The Athletic's NBA 75 countdown is down to basketball's Mt. Rushmore

[GOATcards]

Link to the list of articles for each player which are themselves paywalled. Counting down from the top 25 we have:

25. Stockton
24. Giannis
23. Baylor
22. Chuck
21. Dirk
20. Admiral
19. Doctor J
18. Moses
17. Garnett
16. Karl
15. Steph
14. Jerry
13. Durant
12. Oscar
11. Hakeem
10. Kobe
9. Tim
8. Shaq
7. Larry
6. Wilt
5. Magic

Coming in at Number Four . . .

Bill Russell

The NBA reddit thread on the selection is here. Reading the comments (the top one has links to extensive video footage of the man in action), my attention is grabbed by this one discussing a player who until now I knew nothing about, Maurice Stokes, who suffered an early career-ending head injury/paralysis, and whose continued presence in the NBA, on Oscar's team, would (it appears) very likely have changed the 1960s NBA landscape. I'll let Tallboy or whomever comment on that comment.

[letsgocapitals]

The Athletic is woke as F. So I'll predict Lebron at #1.

[rifleman69]

Kareem has to be #3, then it's Jordan and Lebron in whatever order you want to do.

*yawn*

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by letsgocapitals

The Athletic is woke as F. So I'll predict Lebron at #1.

If that were the case Kobe would be higher than 10.

[Zedlaw]

Robertson did have an extended run with a hall of fame power forward in Jerry Lucas

[the mesiah]

Gervin at 42, .I like it

[letsgocapitals]

Originally Posted by tjforce

If that were the case Kobe would be higher than 10.

True. And Duncan would be lower. And Stockton would be at 1001. LOL.

[davemri]

Giannis will be top 5 when he retires

[gomiamigo]

Don't see Giannis passing Wilt, MJ, Lebron, Kareem, Duncan, Magic in some order.

[GOATcards]

#3: Kareem

Top comment: "Most impressive Kareem fact: he could, in fact, drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes"

[edit: as for dragging Wilt up and down the floor, someone in the thread posted this video which includes Wilt blocking Kareem skyhooks multiple times, good lord well, I guess rats is right, Wilt is the GOAT. It's a wonder that Russell ever got past him. ]

[rats60]

Originally Posted by GOATcards

#3: Kareem

Top comment: "Most impressive Kareem fact: he could, in fact, drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes"

[edit: as for dragging Wilt up and down the floor, someone in the thread posted this video which includes Wilt blocking Kareem skyhooks multiple times, good lord well, I guess rats is right, Wilt is the GOAT. It's a wonder that Russell ever got past him. ]

Lol. That is why Walton's Blazers swept Kareem's Lakers in the 1977 Playoffs. Kareem is the most overrated player of all time. That Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain- are ranked behind him, makes this list worthless.

As far as Russell, having 7 or 8 Hall of Famers on your team makes it easy to get by anyone.

BTW, Wilt had 5 blocks on Kareem in that game, 2 on the same possession.

[GOATcards]

Originally Posted by rats60

As far as Russell, having 7 or 8 Hall of Famers on your team makes it easy to get by anyone.

word in the reddit forum is that Wilt said that Russell is the GOAT. Also, the pumping of Russell's case involves the argument that he made his teammates better, in which case it could be that he helped to make a number of merely great teammates into HOFers.

[mrb842]

these things as they all do over sample the modern era. To be a top 20 player you have to carry a team to a title and durant never did. Tim benefited from 2 great players in manu/parker and of course robinson and shouldn't be top 15. I'd take take hakeem and malone over him and shaq.

[WillC]

I have always been fascinated by Maurice Stokes’ story. His legacy is one of the ultimate “what ifs”. He was putting up dominant stats and performances before his injury and subsequent disability. Could he have been on the same level as Elgin Baylor or Oscar Robertson? Quite possibly.

[Duncancollector]

Originally Posted by mrb842

these things as they all do over sample the modern era. To be a top 20 player you have to carry a team to a title and durant never did. Tim benefited from 2 great players in manu/parker and of course robinson and shouldn't be top 15. I'd take take hakeem and malone over him and shaq.

Ridiculous. And lebron should not be even top 50 and MJ not top 100.
Duncan was a leader and took a step back to help the team while letting parker and Manu developing to great players. And David Robinson was still good but he was far behind his prime. And even him, he took a step back to give Duncan the chance to be the leader.

[hairyangryfella]

Originally Posted by letsgocapitals

The Athletic is woke as F. So I'll predict Lebron at #1.

So true. When I saw The Athletic in the heading I knew it would be a potential laugh.

At this point in time, KD is too high for me.
There was always a conversation about who was better out of KG and TD, yet KG is only 17th?

[GOATcards]

Bron-Bron at #2

[bpc3qh]

Originally Posted by mrb842

these things as they all do over sample the modern era. To be a top 20 player you have to carry a team to a title and durant never did. Tim benefited from 2 great players in manu/parker and of course robinson and shouldn't be top 15. I'd take take hakeem and malone over him and shaq.

Malone? Seriously? What possible argument is there for putting Malone over TD, or KG, or Shaq, or Hakeem, or really any of the guys who managed to actually win?

[ljandkg]

At least Pippen is not in the top 25

[Randallk34]

Yay!!! lets argue over made up lists.

[GOATcards]

Originally Posted by bpc3qh

Malone? Seriously? What possible argument is there for putting Malone over TD, or KG, or Shaq, or Hakeem, or really any of the guys who managed to actually win?

I assumed the reference is to Moses

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