OT: Has there ever been a NBA player as dominant in his era as Curry
- Thread starter wvpaper
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oh my, most certainly.......Jamie Smalligan! Damn dude.
Curry has at least 3 more rings to win before we start talking about him being anywhere close to as dominant as Jordan. I'm pulling for him, he's got something real going on. Jordan's ability to deal with pressure, hype, and off court issues was legendary. We will see
Not ready yet to put Curry with Jordan. But he is on track,
The nuts that suggest Lebron was in Jordan's class.... laughable 3 years ago, clinically insane now.
I know what you're doing...I just love NBA talk and want to play along.
Curry is the first pure PG to lead his team to a NBA championship since Isiah Thomas. The next closest is Iverson...then I guess Jason Kidd and Nash?
Young Shaq was dominant and unstoppable. Kobe is the only player to have a similar killer instinct to Jordan and Bird.
BTW, congrats on getting your Internet back on.
Are you a big NBA fan?
Read Bill Simmons, Boom of Basketball, and Jackie McCallum's, The Dream Team. Two great, informative books that you'll love as a NBA fan.
Kobe is closest to Jordan both playing style and winning. 5 titles vs 6. They had great supporting casts & running mates (Shaq/Pippen), but both accumulated rings in the pre big 3, title chasing era. They stayed put & teams built around them.
LeBron has been to 7 finals, but only won 2 & it took that super Miami team to do it. That also coming out of the eastern conference, which is no comparison to the west competition.
Surely one of the top players of the modern era, but James' legacy is a little devalued, I feel, with joining up with all the other franchise players to try to win, along with the public breakup with Cleveland, then doing Miami back just the same.
If LBJ loses three straight finals, that'll be a blemish on the resume people will point to for a long time.
& yeah, Bill Simmons is a phenomenal NBA historian.
LeBron has been to 7 finals, but only won 2 & it took that super Miami team to do it. That also coming out of the eastern conference, which is no comparison to the west competition.
Surely one of the top players of the modern era, but James' legacy is a little devalued, I feel, with joining up with all the other franchise players to try to win, along with the public breakup with Cleveland, then doing Miami back just the same.
If LBJ loses three straight finals, that'll be a blemish on the resume people will point to for a long time.
& yeah, Bill Simmons is a phenomenal NBA historian.
Your hatred of Lebron is understandable. Your lack of talent evaluation is not. Lebron's numbers are going down as one of the top 3-4 players to ever play in the NBA. Sorry you can't deal with that.
If numbers are all that dictate your place....where is my man John Stockton? Karl Malone? Think about it, numbers are only part of it.....championships are only part of it also.
In football, take Dan Marino....top 3-4? How about Eli Manning?.....Lebron is great, but top 3-4? Not a chance! Jordan, Russell, West, Magic, Duncan, Bryant, O'Neal, Chamberlain are all above him.....and always will be because of his failures at everything outside of talent.
Comparing athletes of different eras is silly. There's been major changes to the game just since Jordan left....imagine Jordan playing without hand checks, or Lebron getting to post up without having defenders dig down for early rotations?
I'm not a real big Lebron fan, but he'll probably go down as the greatest player of his generation.
Malone had incredibly numbers but wasn't even the best Forward of his era (Barkley).
Curry is magical but imo, Gary Payton with the hand check rules would shut him down.
I'm not a real big Lebron fan, but he'll probably go down as the greatest player of his generation.
Malone had incredibly numbers but wasn't even the best Forward of his era (Barkley).
Curry is magical but imo, Gary Payton with the hand check rules would shut him down.
lol are you serious? Jordan, chamberlain yes. Toss up between him and Russell, Magic. The rest? No way lol
Simmons has West, Duncan, and Kobe ranked in his top 10.
His top 12 (after that it gets easier to debate spots).
Jordan
Russell
Jabbar
Magic
Bird
Chamberlain
Duncan
Kobe
West
Robertson
Olajuwon
Shaq
He had Lebron at 20 (when it was printed), but he's definitely a Top 10 player. I'd probably bump West or Duncan.
Simmons is the most knowledgeable person on the NBA I know of...
For Lebron to be a Top 3-4 player, he needs multiple championships where he's the absolute best player - mega teams don't count.
If Lebron wins the title this year, imo, it's huge for his legacy. A full team designed around him. He's unquestionably the alpha dog of the group (Wade was sometimes said to be leader of those Heat teams).
Kobe knew that to have the ultimate respect he needed to win a championship without Shaq...the dude won two with a team built around him.
Lebron needs to do the same. Get some rings without the help of a stupid diva team, which was one of dumbest things ever in the NBA.
He's not too young anymore, 12 NBA seasons all with deep playoff runs, plus USA basketball...that's a lot of miles. Father time is undefeated and injury is always waiting.
I'll give credit where credit is due 7 NBA final appearances is a big deal...6 straight is crazy.
Kobe knew that to have the ultimate respect he needed to win a championship without Shaq...the dude won two with a team built around him.
Lebron needs to do the same. Get some rings without the help of a stupid diva team, which was one of dumbest things ever in the NBA.
He's not too young anymore, 12 NBA seasons all with deep playoff runs, plus USA basketball...that's a lot of miles. Father time is undefeated and injury is always waiting.
I'll give credit where credit is due 7 NBA final appearances is a big deal...6 straight is crazy.
Thank you! "Lol, are you serious?"... How is West, Duncan, Bryant not considered among the GOAT? And I'm really not a Shaq fan, but he was dominant.
