OT- Karl Malone is an idiot

[superjohn]

So Karl Malone revealed his top 5 of all-time NBA list which is comprised of Stockton, Oscar, Pippen, Lebron and Chamberlain. This wasn't some honest mistake of omission because it's the second time he has said this. Just when I think Malone can't possibly get any dumber he goes ahead and says something like this.

 

[willie99]

Pippen, LMFAO

he must hate MJ

 

[uchusky32]

Stockton over Magic or The Big O plus the MJ omission. Wow!

 

[whaler11]

And come on. No Cliff Robinson? After all those Portland Utah battles?

 

[champs99and04]

I'd go with Magic/Jordan/Bird/LeBron/Kareem

 

[willie99]

MJ, Magic, O, Lebron, Wilt, Russell

can't leave any of those guys out

 

[nomar]

MJ, Magic, O, Lebron, Wilt, Russell

can't leave any of those guys out

I think it's too early to put LeBron in there. When all is said and done, probably. But not yet.

 

[msgordon]

"Dan Patrick had a man crush on MJ from the time we started the interview. I was just messing with him," he tweeted.

thats directly from the article. of course espn made it the last line in the whole thing. malone obviously knows how good MJ was and is just leaving him off as a competitor who denied him two rings. or maybe he just wanted a lineup with ultimate versatility and ball movement. either way these espn 'headlines' are so stupid..."phil jackson chooses russell over MJ" etc

 

[champs99and04]

I think it's too early to put LeBron in there. When all is said and done, probably. But not yet.

I guess it depends whether you judge players on the totality of their career or their peak. LeBron's playing like something of a rich man's Larry Bird right now, as insane as that sounds. I just think it would be very difficult to leave him off given his versatility, but then again, it's almost equally as difficult to leave off Russell/Oscar/Wilt/etc.

 

[superjohn]

Karl Malone is an ignorant POS, not sure why anyone would want to hear his opinion on anything. This is the same guy who got a 13 year old girl pregnant and denied the existence of his daughter until she made it to the WNBA and she looked identical to him so he had to finally acknowledge she was his kid.

 

[61cygni]

He has backtracked on the MJ omission per ESPN.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Karl Malone is an ignorant POS, not sure why anyone would want to hear his opinion on anything. This is the same guy who got a 13 year old girl pregnant and denied the existence of his daughter until she made it to the WNBA and she looked identical to him so he had to finally acknowledge she was his kid.

wtf?!!!

 

[TheChamps990411]

Putting lebron on a top 5 all depends on what we are talking. Accomplishments or ability on the court. if its the second you put him in. if its the first then he isnt even top ten. i judge players by achievements. championships,MVP`s,all star appearances and numbers. putting lebron in the top 5 is like putting tiger woods top 5 after winning his first major.
as far as the mailman i dont take anything he says seriously.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Stockton over Magic or The Big O plus the MJ omission. Wow!

Stockton is the all time assists and steals leader in NBA history what's wrong with that?

 

[superjohn]

Stockton is the all time assists and steals leader in NBA history what's wrong with that?

It's absurd, Stockton isn't even in the same stratosphere as Magic, Isiah Thomas was better than Stockton.

 

[ju6381]

Putting lebron on a top 5 all depends on what we are talking. Accomplishments or ability on the court. if its the second you put him in. if its the first then he isnt even top ten. i judge players by achievements. championships,MVP`s,all star appearances and numbers. putting lebron in the top 5 is like putting tiger woods top 5 after winning his first major.
as far as the mailman i dont take anything he says seriously.

Lebron is one of only 5 players to win at least 4 MVP awards and has been all NBA first team 7 times, do you really think there are 10 better players then him??

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Putting lebron on a top 5 all depends on what we are talking. Accomplishments or ability on the court. if its the second you put him in. if its the first then he isnt even top ten. i judge players by achievements. championships,MVP`s,all star appearances and numbers. putting lebron in the top 5 is like putting tiger woods top 5 after winning his first major.
as far as the mailman i dont take anything he says seriously.

Not really. Lebron's 28, which is when most guys peak. At the age of 28 he's got one ring, one Finals MVP, he's been MVP of the league four times in five years, he was rookie of the year, he's won a scoring title, he's got an Olympic gold medal, he's been an All-Star all nine seasons, all-NBA all nine seasons, has been on the all-defensive team 5 times, and he's an (admittedly not great) franchise's all-time leading scorer.

Kareem, Russell, and MJ have more MVPs, and that's it (and not for long). You could, I guess, say he's not top ten based on achievements, but you'd have a losing argument, I think.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Lebron is one of only 5 players to win at least 4 MVP awards and has been all NBA first team 7 times, do you really think there are 10 better players then him??

