NLSC Greatest of All-Time: #13

-15th number of the many

-#12 was won by John Stockton

-#13 has just one realistic options but you can vote any way you like

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

Nominees:

1. Steve Nash (1996-97 to 2011-12)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
16.6	3.5	9.9	.605	118	110	20.2	.166

* Steve Nash was a great point guard. One of the best passers ever.

He gets a bit overerated because of the MVP's, when in reality stupid media given awards shouldn't even go into consideration when comparing and analyzing players.

Still, the guy was the full package offensively. Really, there isn't more you could of asked for. One of the best shooters ever, really. A player of his athleticism to be so effective from any spot on the floor is amazing. He has a better percentage for shooting from 3 feet in than Kobe Bryant, and is virtually just as good from 3-10 feet. Nash with his athleticism.

Granted, Amare and Marion get little to no recognition for those great Suns teams, but Nash was their leader, and tehy went as far as he would take them.

He doesn't make it in the top 5 of the three-point era in my list, but will surely make it in most ones.

It's a shame his career ended the way it did. He was a real class act.

2. James Harden (2009-10 to 2014-15)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
21.9	4.8	4.9	.607	118	106	21.5	.207

* James Harden sucks at defense just as much as people think he does. His defensive numbers only get a tad better when his opponents drive inside because of Dwight Howard. 15 feet out, he's gotten even worse this year than he was last.

But there is no denying how good he is at the other end. He is elite. Super effective, brings wins, gets everyone involved, gets to the line liek crazy. James Harden is the perfect offensive 2 guard. He really
is.

He needs to up his defense if the Rockets plan on surviving in this Western Conference. OKC, Clippers, Warriors... It's going to be hard.

The Warriors could survive with his awful defense because of Beverly on the perimeter and Howard inside, but what more can Harden improve on his offense ? He pretty much is maxed out.

3. Wilt Chamberlain (1959-60 to 1972-73)

P/36	R/36	A/36	TS%	Ortg	Drtg	PER	Ws/48
23.6	18.0	3.5	.547	Nr	Nr	26.1	.248

* Wilt motherfreaking Chamberlain. He is the best athlete the world ever seen. It's not close. To be that gigantic, that durable, that fast, that explosive, that strong, that agile...it's unheard of.

Chamberlain played more than 42 minutes a game every season of his career. He even has a season where he played over 48 minutes. He ran 50 miles at over 60 years of age and ran some marathons in his life. Arnold The Terminator said Wilt had contests who'd pick Arnold up easier. He said he worked with heavier weights on some exercises than him. Wilt was mythical.

He competed in track and field before the NBA and played volleyball after. Oh the way he jumped in his prime, the video evidence is undeniable.

And that's just him as an athlete.

What was Wilt as a basketball player ?

He was without question the greatest scorer the game had ever seen. He was probably the best individual player to ever play in the NBA. Just look at his numbers during his prime. If a player posted them today he'd be proclaimed the greatest athlete ever. The thing is Wilt played even better in the Playoffs, but still only won 3 titles. But 3 is enough to make him great.

The guy scored 50 points per game for a season. I mean come on. Fuck you Wilt. 100 in a game? Unreal even if he did take that many shots. He even averaged 8.5 assists in a single year. He's a center. He shot 17 free throws a game in a year. His Ws/48 incredible in his prime. His ability to adapt was amazing. The greatest scorer ever took a mainly defensive role in the Lakers. If they kept track of steals, blocks, Drtgs and Ortgs his number would probably be even more amazing.

He also slept with soooo many women, and still had the energy to play all of those minutes at that level.

The only center that can be compared to him is Kareem. You could slide Shaq into the discussion, but those two are a step ahead.

Other Notable Player Shoutout

Doug Christie was a great defender that had that beautiful punch against Fox. Tyreke Evans a good rookie yer but went down from there. He'll still have a productive career. Paul George just switched to it because he is cheesy. Kendall Gill was a scoring swingman that averaged around 20 points a game in the 90s. Mark Jackson was one of the best passers of his era. Despite him being slow, he dropped 40-ish points on the vocal and delusional Kenny Smith in high school. Luc Longley was so great Steve Kerr decided to name his team after him in the greatest draft that ever happened. Allen Iverson ! Mehmet Okur was a very good offensive players for a short period of time. Luke Ridnour is one of those under the radar players that just stick around. Tristan Thompson just came off a terrific year. A constant threat on the glass. Delonte West got famous because of a certain relative of LeBron James. Glenn Robinson was an okay scorer for his whoel career and he always had the shots to get his numbers. Despite him not being that good, the Bucks made the Conference Finals in 2001. The Eastern coference around that time was just so weak. Joakhim Noah had a down year. Despite that, we all know what he is capable of when healthy. A terrific defender, good rebounder and can also post a respectable amount of points. God save the Bulls.

Wilt all day.

As much as I idolize Nash, Wilt wins this one by a mile.

another gimme number

another gimme number

Indeed. Harden it is!

But seriously, Wilt.

I voted for the world class asshole.

I voted for Wilt.

One stat that is missing from his numbers is how many women he bedded.

Think that might be nba high too.

Nash is anything but overrated and deserved his MVPs. With his arrival, the Suns went from 29 wins to 62 wins and from the 21st offense in the league to 1st and one of the best offenses of all-time. Nash's impact is clear in the numbers, the easiest example being that his offensive on/off is often in double digits (+17.3 in 04/05!) and - again - he led many of the most efficient offensive teams ever, too many for it to be a coincidence. On offense, he was pretty much the perfect point guard and his defense wasn't as destructive as popular opinion might think. This might be a controversial opinion, but I think Nash is a top 3-4 PG of all-time (Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson are the only ones I'd definitely put above him).

If anyone's overrated from that Suns team, it'd be Stoudemire who was very good on offense but a somewhat underwhelming rebounder and notoriously terrible defender - which is a MUCH bigger deal for a bigman than it is for a PG and diminishes his impact.

All that said, Nash still has no case against Wilt, that's clear.

I voted for Wilt.

One stat that is missing from his numbers is how many women he bedded.

Think that might be nba high too.

He did suffer from insomnia and loved threeways, but his high school friend said he hadn't seen Wilt on a date during that time (who knows what's true).

The mythical number of 20,000 is still somewhat hard to believe. But he definitely holds the NBA record.

It was the 60's and he was a free loving celeb so i could see it being true.

I read in a interview that he said some days he would sleep with 10 different women on away games alone.

There was a quote in Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball from a former teammate that strongly suggested the number was greatly exaggerated. Pretty difficult to disprove though, so the legend lives on.