Sometimes I'm serious.
NBA LISTS
NBA PRESENT DAY FAVORITES TO WATCH:
1. Curry
2. LeBron
3. Jordan
4. Delly
5. Crawford
6. Griffin
7. Davis
8. Durant
9. Leonard
10. Rose- If and when he plays his best
Honorable mentions: Cousins, Dragic, Kyrie, Huertas, Wall, Porzingas, Towns, Okafor, Parker, Duncan, Paul, Drummond, George, Greek Freak, Waiters
MY ALL-TIME NBA FAVORITES TO WATCH:
1.Magic Johnson- My first favorite player. Remains my favorite for his passing, leading fast breaks, and goofy smiles alone.
2. Michael Jordan- I always rooted against him, but I had to watch if and when I could.
3. Jason Williams/aka White Chocolate- Especially when he was with The Kings. He tried more crazy passes in games than anyone else I've ever seen. My game was an effort to be J Will with more of a Raef Lafrentz level of finesse!
4. Steph Curry- Right now. Might move up higher.
5. Iverson- The best 6 foot or under player ever. Maybe the best handles of all time. Afraid of no one.
6. Rodman- Loved to watch him on and off the court- except when he was "acting." Model rebounder, superb defender, interesting to see when he shot.
7. Vince Carter- Especially in his Raptors days. I never knew when he would throw down something that looked like it was from a video game.
8. LeBron- Fun to watch with true blue fans. LeBron's a bigger presence when sitting out a game than anyone else on his team when they play the actual game. That's a guy to watch.
9. D. Rose- When he was healthy and hungry it was a joy to see people watching him play in Chicago. In 2017 he's only fun to watch in brief spurts.
10. Ben Wallace- Fun to watch him outmuscle everyone, then cough the ball up like it was poison. Poor shooter, terrible dribbler, but one of the greatest rebounders and defenders.
Honorable mentions: Penny Hardaway (when he was healthy with the Magic), Derrick Coleman (what could have been factor), Rasheed Wallace (psycho who might lose it all at any moment factor- plus a pretty good player), Reggie Miller (clutch/distance shooting and trash talking even with fans sometimes) Dominique Wilkins (a bit past his prime when I started watching him, but he wasn't called a highlight reel for nothing), Artest/Meta World Peace (would lose it on occasion factor, plus a great defender) Gary Payton (talking trash and backing up a lot of it most of the time factor), Starbury (my definition of a me first player, possibly only rivaled by Ricky Davis), Steve Francis (hops, handles, and a lot of razzle dazzle), Hakeem- the greatest other than Jordan in the 90's, D. Jordan- he can throw down with authority, Delly- heart, not always the skills, Crawford- crossovers and flash
Iceman, Maravich, Earl the Pearl. Dr. J- All before my time, but seemed to have more "flavor" to their game than others in their era.
ALL-TIME NBA GREATS
My top five were easy. I had to think a lot more about the following spots.
1. Michael Jordan
2. Bill Russell
3. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5. Magic Johnson
I think these are the only guys who could have led a supporting cast of virtual nobodies to win an NBA Championship. These guys were that incredible.
Next five: The Big O., LeBron, Hakeem, Kobe, Duncan- I think someone could place one or a few of these guys in their all-time top 5, but those are some pretty big names to knock off my top five list.
Not far off- These guys could be considered top ten all-time players by many. I don't think someone would be crazy for putting them in their top ten, but they don't quite make mine
Curry- only needs a bit longer of a legacy to crack into the top 10, Shaq- he was unstoppable at his best, Durant- needs a championship, Iverson- never had a realistic chance of winning a ring, Elgin Baylor- beefy stats but doesn't get a ton of credit from our generation, Dr. J.- some of his best years might have been before he was even in the NBA
I wouldn't pick them for a top ten, but I know others might: Moses or Karl Malone, Stockton, Bird, Pistol Pete, Rick Barry, Ewing, Barkley, Isaiah Thomas (Indiana or Michigan only)
BIZARRE NBA MVP SELECTIONS
1.1972-73- Dave Cowens over Kareem? Cowens was a hustler. He played for a tough Celtics team. No one in their right mind ever thought Cowens was more valuable than Kareem.
2. Barkley and Karl Malone winning MVP's instead of in his prime 1990's Jordan. These were ways to give two great players credit for how great they were while everyone in the ceremony must have been coughing "BULLSHIT" at the same time.
3. Steve Nash- TWICE? I liked Nash. But he was never the best in the NBA. I don't recall him ever even sniffing the NBA Finals. I would have selected almost everyone on the All NBA first and second teams in those years ahead of Nash for MVP.
4. Larry Bird- Three in a row in the 80's. I admit that I saw Bird past his prime. But I've seen the highlight reels and the stats. I don't think Bird was ever the best in the league. I think he was the most valuable white guy on a great team.
5. Garnett or Dirk in the 2000's- Neither of these were terrible choices. It's just hard to believe Dirk and KG beat out guys who I always thought were better like Kobe, Duncan, LeBron, Shaq, Iverson, Wade or even players I thought were more talented like McGrady.
