Where's Manute? :o)
Posted on 08/31/2009 9:35:20 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
1. Wilt Chamberlain
2. Bill Russell
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4. George Mikan
5. Shaquille O’Neal
6. Hakeem Olajuwon
7. Moses Malone
8. David Robinson
9. Bill Walton
10. Patrick Ewing
Shaq? No. 5??? I guess they give credit for a fat mouth and a fat carcass to go with it.
22 comments here at the source.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/list/10_greatest_NBA_centers.html?c=y&viewAllComments=y
Pretty valid comments, I must say.
I'll save you the trouble. George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers invented the modern position of center.
Olajuwan in his prime vs Shaq in his prime? Hakeem would have made him look big, slow and foolish.
All great players.
Ewing the only man with no ring?
Go Spurs!!
ehhh..who cares
You gotta remember that Hakeem’s Rockets beat Shaq’s Magic 4-0 to win the 1995 NBA Finals...I was thrilled about it ‘cuz Clyde Drexler got his ring!
Agreed, Olajuwon was the best I have seen in my lifetime. I think he is top 3, along with Russell and Wilt.
Wilt was an amazing athlete, period. He was a fast 100M sprinter, and then after retiring from the NBA, ran SUPER-marathons (100 miles).
His scoring avg is legendery, both on and off the court.
After that, Kareem, Robinson, and Shaq should all be in there.
The list is fine but Bill Russell has to go first. He was a winner. That counts for me. Chamberlain was probably more skilled as was Jabbar but Bill Russell won all of those championships.
You’re right about Ewing...what I don’t understand is why he hasn’t been given a coaching job yet, esp. in New York. Did he leave the team on bad terms?
I remember that.
Because Robinson won the MVP that year. But Olajuwon won what really matters:
Championship ring.
1280 is the number I'm going with.
I wish we had more people in public life who were like David Robinson.
I think he’s on the staff of the Magic.
What, Shawn Bradley didn’t make the list, bogus list.
Yeah, I knew that, but I mistakenly forgot to say Head Coaching job...sorry, my mistake.
Tim Duncan often plays the post and possibly should replace Ewing in the list.
Or Eric Dampier? LOL
How about Magic Johnson...he won an NBA Title playing center! That was a GREAT game, IMO (& series, too, tho I was rooting for Dr. J).
I think he was drafted number 3 by the sixers.
But I think his nome de plume is "the great white joke"
Where's Manute? :o)
Neither did Manute Bol. I call shenanigans!
My dad says he didn't hustle in the 4th quarter!!!!
But has anyone ever seen George Mikan play? .... btw, thanks for the thread. I can understand it. Too many threads have these stupid teaser titles that tell you nothing but have those irritating “ .........” at the end of them.
And no Georghe Murasan, either.
Are you the kid in the cockpit of the first Airplane! movie?
I second that. I’m from San Antonio. I’ve closely followed Robinson’s career since he was in the Navy.
If this was a ranking on the classiest centers..... David Robinson would rank #1, #2 and #3.
He was an NBA superstar. On and off the court.
Well I do like movies about gladiators.
Oldtimers have. Bud Grant, legendary Vikings coach, was one of his teammates for a time. He made the 50th anniversary all-time list and fourth is certainly not too low a position for him to occupy here. In his day, he was as dominant as Shaq or Olajuwon in theirs.
InterceptPoint wrote:
The list is fine but Bill Russell has to go first. He was a winner. That counts for me. Chamberlain was probably more skilled as was Jabbar but Bill Russell won all of those championships.
..... Absolutely agree. Chamberlain had all the stratospheric scoring stats and press coverage, but the basic idea behind basketball is to WIN THE GAME. Russell ultimately had to rent an entire vault to store all his championship rings - 11 titles in 13 seasons. On that basis you MUST go with Russell as No. 1.
I got to meet George Mikan shortly before he died. What a gentleman, what an athlete. Too bad that he lived in the era before massive TV contracts and free agency allowed the players to become as rich as kings.
I've seen him on video and based on what I saw he doesn't belong on the list. Not nearly as athletic at many if not most of the current centers. Plus the competition was nothing like it is today. But maybe a "real old timer" can set us straight. He was, however, the NBA's first really dominant player. That does go for something.
Olajuwon is supposedly a good guy as well.
I hadn’t heard of him either. But according to wikipedia, he almost won a Congressional seat as a Republican during the 50s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mikan
“Olajuwan in his prime vs Shaq in his prime? Hakeem would have made him look big, slow and foolish.”
We had that matchup in the 1995 NBA finals, and young Shaq played almost as well as Olajuwan at his peak. The rest of the Orlando Magic stunk. On the whole I’d agree that Olajuwan was a bit better player than Shaq.
Which makes the 1983 NCAA championship of NC State over Houston (featuring Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler) all the more miraculous.
I have to make a comment about Bill Walton who I once met at a trade show. He was so much fun to watch. No center before or since had his skill at initiating the fast break. On the defensive board he could have the ball out of his hands before his feet hit the ground with a pass to a guard racing up the court . It was an amazing thing to watch. No center that I’m aware of has come close to matching his ability in this area.
ML/NJ
I consider Hakeem to be a class act too, most definitely (& Clyde, also!).
“If this was a ranking on the classiest centers..... David Robinson would rank #1, #2 and #3.”
David Robinson was a fine basketball player, but without Tim Duncan he would never have won an NBA championship. I’d give Duncan his place on this list. Perhaps Robinson deserves Ewing’s spot.
And of course William F. Russell should rank first. It’s all about winning!
I saw Armand Gillian play and I thought he should go number one as he rebounded and scored without plays being run for him.
LOL, I was very wrong.
I don't think Armand did anything as a pro.
That’s correct. Mikan changed the game and made the modern game possible. For him to put up the numbers he did before the shot clock and with the ‘key’ actually shaped like a key, is really something.
That was an amazing playoff series and I'm not the greatest basket ball fan. Hakeem was probably right at his peak versus Shaq being a rugged (and huge) youngster in the league. Hakeem flat out smarted Shaq one-on-one and was a lot better team player to boot.
Clyde the Glide came home to show his stuff big time. He was at the end of his career and gave it everything - Nothing held back.
There would be no San Antonio Spurs today without the Admiral.
His selfless move to allow Timmy the lead position saved the Spurs. His willingness to take less salary when he could have jumped ship and earned more saved the Spurs.
Overrated??? Not in a million years.
I wish the NBA would put the Rockets / Magic Finals series on DVD. Houston had a fantastic playoff run that season.
Did you ever watch Wilt when he was with the Lakers? Coach Sharman let Wilt focus on defense, and when Wilt pulled down a rebound (and he got around 18 per game) he would fire the basketball down court to a speeding West, Goodrich, or Hairston. He actually threw it the way a normal sized person throws a softball, and he threw strikes!
One of the great unanswered questions of life is what would Wilt and Russell have done had they switched teams.
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