I didn't see the part in the OP about best player in their prime even if it wasn't with the Blazers, and that got me to thinking about the Walton-Sabonis comparison.
Sabonis never really had a prime. Injuries robbed him of it. And still an all-time great.
Walton was the greatest fundamental C I ever watched. Offense was the weak point of his game and he went something like 21-of-22 from the field in a Final Four game.
Sabonis was a mountain of a man as a teenager, great size for a C even when the Cs were true behemoths. He had the agility of a 3, and passed like some of the best PGs. If you think Karl Malone was intimidating filling the lane on the break, Sabonis before the injuries was twice that.
I think, had neither had major injuries and we might have gotten to see Walton v Sabonis in the Olympics, people still would be talking about it. I come back to this, though: As great as Walton was, Sabonis was everything and an even better athlete. Walton could outmuscle Kareem. He couldn't do that to a healthy, 25-year-old Sabonis. Sabonis brought all the skill and type of play Walton did, but he just was a little bit better in most phases and more athletic. I think Walton would be worked to the max on defense trying to contain Sabonis, and I'm not sure that would happen on the other end of the floor.
