LeBron James is the 3rd Best Player in NBA History, Says Columnist Desperately Seeking Clicks
Bill Lyon, a columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer, decided to rate the 15 best players in NBA history, and for some reason, LeBron came in 3rd. Please let me know if you can follow this highly scientific logic:
So then, exactly how good is LeBron James? It says here he is the third best player of all time. That’s quite a load, and certainly open to debate. Herewith, then, one man’s lists of the greatest players of all time, and I have seen them all, which means my birthday cake is a raging bonfire.
1. Wilt
2. Jordan
3. LeBron
Like Wilt and like Goliath, he’ll be taunted and haunted until he wins a title. Or two. Or . . . . But how you feel about him personally shouldn’t color your appreciation of his considerable skills. His genius, both power and finesse, is undeniable. Like Jordan, he plays at both ends of the court, and with equal passion.
4. Kobe
5. Oscar Robertson
6. Bill Russell
7. Magic Johnson
8. Julius Erving
9. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
10. Elgin Baylor
11. Rick Barry
12. Larry Bird
13. Shaquille O’Neal
14. Charles Barkley
15. JohnStocktonKarlMalone. You can’t have one without the other.
No Jerry West. No Tim Duncan. I don’t think I’ve ever see a “best all-time” list that had Magic that low. If you’re wondering why Lyon ranked Wilt and Kobe are that high, it could be because both are from Philadelphia. If you polled NBA writers with 20+ years experience on the subject, my guess is 95 percent of them would have Russell ahead of Wilt.
As for LeBron, it is undeniable that he has the talent to finish in the Top 5 all-time. Depending on his growth the next few years – and how the Heat surround him with talent – No. 1 isn’t out of the realm. But right now? No way. He’s barely entering his prime.
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June 18th, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Yes.
No.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Kobe at 4? You shitting me?
June 18th, 2012 at 11:48 AM
Should be higher.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:49 AM
Larry Bird below Rick Barry is the most comical thing on this list
June 18th, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Barkley is so overrated. Missed the playoffs or got bounced out of the first round, the majority of his career. Shareem Abdul Raheemish resume.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Bill Lyon is a hack beyond hack. Why you ever care what he writes is beyond me.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:50 AM
I agree that Kobe is fourth best ever. Didn’t read the rest.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:51 AM
calling out sports media asshattery (?) since 2006!
June 18th, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Please let me know if you can follow this highly scientific logic:
huh? aren’t all rankings subjective?
easy, killer. he’s not taking away from your page views.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:53 AM
/giggles
June 18th, 2012 at 11:53 AM
someone desperate for clicks? how would you know?
June 18th, 2012 at 11:53 AM
that doesn’t make his opinion any less correct.
rick reilly has 20+ years “covering” golf and his opinion isn’t worth the page it’s printed on*.
*dude had a fact in his us open column about a rule that was changed in 1994.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:54 AM
says the blogger who is Desperately Seeking Clicks
June 18th, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Rick Barry over Larry Bird might cause some head scratchin.
June 18th, 2012 at 11:54 AM
steve mcnair was though.
and so was rosie larson
June 18th, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Why is Bird at #12?
June 18th, 2012 at 12:00 PM
James Worthy >>> Pippen
/laughs at Jace
June 18th, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Wilt #1? GTFO.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Well, having Wilt and Lebron at top 3 is foolishness. Let’s create our own list. My top 3 would be Jordan, Russell, and Kareem. What about you guys?
June 18th, 2012 at 12:05 PM
No problem on my end. As much as everybody clowns Bill Simmons, his top 12 NBA players isn’t a bad list.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:06 PM
John Koncak, Benoit Benjamin, Tony Kukoc.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:06 PM
cant really count players i didn’t see much of…so, not exactly complete list here. jordan, bird, shaq. apologies to magic, isiah and lebron. kobe can fuck off.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:16 PM
June 18th, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Nor the expedition you’d have to take to locate him in his lair 8 inches up Tiger Woods’ butt.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:18 PM
TBL talking about others seeking page clicks is hilarious. How about TBL posts some more Kate Upton stuff for easy clicks? Stay in your lane.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:18 PM
I hate bringing up guys like Wilt and Russell and putting them near the top of my list. First of all, I never saw any of them play in any way. Second, they played 50 years ago against much inferior competition, with the only footage being grainy video. Wilt averaged 50 and 25 in one season. That would probably be 25 and 15 in today’s league, maybe less. Bill Russell is like a glorified Dikembe Mutombo, except with better leadership skills.
