Basketball: who is the best nba player past or present

personally this is my thought. i jus thought id ask the ? every one else seems to b wonderin. MJ is easily the greatest NBA playa of all time. he scored the most points. he started as a dunker and became a great midrange shooter. He wasnt always a defensive player but became one of the legues greatest. he won titles pretty much every year he was in the legue. he was also a clucth player. he won 6 rings 2 gold medals and a dunl competiton also he dunked from the free throw line. put mj in his prime on any team and he himself will make it a dynasty. Not only was mj a great smart player with the best skill in the game he also had the heart of a true "baller" he played through the death of his father even though he felt it was his falt and he played when he had a phenomenon or a sickness of that caliber. i rember that by the end of that game he came close to passin out on the court . he played when most average ppl would call in sic and b layin down in bed. for all these reasons and prob. some i forgot MJ was and will always b the greatest basketball playa ever. and for everyone that says lebron is the next mj u r all stupid and obviously have no idea how fantasic of a playa mj was and should always b rembered as. and when in 20 yr. someome is handed the crown of mj status then wont actualy b as good as mj. over time ppl forget how great the greats actually were they forget all the heart blood and passion a player like mj put into every game. so with time as ppl forget the greatness of mj someone will b crowned the next airness.
NO ONE WILL EVER MATCH THE GREATNESS OF MJ HE IS IN A LEGUE OF HIS OWN

two words for the best player of all time- Michael Jordan
thats all i have to say

Bill Russell.

Look at the history of the game, guys, and you'll understand. There was life before MJ.

i never saw much of Bill Russell the only way of seen how good he his is on the PS2 on NBA Live 2005. I never new hes great abillity. But was Russell in a dynasty that compared to the one of the Bulls

there may have been live before jordan but it prob wasnt a very good one i dont c how there is even a debate ova this jordan was and always will b the greatest

Originally posted by Archy
i never saw much of Bill Russell the only way of seen how good he his is on the PS2 on NBA Live 2005. I never new hes great abillity. But was Russell in a dynasty that compared to the one of the Bulls

Russell was the key component of the Celtic Dynasty of the late '50s and the '60s.

They won 11 titles, including 8 in a row, over a 13 year period. The Celtics had never won a championship prior to him joining the team.

He won 5 MVPs, the same as Jordan. He never won the finals MVP. They didn't have that award back then.

It's not the stats, it's not the awesome aerial displays. It's the team concept, the devotion to winning. That is why Bill Russell is the best ever. He made his team better, and did it his entire career.


Some links for you to check out -

NBA champions by year

MVP by year

All time great NBA players

Russell's Bio

Jordan's Bio


But please, take the time to read about all of the players from the early days. It was a different game then, they deserve the credit for it.

I second what steve23 said

thanks for the sites Gibbs Baby very inerestin. Until now i had no recolection of the early era of basketball and the NBA in general until u gave me those pages. in fact with Abdul-Jabbar getting so many finals MVP's he could be up there with the best of all time

i think carmelo anthony or andre miller are the best players eber to take the court in the nba.
they are boh solid all round players and extremely underrated

ur an idiot wat about dirk

sorry about those spelling mistakes
i stand by my opinion that carmelo or andre miller are the best nba players past or present
also,dont rule out pavel podkolzin

Originally posted by Archy
thanks for the sites Gibbs Baby very inerestin. Until now i had no recolection of the early era of basketball and the NBA in general until u gave me those pages. in fact with Abdul-Jabbar getting so many finals MVP's he could be up there with the best of all time

True, he should be, after all, he did score more points than anyone else in thier career, and he was in the league for so long.

As for the new guys, I think it's too early to say whether they are the best ever or not, but they do have great gaem, no question.

The greatest player debate is always going to be around, there is no right or wrong answer. Bill Russell was extremely great in his era, Just as Michael Jordan was extremely great in his. We will never know if Bill Russell would have been as good playing in the Jordan Era or vice versa...

I love both players, they both brought a lot to the game

Ah, but that's what makes it a good topic to discuss.

gibbs baby dont listen to smithys 1510 hes being an idiot. nath thats backchat 10 metres. im still undecided on the best player of all time

Don't listen to archy smithy1510. it's just not funny insulting guys who are giving there opinion:angry-smiley-034:

best eva mj best now prob lebron jus my thoughts