RollWithEm

Obviously one guy had the more fortunate circumstances and the other put up the better numbers. Which had the better career?

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But that's just me.

Diable

Nique was better by a large margin

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Luke

This thread has potential if it can get it's feet off of the ground. Interesting comparison.

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Formerly VanillaPrice

roux2dope

I personally dont think James Worthy could ever really be "the man" on really good teams like dominique was.

RollWithEm

I feel like a guy like Nique often doesn't get the same type of criticism on these boards that a guy like Iverson gets even though their career arcs were pretty similar.

__________________
But that's just me.

roux2dope

Dominique and Iverson played most of their careers with a solid stable of role players around them. They were both asked to carry their teams respectively and they did a very good job of it outside of never winning a championship. James Worthy was a very very good player that was fortunate to be able to play with 3 other hall of famers two of which are top 10 all time greats. You swap Nique and Worthy and the Lakers may win 3 more titles in the 80's and the hawks would be hard pressed to make the playoffs.

PauloCatarino

Better career? Worthy.
Better player? Nique.

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2012 Legends Draft Winner

Golden State Warriors:
PG- Steve Nash - Maurice Cheeks;
SG- John Havlicek - Latrell Sprewell;
SF- Bernard King - Mark Aguirre;
PF- Dirk Nowitzki - Maurice Lucas;
C- Hakeem Olajuwon - Robert Parish.

e-monk

not sure about this at all - there's such a thing as chemistry and fit - I dont think Jerry West made a mistake with this draft pick at all - doesnt mean Big Game was a 'better player' than Nique but there's more to it than your formulation allows

Dre

So you think Nique wouldn't have fit into Showtime

AirJay

Nique would have dominated in Showtime.

RollWithEm

Worthy was more versatile defensively by a long shot. He allowed them to "go small" at times in a way the Nique would not have. They never had a hard time scoring. Not getting consistent stops is the only thing that sometimes made them vulnerable. Nique would have made them worse in that area.

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But that's just me.

e-monk

offensively he would have flourished on the open court, of course (and Worthy was no slouch on that front BTW)

but Showtime had a halfcourt attack that increasingly featured Worthy with his back to the basket in the post (as Kareem aged) which was just as important to their playoff success(if not moreso)

keep in mind these guys were not exact cognates of each other - one was a 6'7" 200lb SF capable of playing the 2 and the other was a 6'9" 225lb PF capable of playing the 3 - in fact the better way of looking at this might be to recall that Nique wasnt picked second either, he was picked 3rd after Terry Cummings - the way I see it taking Worthy ahead of either gave the Lakers the versatility of getting a little bit of the qualities of both players

e-monk

another angle for consideration - no, he would have a been a weapon in Magic's arsenal, a spectacular one but he himself would not have 'dominated' anything and ultimately in the Lakers balanced attack he would have scored less than he did for the Hawks and appear a much different player than the nique we came to know


and when push came to shove would he have had the wherewithal to step up as the finals MVP in 87-88? did he have a 36 point on 68% shooting, 16 rebound 10 assist game 7 in him? (because aside from Magic's game 6 rookie effort and Walt Frazier's 1970 game 7 it's hard to recall such a 'dominating' game on such a big stage in a deciding game - dude didnt get his nickname in a box of cracker jacks)

Da Grinch

i got worthy on this one.

i think they were about the same level of player, but worthy was more versatile , he played better defense and was more clutch, the lakers would not have been as good with wilkins .
but if worthy was on the hawks they would have been worse for the swap too.

too many post up guys on the hawks with willis ,m.malone, livingston carr for worthy to be as useful as nique was who was better out on the perimeter.

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Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb deciding what to eat for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.

PauloCatarino

The Lakers thought long and hard, and came to the conclusion Worthy would be of more value to them (a team already contending, needing a jack-of-all-trades to be a SUB, a glue-guy who would fit into the sistem) than Nique.
The choise was adequate. And paid many, many dividends (sp?).
Would Nique flourish paying with Magic? Obviously.
Qouel Nique bring the things Big Game James brought-a-plenty? Not so sure.

__________________
2012 Legends Draft Winner

Golden State Warriors:
PG- Steve Nash - Maurice Cheeks;
SG- John Havlicek - Latrell Sprewell;
SF- Bernard King - Mark Aguirre;
PF- Dirk Nowitzki - Maurice Lucas;
C- Hakeem Olajuwon - Robert Parish.