Breh...Portland just had one of the deepest teams in the league during that period.
Clyde Drexler's career and resume is looking pretty good compared to these guards who will retire ringless journeymen
- Thread starter Ed MOTHERFUCKING G
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I can see where you're going with Drexler, especially with the game shifting to two guards having their moment. I just think that there would be less people that are surprised to learn that he actually had a solid career when presented with facts like the OP if his career had just happened at another time.
And I wasn't trying to say people shyt on Chris Paul because of his skillset, I think that his overall career profile gets boosted BECAUASE of it. It just seems like almost all criticisms of Chris Paul, reasonable or not, are immediately countered with "best pure point guard."
murksiderock
Superstar
I'll just let this explain it, pulled from Reddit, but these are opinions I've held for years about West and posters can attest I've said as much for a long time:
He was a lead guard, in contrast to an off-guard.
The distinction of point/shooting is one way of simplistically dividing duties, but the lead/off distinction has a long history as well. West typically both his team’s lead passer and the primary guard scorer, and when a player is both, this is called a “lead guard”.
In today’s game this is actually pretty typical and more often than not gets called “point guard”, but if the player is larger sometimes other terms get used.
If West happened to play with a smaller guard, he might get called a shooting guard today, but that would not change what his job on the court was.
Neither Ray nor Reggie were better players than Clyde. Neither of those guys were #2s on championship teams and all had burn as #1s but only Glide took teams to The Finals as a #1. This is to say nothing of the fact that Glide was twice a Top 5 MVP finalist, including a runner-up---->neither Ray nor Reggie were ever in legit MVP discussion...
Pierce also wasn't better than Glide. Glide led 3 WCF runs as a #1, he was just a better scorer and first option to have than Pierce as your #1...
Bruh are you being dense on purpose?
In Rd1 vs Chicago, Shaq averaged 20-11, including a 30-20-5 game in the closeout G6. No washed C is giving you 30 and 20...
In the ECF vs Detroit Shaq was 22-11, including 28-16 in the closeout G6 that sent Miami to its first NBA Finals. No washed C is giving you 28-16 to clinch a Finals trip...
To be clear, my point is not that Shaq was LA Shaq, if you saw me say that quote it. My point isnt even that he wasnt a declining player---->he clearly was...
But saying Shaq was washed when he got to Miami is objectively false, he was runner-up for MVP and Miami's best player his first season and got them to an ECF, and in his second year he was still 20-9 in the regular season, and 18-10 in the playoffs. He wasn't at his peak and was definitely at the end of his prime but post-prime guys don't finish Top 2 in MVP, and post-prime guys arent posting 30-20 and 28-16 games in elimination playoff games...
Calling Shaq washed when he arrived in Miami undermines how critical he was to fulfilling championship goals for a team with no championship background. As others have pointed out, he was still the best player at his position in basketball, the mistake you're making is comparing Miami Shaq to LA Shaq and expecting the same level of production...
Nobody thinks he was LA Shaq...
MVP does matter, bruh. It's not the only thing that matters but it's relevant, as is how often you are a legit MVP candidate...
That said you could make the argument that Russ and Nash are both better than Glide, just like you can make the argument Glide is better than both. There is no dramatic separation between those three guys on a historical scale...
mastermind
Rest In Power Kobe
Yeah, he was 60s/70s DWade. None of that disagreed with what I said.
Godless Socialist CEO
Superstar
This thread is also a prime example of why ring culture is so silly
A Tribe Called Quest ™
Make Em Say Ughh ... Silk da Shocker
He couldn’t even dribble Lmaooo no he wouldn’t
A Tribe Called Quest ™
Make Em Say Ughh ... Silk da Shocker
nikkas in this thread putting Ray Allen over James Harden 
AlbertPullhoez
The Takeover
Magic, Isiah, Curry, Gary Payton. That's 4 off top right there
Wow fukking wow
Godless Socialist CEO
Superstar
You and the OP are not serious peopleI get that his career is almost over but it seems y’all have completely forgotten how good he was which isn’t surprising it is the Coli
stepbackj34spud
Top 75 All-Time
Off the top of my head: Nash, Harden, Iverson, Dirk, Westbrook all won without being considered the best player in the league. It doesnt mean anything.
You didnt even watch Clyde Drexler play. He wasnt better than Pierce at all, you clown.
Paul Pierce was the leading scoring on two teams that went to the finals and finals mvp.
You're foolish for thinking he wouldn't adjust his game for the times like every baller ever
murksiderock
Superstar
I wouldn't argue PG over Glide. George has always needed either an elite defensive team around him, or a superstar greater than himself, to win even one playoff series. He really isn't on the same level as any of the other three guys, his ceiling is significantly lower...
CP3 and Harden were just greater floor raisers than Glide. Paul had about a 12-year prime from 2007-19. I know you aren't arguing that in his prime he was surrounded by HOF talent, in a Western Conference, that was tougher than The West Prime Glide competed in. I know you aren't arguing that...
Harden's prime roughly coincides with his entire Houston run, 2012-21, and the only HOFers he played with were end-of-prime Dwight, and end-of-prime Paul. I know you aren't arguing that in his prime he was surrounded by HOF talent in a Western Conference that was tougher than The West Glide played in. I know that isn't your argument...
Harden carried two Houston squads with end-of-prime #2s to WCFs. To me that is as impressive a feat as Glide running off 3 WCFs and 2 Finals in a weaker West than CP3's and Harden's West...
Glide had a much shorter prime than both, only about 6 years (1987-93), and in his 6 years he played around 73.2 games/year, and led Portland to 53.7 wins/year, 0-2 Finals, 2-1 WCF. He was a 2x Top 5 MVP finalist, finishing runner-up in '92...
Prime Paul played around 68.6 games/year, and as a #1 in Nola and LA (51.1 wins/year), + #2 in Houston (59 wins/year), led his teams to 52.4 wins/year, 0-1 WCF as a #2. CP3 was a 4x Top 5 MVP finalist, finishing runner-up in '08...
Prime Harden played 74.7 games/year, 8 as a #1 in Houston (52.4 wins/year) and the last year of his prime, he was in MVP contention when he got hurt in Brooklyn as a #2 ('21 Nets won the equivalent of 55 games that year); led his teams to an average of 52.7 wins/year. Harden was 0-2 in the WCF but a 6x Top 5 MVP finalist, including of course winning it in '18 and a 3x runner-up...
Drexler won his ring post-prime with Hakeem as the best player on that team, otherwise he retires ringless. This would be like Harden or Paul winning a title now, the ring would obviously "count" but we know when these guys were in their prime they couldn't lead a championship run. Drexler was a great player, but you can easily make the argument Paul and Harden were better---->longer primes, more impactful, greater floor raisers, and neither one of them were surrounded by HOFers in their primes, these nikkas weren't playing on stacked rosters...
I could have easily included Westbrook in here too but I'm not positive I find him greater than Drexler...
murksiderock
Superstar
You the only nikka alive who thinks winning MVP means you have to be considered the best player in The League. Literally everybody else knows that isn't what it means, except you...
You're probably the only nikka in the world who thinks Pierce was better than Clyde, too
...