The leagues 75th anniversary in 2 years

[julius]

At the 1997 NBA all star game, they had the top 50 players.

When the 2022 All Star Game happens, it will have been 25 years, should they add 25 to it?

And if so, who?

I'm including players who are currently player (even ones I dislike). This isn't my "FIGHT ME!" list, it's just 25 players Im thinking of off the top of my head. I'm not counting those who should've been added (like Dominique and Bob MacAdoo). Also, not in any order

1. Kobe
2. LeBron
   
3. Duncan
4. Dirk
5. Harden
6. Westbrook
7. Durant
8. Curry
9. Giannis
10. Wade
11. Garnett
12. Iverson
13. Kawhi Leonard
14. Damian Lillard
15. Paul Pierce
16. Jason Kidd
17. Ray Allen
18. Reggie Miller
19. Pau Gasol
20. Tracey McGrady
21. Vince Carter
22. Carmelo Anthony
23. Chris Webber
24. Steve Nash
25. Kyrie Irving
    

I'm sure I've forgotten someone, but your mileage may vary.

 

[julius]

Probably could make an argument to include Klay Thompson too, maybe over Ray Allen?

 

[Stevenson]

Klay overrated. He's a glorified CJ. CJ would be Klay on that Warrior team.

 

[julius]

Klay overrated. He's a glorified CJ. CJ would be Klay on that Warrior team.

I can buy that argument, that's probably why I didn't include him initially.

 

[Minstrel]

Klay overrated. He's a glorified CJ. CJ would be Klay on that Warrior team.

If CJ were a good defensive player who could guard 1-3, sure. That's kind of the reason CJ isn't Portland's Klay Thompson and fits so poorly with Lillard.

 

[Minstrel]

At the 1997 NBA all star game, they had the top 50 players.

When the 2022 All Star Game happens, it will have been 25 years, should they add 25 to it?

And if so, who?

I'm including players who are currently player (even ones I dislike). This isn't my "FIGHT ME!" list, it's just 25 players Im thinking of off the top of my head. I'm not counting those who should've been added (like Dominique and Bob MacAdoo). Also, not in any order

1. Kobe
2. LeBron
   
3. Duncan
4. Dirk
5. Harden
6. Westbrook
7. Durant
8. Curry
9. Giannis
10. Wade
11. Garnett
12. Iverson
13. Kawhi Leonard
14. Damian Lillard
15. Paul Pierce
16. Jason Kidd
17. Ray Allen
18. Reggie Miller
19. Pau Gasol
20. Tracey McGrady
21. Vince Carter
22. Carmelo Anthony
23. Chris Webber
24. Steve Nash
25. Kyrie Irving

I'm sure I've forgotten someone, but your mileage may vary.

Not a bad list. I'd definitely include Chris Paul, at the expense of Kyrie Irving.

 

[julius]

Not a bad list. I'd definitely include Chris Paul, at the expense of Kyrie Irving.

I knew I would forget someone that is obvious, and he was one of the ones that is obvious. Good catch.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

good list, I'll add these as honorable mentions because I'm not sure they would actually bump anyone from your list.
Yao Ming
Chris Paul (minstrel mentioned him)
Vince Carter
Anthony Davis(eh... I'm not feeling that one)
Tony Parker
Rasheed Wallace
Shaquille O'Neal (was he on the original one?)

 

[Minstrel]

good list, I'll add these as honorable mentions because I'm not sure they would actually bump anyone from your list.
Yao Ming
Chris Paul (minstrel mentioned him)
Vince Carter
Anthony Davis(eh... I'm not feeling that one)
Tony Parker
Rasheed Wallace
Shaquille O'Neal (was he on the original one?)

Shaq was on the 50 greatest, yeah. And julius already listed Carter.

Anthony Davis hasn't done enough yet, though I'd rather have him as a talent than, say, Allen Iverson.

I'd add Rajon Rondo, Manu Ginobili and Baron Davis to the honorable mentions.

 

[julius]

good list, I'll add these as honorable mentions because I'm not sure they would actually bump anyone from your list.
Yao Ming
Chris Paul (minstrel mentioned him)
Vince Carter
Anthony Davis(eh... I'm not feeling that one)
Tony Parker
Rasheed Wallace
Shaquille O'Neal (was he on the original one?)

Shaq was. And my list included Carter.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Shaq was. And my list included Carter.

Yes, you did, my bad. I couldn't remember with Shaq, 1997 was before he had won anything really, I think he had one finals appearance at that point. I was like 12 so that's my excuse for not remembering lol.

 

[hoopsjock]

Yes, you did, my bad. I couldn't remember with Shaq, 1997 was before he had won anything really, I think he had one finals appearance at that point. I was like 12 so that's my excuse for not remembering lol.

Yeah, that was controversial at the time that he made it basically on potential career versus earning a spot. If you had it in like 2008 though that would be like whether or not to include LeBron even though he has only played 5 seasons.

 

[Hoopguru]

Probably could make an argument to include Klay Thompson too, maybe over Ray Allen?

I would agree with that switch, Klay was/is an unbelievable defender.

 

[hoopsjock]

At the 1997 NBA all star game, they had the top 50 players.

When the 2022 All Star Game happens, it will have been 25 years, should they add 25 to it?

And if so, who?

