In honor of the NBA Play-Offs, who is your favorite NBA basketball player and why?
Mine would have to be Rasheed Wallace.
Why? Because he was/is nuts and is the all-time leader in technical fouls. He also was one of those rare centers that you didn't cringe when he was shooting from the 3 point line.
The between Kobe and jordan.
*tie.
Larry Bird
Dave Debusshere or Julius Earving and maybe Patrick Ewing and Pete Maravitch
Jordan
Shaq is #2. He forced teams to adjust to him. His Twitter was amazing.
Bird for me as well. A player gifted in his own right, s hard worker, and a consummate team player. I still remember him stealing the inbound pass from Isiah Thomas and the game winning feed with only 2 seconds left. The man never quit
Honorable mention to Bill Russell, one of the few men who could frustrate Wilt Chamberlain. Again, the consummate team player.
Dr.J....most spectacular dunker ever
Can we have a three-way tie?
Larry Bird Michael Jordan Reggie Miller
I have a few - Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan (before his head got too big).
Olajuwon in a close 2nd.
It's a damn shame Ewing, Sir Charles and Reggie Miller never got a ring.
Stockton and Malone either.
Karl Malone
bernard king
Favorite and best I have ever seen is no doubt Jordan. Many of those names mentioned above have no rings because of one person and that is Jordan. Olajuwon and Drexler would be on that no ring list too if Jordan's dad hadn't died and made him want to go try his childhood dream of playing major league baseball
To shailynn Especially Ewing, I don't remember any player with more intensity than Patrick Ewing he always left it all out on the court win or lose. Another guy that hasn't been mentioned a school boy from the Bronx originally famous in NYC, before he turned pro, Lou Alcindor who changed his name to Kareem Abdul Jabar
True shailynn - Alcindor/Jabar really changed the game. He was the major reason for much of UCLA's success in winning a bunch of NCAA championships - and he was very impressive in the NBA!
Grew up a 76ers fan so I'd say Dr J (Julius Earving) and after him Dwayne Wade in his prime
Favorites of all time
Current favorites
Kawhi Leonard is the man nowadays. But westbrook is my favorite the last few years since Kobe got old.
Michael Jordan. It's not contest for me.
Sir Charles Barkley for me. He gave the Suns a real shot at a championship. Probably would have gotten it if not for Jordan.
Dr J! I watched him make plays that were unbelievable and he made them look easy.
Magic and Barkley.
Yeah - Barkley was my fave player after Dr J retired and b/f Wade came along.
Basketball is almost as boring as tennis and golf to me.
Give me pro or collage football or hockey any day of the week.
Magic Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, and the pint sized Mugsy Bouges
Current: KING James (lived up to the hype and more)
MJ. I've never seen a player with that much talent that also busted his ass on every single play and was also a joy to watch. He made his teammates better and stuck with the Bulls until they built a mediocre team into a dynasty.
Kobe was close as far as talent and effort, but didn't make his teammates that much better, like Jordan did.
Lebron is a tremendous talent, but doesn't work as hard as Jordan did on both ends of the court consistently. He also bailed on Cleveland to join the loaded Heat for the easy championship and only returned after the Cavs were loaded with talent. He'll probably leave again too.
MJ all day.
Just finished up Cleveland-Detroit and I got to say that Delladova, who I've always liked his style, is another hard working leave it all on the court player not sure how many years he has been playing but he is a fire starter, one of those guys that gets the rest all fired up, give him some time he is not as talented as some, but he makes up for it in pure hustle.
@gaka...I hope that was sarcasm about Lebron living up to the hype. He hasn't come close to living up to hype. He is no Jordan. Won't get close to 6 rings. At least Kobe got himself 5
Another NBA player I always enjoyed watching was George Gervin. The Iceman was as smooth as Dr. J. and always entertaining. Loved to watch Dr. J. but I was able to watch Gervin more.
Jordan hands down. It would be a toss up between Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson for second place.
Jordan, by far.
Denied at least a dozen amazing players rings. Every game his opponent knew they had to stop him and they couldn't. Threes. Dunks. Defense. Clutch. MJ has it all.
#2 Larry Legend. Hate him, but respect him.
Corvus reminded me - George "iceman" Gervin was a great player. A pure shooter. He put up some impressive points - and it was before the 3 point line was established.
Jordan. Lots of other great players, but not that great.
Not counting Michael Jordan, who is simply the greatest of all time, one of my favorites was Manute Bol. He was really tall and really thin, but he could block a shot and he just looked odd. The OP didn't say who the greatest was, just asked who your favorite was.
