Welcome back to the “Greatest Ever” series as we continue with the rankings of the worst arguments that NBA fans like to point out in the debate of the best player of all time.
Now, the discussion about the top player in the league’s history is not easy to end so easily. Why? There are numerous reasons in there that make it hard to pick one respectable legend over a bunch of others.
It’s easy to say Michael Jordan (or who ever you think) as the finest basketball player to step on a hardwood. It’s not easy to compare players from different eras, who played in conditions which aren’t like today and so on.
There are too many factors. However, some fans just know to make good arguments about the player they argue. Most often, some do not.
That inspired me to write this article. Who are the 25 worst arguments which are mostly used in this discussion? Let’s find out
1.Wilt Chamberlain Played Against 6’6 Centers
To me, this is a laughable argument that is mostly used against Wilt Chamberlain to question his greatness. And it’s not a really good argument to begin with.
First of all, Chamberlain faced most Hall Of Fame players of all time. That’s a fact, which is overlooked. He went against numerous great players at his position, and again, it’s a proven fact.
He faced guys like Russell (6’10), Kareem (7’2), Willis Reed (6’9), Nate Thurmond (6’11), Dave Cowens (6’9), Gilmore (7’2), Hayes (6’9), Haywood (6’9) and so on. By the way, they are all Hall Of Famers.
The average height of the big men was 6’9. Because the league wasn’t as big as it is now, all of that talent was stuck in all those teams which meant that every other night he was facing elite match up.
He additionally went against two candidates for the honor of G.O.A.T in Russell and Kareem, while playing against Baylor, Robertson and West who also can be argued for that honor too.
2.Kobe Bryant Didn’t Have Elite Competition
Kobe Bryant is now a candidate for the honor of the greatest player in the NBA History. Even though he still hasn’t call it a career, he has done enough to be considered an all time great.
That’s right. He’s accomplished so much, that a respectable case can be made. However, not all people agree with that. Mostly in the Jordan-Kobe comparisons, some fans like to point out that Bryant hasn’t faced elite competition throughout his career.
He actually has. LeBron James is one of them. James is considered to be a candidate for the best player of all time once when he finishes his career. Then, you have Dwyane Wade who’s in the debate of the 15-20 finest stars ever.
We also have to mention Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett who are argued as one of the five finest players at their positions etc. Finally you have Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal, as for both you can make respectable case of being the greatest of all time.
There are promising stars like Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose who by all accounts should be next legendary players, at least KD. So, this is a good competition if you ask me.
3.Michael Jordan Is The Greatest Of All Time Because He Led His Team To Six Titles
Now, i have nothing against Michael Jordan and i’m not even his hater. Actually i’m an admirer of his game. However, i have seen fans arguing Michael Jordan as the best player ever because he led the Bulls to six titles.
That’s an amazing accomplishment, considering all the factors in it but that’s not the right argument. One guy from the past had it done three decades before Michael came at half of his achievement.
His name is Bill Russell. He led the Boston Celtics to eleven titles in just 13 years. That’s a rare and unmatched feat. If that’s the case, then there’s no debate what so ever. He nearly doubled Jordan’s amount of championship rings. A legend!
4.The Defense Has Gotten Better In The Present Compared To The Past
In my opinion, that’s a bad argument. All of the rules these days favor the offensive player such as no three seconds, no hand check and so on. This is one of the reasons why defense has become worse in recent time.
Yes, the players are bigger, more athletic but they don’t know how to use their advantages and aren’t giving it all out there. The young generation aren’t even interested in focusing on the defensive side of the ball, which is quite bad.
That’s mainly because good offense is what people like to watch, and with that mentality, you won’t go far. Even teams now play also zone defense, use traps and so on, the lack of great individual defensive players is huge.
The reason why there’s zone defense, is because that group of men aren’t capable to stop their opponents. Although at moments we can see quality show in this aspect, it’s still far behind than it was like in the 90′s, 80′s and other eras.
5.The NBA Wasn’t Competitive In The 60′s
Some people just like to discredit the legends from the 60′s and downgrade their respectable accomplishments by saying that the NBA wasn’t competitive in the 60′s, because it had eight teams.
That’s wrong, and i will prove it. Actually, the reason why the competition was bigger in those days lied in the small number of franchise that existed back then.
All that talent was stuck in them. It’s not a surprise that teams often had at least one Hall Of Famer in their roster. For example the Saint Lois Hawks had Bob Pettit and Lenny Wilkens, the Lakers had West and Baylor etc.
It’s not a surprising fact (at least to me) that six candidates for the honor of greatest of all time like Wilt, Russell, Big O, Elgin and West come from the 60′s.
6.The Win Alone Argument
No one can win championships alone. It’s really hard to win championships on yourself in the NBA, because of the tough competition and other factors.
Michael Jordan couldn’t even make to the Eastern Conference Finals without quality help in team until Pippen arrived. This all was possible under Phil Jackson, who coached the Bulls to six titles.
They did it in two three peats. For the second three peat, they added Dennis Rodman (another Hall Of Famer) to help them win. The respectable Boston and Los Angeles dynasties of the past had superstars and good role players in their rosters too.
There are two guys who are expectations in all of this. Rick Barry and Hakeem Olajuwon are the only two guys to win a title, without having another superstar on their teams. But i bet, no one cares about this.
7.The Alpha Dog Argument
The Alpha Dog argument came because of these men in the picture, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Even though both were easily first option for the Lakers, some fans wanted to show the greatness of Shaq while others to prove that Kobe wasn’t a second option.
And then it happened. Now, it’s probably the worst of all the arguments used because as i stated before, it seems nearly impossible to win alone.
