neoxsupreme

There have been greatest "defensive players" & "scorers" threads but I don't know if this has been discussed. I want to know which players people think are the best 2-way players. The best balance of offense & defense. The player has to be monster on both ends of the floor. I think the top 3 best 2-way players ever are MJ, Dream & Kareem. Wilt I think is underrated on defense as well. His defense is way overshadowed by his rep as this offensive juggernaut. He's just not as distinguished of a defensive player as Russell.

__________________
The Official "Raptors should retire Vince Carter's jersey" Club - PM me to join
Members: neoxsupreme, HB, TORONTO, Air Fly, Vinsane, -James-, fruitcake, thecarter, Kingpin66, 514balla, Balla 15, vincedunkedonzo2, Ka-Bosh

bballlife

Jordan and Dream 1 & 2. Below them, you could name a number of players that fall into the category. Karl Malone, Jerry West, John Havlicek, Gary Payton, to name a few.

__________________
NBA OFFICIATING, IT’S HORRIFIC!!!!!!!!!!!

Legend_33

Off the top of my head, theres Ewing, Robinson, McHale, Frazier. Not the best, but they are defenitely up there.

ChrisCrossover

Tim Duncan, anyone? He made the All-Defensive Team in each of the last nine seasons, including six first-team nominations, and was All-NBA first-team over his whole career until 2006, when he was "only" on the second team (mainly due to nagging injuries). Plus, he's a two-time MVP winner, three-time champion and finals MVP.

Concerning awards, he tops my all-time list. When it comes to playing, I too pick Jordan and Olajuwon (and Duncan). Pippen, Payton and Grant Hill should not be underestimated either.

Minstrel

Jordan, Olajuwon and Robinson top the list for me.

Duncan, Garnett, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar and a young Shaq fall into the next tier, IMO.

Pippen, Payton and Hondo would be in the third tier.

__________________
John Peel [the day after the invasion of Grenada]: "Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's 'He's Read.' And that's 'Read,' spelled 'R-E-A-D', so you can call off the Marines..."

Hakeem

Ewing? Great scoring, great team defense, very good man defense.

kflo

i'll give a nod to walton. mchale. karl and moses. willis and clyde. kobe.

Minstrel

I'd probably put him in the third tier. I don't think he was as good offensively or defensively as the players I put in the second tier.

__________________
John Peel [the day after the invasion of Grenada]: "Red Lorry Yellow Lorry's 'He's Read.' And that's 'Read,' spelled 'R-E-A-D', so you can call off the Marines..."

white360

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

__________________
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...00-sidebar.jpg

Masbee

Hard to argue with those picks. So I won't.

If you are ignoring the playoffs, focusing on regular season:

Michael Jordan - 1998 - MVP, DPOY, (jaw dropping) PER of 31.7

Hakeem Olajuwon - 1993 - All NBA 1st Team, DPOY, PER of 27.3 (better regular season PER than his Jordan gone MVP & title winning season 1994) Lost MVP to Charles even though Hakeem had a better PER, played amazing defense and scored just as much.

David Robinson - 1995 - MVP, 1st team all defense, PER of 29.1

bootstrenf

i think dennis rodman was a great player who went both ways...

__________________
...