Greatest Sixers of all time, Iverson or Wilt or Dr J

[Jailblazers7]

I don't really see a discussion like this being about who was the best player. I think the cultural impact of Dr. J and AI make them "greater" to the Sixers fanbase than Wilt.

[chocolatethunder]

76ers Barkley is not even close to what Allen Iverson was

You're so far off base I don't know where to start. He was a phenomenon as a rookie dunking on literally everyone from Kareem to whoever. 28 12 and 3 isn't close to what Iverson did? I'd be willing to bet that you weren't even alive in '88 to see him play let alone have an opinion.

[Dr.J4ever]

Allen wasn't perfect, he did have his imperfections, but really, a) I don't see how he's the better player, b) his teammate situation was worse than either of theirs, and most importantly c) I don't see how either of them had the better career, even with the rings, and 4 combined MVPs.

Julius Erving had questionable defense himself. He was an inferior scorer to Iverson, with this being the key facet, as this was each's calling cards the inferior passer. He shooting was streaky at best, didn't have much range. Erving never really made players around him better either, his leadership was questionable. Watching Dawkins just blow up on his watch was mind-boggling; he had NO impact on this young high-schooler, and quite frankly didn't seem to give two ****s about it.

And while Dr. J got his title, he has never led a team to the Finals, and consistlently failed with more talent, time and time again. He joints a great team that finished 2nd in their division the year prior, in '76, a team that has McGinnis, Collins, Cunningham, Carter, Mix. The clear-cut favorites, he loses to Portland in the Finals, a series he should've came through and won. Next year, loses to D.C. and gets played to a standstill by Larry Kenon ( who you may ask?) , and gets ousted again. From watching that team, he was not having any impact on his teammates WHATSOEVER. And this was supposed to be the league's best player??? Next year, same deal AGAIN, even WORSE, losing to that INFERIOR San Antonio team. The next few years are understandable, somewhat, although him blowing that 3-1 lead in '81 pissed me the **** off. We HAD game 6 if he hadn't choked that free throw, Game 7 has that past stolen in the waning seconds He finally wins the title, but the very next year gets WAXED by New Jersey? '85, Malone, Cheeks, Barkley, Jones, Cheeks, good enough team to contend, and lose to Boston, with an injured Bird.

They built around Erving TIME, and time again, and he ROUTINELY let us down. His impact was TREMENDOUS in the 70's; he revolutionized the game, and was the predecesor to Larry and Earvin "saving" the league, no frontin', but he never led a team anywhere. , Iverson taking that team to those Finals, and beating that Lakers dynasty single-handedly was more impressive than anything Erving ever did outside the ABA. I never saw the heart from Julius that I did from Iverson, the will to win, his inferior leadership.. I just can't put him above AI with all that being said.

I'll be getting to Moses a little later

I sense your frustration, so i guess you are a Sixer fan. We both are. I just have to disagree with you though about Julius.

Much of what you say is true, but one thing for sure, Doc made his teammates always better. From Virginia, to the Nets, to the Sixers, Doc never played on a losing team and led 2 teams to 7 Finals(2 in the ABA, 4 in the NBA) and he won 3 of the 7 Finals. All these teams had Doc as their best player, except arguably the 83 squad.

Let me ask a question. Yes Moses was the most dominant player in the NBA in 1982-83, but Doc was the better all around player. He allowed Moses to be acclimated, and surrendered much of his game. Might another player with a bigger ego not allowed Moses to lead the Sixers? I submit to you---absolutely. It happens all the time. Would AI have allowed Moses to shine?

Another question, we know as Sixer fans that KAJ was the most dominant player for the Lakers from 1980-82, but Magic nevertheless gets credit for leading those Laker teams. So why the qualifier with Doc's Title? Bird led the Celtics to 1981 Title, but Maxwell was the FMVP. It was the era of the big man, and league MVPs were won consecutively by big men dating back to the Big O till, Doc won it in 1981.

So when Doc wins his title in 1983, I give him full credit. Iverson led 1 team to the Finals, the Sixers built at least 2 teams around Erving, 1980 team and 1982 team, that went to the Finals. You yourself said the Sixers should have beaten Boston in 1981, and Doc would have gotten his first title, for sure vs a .500 Houston team. The 1981 team was also built around Doc.

In an era when the big man dominated with post play, Doc shined and took many teams to the brink of titles. Bird had Parish/Mchale/Maxwell/Walton, and Magic had KAJ/Worthy in the frontline, while Doc had Caldwell Jones and Dawkins. Need I say more?

When Doc was finally paired with a real center, he won, and won dominantly.

[MMM]

Mr. Fo, Fo, Fo is above Barkley as a 76er, imo.

