Top Ten: NBA players of all time
Cathy Cao
Posted on: 31 March 2009 - 13:40
Basketball
Once every generation or so we look back, think about who were those who left us staring into space. More than a hundred championship rings have been won since the day NBA was founded. Top players have come and gone, although many of these people we can now only see in a high-light reel, but every fan their personal top ten. Do you agree with Sport.co.uk's?
1. Wilt Chamberlain
Until today, no player has broken the 4,000 points barrier. Chamberlain set this record in the 1961-62 season as one of the Philadelphia Warriors. It was in the same season he scored 100 points in a game against New York Knicks. He was traded to LA Lakers in 1968, where he retired from NBA. In the last year of his NBA career with coach Bill Sharman, the Lakers won 33 straight games. It was called the Lakers’ ‘dream season.’ Chamberlain retired at the age of 37.
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabber
Formerly known as Lew Alcindor, he converted to Islam after his first NBA champion winning, then he took the name Kareen Abdul-Jabbar. By the time he retired, nobody in the league had ever scored more points, caught more rebounds, won more MVP Awards, or played more All-Star Games than him. Alcindor wears 6 champion rings and scored 38,387 points in his 20 year career. Five of his champion rings were won with ‘Magic’ Johnson. His sky-hoot shot was famously recognized as his trade mark.
3. Michael Jordan
Known as ‘Air Jordan’ because he won games with his impressive leap and slam dunk shows, Jordan is considered by the majority of critics as the greatest of all time. After joining the Chicago Bulls in 1984 he won six champion rings, and after a game against the Celtics, Larry Bird said Michael was ‘God disguised’.
4. ‘Magic’ Johnson
Earving Johnson Jr. is known as ‘Magic’ Johnson, former point guard for LA Lakers; he was drafted first overall in 1979 by the Los Angeles Lakers, where he spent all 13 years of his NBA career, and where he got to associate with Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson is a big man with a lot of tricks, as the tallest point guard in the league history, his incredible moves and skills proved magic again, and again.
5. Larry bird
‘Bird is flying’, everybody used to say that at Larry Bird time. ‘Larry the legend’, the frightening three point’s shooter, liked three-points shooting with his eyes closed; he saw the court as his playground, and then gave his signature funny smile afterwards. For the 13 years in the league, he was the unstoppable scorer, he famously said: ‘Give me the ball and get the hell out of my way!’
6. Julius Erving
‘Julius was the first to truly take the torch and become the spokesman for the NBA’. Dr. J. is the only one who understands and plays the game in a remarkable way. He played with intelligence,starting a new era of playing above the rim. His master slam dunks were the models for the later players to copy.
7. Shaquille O’neal
Shaq joined NBA as the first overall draft picked by the Orlando Magic in 1992. He has won four Championships, three with LA Lakers, alongside Kobe Bryant. He calls himself the ‘biggest actor in the world’. Besides basketball he is also a good rapper, living up to his persona as the great entertainer of the NBA.
8. Bill Russell
He owns more champion rings than anyone, eleven championships, and an All Star twelve times in his thirteen year career. He is definitely the best defensive player in league history, a great shot-blocker, with 21,620 rebounds, famously seen with a left-handed-hook shot, although he is not a good scorer. He was the member of the first All-Defensive First Team that NBA ever selected.
9. Karl Malone
Karl Malone attempted the most free throws and grabbed the most defensive rebounds ever. His nickname ‘The mailman’ is given to him for his consistency; he personally scored 36,928 points, is the second on the list following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Unfortunately he has no champion ring on his finger.
10. James Worthy
The ‘Big Game James’, like his nickname suggests, is a showman. Worthy has gained three champions together with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, and the Lakers won the title ---- ‘best team of all time’.The last few years of his NBA career were littered with injuries, forcing him to retire at the age of 33.