I'm including players who are currently player (even ones I dislike). This isn't my "FIGHT ME!" list, it's just 25 players Im thinking of off the top of my head. I'm not counting those who should've been added (like Dominique and Bob MacAdoo). Also, not in any order

1. Kobe
2. LeBron
   
3. Duncan
4. Dirk
5. Harden
6. Westbrook
7. Durant
8. Curry
9. Giannis
10. Wade
11. Garnett
12. Iverson
13. Kawhi Leonard
14. Damian Lillard
15. Paul Pierce
16. Jason Kidd
17. Ray Allen
18. Reggie Miller
19. Pau Gasol
20. Tracey McGrady
21. Vince Carter
22. Carmelo Anthony
23. Chris Webber
24. Steve Nash
25. Kyrie Irving

I'm sure I've forgotten someone, but your mileage may vary.

Just curious why you are choosing not to include players like McAdoo and Wilkins? In my opinion adding 25 players doesn't mean it should only be players from the last 25 years if someone prior to that is more deserving.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Just curious why you are choosing not to include players like McAdoo and Wilkins? In my opinion adding 25 players doesn't mean it should only be players from the last 25 years if someone prior to that is more deserving.

I took it to mean basically top 25 since then. I think that's kind of what he was going for.

 

[hoopsjock]

I took it to mean basically top 25 since then. I think that's kind of what he was going for.

I get that but if it's the 75 greatest players in NBA history I think we should include players like Dominique who are better than a lot of people on that new list. Again, just my opinion.

 

[julius]

I didn't include them because they weren't in the original 50, and I wanted to just include players that had their playing careers (or the bulk of them) after 1997.

it's why I said "I'm not including players that SHOULD have been included", because that's not what I was talking about.

 

[hoopsjock]

In my opinion

Correcting 2 Wrongs from the Original List
Dominque Wilkins
Bob McAdoo

But since we're limiting it to only players who played after the list was made

Inarguable Locks
1) LeBron James
2) Dirk Nowitzki
3) Kobe Bryant
4) Tim Duncan
5) Stephen Curry
6) Kevin Garnett
7) Allen Iverson
8) Dwyane Wade
9) Jason Kidd
10) Kevin Durant

Comfortably In
11) Steve Nash
12) Reggie Miller

Probably In
13) Ray Allen
14) Paul Pierce
15) Russell Westbrook
16) Chris Paul
17) James Harden
18) Giannis Antetokounmpo
19) Kawhi Leonard
20) Pau Gasol
21) Gary Payton

Final Four (definitely debatable)
22) Vince Carter
23) Tracy McGrady
24) Alonzo Mourning
25) Chris Webber


Man the last few were tough. I probably missed someone obvious too but I didn't see Gary Payton or Alonzo Mourning brought up elsewhere. I think both are probably deserving.

 

[Minstrel]

I wasn't sure whether to count Payton or not (whether he'd be part of the "post-1997 contingent" or whether he'd be "correcting past misses")--I do think he belongs. I'd also say Chris Paul is an inarguable lock--his career has been incredibly productive alongside being a tremendous defender.

 

[hoopsjock]

I wasn't sure whether to count Payton or not (whether he'd be part of the "post-1997 contingent" or whether he'd be "correcting past misses")--I do think he belongs. I'd also say Chris Paul is an inarguable lock--his career has been incredibly productive alongside being a tremendous defender.

Gary Payton was drafted 3 years after Reggie Miller and he's on your list though.

 

[Minstrel]

Gary Payton was drafted 3 years after Reggie Miller and he's on your list though.

I actually didn't notice Miller on julius' list haha. Or my eye skimmed over him. I'm surprised he wasn't in the original top-50. I assumed he was.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

How would the list change if analyzed by traditional position?

 

[Minstrel]

How would the list change if analyzed by traditional position?

How do you mean? Like if we were looking at players the way people did in 1997?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

How do you mean? Like if we were looking at players the way people did in 1997?

I worded my musing poorly. What if instead of a blanket "50 greatest" (in '97) or the 75 greatest in 22, the lists were the 10 (or 15) greatest by position? Essentially like "All NBA" teams, but 10 (or 15) of them, and looking at the entirety of NBA history.

 

[hoopsjock]

I worded my musing poorly. What if instead of a blanket "50 greatest" (in '97) or the 75 greatest in 22, the lists were the 10 (or 15) greatest by position? Essentially like "All NBA" teams, but 10 (or 15) of them, and looking at the entirety of NBA history.

Whoa! It's hard enough narrowing it down to 75 let alone categorizing them by 1st through 15th All-NBA style teams! I can't imagine how painstaking that process would be even if it is a good idea.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Whoa! It's hard enough narrowing it down to 75 let alone categorizing them by 1st through 15th All-NBA style teams! I can't imagine how painstaking that process would be even if it is a good idea.

Luckily we'll all have way more time on our hands soon...

 

[Minstrel]

I worded my musing poorly. What if instead of a blanket "50 greatest" (in '97) or the 75 greatest in 22, the lists were the 10 (or 15) greatest by position? Essentially like "All NBA" teams, but 10 (or 15) of them, and looking at the entirety of NBA history.

Hmm, interesting. Some players' positions have become more fluid of late--how strict is positional determination? Can one put Draymond, Giannis or Davis at the 4 or 5, or are they strictly 4s even if they upsize to 5s in various lineups?

 

[barfo]

How many people have been on an NBA roster since the league was started?
I think we should rank-order them all.

barfo

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Whoa! It's hard enough narrowing it down to 75 let alone categorizing them by 1st through 15th All-NBA style teams! I can't imagine how painstaking that process would be even if it is a good idea.

What else do you have to do right now?

 

[PtldPlatypus]

How many people have been on an NBA roster since the league was started?
I think we should rank-order them all.

barfo

Basketball reference already does that.