Shaq was talking this week about the best to never win a ring (I don't have the link). He made a good case for Allen Iverson. AI was for sure one of the greatest to never win a ring, but I don't think he was the greatest. Here are some options: Dominique Wilkins Charles Barkley Karl Malone John Stockton George Gervin Tracy McGrady Reggie Miller James Harden Chris Paul Russell Westbrook (hope he's off this list soon) Patrick Ewing Steve Nash But, my choice is Elgin Baylor. 8 NBA Finals 10x All NBA 11 all star games Hall of Fame Career averages: 27.4 / 13.5 / 4.3 Three seasons averaged over 34ppg Best season: 38.3 / 18.6 / 4.6 Best NBA Finals series 1962 7 game series vs. C Bags: averaged 40 / 18 Best NBA Finals game: 61 points / 22 rebounds! 25 forty point games
Yep, Baylor would be my choice, followed by Karl Malone. Lot's of really good players who never win a single ring. Too bad more of them are not from Boston!!!!
Yeah really, no disrespect, only because Elgin is unquestionably the winner. Everyone else fighting for second. This one of Jeanie's mood moments when she doesn't feel like always being the classy gal she is.
Feel for all those guys except: CP0 Hardcan Wilkins and McGrady come to mind more then the others. I watched both of them play, how they affected the game with their style of play and the amazing athletes that they were. Genuinely good guys, always smiling and just loved to ball. Baylor was great but I didn't get to watch him play so I don't have that same connection. Lakers are my favorite team but I have some players in my top 10 that aren't Lakers because I love ball more then our team in general.
Yeah, I don't remember watching him play. Just YouTube vids now. I do have vague memories thinking of him as an 'old guy' and not as cool as Wilt, Jerry and Gail. In my defense, albeit a weak one, I was probably a dumb-a** 8 or 9 year-old around then. My dad definitely saw him play in his LA days. Elgin and Kobe are still probably his two all-time favorite Lakers.
I refuse to ever count Malone. That b******* where he would drive and stick his leg out like he was doing a karate kick was so f***ing infuriating. He may have the stats and longevity but I'd take Barkley over him any day of the week
I don't think so. I don't know if players voted on it, or when that practice even began. Maybe management or the NBA decided. I'm guessing the players didn't vote because even though he only played 9 games that season, the plyers definitely would have included him. Or maybe he felt he didn't deserve it. Now I feel like an idiot because I have his biography Hang Time and never finished it. I'll check and get back.
I don’t feel like I can speak on Baylor just because he was way before my time. Of the ones remaining, I just remember AI and Nash being insanely hard to defend. They controlled a game like few others if their time on the offensive end. They just didn’t have the defensive impact to be the greatest of the greats. Stockton was pretty damn great too. Thats not an answer exactly, but it’s what I got
I was around 4 years old when I started watching the Lakers, first year they moved to LA but I was all about Jerry West. I was star struck and wanted to be that guy in the worst way. It was like Baylor did not even exist to me. I kick myself for that now but I watched Baylor for years and just didn't care about him. I suck but I was young, dumb and full of ....... oh wait, different story. I'll just stick to young and dumb. But, at least I had Jerry and rode that dude through his whole career, then Wilt, Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Kobe, Shaq and now Lebron, Davis and the hit list will keep on going!! Being a Lakers fan is the best!!
Didn’t know that, but that aligns with the following quote from his bio Hang Time on p. 294: “The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers win thirty-three consecutive games, a record that still stands, and I doubt will ever be broken. Jerry and Wilt—and Jim McMillan—finally accomplish what eluded me for thirteen years, winning an NBA championship by beating the Knicks easily. To this day, Jerry says his biggest regret is that he couldn’t share that championship with me.” Looks like he didn’t get a ring or he would have said something.
Baylor was replaced by Jim McMillian. He was our third leading scorer that season. He was actually a really good player, it felt like when he got into the starting rotation, the team just clicked on. We went on that 33 game win streak and it was hard not to notice how important every single player was. I was honestly more appreciative of McMillian than I had been of Baylor, but we won with him. If Baylor would have been a major contributor to this team the year they won it all, I would have ended out realizing how great he was first hand. Before this season, I was just a Jerry West fan, I liked Wilt and Gail but they were a long way from Jerry in my mind. Kids!!!
It's Stockton and, IMO, it's not really a discussion. He is, by most accounts, a top 5 PG of all time, and #2 for me. He was the engine for all those Jazz teams for nearly two decades, while being an ironman, a great defender and a sharpshooter that could score. Also, he was all class off the court (and a nasty nasty competitor on it), unlike Karl.
i hated stockton with the fire of a thousand suns. in part because he was so damn good. pesky defender, nearly perfect on the offensive end. honestly, a lot of similarity to chris paul, whom i have neck and neck with him in terms of second-best pgs ever (after magic). i was a huge nique fan as a kid. him and magic were my favorites when i first started watching ball with my dad in the mid/late 80s. had nique posters and such. some of his hawks teams were really good, too, just ran into really good C Bags and bucks and pistons teams.
Dang we did really just become best friends...he was the human highlight reel before Vince. Always pulled for the Hawks because of him, they had spud and Kevin Willis.
