NZA
LOL
patrick chewing, breh?
NBA Rank top 10 Center's ever
- Thread starter Jplaya2023
- Start date
TrebleMan
Superstar
Shaq woulda dropped 80 on Russ.
Russ' sig move in 2k was a rebound
Cats are out of their mind if they think 6'9 220 lbs. is going to stop Shaq. That's like putting a small forward to guard Shaq next to the basket.
SpacelySprockets
Veteran
shaq is the goat center
1/2 Man 1/2 Hennessy
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Idk if I can endorse The Admiral being better than Ewing. I feel like Patrick was better
feelosofer
#ninergang
He wasn't though.
This a very good list, my only gripe is with Bill Walton shouldn't be there. I would put Zo' over him dude was an underrated scorer and one of the best defenders I've seen.
at Ewing being better that DRob.
Ace Danger
Pro
Switch shaq/hakeem with russell/wilt and we good...espn trollin out there
Supercoolmayo
Superstar
Where does DeAndre Jordan rank on the list?
I realize Russell was athletic and probably would have excelled in any era. But you put Kareem on those Celtics teams back then and they still win 11 rings too I believe. I've always called Bill one of the greatest and gave him his props but I wont ever put him over Kareem Shaq or Wilt when it comes to the rankings. Yeah he beat Wilt but Wilt got his and the list is best overall centers meaning who was the best player not the best winner. Which a lot of people get confused with Bill. But why don't we give the same props to someone like Sam Jones who got 10 rings with the Celtics too.
I think guys be sleeping on how good Walton was.
Yeah, he was injured literally his entire career. I get if you leave him off due to that.
But in those brief spurts of healthiness, he was clearly an all-time great. I'd certainly put him above Ewing and Mourning. If he had had a healthy career (I know, "if's"), we'd be arguing about whether he or Hakeem was better.
Walton was one of those guys that when he was in the game, he controlled the whole game on offense and defense. It's wasn't just about stats - every single play centered around whatever Walton was doing. Let's remember a few things.
From the middle of his junior year in high school to the middle of his senior year in college, he did not lose a basketball game.
Hippie fukker went 5 years of his life without losing a basketball game.
It wasn't just that he was the dominant force behind UCLA's ridiculous 88-game winning streak. He had an undefeated freshman season and 1.5 undefeated high school seasons lined up before that. Yeah, that's high school/college, not pros, but just shows what a dominant force he was. In his 2nd NCAA championship, he shot 21 for 22 and scored more than half of UCLA's points. Who the hell is shooting over 95% and scoring over half his team's points in an NCAA championship game ever again?
He was injured his first couple seasons, but then in 1977, his first full season in the league, he leads the NBA in rebounds and blocks. He was 2nd-team All-NBA behind only prime Kareem and ahead of Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, Artis Gilmore. Swept Kareem's Lakers (the #1 seed in the West) in the WCF and wins the NBA Championship over Julius Erving's favored 76ers, with Walton getting Finals MVP obviously. Walton had fukking 20 points, 22 boards, 7 assists and 8 blocks in the deciding game, and that was just a bit above his series averages. Erving called Walton "an inspiration" after the deciding game.
Then he comes in the next year, Portland starts off 50-10 and people are talking about them maybe being the greatest team ever (even though they only have ONE all-star besides Walton). The played like the Showtime Lakers, except with a center leading them, and Walton was being talked up as the best passing center ever while he's still leading in blocks and rebounds. But Walton breaks his foot and he's never the same. Even with the #1 seed and the NBA's best record, Portland without Walton gets rolled so bad that they only win 2 playoff games. Walton was still named NBA MVP, 1st-team All-NBA and 1st-team All-Defensive - ahead of prime Kareem, prime Moses, prime Erving, etc.
Guys who are just looking at the past and career numbers don't remember how in awe everyone was of how Walton played the game. He was like a 7' tall Magic who could also be Bill Russell on defense. He only had those 2 non-injured seasons to talk about in the pros, but for those 2 seasons, he looked like one of the greatest ever. And not many guys can say that.
Yeah, he was injured literally his entire career. I get if you leave him off due to that.
But in those brief spurts of healthiness, he was clearly an all-time great. I'd certainly put him above Ewing and Mourning. If he had had a healthy career (I know, "if's"), we'd be arguing about whether he or Hakeem was better.
Walton was one of those guys that when he was in the game, he controlled the whole game on offense and defense. It's wasn't just about stats - every single play centered around whatever Walton was doing. Let's remember a few things.
From the middle of his junior year in high school to the middle of his senior year in college, he did not lose a basketball game.
Hippie fukker went 5 years of his life without losing a basketball game.
It wasn't just that he was the dominant force behind UCLA's ridiculous 88-game winning streak. He had an undefeated freshman season and 1.5 undefeated high school seasons lined up before that. Yeah, that's high school/college, not pros, but just shows what a dominant force he was. In his 2nd NCAA championship, he shot 21 for 22 and scored more than half of UCLA's points. Who the hell is shooting over 95% and scoring over half his team's points in an NCAA championship game ever again?
He was injured his first couple seasons, but then in 1977, his first full season in the league, he leads the NBA in rebounds and blocks. He was 2nd-team All-NBA behind only prime Kareem and ahead of Moses Malone, Bob McAdoo, Artis Gilmore. Swept Kareem's Lakers (the #1 seed in the West) in the WCF and wins the NBA Championship over Julius Erving's favored 76ers, with Walton getting Finals MVP obviously. Walton had fukking 20 points, 22 boards, 7 assists and 8 blocks in the deciding game, and that was just a bit above his series averages. Erving called Walton "an inspiration" after the deciding game.