/ basketball blasphemy
/ HOW CAN YOU HATE ON BILL RUSSELL WITH 11 RINGS!!
June 18th, 2012 at 12:23 PM
where is Dwight Howard?
June 18th, 2012 at 12:23 PM
I see what you’re saying, but I feel like you have to judge players based on the time period they played in. Same “inferior competition” argument I’m sure will be brought up against Kobe, Lebron, Duncan etc in 100 years when NBA will be filled with athletes that makes Lebron look like Sasha Vujacic.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:25 PM
i weep for my future children i won’t want.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:27 PM
we’ve been calling out the media for stupid crap since 2006.
now that’s click-seeking?
got it, guys. thanks.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:27 PM
seperate these lists into eras, so all can win
pre long short, post long short
June 18th, 2012 at 12:28 PM
Also, in Wilt’s day (I just looked up ’65-66) there were like 9 teams in the league. So one argument in their favor was that the talent wasn’t spread out nearly as thinly.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:32 PM
we’ve been calling out the media for stupid crap since 2006.
now that’s click-seeking?
got it, guys. thanks.
oh no you don’t….we are calling out your ‘desperately seeking clicks’ headline. so, tbl, you don’t seek clicks with certain SEO strategies?
June 18th, 2012 at 12:32 PM
I’m just here to get noticed.
Rick Reilly is to Tiger Woods what Bill Simmons is to all of sports… trying to be an authority and ‘fix’ everything, as the self-appointed authorities on the topic. The difference is that Reilly is just as big a douchebag or worse in person, and I’ve never met Simmons, so I like to think he’s a decent guy who just got caught up in his gimmick of trying to fit everything into some sort of rule/pattern/theme.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:36 PM
used to be a loyal reader of reilly’s, not sure i’ve ever read a simmons piece, but just from their tv appearances, i’d say simmons > reilly
reilly seems like a smiley fake
June 18th, 2012 at 12:38 PM
Wow.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:39 PM
I am partial to Simmons, because I left New England in 2001, right when he was getting popular, and his columns always made me feel like I was home again watching the Red Sox. I’m not a big fan of his recent stuff, and there is just a little too much smugness or contrived gimmicks to his writing now.
That said, I still usually enjoy his podcasts, and he’s a pretty decent interviewer.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:42 PM
Wow.
i know, i should have put /humblebrag
June 18th, 2012 at 12:43 PM
i agree with this, i think his highwater mark for writing was when his dog had to be put to sleep, and for sports it was the 2007 patriots season. after that, he’s been getting long in the tooth.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:45 PM
Simmons newer writing is quite more gimmicky than in the past, but the man has been writing the same types of columns year in and year out for 11 years now. His run was kind of like the Simpsons….amazing the first 5 years, pretty good for the next 5, and then has gotten progressively worse every year since.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:52 PM
Russell over Wilt? Russell gets wayyyyy too much credit for being on a great team. Russell averaged 19 or more ppg exactly zero times in his career, and was a career 44% shooter from the field.
Wilt was an unstoppable scorer in his prime and even led the league in assists one year. The NBA changed rules to combat Wilt’s dominance. To say Russell was better because he happened to be on a better team is nothing short of ludicrous.
June 18th, 2012 at 12:55 PM
I love when Barkley, Malone and Stockton rank higher on such lists than Hakeem, who personally owned them in his prime. I think Malone and Stockton only bested Hakeem one time in the playoffs, and that was when Hakeem was running on fumes and they were running the clogged toilet offense with Barkley and relying on 40 year olds to hit 3 pointers.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:01 PM
Where’s Chris Mullin?
June 18th, 2012 at 1:06 PM
Worst. Comment. Ever. Barkley had crap around him for the majority of his career until he was saved by the Suns well past his prime.
