The Unofficial Pittsburgh Pirates Message Board

I think Steph Curry has made it into the top 10 of all time. Four titles and changing the way the game is played.

My top 10

1. Jordan
2. Russell
3. Kareem
4. LeBron
5. Magic
6. Bird
7. Wilt
8. Curry
9. Duncan
10. West

Or Oscar. Or The Logo. Or The Big O. I dunno. But I'll go with the Bill Simmons line that Oscar was traded, at the peak of his career, while the Lakers would NEVER have traded West. For anything.

I also don't know what to do with Durant. I don't watch as much NBA as I used to, but Durant is an effortless scorer and in many ways he's the template for where the NBA wants to go from here on out. Again, not a huge NBA watcher, but I've never seen him take over a game like a Bird or a Jordan, or even a Chris Paul or James Harden. I know lots of people think he's a top 15 type player, but I just don't see it.

Only omission I see and maybe it's not is Oscar. He always seems to be overlooked.

For the purposes of making a top 10 list, I had to pick one ahead of the other. Robertson is my #11. And yeah, they're both all timers, so we're splitting hairs. Interesting thing, they both played the exact same years in the NBA, from the 60-61 season to 73-74. As great as the pair were, between the two of them, they won only a single season MVP (O in his triple-double year.) Oscar started out better -- his first four years were as good as any player's ever -- but after that West, was stronger. After Robertson was traded, he was a 17 ppg scorer his last four years, while West scored 20 as a 35-year old. One idiosyncratic way, for me, for considering one's greatness, is that I have a friend who really hates stats. Yet he knows that Oscar went over 30+ ppg six times in his career.

Some players are perfect for their era, and as Celts fan, seeing Draymond Green as a small-ball 5 was particularly dispiriting this year. But West is a great example of a guy who played at an awful time for him. West scored 25,000 without benefit of the three point line. After Maravich, West is probably the player who would have most benefited from the 3-point shot. (As I understand it, the Lakers were the first team to put down logos on the floor other than at the center circle, just so announcers could say that West had hit a shot from the logo.) While West didn't have the athleticisim of Robertson, because, you know, who did, I just read that he did have a 71" wing span (for a guy who is 6'3") and he made the all-defensive team 5 times. You know, just about every year that award was in existence during his playing career. He scored 25,000 points all the while guarding the other team's best wing player.

I can live with choosing West over Robertson.

West is basketball's Stan Musial.