[BballChickaDee]

What do you guys think?

I'm going with:

1. Wilt Chamberlain (take a look at his stats)
2. Bill Russell (Rings, rings, and rings)
3. Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Changed the game forever)
4. Hakeem Olajuwon (Carried his team to the championship)

These aren't in any order...

 

[Chops]

1. Wilt Chamberlain
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Bill Russell
4. Hakeem Olajuwon
5. Shaquille O'Neal

 

[TheRifleman]

Not in any order, just my top 5 of all time.

1. Wilt Chamberlain, best in regular season, horrid in playoffs.
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, unstoppable skyhook he got from Mikan
3. Bill Russell, best passer & defensive center in playoff history.
4. Hakeem Olajuwon, best all around center.
5. Shaquille O'Neal, most dominant center - regular season & playoffs - of his era since Mikan.

 

[Wilt_The_Stilt]

My top five-not in order

Wilt
Kareem
Shaq
Hakeem
Russel

 

[PhatDaddy3100]

My Top 5

1. Wilt Chamberlain (Like Bballchickadee said, look at his stats.)
2. Bill Russel (Rings, and great defender
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar (Great Sky hook and played for a long time)
4. Hakeem Olojuwon (Great footwork and Unstoppable at times)
5. Shaq O'Neal (Most dominent player right now and has changed the game)

 

[kflo]

i'd go (in order):

russell - can't argue with results - knew how to get the job done - even when wilt had talented teams, russell's teams often came out on top
wilt - dominance
kareem - dominant, longevity, go-to guy
shaq - dominance, stats, rings, finals performances
hakeem - all around brilliance
moses - relentlessness, dominant, scoring, rebounding, defense

after that, it gets tougher, and the rest are in a lower category, imo. walton would be 7 as far as who i'd take for peak play. can't comment on mikan - game was different. then, in no order, comes robinson, ewing, reed, cowens

 

[STING]

In order

1) Kareem Abdul Jabar
2) Wilt Chamberlin
3) Shaquile O'neal
4) Hakeem Olajuan
5) Bill Russel

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

How is Russel so far down the list? He was the best defensive center ever and he won 9 titles as a player.

 

[STING]

Originally posted by Malakian
How is Russel so far down the list? He was the best defensive center ever and he won 9 titles as a player.

Becuase i like Shaq, Wilt, the Dream, and Kareem better -- Its a matter of opinion

 

[TheRifleman]

Originally posted by Malakian
How is Russel so far down the list? He was the best defensive center ever and he won 9 titles as a player.

He won 11 titles in 13 years.

 

[Blondie]

re:centers

How can you leave out David Robinson?

 

[Sir I Gotta Go]

Originally posted by TheRifleman


He won 11 titles in 13 years.

He won two as a coach.

 

[knicklizard]

If you include DRob, you should include Ewing. If we include Ewing, you have to include a lot of others...my list goes Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Russ, Hakeem.

 

[kflo]

Originally posted by Malakian



He won two as a coach.

and his starting center was himself.

 

[TheRifleman]

Kflo is correct, Russell won 2 as a player/coach and that means he won 11 titles in 13 years as a player.

 

[pharcyde]

It looks like we agree on the top five

In no order, I don't think anyone could argue with Wilt, Russell, Abdul-Jabbar, Shaq, and Hakeem. I don't see how you could have Russell or anyone else above Wilt though. Yeah, Russell's teams won in the playoffs, but Wilt still scored on him. Those Celtic teams still would've won a lot without him. In order, I'd say Wilt, Russell, Abdul-Jabbar, Shaq, and Hakeem, but the last four are pretty much interchangeable in my opinion. You could make an arugement for each one, but I don't think you can argue with Wilt's production. 100 points in one game, averaging 50 for a season, then leading the league in assists another year. He was an amazing athlete too. His only bad attribute is the fact that he went to Kansas.

 

[Wilt_The_Stilt]

Originally posted by Malakian
How is Russel so far down the list? He was the best defensive center ever and he won 9 titles as a player.

First-as a defensive specialist he wasn't too good guarding Wilt-Wilt put up huge numbers on him...and he had about 9 future hall of famers on his team.