I have an unpopular opinion. Bill Laimbeer would make my list. I know most non-detroit fans hated him, he was a flopper, and sometimes a flat out dirty player. I love it. He was a perfect fit for that Bad Boys Pistons team. When he began coaching WNBA (to the surprise of many!), my family and I as season ticket holders with a kid in a wheelchair, actually got to know him a bit. He was blunt, but he was also a cool guy, funny without even trying sometimes, great coach, and treated my family with respect. As did Rick Mahorn, who joined Bill as assistant coach for a few yrs. Bill is also the Piston's all-time leading rebounder (Andre Drummond can change that if given enough time).
And of course, my pistons from the early to mid 2000s. Loved Rasheed ("the ball don't lie!"), Chauncey, Richard Hamilton, and the rest. Richard Hamilton is a very nice guy, I know from experience. He would go to the WNBA games here and there to support. One time when they lost the championship in the finals, one of my sisters was balling her eyes out. Richard Hamilton was exiting the place through the tunnel like we did, and he saw my sister crying and patted her on the back reassuring her it would be OK.
Non-Detroit players... I was obsessed with Steve Nash for a while when I was 14 or so. There were several others I liked, but I could go on and on.
In current times, almost everyone from the Warriors but especially Steph, Draymond, and Klay. I also like Kevin Durant from OKC. I will add Steve Kerr to the list, he played for Jordan's Bulls and is now coaching the team that beat their record. He seems like a good guy. I wish he was my uncle. Looking at him makes me happy.
I'll add Magic to the list. He was a slut bucket, though, and paid the consequences. I like how he has used his illness as a platform to be an advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness.
Obviously Jordan, as he is the GOAT. Wilt Chamberlain was another one of the greatest, and could bench more than 500 lbs.
Man, there are so many players I'm missing!
Looking for a "favorite" player vs the "best ever" is subtly different. If you asked me the first, I will always say Bird. A great shooter, a great passer and a great mind for the game. He made everyone around him better. If you ask who was the best, I'd have to go with Jordan.
True. Some might actually HATE Michael Jordan, as he stopped many popular players and teams from winning championships!
Yeah – Jordan was def the best but I almost-always rooted against him – when someone, or a team, is that dominant; often one either loves them or hates them.
He was my favorite player, but he was also knocking my favorite team out of the playoffs every year, so it was bittersweet watching him win. I was hoping he would get a triple double, score 50, and the Bulls would still lose, but that's not how it worked out.
^ what is your fave team ?
The NY bricks, I mean Knicks.
DaOnion - I remember those years too. The Knicks had a pretty amazing team - and the fought hard - but MJ seemed to have just enough to push past them in the end. Ewing, Oakley, Mason, Starks, Harper...
Yeah, loved that team. It's a shame those guys never got rings.
I was thinking of the better Knicks. Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas
Around this time of year back in 1991 I was in b/w semesters in college (had just finished Spring semester) – my older brother by 3-years was in NYC for a week or 2 b/c of work I went up to hang w/ him a few days during which the Nicks/Bulls playoff series was happening – freaking MJ was unstoppable on both ends of the court (offense and defense) – nothing the Knicks could do could contain him even though the Knicks had a very-good team – later-on the Bulls beat a great Laker team in the finals and Jordan again could not be contained by a great Laker team (I think they Bulls also beat the Pistons that year in the playoffs and the Pistons had a great team that I believe had won the title the 2-previous seasons).
My mom dated that guy.
"I was thinking of the better Knicks. Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas"
Unfortunately for them, they kept running into a bunch of guys named Cowens, Havlicek, White, Chaney, Silas and Westphal....
Yeah. I'm a Celtics fan ;-)
I understand, but the Celtics were not in the finals when the Knicks won the championship in 1970 qnd 1973. They beat the Lakers
Yeah, at least that Knicks team got rings.
"Friday night Nina? Tigs must be on the road!"
Nah I think they're at home actually, I just didn't feel like working.
Nina the pistons about to get swept? Feelings?
I'd rather them win, but I haven't kept up with the Pistons in several years. So it won't be a heartbreaking event to me.
I'm a little surprised to see so many people saying Jordan is their favorite (must be the shoes haha). Jordan won all the time. Usually people root for the underdog. The Patriots and Spurs win all the time, but yet lots of people don't like them.
Nina, were you just a fan of the Pistons when they were good? You should at least go to game 4 to show your support, you'll get to see your favorite player LeBron James lol. Just kidding.
The first few years that Jordan was in the league, the Bulls didn't win all the time. It took a while to get them to that 1st championship. I remember it was a huge deal at the time when he finally got past the Pistons to make it to the finals. I also remember him lighting up the Celtics for a remarkable 63 points in the playoffs, but I think the Bulls still lost the game. For a while, he was the best player on the court, but his team was still mediocre.
"Nina, were you just a fan of the Pistons when they were good?"
No, I was a fan before, after, and during the most recent time they were really good. Then they had several coaching changes, more dumb decisions by Dumars, and eventually all the players I loved and rooted for were either gone or irrelevant. It wasn't the same team that I had cried myself to sleep over years prior.
Larry Bird