-#5 was won by Kevin Garnett
-#6 will only have three voting options since other players don't come close
-You can vote for players in any way you want: On-court impact, Off-court impact, championships etc.
Nominees:
1. Julius Erving (1976-77 to 1986-87)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 23.1 | 7.0 | 4.0 | .558 | 111 | 101 | 22.0 | .178 |
* So it wasn't his prime. Playing in the NBA probably didn't hurt any players legacy as much as it did his. Erving was still doing thing on a level very few have done.
When you look prime offensive numbers, he was sort of like Tracy McGrady. Yep, that good. Except more efficient when you look at more than a couple of years. He was one of the top rebounding small forwards ever. Also a good distributer.
Defensively Dr.J is hugely underrated. He ranks somewhere between Pippen and Marion on defense. He also had almost 2 blocks and two steals per/36 in his prime. Yeah, sounds good.
Erving is one of the biggest basketball icons the game has ever seen, and will hopefully give LeBron and Russell a run for their money.
2. LeBron James (2010-11 to 2013-14)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 25.5 | 7.2 | 6.4 | .622 | 120 | 101 | 29.6 | .281 |
*Right after the stupidest media thing he decided to do (the decision), he made perhaps the best one overall, join his friends in Miami.
Now, looking at his stats just makes me laugh over and over again. How is being this good possible? Seriously? I know many people dislike him and that's okay, but his Heat day numbers are just insane. It looks someone falsified them.
You know what the best part is? His playoff numbers during that period are just as amazing. And that includes disappearing in some finals appearances. He's unfair.
People and the media try to discredit LeBron and pick certain flaws in his game, when the reality is he is probably the second greatest player ever to play in the three point era. He just led a dormat Cavs franchise to an NBA finals appearance where they currently LEAD the stacked Warriors.
Some people still hang on to Larry Bird as the greatest forward ever. He's really the only one even close. But no. People say Kobe is a "true winner". Has he done with the Cavs what LeBron did in his
first stint and now? Lead them to the Finals? You call LeBron a loser? Well Kobe lost in the finals too. And the numbers are not even close.
Let's get back to the topic. LeBron had only 4 seasons playing for the Heat. That is a fact that could seriously hurt him when people look at the longevity of Bill Russell. Can't wait for the results.
3. Bill Russell (1956-57 to 1968-69)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 12.8 | 19.1 | 3.6 | .471 | Nr | Nr | 18.9 | .193 |
* Whoa. Did those stats surprise you as they did me ? Granted, some stats weren't a part of the boxscore in his era, which does hurt him a lot. But can he still compete with LeBron?
Let's take a look at his defense. Forget about how many points Chamberlain dropped on him, it doesn't matter. Chamberlain is the greatest scorer ever and no one could contain him.
Did you know his Celtics finished 1st in the league in defense 11 times in a row since he joined them ? 12 times overall, with the one other number being second ? Is your faith in Russell returning now ?
Russell was an amazing defender. Simply amazing.
Rebounding. At his size, he was obviously the better rebounder than the gigantic and perhaps the best athlete in the history of pro sports, Wilt(check per 36). That helps him a lot.
Offensively he wasn't really good, and that hurts him. A LOT. LeBron was an elite on both ends, so was Erving. His best FG% season was .467 percent. Allen Iverson was more efficient than him. That hurts him.
A LOT.
The simple fact is, Russell played 13 seasons wearing the number 6. He won 2.75 titles for every season LeBron played in Miami. He won 3.67 titles for every title Erving won in the NBA & ABA.
He is the best defender of the era, the best rebounder of the era, and was obviously surrounded by just the players needed to defeat some greats like West, Baylor, Oscar and Wilt.
Don't underestimate greatness.
Other Notable Player Shoutout
Walter Davis Scored. And he was good at it. He has almost 20k career points and averaged almost 25 per 36 for his career. All that while remaining efficient. Nice job Walter. Andrew Bogut went from being viewed as a franchise centerpiece to a valuable defender on a championship contending team. Eddie Jones is a top 15/20 three point era shooting guard. He was a good enough scorer and a good defender but was on on teams where he had to score 20 without much of a supporting cast. DeAndre Jordan continues to make a name for himself as one of the most efficient bigs of recent years. He also rebounds like crazy and is a good defender. Shows you you can have wood hands and still be good. Speaking of efficient bigs of the era, Tyson Chandler enters the discussion. Perhaps slightly more efficient on offense but Deandre catches him in rebounding and defense. New age P n R bigs. Kenyon Martin wore it in New Jersey where he went to two straight finals. Walter Berry could score. And rebound a little. Avery Johnson won a championship and was a good passer. Terry Mills helped bring mediocrity in those post championship Detroit teams. Willie Naullis was a volume scorer with horrible efficiency back when my parents weren't born. Bonzi Wells had a good stint with #6 in the NBA with his post scoring.
