . His shot timing, awkward footwork, and shooting motion. They all throw the defenders natural rythym/timing off.
Good pick. Unique makes think not of size/ability as much as style. Nash is unique to me for keeping his dribble alive going baseline and his variety of shots.

[Overdrive]

Shawn Marion is pretty unorthodox/unique. . His shot timing, awkward footwork, and shooting motion. They all throw the defenders natural rythym/timing off.

Exactly the player I thought of. On top of that his allround game is only rivaled by a few players.

[Clyde]

queen James, manage to be overrated superstar with tha worst finals 4th quarters performances, unbelievable:applause:


And the stupid one upping of kobe vs lebron fans shows up after only 10 posts.


I hate kids these days

[Clyde]

Also shaq has to be the most unique talent I've seen.

No way a guy that size should be as quick and agile as he was.

[pauk]

and oh... Jordan... just because he was so much better than everybody else...

[Micku]

I think Barkley is probably the most unique player in NBA history. When we will ever see someone that height to play in the PF position?

You have Magic like or Jordan or Shaq like before. But never Barkley. Bird is also another one that is pretty unique.

[ProfessorMurder]

I think Barkley is probably the most unique player in NBA history. When we will ever see someone that height to play in the PF position?

You have Magic like or Jordan or Shaq like before. But never Barkley. Bird is also another one that is pretty unique.

Larry Johnson was a lot like Barkley (not as good obviously). Same size, PF, 20/10, athletic as hell... But he never got to his prime with back problems.

[DonDadda59]

Shaq
Barkley
Lebron
Robertson
Magic

[Micku]

Larry Johnson was a lot like Barkley (not as good obviously). Same size, PF, 20/10, athletic as hell... But he never got to his prime with back problems.

I always thought he was 6'8 or something. I had to look it up. He had a ton of potential.

[KembaWalker]

Shawn Marion is pretty unorthodox/unique. . His shot timing, awkward footwork, and shooting motion. They all throw the defenders natural rythym/timing off.

VERY unique :oldlol:

http://basketsession.com/files/2011/12/marion-finger.jpg

[willds09]

And the stupid one upping of kobe vs lebron fans shows up after only 10 posts.


I hate kids these days
So u must hate yourself then?:lol

[Living Being]

Larry Johnson was a lot like Barkley (not as good obviously). Same size, PF, 20/10, athletic as hell... But he never got to his prime with back problems.
Loved Grandmama. A true power forward like Barkley, but undersized. Great strength and post game. He is probably remembered more for that last second heroic 3 pointer AND-1 as a Knick. Sucks he injured his back early in his career and settled behind the 3-point line.