You are absolutely right about defense being a factor. It's one of the reasons I don't put Lebron up there just yet.....not saying there isn't a chance he will get there some day. But the point I was making is that in order to be one of the GOAT you have to be a great teammate or great at shouldering all the pressure yourself, you must be clean off the court or able to take off court negativity well, and you must be able not let your emotions dominate your focus or use your emotions to intensify your focus. His talent is one of the greatest I've ever seen, but he isn't the winner others in his generation are in comparison.
Duncan, Bryant, and possibly Curry could be rated above LBJ when it's all said and done. I am biased though, I can't stand the fact that LBJ left for Miami. He needed Wade and Bosh to get it done, and they couldn't keep it going. I know it's a broken record, but J O R D A N! What he did 3 times, and then 3 times again, and from a Bulls team that took guts to believe would get there eventually......you just can't discount what he accomplished.
I'd say Lebron is one of the Top 3 most talented basketball players ever....Jordan, maybe Bird (he could do everything) or Magic....heck maybe Olajuwon....if Curry keeps playing like this he'd be up there too. West had great individual talent.
Lebron is also the most physically gifted player ever, probably.
He just has no killer instinct, isn't the competitor the other greats were and let's you down a lot.
Glad somebody brought up Wilt. Multiple rings no, dominant in his era, no doubt about it. Look up all the rules that were changed because of Wilt Chamberlain. When they have to make changes in the game because of one man's skill set, that is being dominant in my book!
Jordan rules.
Lots of others between Jordan and Steph, who is an amazing outside shooter. Jordan remained suspended in the air longer than anyone I've ever watched. The defenders came down, Jordan was still up there, and shot the ball in.
Bill Russell was incredible, too.
I know it's fashionable to enshrine a current hero, but time takes care of that. 20 years from now, will Steph or LeBron be talked about in the same breath as Michael and Russell? I doubt it.
Lots of others between Jordan and Steph, who is an amazing outside shooter. Jordan remained suspended in the air longer than anyone I've ever watched. The defenders came down, Jordan was still up there, and shot the ball in.
Bill Russell was incredible, too.
I know it's fashionable to enshrine a current hero, but time takes care of that. 20 years from now, will Steph or LeBron be talked about in the same breath as Michael and Russell? I doubt it.
To say LeBron is absurdly second to Steph is an absurd statement. Different type player.
It doesnt really matter though. The Book of Basketball is an incredible read for a fan. Not many people can match his knowledge of players and NBA history.
I would probably taken your recommendation if not for Simmons penning the book. Smarmy doosh, he is.
Wilt Chamberlain was a beast. Bad foul shooter who was still able
to average 50 points a game and over 20 rebounds over a whole season. The most
unique player for his era. Russell's team won titles, but he looked like a little
man playing Wilt, and I am not discrediting Bill. Alcinder thought he was going to
hit him during a game late in Wilt's career and ran into stands.
Wilt had a skill set off the court that allowed him to set records for all of mankind. He 'knew' over 10,000 women. No..............make that 20,000! He still had time for basketball. Hence, he became known as Wilt.
I like Curry, solid dude off the court and great player. But comparing him to MJ is laughable at best. MJ was a complete player, very good 2 way player.
Curry doesn't even compare to Kobe who was another complete player. Not as good as MJ but still pretty damn good who was a 2-way player. His defense was always good.
Kobe and MJ in their prime would run Curry off the court.
Curry doesn't even compare to Kobe who was another complete player. Not as good as MJ but still pretty damn good who was a 2-way player. His defense was always good.
Kobe and MJ in their prime would run Curry off the court.
If you use a 10 year measurement to define an era, MJ, Kobe, and Lebron are all the best players of their era...despite them overlapping a bit.
This is LeBron's 12th or 13th NBA season. We could be seeing his era closing with Currys run starting - it's his NBA right now.
Curry is a phenomenon and a great player. He also has a great coach who has put together a team that is the perfect compliment to Curry and a bench that is capable of out scoring the starters. I don't think I have ever seen a team that has so many offensive weapons or that has so many players that are so capable on defense. Love watching Curry however. What a treat it has been to see so many basketball greats in my life.
Yeah I agree.
The Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman lineup was scary defensively. They could face guard to the point of mentally breaking the opponent and Rodman could guard positions 1-5. Rof man guarded young Shaq ad well as anyone.
Jordan was so good on the ball and a master at jumping passing lanes and stripping the ball.
Pippen could just do it all.
And don't forget Toni Kukoc. That Bulls team was the greatest ever. They would beat Golden State easily. I say either by a sweep or 4-1.
Shaq was good, but he wasn't even the best center in the game when he played. Hakeem was better. IMO, it was Jordan, Malone, Magic, and Bird.
I think Olajuwon was the better player, but young Shaq was one of the most dominant players I'm NBA history. One of the most unstoppable athletes of all time in his early years.
Well the theory was to beat Jordan and the Bulls you needed a dominant center. He routinely beat Ewing and Smits, but never played Hakeem or Robinson in the finals and the year he made his come back, the Bull lost to young Shaq and Orlando.
None of his rings came against a dominant Center....Lakers, Blazers, Suns, Sonics, Jazz, no great big man.
So I kinda agree with you. Warriors have no dominant Center, and the Bulls had such great defense that I do think the Bulls would win a series against them.
Another forgotten star for the Bulls was a very underrated Horrice Grant. It's amazing how much talent was on that team.
