Most important players of all time?

[Derka]

The Dream Team '92

[WillC]

I left out Kareem intentionally. He wasn't that important to the game outside of his most impressive resume. Somebody impressive was going to lead the league in scoring if not him. The league was in dire straights and nearly collapsed when he was the man for 10 years. Surely not his fault but when other guys are building, helping the league grow and have considerable influence on the game its kind of hard for them to be overlooked for a guy that didn't have a particular niche that furthered the game along for the next generation. Certainly, Kareem didn't do this like others did.

I'm not exactly a huge fan of Kareem, but your argument doesn't hold up. How can you say that the NBA's all-time leading scorer and arguably the greatest college player of all-time doesn't belong on a list of the 'most important players of all-time'?

I agree that he wasn't exactly a pioneer of any sorts (although his hook shot might be the best signature move in basketball history), but he did dominate to the extent that they outlawed the dunk in college to try to limit his effectiveness.

His combined high school, college and NBA success is only rivalled by Bill Russell. I know this list isn't about "who had the best career", but it's hard to leave out Kareem.

To have Bob McAdoo on your list but not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is very hard to justify.

[La Frescobaldi]

I left out Kareem intentionally. He wasn't that important to the game outside of his most impressive resume. Somebody impressive was going to lead the league in scoring if not him. The league was in dire straights and nearly collapsed when he was the man for 10 years. Surely not his fault but when other guys are building, helping the league grow and have considerable influence on the game its kind of hard for them to be overlooked for a guy that didn't have a particular niche that furthered the game along for the next generation. Certainly, Kareem didn't do this like others did.

We'll have to disagree my friend. Lew Alcindor showed the world that the Center position was going to stay strong after Chamberlain and Russell left. There were lots of great centers in those days - Thurmond, Cowens, Lanier and lots more - but they were full tiers below. Jabbar showed a greatness, a massiveness, that the others didn't have. It was like when Shaq took over the league after Jordan retired.
And the '70s was a terrific time for the NBA, not remotely close to collapse - sure it had problems but some of the greatest players ever were during that time.
And the GOAT commissioner, Larry O'Brien, carried everything before him.

[jaybee682]

Magic
Bird
Jordan
Iverson
Mikan

[riseagainst]

[Kukoc]

Michael Jordan for the Bulls

Karl Malone for the Jazz

LeBron for the Cavs


I mean its hard to say who is the most important of all time.
Also Iverson for the Sixers and KG for Minny

[Pointguard]

I'm not exactly a huge fan of Kareem, but your argument doesn't hold up. How can you say that the NBA's all-time leading scorer and arguably the greatest college player of all-time doesn't belong on a list of the 'most important players of all-time'?

I agree that he wasn't exactly a pioneer of any sorts (although his hook shot might be the best signature move in basketball history), but he did dominate to the extent that they outlawed the dunk in college to try to limit his effectiveness.

His combined high school, college and NBA success is only rivalled by Bill Russell. I know this list isn't about "who had the best career", but it's hard to leave out Kareem.

To have Bob McAdoo on your list but not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is very hard to justify.

Way more players play like McAdoo do now than ever played like Kareem. His influence is just way larger than Kareems. Tmac, KG, Alex English, Vandeweigh, Mello, Durant, Dirk are all guys that have large parts of McAdoo in their game along with many other similarities. Nobody plays like Kareem since he left the league. The modern game is patterned after one model more so than the other.

Important and personal resumes are rarely ever equivalent in the real world. Important has more to do with the game/league thriving than individual resumes. The game suffered its worse ever with Kareem in his peak. If it were not for Dr. J gliding thru the air, the league had lost all the momentum it had from Wilt/Russell. You think that Kareem's resume was worth its weight in paper when the league was looking for a personality and player to flip what he couldn't do?

Great resume. One of the greatest. Just not important to the game's health, growth or place among top sports now.

We'll have to disagree my friend. Lew Alcindor showed the world that the Center position was going to stay strong after Chamberlain and Russell left. There were lots of great centers in those days - Thurmond, Cowens, Lanier and lots more - but they were full tiers below. Jabbar showed a greatness, a massiveness, that the others didn't have. It was like when Shaq took over the league after Jordan retired.
And the '70s was a terrific time for the NBA, not remotely close to collapse - sure it had problems but some of the greatest players ever were during that time.
And the GOAT commissioner, Larry O'Brien, carried everything before him.

Why do you think Magic and Bird were such big deals?

Of course, these are my opinions but lets revisit the meaning of important.

Important: of great significance or value; likely to have a profound effect on success, survival, or well-being.

Kareem was great, among the greatest. But he wasn't bringing great value to the sport. Magic got the franchise contract after one year on the team. Do you think that was because of Kareem's profound effect on the value, success and well-being to the Laker's? The league thrived on centers before Kareem. Magic and Bird literally decentralized the game. And to be honest the game has been more perimeter since 1980 (34 years ago). There was something like a periodic loan (5 years in total) period to Hakeem (from Jordan), and Shaq (the most dominant player I ever saw) but definitely needed a great perimeter player to be important. The two words are very different.

I'm pretty sure there are more books in the 70's written about the Knick teams than there are about Kareem. Why? Because they embodied greatness as a total team concept, success to the sport, entertainment, role model of teams to come, and the well-being of the sport.