Best Big Men to Ever Play the Game

[Wynton]

[ QUOTE ]
Russell is extremely overrated, not even close to Wilt.
Boston would guard Wilt with their whole team, Russell's offense and defense wasn't as good as Wilt's.

And David Robinson lol. His impact wasn't close to Duncan's.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are you old enough to have seen Russell/Chamberlain play against each other? People I know who saw those matchups unanimously tell me Russell was a far superior defensive player.

And this could be true even if they double or triple-teamed Chamberlain, who was twice the size of anyone else at the time.

[andyfox]

Russell was an excellent defensive player, and a smart player. Wilt was also tremendous defensively and was working six times as hard on the offensive end. Russell was surrounded by HOFers. While it's not clear-cut, the weight of the evidence, for me, indicates Russell was overrated as a player. By overrated, I mean that there are a fair number of analysts who consider him a better player than Chamberlain and that's, IMO, silly. I would rank Wilt #1, Kareem #2, Shaq #3.

[Wynton]

I think part of the issue about Chamberlain is that he truly towered over the rest of the league, for many years. So many people tend to give him less credit for his accomplishments and assume he was less "skilled." I don't know whether that's fair.

[MEbenhoe]

Basically it breaks down to

Guys I would def rate above Duncan:

Wilt
Shaq
Kareem
Hakeem
Russell
Robinson
Karl Malone
Garnett

The Next Group:

Duncan
Moses Malone
Ewing
Mikan

[dnh83]

[ QUOTE ]
Basically it breaks down to

Guys I would def rate above Duncan:

Wilt
Shaq
Kareem
Hakeem
Russell
Robinson
Karl Malone
Garnett

The Next Group:

Duncan
Moses Malone
Ewing
Mikan

[/ QUOTE ]

Come on man, you really think if Duncan is on the T-Wolves all these years they're only getting past the first round once?

I would say
Wilt
Shaq
Duncan
Russell
Kareem
Hakeem

[Vyse]

[ QUOTE ]

Come on man, you really think if Duncan is on the T-Wolves all these years they're only getting past the first round once?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, actually.

[joel2006]

LOL at Garnett and Malone being better than Duncan. Malone was very much like Wilt in that he routinely put up sick numbers against weaker teams, but couldn't be found in the clutch. All you need to know about Malone is on the biggest possession of his entire career (with a chance to win a championship) he got stripped of the ball by a shooting guard (OK it was MJ, but still). I say all that to say numbers can be very deceptive, Malone played in a system that allows the 4 to put up big numbers (look at Boozer now), but Malone couldn't carry Duncan's jock when it comes to basketball IQ, and his failure to foul Scotty Pippen on an obv breakaway to save a title shot proved that convincingly. His response was that he didn't want to foul out, I guess it's better to lose on the court than your team have a chance to win with you out. He's the biggest choker in league history. Great stats though.

[Assani Fisher]

[ QUOTE ]
I think part of the issue about Chamberlain is that he truly towered over the rest of the league, for many years. So many people tend to give him less credit for his accomplishments and assume he was less "skilled." I don't know whether that's fair.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never did understand this line of thought. Why do people penalize tall people because they have the advantage of being born with height but don't penalize quick people for being born quick or strong people for being born strong? I mean, I guess I can understand that you can improve the last 2 things naturally and height is completely random, but genetics still play a big part in it.

[Assani Fisher]

[ QUOTE ]
Basically it breaks down to

Guys I would def rate above Duncan:

Wilt
Shaq
Kareem
Hakeem
Russell
Robinson
Karl Malone
Garnett

The Next Group:

Duncan
Moses Malone
Ewing
Mikan

[/ QUOTE ]

Just furthering the case for him being underrated.

[Vyse]

Because he's really not THAT amazing. Championships don't make you great. Sorry.