NLSC Greatest Of All-time: #8

-10th number of the many

-#7 was won by Kevin Johnson (finally)

-#8 will most likely be one sided, but there are some players worthy of being mentioned a tad bellow

-You can vote for players in any way you want: On-court impact, Off-court impact, championships etc.

Nominees:

1. Deron Williams (2005-06 to 2014-15)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
17.5	3.3	8.7	.554	112	110	18.8	.136

* So there was a time when people considered him the best point guard in the league. He did lead the Jazz to having the 1st offense in the league one year. And for a couple of years, he was very good. In his prime

Deron was pretty much the ideal offensive point guard. Good scorer, very good passer who could get hot with his shot anytime.

Where he obviously trails Chris Paul is defense. It isn't even close. Deron wasn't better than Paul at offense either.

So, there were a couple of years that deserved the praise, but only as him being one of the best, not the best.

2. Walt Bellamy (1961-62 to 1974-75)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
19.4	13.2	2.4	.554	Nr	99	19.8	.160

*This is a long span so his numbers are a bit down from his prime ones. He was one of the best bigs in the 60s and the start of the 70s, but often doesn't get mentioned because the other great bigs
he played wagainst in that era. He never won a title.

Strangely enough, for such a productive player for such a long span, his rookie year was his best. Just over 31 points with 19 boards while leading the league in TS% and FG%, with a Ws/48 of .233. What? How?

That's Wilt and Oscar rookie year level.

He even went on to having some good defensive years. It's just such a shame that such a productive rookie season led to just being in the shadow of the elite bigs in the NBA.

3. Kobe Bryant (1996-97 to 2005-06)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
24.1	5.2	4.5	.552	111	104	23.2	.184

*So Kobe is likely the landslide winner of this number. When he wore #8 he actually played some defense and was pretty good at it. He also set scoring and usage records but couldn't bring the Lakers out of mediocrity and Playoff disappointments.

During his #8 tenure, he won a few championships as a perfect complementary star player to Shaq, and lead the league in scoring once. He also like to be rough in bed. That really was his prime, along with a few ones in his other number.

He was on some pretty bad teams in his years without a true big, but that propeleld him into being titled the NBAs biggest star and the so called best player.

He later changed to #24. Because 24 is one up from 23.

4. Marquees Johnson (1977-78 to 1989-90)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
21.1	7.3	3.8	.556	113	105	20.1	.162

* This guy was a stud in his early years in Milwaukee, which also were his prime years. That team had some great talent and was constantly had high win seasons, making the Conference Finals once. Yet no one mentions them, ever.

So Johnson was a really good offensive player but then again, that was that teams forte. Especially with Don Nelson in charge.

His career fell apart after he left Milwaukee, but his time there was underrated, like that whole roster is.

5. Steve Smith (1995-96 to 2004-05)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
16.7	3.7	3.1	.561	115	107	16.3	.151

*His raw stats aren't mind boggling. But he was a very good player. Isn't mentioned in the same class as Jordan, Miller and Drexler because he wasn't as good as them. But such a productive player to have just a lone All-star appearance really shows you the talent of the 90s players.

Smith was a scorer and was pretty good at it in his prime. He also was a key players for his respective teams success around the turn of the century.

But how could you blow that lead against the Lakers. Come on.

Other Notable Player Shoutout

Lonnie Shelton wore it in the late 80s early 80s and had a few decent years when he came in the league. Larry Sanders should've become what DeAndre Jordan has, but decided to sort his mind out. Good luck to him. Luke Ridnour wore it with tha epic haircut he had in the Sonics. Rasho Nesterovic wore it for most of his career. Patty Mills won a title and was a contributor in that Finals series. Aaron Mckie wore it in the Sixers and was a good role player. Mickey Johnson was a twig power forward that scored a lot. Eddie Johnson had a long and productive career but was alergic to playing defense. Jeff Green has been wearing it during his Celtics days. Danilo Galinari could've became one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA, but the injuries got to him. 16.5 P/36 on .597 TS% and 120 Ortg. Pat Garrity wore the number. Channing Frye has switched to it a couple of years back and continues to be one of the best shooting bigs in the NBA. JR Smith wore it for the Knicks a couple of years. Michael Dickerson had a couple of productive years. Bison Dele could ball. Jose Calderon had a couple of truly fantastic seasons in Toronto. Monta Ellis wore in Golden State where he really had a lone good year. Antoine Walker had pretty good raw stats but logged major minutes, played no defense and was highly inefficient. Took almost 8 three-pointers per game in his prime. Latrell Sprewell wore it when he was part of that horrible overpaid Knicks cast that couldn't accomplish anything notable. EDIT: but they did make the Finals as the eight seed in his first year there.

Last edited by Mandich on Tue Jun 16, 2015 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kobe, but there have been some good and pretty decent #8s. Also, Sprewell was on at least one Knicks team that did something notable: becoming the first eighth seeded team to make the NBA Finals.

Kobe all the way.

I will go with Michael Dickerson and forfeit the vote. Just can't come to bring myself to vote that Kobe.

Kobe wins this one for me. Even though his titles wearing #8 are with Shaq there is no doubt he was a solid contributor to those teams. That 35.4 PPG scoring average during his final year wearing #8 is one of the best scoring seasons by a player in NBA history.

Kobe, but there have been some good and pretty decent #8s. Also, Sprewell was on at least one Knicks team that did something notable: becoming the first eighth seeded team to make the NBA Finals.

Loved Spree on the Knicks, great two way player.

I was gutted when we traded John Starks to GS for him but it worked out pretty well.

anyone not voting kobe should lose their right to vote on all future polls

Sauru showing the wisdom that comes with age.

You could build a pretty decent team out of #8's. Should do that when we're done with these.

I remember Sports Illustrated doing a tournament of Robinson's, Johnson's, Davis's, Miller's, etc. in one issue back in like 1997. I think the Robinson's took it.

You could build a pretty decent team out of #8's. Should do that when we're done with these.

now that would be fun.

anyone not voting kobe should lose their right to vote on all future polls

As per our discussion in other thread, I took off about 50 points off of Kobe for being a bigger douche than LBJ and KD combined together.

anyone not voting kobe should lose their right to vote on all future polls

As per our discussion in other thread, I took off about 50 points off of Kobe for being a bigger douche than LBJ and KD combined together.

minus 50 for anal rape?

To include that incident, he'd fall behind Patty Mills in this ranking.

Just a suggestion, meno. You might wanna add "Other" as an poll option.

Then it'll restart the poll again,

Kobe...like to be rough in bed...

If you read the police transcript Kobe was a gentleman to that lady in Colorado.
If Kobe really had his way then that woman would have had Kobe juice all over her face but she declined to take the shot so Kobe being clutch had no choice but to finish the game by himself like he did countless times in his career.