OT: Players who changed the game | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

OT: Players who changed the game

You can’t have a list like this without The Beatles.
 
I don’t know quite where to go with this, but I feel like Hakeem Olajuwon was one of the most unique players ever.

Maybe the first center that ran and moved like a guard? I know he’s one of the few guys to ever put up a quadruple double, and I believe the only guy to do it more than once.
 
Bill Walton for being one of the first bigs with truly exceptional passing ability.

Iverson for turning horribly inefficient one-on-five basketball into something to aspire to because people enjoyed watching it without realizing that you can't win a championship that way. (Modern examples are Westbrook and Harden).

I feel like Dennis Rodman belongs on this list, not because of his play, but because of the way he opened up the NBA to embrace the players' personalities.
 
If you want him on the list, I can't argue with you. He was an automatic triple-double, and didn't know he was doing it at the time. I would put Bill Russell and Michael Jordan in the same category as all-time players, but I don't know how much they changed the game.
Bill Russell Was the most dominate defensive player I have ever seen the way he blocked shots. He was amazing the way he had such great timing.
 
This is not a list of who are the best, but who changed the game the most. You will note that many of my choices are from the 1970's and before. All the more impressive to me is what Steph Curry has meant to the modern game.

1.) Wilt Chamberlain (Hello, 3 second zone)
2.) Steph Curry (3 point strategy evolved because of him)
3.) Magic (the first 6' 8" point guard)
4.) Bird (the 3 as a playmaker, and with Magic the revival of the NBA. No one younger than 40 would believe what bad shape the NBA was in prior to Bird and Magic. Maybe Larry O'Brien should be on this list, too.)
5.) George Mikan (the first truly athletic center)
6.) Kareem Abdul Jabbar (They outlawed the dunk when he was at UCLA --this is an edited addition. Thanks to OttointheGrotto for pointing out my oversight.)
7.) Dr. J (created the beautiful game. The ambassador of the dunk)
8.) Dirk (enter the shooting forward, and the European invasion.)
9,) Cousey (Introduced flair to the game)
10.) Chuck Cooper (first African-American to play in the NBA
11.) Red Auerbach (Not a player, but for many reasons he belongs on this list. Not the least of which is that Chuck Cooper was a Celtic. Boston resisted integration more than any other city. The Red Sox were the last team in MLB to have an African American on their roster (Pumpsie Green in the early 60's), Auerbach created a standard of what it took to win a title.)
if you are going to allow a coach, then you have to have d'antoni. in fact, d'antoni is more responsible for the way the game is played in the nba right now than your #2.
 
I think Iverson for multiple reasons...
on the court, the NBA cracked down on his crossover after his 5th season or so because of how devastating it was. A 6’0, 165 pound lightning quick athletic freak who took a pounding and always got back up, went toe to toe with players like Kobe, Vince Carter and Ray Allen.
He also changed the way players LOOKED on the court, he was a culture changer. He brought Cornrows to the forefront, he was the first player to wear the arm sleeve, even when he started wearing a headband it picked up steam... even his tattoos were on the front end of how the NBA looks today. Total game changer.
 
This is not a list of who are the best, but who changed the game the most. You will note that many of my choices are from the 1970's and before. All the more impressive to me is what Steph Curry has meant to the modern game.

1.) Wilt Chamberlain (Hello, 3 second zone)
2.) Steph Curry (3 point strategy evolved because of him)
3.) Magic (the first 6' 8" point guard)
4.) Bird (the 3 as a playmaker, and with Magic the revival of the NBA. No one younger than 40 would believe what bad shape the NBA was in prior to Bird and Magic. Maybe Larry O'Brien should be on this list, too.)
5.) George Mikan (the first truly athletic center)
6.) Kareem Abdul Jabbar (They outlawed the dunk when he was at UCLA --this is an edited addition. Thanks to OttointheGrotto for pointing out my oversight.)
7.) Dr. J (created the beautiful game. The ambassador of the dunk)
8.) Dirk (enter the shooting forward, and the European invasion.)
9,) Cousey (Introduced flair to the game)
10.) Chuck Cooper (first African-American to play in the NBA
11.) Red Auerbach (Not a player, but for many reasons he belongs on this list. Not the least of which is that Chuck Cooper was a Celtic. Boston resisted integration more than any other city. The Red Sox were the last team in MLB to have an African American on their roster (Pumpsie Green in the early 60's), Auerbach created a standard of what it took to win a title.)
I hear what you are saying about Steph, he is an elite shooter, the most important skill on the court. But the game is so perimeter oriented not because the success of traditional guards shooting further/better, but because bigs learned the skill. Guys like Dirk, Sabonis and Brad Miller are the real revolutionaries in that regard. Now all 5 players are expected to be deep threats, guards have always had that requirement to thrive.
 
Bill Walton for being one of the first bigs with truly exceptional passing ability.

Iverson for turning horribly inefficient one-on-five basketball into something to aspire to because people enjoyed watching it without realizing that you can't win a championship that way. (Modern examples are Westbrook and Harden).

I feel like Dennis Rodman belongs on this list, not because of his play, but because of the way he opened up the NBA to embrace the players' personalities.
Rodman does stand out, because he had 1 skill: the greatest motor on the floor night in and night out. He had no offensive skills whatsoever, except the go get it. He will forever be unique, a throw back we'll probably never see again. I like to think of him being one side of the bridge that goes through Ben Wallace, and onto Draymon today. Green could do the dirty work Rodman built a career on, but he is also blessed with the marginal ability to drop in a 3, or he may not be in the league right now.
 
Bill Russell Was the most dominate defensive player I have ever seen the way he blocked shots. He was amazing the way he had such great timing.


This.

The game started out as a team exercise, with players going through routines like the "weave" to get the ball into the basket. Then as star players emerged, the idea was to get yourself a star. Teams that didn't have one couldn't keep up. If the the other team had one, could your star outscore him? Or you could get yourself a second star, in rare cases a third star. But the game was mostly a half court game. Along came Russell. Auerbach, who had had some success with high scoring teams but never won a championship, realized that his star was never going to be a great scorer but he could be an awesome defensive force and rebounder. He completely re-tooled his team to start everything with defense, rebound the ball, (if you didn't steal it) beat the opposition down court and hit the open man. The Celtics ran everyone off the court, becoming both the best defensive and highest scoring team in the league at the same time and won 11 championships in 13 years, the greatest stretch any professional sports team has ever had. If Russell hadn't turned his ankle prior to the 7th game of the 1958 championship series, the Celtics would have won 10 straight NBA championships!.

Every great NBA team since has played some version of what the Celtics did. And they played that way because of Russell. That's the biggest change in the history of the game.
 

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