Harold Katz was the worst owner in sports for a reason.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:08 PM
What Tim said on Barkley
June 18th, 2012 at 1:11 PM
Agreed. Barkley’s career is like Kevin Garnett’s except he had to get past MJ.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:13 PM
They also had Moochie Norris at that time.
/ fondly remembers his afro
June 18th, 2012 at 1:16 PM
This argument (which has also been made against Babe Ruth) ignores the fact that these guys played without modern day trainers, nutritionists, medical staffs, etc.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:20 PM
I’d take Hakeem in his prime (and thus, career wise) over Shaq. Hakeem ran through quality centers (Robinson, Shaq, Ewing) to get his 2 rings. Shaq ran through a past-his-prime Robinson (Duncan wasn’t in his prime until 2002), an old Mutombo (2001 Finals), the legend that is Todd McCaulugh (2002 Finals), Rik Smiths playing on one leg (2000 Finals), Sabonis playing at the speed of a sloth (2000 WCF), and Vlade Divac (2002 WCF).
June 18th, 2012 at 1:21 PM
Hakeem is destined to be perpetually underrated, he wasnt as marketable as the other big men of the era (Ewing, Robinson, Shaq) and his titles have the big ol’ MJ asterisk next to them.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:21 PM
exactly jekyll, which is why these lists need to be separated into eras
bc there’s no way you can say those 50s/60s dudes could play as well now
June 18th, 2012 at 1:22 PM
his titles have the big ol’ MJ asterisk next to them.
so do all titles before 1984 and after 2004 (or whenever MJ retired)
June 18th, 2012 at 1:23 PM
People need to make a bigger deal out of the fact that the Bulls without MJ won 55 games.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:24 PM
Duncan us 4th best big man behind Wilt, Russel and Kareem in some order.
June 18th, 2012 at 1:25 PM
THE FUCKING BULLS WON 55 GAMES WITHOUT MJ!!!
June 18th, 2012 at 1:29 PM
That’s all I ask.
June 18th, 2012 at 2:06 PM
Barkley has THE WORST 3pt FG% of any player in NBA history (min 1000 attempts)
June 18th, 2012 at 2:13 PM
Not really tho. For a supposed top 20 player ever, being a .500 team and making the playoffs should be a given. Yes, roster matters with regard to playoff success but Barkley missed the playoffs 3 times.
Think Olajuwon, or even Robinson or Ewing were missing the playoffs in their prime? Shit, TMac made the playoffs with Darrell Armstrong and Pat Garity. Truth is, at 6’4, there is only so much impact Barkley could have.
June 18th, 2012 at 2:20 PM
Boston’s big 3 ALL missed the playoffs the year before they got together. KG missed 3 seasons in a row. Kobe missed the playoffs in his prime and got bounced in the 1st another year.
You are correct to a degree about the 6’4″ thing, like Iverson his career had a ceiling due to his height.
June 18th, 2012 at 2:23 PM
No one calls any of Boston’s Big 3 a top 20 all-time player. THat’s the difference.
It’s a fair point on Kobe, but those years the Western Conference was loaded. Kobe can also fist himself.
June 18th, 2012 at 2:48 PM
I’d take Garnett without thinking twice over Barkley. Incredibly great player in Minnesota. Barkley played one side of the court and flamed out pretty quickly after getting to the suns. Not really a great peak there.
June 18th, 2012 at 3:03 PM
How many rings did the Celtics win before Russell? How many did they win during Russell’s career? How many have they won since Russell retired? During which portion of time periods being discussed did they Celtics win the bulk of their rings? Get outta here with that Russell gets too much credit noise.
June 18th, 2012 at 3:06 PM
The flaw in your argument remains the same everytime you bring up this point. Wilt and Russell faced superior competition on a nightly basis as compared to Dwight Howard today. Does the fact that Howard faces inferior competition mean you won’t be ranking him as one of the top 10 players in the league today?
June 18th, 2012 at 3:12 PM
Kobe can also fist himself.
This shouldn’t matter when ranking him as a basketball player.
June 18th, 2012 at 3:40 PM
The Eastern Conference from 2000-2003 was ridiculously weak…we saw how T-Mac was able to handle a tougher conference.