It seems like Dviss is letting his feelings about Garnett the person affect his opinion of Garnett the player.
Perhaps it's because I'm in total agreement with Dviss (even if he may not be in total agreement with me!), but I don't think so. My distaste - or hate, if you will - for KG came first from feeling he was overrated as a player, and later as hate for him as a person (on the court...I don't care about off-court personality issues unless they're related to on-court personality).
I equate it to my opinion of Bosh - I thought Bosh was a chump as a franchise player in TOR and
highly overrated (but he was always better than LA!). But when he moved to his natural position as 3rd wheel in MIA my opinion of him improved.
Personally, I think Ray Allen belongs because he is arguably the best shooter of all time. As much of a fan of Reggie Miller as I was in my youth, I don't think he belongs. He was an amazing clutch shooter, but I don't think he's 50 greatest material.
Really? I haven't looked at the stats, but I wouldn't necessarily put Allen over Miller. I think Ray probably had a better off-the-dribble game. And my impression is that Miller rarely had great support and did more than Ray when Ray didn't have great support. Admittedly my memory isn't great about who their teammates where throughout their careers (especially when comparing MIL Ray to Reggie).
I'll go back to my original comment about Reggie - because he played his entire career in IND, that boosts him above Ray IMO.
I personally wouldn't include Nash, Wade, or Pierce.
Nash is basically the basketball version of a system QB. He wasn't that great in Dallas, and it was D'Antoni's system that made him an MVP.
Wade has had a remarkable career, and I'm sure he'll end up in the hall, but was he any better than a lot of other shooting guards that have come through the league? What separates him from James Harden now, or Clyde Drexler 30 years ago? This strikes me as a flavor of the month kind of choice.
I'll agree with you on everything except Wade. There was a period where Wade was better than Kobe. Injuries kept him from sustaining that, but for a few years he was either the best or second best SG in the league and head-and-shoulders better than any current SG (who am I blanking on that's playing right now?).
Pierce falls into basically the same boat with Wade. Very good player, put up exceptional numbers and will most likely end up in the hall, but why is he better than anyone currently on the list? Longevity maybe? The dude was consistently really good for 15 seasons. He didn't start to fall off until his final four seasons, which put him at 36, 37, 38, and 39 years old.
Pierce is borderline IMO. Pierce is kinda like Clyde, though the edge might go to Clyde because it seemed like he was considered #2 in the NBA during those Finals runs we made. In retrospect I don't know that Clyde was ever #2, but it seemed like nationally there was a Jordan/Clyde thing that was kinda similar to Magic/Bird.