Then he comes in the next year, Portland starts off 50-10 and people are talking about them maybe being the greatest team ever (even though they only have ONE all-star besides Walton). The played like the Showtime Lakers, except with a center leading them, and Walton was being talked up as the best passing center ever while he's still leading in blocks and rebounds. But Walton breaks his foot and he's never the same. Even with the #1 seed and the NBA's best record, Portland without Walton gets rolled so bad that they only win 2 playoff games. Walton was still named NBA MVP, 1st-team All-NBA and 1st-team All-Defensive - ahead of prime Kareem, prime Moses, prime Erving, etc.
Guys who are just looking at the past and career numbers don't remember how in awe everyone was of how Walton played the game. He was like a 7' tall Magic who could also be Bill Russell on defense. He only had those 2 non-injured seasons to talk about in the pros, but for those 2 seasons, he looked like one of the greatest ever. And not many guys can say that.
Sam Jones doesn't give the same props because he wasn't the best player on the team. Sure, he was 2nd-team All-NBA for a number of years, but he was still clearly like Pippen to Jordan or Kobe to Shaq. Since when are we counting rings won as the 2nd-best player like they mean the same thing as rings won from the top?
If "ringz" is really a meaningful argument, then either the best player can determine who wins, or he can't. And if the best player can determine who wins, then who gives a fukk who the 2nd-best player is, right?
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Yeah, Walton would've been in the top 10 (hell, even top 5) all-time conversation if it weren't for all the injuries.
catskill247
All Star
Why doesn't Moses get top five love.
Other than parting the Red Sea, the man is a 3x MVP and world champ
Other than parting the Red Sea, the man is a 3x MVP and world champ
Portland won over 60% of their games with Walton and were sub .500 without him. Completely invaluable to them without even being a big scorer (though he could give you 20+).
Celtics only lost like 8 games with healthy Walton (74-8 with him to be exact, not including playoffs), dude made them a damn near GOAT team ('86 team is referred to as one of the best passing teams ever, the Walton team, one of the greatest teams ever etc) because he added an extra wrinkle as a great passing big. And he regularly only played 18-20 minutes a night. And that was after probably a dozen operations on his knees/ankles/feet. Dude was so good when he was healthy. Some of you guys don't like the 2-3 years > other centers' careers thing but it's true that his best was better than their best.
Also for Moses' lack of low post skills he still demanded the ball down there and made it work (had an okay hook, okay turnaround jumper etc) and odds are he was gonna get the rebound anyway if he missed. He was an alpha on a title team and pulled a sub-.500 Houston team to another Finals, which means quite a bit when considering who led their teams to what in the playoffs. Outplayed Kareem head-to-head both times they faced each other in the playoffs (both in '81 and in the '83 Finals; means he outplayed his main competition when it mattered). From '79 to '83 you could argue Moses was the best player in the league, and that's a pretty good window almost right on par with the guys in front of him. He's right where he should be.
I could see D-Rob over him because defensively he's one of the best 5 or so defensive players in NBA history and has one of the best individual seasons in NBA history (on top of his career accolades and impact in later years etc) but I think Moses has the edge in the playoffs. Karl Malone exposed Robinson's back to the basket game and Hakeem outplayed him at his peak (and if D-Rob wasn't a great post player why is Moses getting criticized for the same reason? It shouldn't be a detriment to Moses if you start comparing their skill sets).
Celtics only lost like 8 games with healthy Walton (74-8 with him to be exact, not including playoffs), dude made them a damn near GOAT team ('86 team is referred to as one of the best passing teams ever, the Walton team, one of the greatest teams ever etc) because he added an extra wrinkle as a great passing big. And he regularly only played 18-20 minutes a night. And that was after probably a dozen operations on his knees/ankles/feet. Dude was so good when he was healthy. Some of you guys don't like the 2-3 years > other centers' careers thing but it's true that his best was better than their best.
Also for Moses' lack of low post skills he still demanded the ball down there and made it work (had an okay hook, okay turnaround jumper etc) and odds are he was gonna get the rebound anyway if he missed. He was an alpha on a title team and pulled a sub-.500 Houston team to another Finals, which means quite a bit when considering who led their teams to what in the playoffs. Outplayed Kareem head-to-head both times they faced each other in the playoffs (both in '81 and in the '83 Finals; means he outplayed his main competition when it mattered). From '79 to '83 you could argue Moses was the best player in the league, and that's a pretty good window almost right on par with the guys in front of him. He's right where he should be.
I could see D-Rob over him because defensively he's one of the best 5 or so defensive players in NBA history and has one of the best individual seasons in NBA history (on top of his career accolades and impact in later years etc) but I think Moses has the edge in the playoffs. Karl Malone exposed Robinson's back to the basket game and Hakeem outplayed him at his peak (and if D-Rob wasn't a great post player why is Moses getting criticized for the same reason? It shouldn't be a detriment to Moses if you start comparing their skill sets).
But many give Pippen and cats like McHale and Worthy their props all the time .Sam Jones doesn't give the same props because he wasn't the best player on the team. Sure, he was 2nd-team All-NBA for a number of years, but he was still clearly like Pippen to Jordan or Kobe to Shaq. Since when are we counting rings won as the 2nd-best player like they mean the same thing as rings won from the top?
If "ringz" is really a meaningful argument, then either the best player can determine who wins, or he can't. And if the best player can determine who wins, then who gives a fukk who the 2nd-best player is, right?