Agreed
My ranking would be
Dr. J - BTW Why doesn't he get more mention as a top 10 player all time. it is interesting that his place in the rankings is largely forgotten. I think there can be an argument made for him as a top 10 player

Wilt best baller associated with Philly teams but not a Sixer.
AI
Malone

[Teanett]

moses malone

[Dr.J4ever]

Agreed
My ranking would be
Dr. J - BTW Why doesn't he get more mention as a top 10 player all time. it is interesting that his place in the rankings is largely forgotten. I think there can be an argument made for him as a top 10 player

Wilt best baller associated with Philly teams but not a Sixer.
AI
Malone

Absolutely, Doc should be considered more as a top 10 GOAT candidate. As I said in my post above, Doc's era was the era of the big man. No non center since Oscar won league MVP until Doc broke through in 1981.

Meanwhile, in the Playoffs, Magic could always throw the ball to KAJ during clutch half court situations, and Bird could and did dump off to Parish and Mchale in many clutch Playoff moments to win their titles.

When Doc finally gets a dominant center, the Sixers dominate the NBA.

[ralph_i_el]

Moses Malone

[stanlove1111]

Can't believe anyone would say Iverson over Wilt or Dr J.

I think we need a knew thread asking if Iverson is the most overrated player evr,

[stanlove1111]

Iverson has no business being uttered in the same breath as Wilt and the Doctor. It's a joke to even put Iverson and his 28 shot attempts to average 31.5 points in the same sentence as legends like Wilt and Julius. Only some stupid ghetto trash kids would even think Iverson was better or even in the league of such legends.

Also LMFAO till a near heartache to listen to AudioOne's plethora of bullshit. Iverson was a ****ing terrible defensive player during his NBA career. He got all those steals because he had no respect for team defense and gambled to get that 1 or 2 steals a game. He was an absolutely atrocious team defender and team defense is what matters when you are playing 5 on 5. AudioOne shut the **** up and stop embarassing yourself with your buillshit.

Bingo.....

[secund2nun]

Iverson was outscoring Barkley in slower-paced leagues, and has four scoring titles in the same timespan. Higher career ppg and totals points scored. Neither are lockdown defenders, but Iverson was a better defender, as evidenced by his two Big East DPOY honors from Georgetown, and his three steals titles, two of which came when he was leading the league in minutes, and was top-3 in scoring. He led his collegiate teams further, and is still the Hoyas all-time leading scorer. His '01 run beats anything Barkley ever did. He's led the league in scoring, steals, minutes, and top-5 in dimes all in the same 82 . Iverson and Jordan only 2 players to score at least 50 twice in same playoff series. Jordan, Wilt and Iverson only players with at least 3 50 point playoff games. Iverson most steals in a playoff game. Iverson 4 straight seasons Top 10 scoring and assists. Jordan and Iverson only players to lead the NBA in scoring and steals at least twice in the same season. Iverson and Jordan highest usage rate in a season Jordan 88 and Iverson 2001. Second highest ppg average in playoff history. He had better discipline, he had more skill, his will to win was unquestionably better. I love both, don't get me wrong, I just give the nod to Iverson for doing what he did, in a tougher era, while being just 5'11 or so, in a league which Barkley had it easier, remember they created the five-second b2tb rule because of Barkley. Someone'll bring up efficiency, but we already saw what he could do when handchecking was vanquished, 33-3-7.5 on 45% with two steals

Barkley was a much better scorer than Iverson. Iverson's scoring is very overrated. He chucked up 25 shots per game to score 30 ppg. That doesn't mean much at all. Barkley, on the other hand, was ultra efficient.

For some reason in football when a QB has a lot pass attempts, yards, and mediocre/bad efficiency they are rated accordingly, but in basketball people are obsessed with volume scoring and ignore efficiency. The football equivalent of this would be worshiping a QB that has 45 pass attempts per game, 310 yards per game, 2 TD per game, 2 INT per game, 75 QB rating.

[secund2nun]

Iverson has no business being uttered in the same breath as Wilt and the Doctor. It's a joke to even put Iverson and his 28 shot attempts to average 31.5 points in the same sentence as legends like Wilt and Julius. Only some stupid ghetto trash kids would even think Iverson was better or even in the league of such legends.

The truth. The obsession some have with raw volume scoring never ceases to amaze me.

[Odinn]

Julius Erving

But single best season by a Sixer title belongs to Wilt Chamberlain (1966-67). Close 2nd is Moses Malone (1982-83).

And the Sixers history has great role players such as Hal Greer, Dolph Schayes, Billy Cunnigham, Maurice Cheeks. If someone chooses one of these role players 10+ seasons of service over Wilt's 4 seasons, I wouldn't argue with him.

[East_Stone_Ya]

Dr J

[senelcoolidge]

There have been lots of great players that have been 76er's. But the top 3 are
Wilt (1967 champs)
Dr. J (1983 champs)
Iverson (finals appearance)

But there are so many other honorable mentions.

[riseagainst]

I'll treat this as a poll.

I vote Iverson.

OP is an idiot....