Top 10 Centers of all-time

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yao Ming is a player I always forget about. He didn't have much longevity in the league, but he was fantastic during his relatively brief NBA career. 8x All-Star and 5x All-NBA player.

Gotta be honest, I don’t even think of him as a top 10. Probably should

 

[MikeSU02]

this isn’t close. It’s the NCAA by a country mile.

Lew Alcindor was the best college player and arguably is the best nba player of all time.

Add in Magic, Bird and MJ… this is a route.

 

[MikeSU02]

Gotta go with the NCAA team. Magic, MJ, Bird and Kareem is pretty tough to beat. I can only imagine Larry‘s reply when someone asks him about playing kids just out of high school.

Alcindor would literally drop a 40/30 with 12 blocks in that game.

 

[iowa44]

Ya but The best player Ewing ever played with was Starks. I'd give a slight nod to Ewing esp on defense.

David Robinson was top 5 in rebounds, blocks, and steals which had never been done before in an nba season and was 1st team all D 4 times and second team 4 times (including Def Player of Year) vs 3 second team for Ewing. DRob was clearly the better defensive center and an MVP

 

[dasher]

Russell’s team was so good, that Russell the coach won 2 titles.

That was an aging team. I followed them as closely as you could. The weren't the best team. Until they were. When they played the lakers in the title game, the Lakers released a statement before the game saying what would happen after they won. Didn't turn out that way.

 

[Alsacs]

That was an aging team. I followed them as closely as you could. The weren't the best team. Until they were. When they played the lakers in the title game, the Lakers released a statement before the game saying what would happen after they won. Didn't turn out that way.

Balloons stayed in the top of the Forum. After Don Nelson hit that jumper.
With that said Russell is the greatest winner of alltime but I wouldn’t put him above
Hakeem, Shaq, or Kareem.
Wilt yes he was better than.

 

[dasher]

Balloons stayed in the top of the Forum. After Don Nelson hit that jumper.
With that said Russell is the greatest winner of alltime but I wouldn’t put him above
Hakeem, Shaq, or Kareem.
Wilt yes he was better than.

"greatest winner of all time" Tough to be better than that.

 

[Eric15]

David Robinson was top 5 in rebounds, blocks, and steals which had never been done before in an nba season and was 1st team all D 4 times and second team 4 times (including Def Player of Year) vs 3 second team for Ewing. DRob was clearly the better defensive center and an MVP

I think David Robinson is historically underrated. He lost two years of stats due to being in the Navy. In his prime he was basically a perfect NBA center. I know PER isn't the be all/end all and is just one of many advanced stats, but Robinson is 5th all time in that regard. And one of if not the highest character star in recent league history.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

"greatest winner of all time" Tough to be better than that.

Given the nature of the sports, the expansion of leagues, etc., how does Brady compare to Russell.

 

[Eric15]

Given the nature of the sports, the expansion of leagues, etc., how does Brady compare to Russell.

What the Celtics did in the 60s was amazing, but there were 8-10 teams in the NBA and this was pre-free agency. Brady's team success over the course of 20 years in a 32 team league is much more difficult and impressive, IMO.

 

[dasher]

Given the nature of the sports, the expansion of leagues, etc., how does Brady compare to Russell.

Very, very, well. Throw in the salary cap which, ,makes it tougher to win. He isn't there, yet. But he also isn't done playing.

 

[cali315phan]

Billy Celuk snubbed again. Unreal.

 

[SU94]

Balloons stayed in the top of the Forum. After Don Nelson hit that jumper.
With that said Russell is the greatest winner of alltime but I wouldn’t put him above
Hakeem, Shaq, or Kareem.
Wilt yes he was better than.

He is NOT the best of all-time, but from my shoes, Akeem/Hakeen is criminally underrated. The most skilled 5 of all-time, I would offer.

I have Wilt a lot higher than most, too.

For me, the whole "rings" count is too much circumstance for me to put a lot of weight on.

To correlate baseball, am I supposed to think that Reggie Jackson (4-1 in WS -- 5-1 if you include 1972/Injured) or Joe DiMaggio (9-1 in the World Series) were better players than Ted Williams (lost only World Series played in)?

I am not even getting into the whole Yanks-Red Sox thing here, but the answer is "no way are they better."

 

[Vshukla]

He is NOT the best of all-time, but from my shoes, Akeem/Hakeen is criminally underrated. The most skilled 5 of all-time, I would offer.

I have Wilt a lot higher than most, too.

For me, the whole "rings" count is too much circumstance for me to put a lot of weight on.

To correlate baseball, am I supposed to think that Reggie Jackson (4-1 in WS -- 5-1 if you include 1972/Injured) or Joe DiMaggio (9-1 in the World Series) were better players than Ted Williams (lost only World Series played in)?

I am not even getting into the whole Yanks-Red Sox thing here, but the answer is "no way are they better."

Agree that rings are not the final definition of greatness. If you lead your team, such as a Brady, Jordan, Russell etc., to championships I think it confirms your greatness. However, if you don’t have a ring, especially in a team sport, it does not deny greatness.