Hes the best player in the game right now. why wouldnt he win multiple mvps?all nba 7 times? wow! impressive. sorry but how many titles does he have? how many times has he lost in the finals? how many finals mvps does he have? yes hes great but top 5? hell no!

top 5

JORDAN
RUSSELL
BRYANT
JOHNSON
KAREEM

 

[champs99and04]

Hes the best player in the game right now. why wouldnt he win multiple mvps?all nba 7 times? wow! impressive. sorry but how many titles does he have? how many times has he lost in the finals? how many finals mvps does he have? yes hes great but top 5? hell no!

top 5

JORDAN
RUSSELL
BRYANT
JOHNSON
KAREEM

Kobe in the top five? Sorry, I don't see it. I'm not sure I'd have him in my top ten.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Hes the best player in the game right now. why wouldnt he win multiple mvps?all nba 7 times? wow! impressive. sorry but how many titles does he have? how many times has he lost in the finals? how many finals mvps does he have? yes hes great but top 5? hell no!

top 5

JORDAN
RUSSELL
BRYANT
JOHNSON
KAREEM

This "how many titles" argument is ridiculous. He had a glorified D1 roster in Cleveland, and he still took them to the finals. Oscar Robinson had one ring and one MVP award. Wilt had 2 rings.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Kobe in the top five? Sorry, I don't see it. I'm not sure I'd have him in my top ten.

C'mon. Who are the ten better?

 

[superjohn]

This "how many titles" argument is ridiculous. He had a glorified D1 roster in Cleveland, and he still took them to the finals. Oscar Robinson had one ring and one MVP award. Wilt had 2 rings.

I agree that the "how many titles" is ridiculous but let's be honest making it out of the East there for a while wasn't the most daunting task, J. Kidd took the Nets to two straight finals and that team had even less than Cleveland. Dwight Howard took the Magic to the finals with Turkoglu being the "go to scorer."

 

[superjohn]

Jordan, Magic, Wilt, Russell, Oscar, Kareem, Bird, Duncan, Lebron, Hakeem.

 

[champs99and04]

C'mon. Who are the ten better?

Jordan
Russell
Kareem
Magic
Bird
Wilt
Duncan
Shaq
LeBron
Hakeem

I'd have him top 12 for sure, with the chance to move up...I've just never thought of him to be as efficient as the ten aforementioned players.

 

[jfuchs91]

Barring any sort of career-altering injury, LeBron is going to be considered a top 3 player of all-time when his career is over. His combination of super-elite athleticism (best overall athlete in NBA history? Some argue in the history of sports altogether!), all-around skill set, and an off the charts basketball IQ make him unlike any player we've ever witnessed. He consistently makes the amazing look routine. I know many people root against LeBron for whatever reason, but if you're a basketball fan, you have to watch LeBron every chance you get, because we may never see another player quite like him.

A lot of people hate on LeBron and say that he can never pass Jordan as the GOAT, but I really think the discussion is moot until LeBron's career is near it's conclusion. However, just for comparison's sake, let's compare their numbers through their age 28 season. However, a couple things to consider: LeBron's "counting" numbers should be higher as he played more seasons by age 28. Conversely, however, Jordan was older when he began in the league which allowed him to post better per-game stats at the beginning of his career.

Michael Jordan Through Age 28
PPG: 32.3
RPG: 6.3
APG: 6.0
Stocks/Game: 3.8
FG%: .519
3P%: .284

MVPs: 3 (1988, 1991, 1992)
Championships: 2 (1991, 1992)
Finals MVPs: 2 (1991, 1992)
Title Appearances: 2 (1991, 1992)
Other Awards: All-NBA First Team 6x, NBA Scoring Leader 6x (1987-1992), All-Star 8x, Defensive PoY (1988), All-Defensive First Team 5x, RoY (1985), All-NBA Second Team (1985), Olympic Gold Medalist 2x (1984, 1992)


LeBron James Through Age 28
PPG: 27.6
RPG: 7.3
APG: 6.9
Stocks/Game: 2.5
FG%: .490
3P%: .337

MVPs: 4 (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013)
Championships: 1 (2012) *Chance in 2013
Finals MVPs: 1 (2012) *Chance in 2013
Title Appearances: 4 (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Other Awards: All-NBA First Team 7x, NBA Scoring Leader (2008), All-Star 9x, All-Defensive First Team 5x, RoY (2003), All-NBA Second Team 2x, Olympic Gold Medalist (2008, 2012)


This comparison doesn't take into consideration things like league-tempo (the league is slower nowadays, meaning fewer possessions per game and thus lower per-game numbers), league-wide talent pool, and many other factors that always make these kinds of comparisons difficult. In the end, I'm just happy to be able to have watched these two great players, but as fans, it's fun to make these kind of comparisons.