Who's the best player never to win a title?
- Thread starter Billyhoyle
- Start date
I agree out of Barkley and Malone it's Chuck all day.
Malone literally choked away the big moments in the Finals. Missed 2 free throws one game and then had the ball stolen when they were up one in another. That doesn't scream best to have never won IMO.
Comparing guys from the 50/60's to the 80/90's will never compare. Plenty of guys who knew how to grab a rebound could do so. There are tonnes of guys who averaged above 15rpg. If you were over 6-5 then it was given. Without looking at it, there must have been a lot more possessions per game in the day with quicker shots or something. Post 1980, there were a lot more 7 footers to rebound the balls. Wilt wouldn't have put up the same numbers 25 years later. Was he great, no doubt, but he was going up against guys who were 6-9 at best. The whole rebounding argument in favour of Baylor is skewed IMO.
That's like saying Jordan wouldn't avg 30PPG in 10 years from now, or that Kobe would never get 81 in 15 years time. You're right, you can't compare eras, it's extremely tough, but your argument against those stats is exactly the same as the person arguing for them.
The older guys played against a smaller competition (teams wise), with no Internationals. But the current crop have all the luxury of personal trainers and professional dieticians. Some of the older guys had part time jobs.
Wilt was something else and I think he would have been in the modern era with modern training and health also. To say that he wouldn't be dominant now will never be known.
- "He was one of the most spectacular shooters the game has ever known", Baylor's longtime teammate Jerry West told HOOP in 1992. "I hear people talking about forwards today and I haven't seen many that can compare with him."
- Bill Sharman played against Baylor and coached him in his final years with the Lakers. "I say without reservation that Elgin Baylor is the greatest cornerman who ever played pro basketball", he told the Los Angeles Times at Baylor's retirement in 1971.
- Tommy Hawkins, Baylor's teammate for six seasons and opponent for four (and later a basketball broadcaster) declared to the San Francisco Examiner that "[P]ound for pound, no one was ever as great as Elgin Baylor." He also said, "Elgin certainly didn't jump as high as Michael Jordan. But he had the greatest variety of shots of anyone. He would take it in and hang and shoot from all these angles. Put spin on the ball. Elgin had incredible strength. He could post up Bill Russell. He could pass like Magic and dribble with the best guards in the league."
The thing is, even if you were to do a poll right now and say who is the best player in the league, you will find several people that will say players other than Lebron. That's rubbish!!
Who is best, will always be subjective, I get that, but for Baylor, possibly the most underrated player of all time, to get only 1 out of 36 votes in this while even Steve Nash gets 3?? Thats the part that sucks! Too many people really need to have a look and read about some of the old guys!
Maybe most votes are just on personal favourites?? if we want to do that then I vote Pete Maravich! Amazing game!
Who is best, will always be subjective, I get that, but for Baylor, possibly the most underrated player of all time, to get only 1 out of 36 votes in this while even Steve Nash gets 3?? Thats the part that sucks! Too many people really need to have a look and read about some of the old guys!
Maybe most votes are just on personal favourites?? if we want to do that then I vote Pete Maravich! Amazing game!
If we are going to dig up old names, why stop at Baylor (not discrediting his game here)?
Bob Pettit 26.4ppg, 16.2rpg, 3.0apg. Interesting fact, he never lead the league in rebounds which included a season of over 20rpg...
This is based on opinions and Stockton is ranked highest here-
http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/ratings.cgi
Bob Pettit 26.4ppg, 16.2rpg, 3.0apg. Interesting fact, he never lead the league in rebounds which included a season of over 20rpg...
This is based on opinions and Stockton is ranked highest here-
http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/ratings.cgi
West Oz Cards
WOC Group Breaks
Love the banter in this thread.
I picked Malone. But tbh it was a rushed choice.
A lot of those guys were monsters and probably the only reason that I picked Malone is because I got to watch him play at the time he was super dominant. I dont watch a lot of Lakers replays of the Baylor years, so I don't have that emotional connection to how good he was, or other superstars of 60's/70's
And yes, if I had to pick a team that I would have loved to see win a Chip, it would be the Sonics, in any of those seasons, particularly 93-94 when they choked to Denver 1st round. That was their year. They were too busy reading their own headlines though.
Then again they choked 94-95 to the Lakers in the 1st.
By the time they got their act together in 95-96 to get to the big show in June, that wanker from Chicago decided to come back and ruin anyone elses chance at a Chip for the next 3 years.
I picked Malone. But tbh it was a rushed choice.
A lot of those guys were monsters and probably the only reason that I picked Malone is because I got to watch him play at the time he was super dominant. I dont watch a lot of Lakers replays of the Baylor years, so I don't have that emotional connection to how good he was, or other superstars of 60's/70's
Player: malone
Team: seattle sonics kemp/payton days.
Then that means no second three peat for bulls
And yes, if I had to pick a team that I would have loved to see win a Chip, it would be the Sonics, in any of those seasons, particularly 93-94 when they choked to Denver 1st round. That was their year. They were too busy reading their own headlines though.
Then again they choked 94-95 to the Lakers in the 1st.
By the time they got their act together in 95-96 to get to the big show in June, that wanker from Chicago decided to come back and ruin anyone elses chance at a Chip for the next 3 years.
Similar threads
