why is carmelo the low bar when it should be Dame?
Penny Hardaway > Tmac and he ain’t on the list either
Melo >>> Mac, but along with Vince, Ginobili, Tony Parker, Dwight, they’re all in the same range for different reasons, and all had a way better claim than Dame Lillard.
Dwight: 8x All-Star, 8x All-NBA, 3x DPOY, MVP runner-up, 19,000 career points with huge rebound/block #'s, was best player on a Finals team
McGrady: 7x All-Star, 7x All-NBA, 2x scoring champ, 18,000 career points, never made it out of the 1st round as the best player
Carmelo: 10x All-Star, 6x All-NBA, 1x scoring champ, 28,000 career points, was best player on WCF team
Lilliard: 6x All-Star, 6x All-NBA, 17,000 career points, was best player on WCF team, is just 31 and still in his prime adding to all of those
Parker: 6x All-Star, 4x All-NBA, 19,000 career points, #2 on multiple title teams
Vince: 8x All-Star, 2x All-NBA, 25,000 career points, was best player on an ECSF team
Penny: 4x All-Star, 3x All-NBA, 10,000 career points, was a #2 on a Finals team
Ginobli: 2x All-Star, 2x All-NBA, 14,000 career points, was always just supporting cast
No bias I think Dwight has the best claim out of all of those guys, with McGrady, Carmelo, and Dame all being pretty even close behind assuming that Dame has at least 2-3 good years left.
TP, Vince, Penny, and Ginobli are definitely a cut below, if nothing else because none of them have ever been regular All-NBA guys and if you weren't consistently top-6 at your position at any point in your career, why should you be considered top-75 in the entire NBA? Vince had hype and longevity but didn't have an impressive run at the top either regular season or playoffs. Penny's flash was way too short. And TP/Ginobli don't get extra credit just cause they were able to play with Duncan and Pop for 15 years.