Similar to your Reggie/Joe D/Williams example, I ask this:
If you were starting a football team and had your choice of Quarterbacks between the following, who would you pick?

Mark Rypien, Doug Williams, Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, Jim McMahon, Jeff Hostetler, or Dan Marino?

Marino is the only one without a ring, but his greatness is orders of magnitude higher than all the others combined.

 

[Vshukla]

Hakeem or in shape Shaq are the answer.
1999-2000 Shaq most dominant big man of all time.
Bill Simmons books shows how Wilt and Russell really didn’t deal with the depth the league has now. They played against a lot of prehistoric Brian Scalabrine’s.

Russell isn’t number 1 but I would take Russell over Wilt. Anytime Wilt got foul trouble he would play matador defense.

Kareem would be 3rd for me behind Shaq or Hakeem.

Olajuwon had such a good career you can’t get that upset Houston took him over Michael Jordan. Even though Jordan is the GOAT.

I agree, people blast Portland for taking Bowie at #2 over MJ but nobody says Houston made a mistake taking Dream.
I was watching old videos of Dream this weekend. A 7 foot 255 pound center taking the ball at the top of the key, crossing over, spinning, faking then laying it in is unheard of. It says something when all you have to do is say "Dream Shake" and people visualize him making a Hall of Famer like Robinson look silly.

 

[Vshukla]

But he wasn't, unfortunately. He probably doesn't even belong on this list, ahead of guys like Gilmore, Unseld, Thurmond, Lanier and Cowens (just to name a few), all of whom had more substantial pro careers.

Agreed. I'm a bit surprised Walton gets as much hype as he does. If you go with the "he could have been the best if not for injuries..." argument, then you can also argue that Dwight Gooden should be named as one of the greatest pitchers ever because of his 1985 season. I know there is a big difference between Doc's issues and Walton's injuries, but in my mind you are great because of what you did, not because of what you could have done.

 

[upperdeck]

Wilt was guarded by 2-3 players most game and put up those stats. they changed the FT rule because of him. My teacher played against him in HS and it was the most imposing thing he ever saw when during the time outs he would stand and lean up against the backboard

 

[Newhouser]

I agree, people blast Portland for taking Bowie at #2 over MJ but nobody says Houston made a mistake taking Dream.
I was watching old videos of Dream this weekend. A 7 foot 255 pound center taking the ball at the top of the key, crossing over, spinning, faking then laying it in is unheard of. It says something when all you have to do is say "Dream Shake" and people visualize him making a Hall of Famer like Robinson look silly.

If Dream didn't dominate Robinson so completely - people would have a much better view of the Admiral's career too.

 

[RandygoCuse]

He is NOT the best of all-time, but from my shoes, Akeem/Hakeen is criminally underrated. The most skilled 5 of all-time, I would offer.

I have Wilt a lot higher than most, too.

For me, the whole "rings" count is too much circumstance for me to put a lot of weight on.

To correlate baseball, am I supposed to think that Reggie Jackson (4-1 in WS -- 5-1 if you include 1972/Injured) or Joe DiMaggio (9-1 in the World Series) were better players than Ted Williams (lost only World Series played in)?

I am not even getting into the whole Yanks-Red Sox thing here, but the answer is "no way are they better."

Best two-way center in the bunch I have him fourth

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Agreed. I'm a bit surprised Walton gets as much hype as he does. If you go with the "he could have been the best if not for injuries..." argument, then you can also argue that Dwight Gooden should be named as one of the greatest pitchers ever because of his 1985 season. I know there is a big difference between Doc's issues and Walton's injuries, but in my mind you are great because of what you did, not because of what you could have done.

Yes. I was a huge Walton fan but durability and longevity has to play a huge part of any All Time list. These lists are great for arguing but I like them much better when broken into tiers.

 

[tbonezone]

wes unseld over walton. walton the better college guy wes the better pro. more bangs for the buck.

 

[Oakland]

The problem I have with Shaq is that he would hit the defender repeatedly with his butt to push the defender back and create space and then he would turn around for a 2 ft layup. Every time he hit the defender with his butt was an offensive foul in my mind, and he got thousands and thousands of points doing that.

 

[Vshukla]

wes unseld over walton. walton the better college guy wes the better pro. more bangs for the buck.

I would say the same holds true for Artis Gilmore over Walton. The A-Train had a long and very successful ABA/NBA career.

 

[Vshukla]

The problem I have with Shaq is that he would hit the defender repeatedly with his butt to push the defender back and create space and then he would turn around for a 2 ft layup. Every time he hit the defender with his butt was an offensive foul in my mind, and he got thousands and thousands of points doing that.

It's only a foul if it gets called. Why would Shaq stop doing the butt bump if it worked?

 

[Vshukla]

If Dream didn't dominate Robinson so completely - people would have a much better view of the Admiral's career too.

I never thought of it that way. I think Robinson gets overlooked because of his quiet demeanor, the smaller market and that Duncan came along and surpassed Robinson (at least in terms of team success).