December 12, 20178 yr Thanks to Pi, I decided it would be a great idea to rank the 1992 USA Men's Olympic basketball team. Here's the roster: Charles Barkley Larry Bird Clyde Drexler Patrick Ewing Magic Johnson Michael Jordan Karl Malone Chris Mullin Scottie Pippen David Robinson John Stockton Minus Laettner for obvious reasons. We'll base the rankings their entire careers. My bottom three, and I'll come back with more after some thought: 11) Mullin, though his coaching career is trending upward 10) Drexler, who posted better numbers than I was aware of 9) Robinson gets docked for an injury-shortened career
December 12, 20178 yr 11 Mullin 10 Robinson 9 Pippin 8 Drexler 7 Stockton 6 Ewing 5 Barkley 4 Malone 3 Magic 2 Bird 1 Jordan The gaps represent how close some are to others or how far apart they may be from others.
December 12, 20178 yr Going about it power ranking style.... Michael Jordan Magic Johnson Larry Bird Karl Malone Patrick Ewing John Stockton David Robinson Charles Barkley Clyde Drexler Scottie Pippen Chris Mullin
December 12, 20178 yr Author 8) Patrick Ewing- No titles on good teams 7) John Stockton- Assisted on the biggest robbery of the 90's 6) Karl Malone- Committed the biggest robbery of the 90's (97 MVP) also, balding and rocking two sweatbands on the wrist. 5) Scottie Pippen- hung on about three years too long. Post-basketball career hasn't been great to say the least. 4) Larry Bird- Great player, good coach, questionable managerial decisions keep him out of the top three. 3) Charles Barkley- Best player other than Iverson to never win a title. 2) Magic Johnson- The guy beat AIDS. 1) Michael Jordan- 2nd best to ever lace up, average minor league career, most successful brand in basketball.
December 12, 20178 yr 8) Patrick Ewing- No titles on good teams 7) John Stockton- Assisted on the biggest robbery of the 90's 6) Karl Malone- Committed the biggest robbery of the 90's (97 MVP) also, balding and rocking two sweatbands on the wrist. 5) Scottie Pippen- hung on about three years too long. Post-basketball career hasn't been great to say the least. 4) Larry Bird- Great player, good coach, questionable managerial decisions keep him out of the top three. 3) Charles Barkley- Best player other than Iverson to never win a title. 2) Magic Johnson- The guy beat AIDS. 1) Michael Jordan- 2nd best to ever lace up, average minor league career, most successful brand in basketball. If you are bouncing Bird for his job as a GM you need to drop MJ out of the top 5 for his horrible management of two franchises. Only people ranking Pippin over Malone are you and Scottie's momma.
December 12, 20178 yr Author If you are bouncing Bird for his job as a GM you need to drop MJ out of the top 5 for his horrible management of two franchises. Only people ranking Pippin over Malone are you and Scottie's momma. MJ would be the greatest basketball player of all time if not for a kid from Akron. He gets a break. Plus, he got people who don't even like basketball to buy his shoes at ridiculous prices. While personnel is not his strong point, he has a brand that will not stop.
December 12, 20178 yr 8) Patrick Ewing- No titles on good teams 7) John Stockton- Assisted on the biggest robbery of the 90's 6) Karl Malone- Committed the biggest robbery of the 90's (97 MVP) also, balding and rocking two sweatbands on the wrist. 5) Scottie Pippen- hung on about three years too long. Post-basketball career hasn't been great to say the least. 4) Larry Bird- Great player, good coach, questionable managerial decisions keep him out of the top three. 3) Charles Barkley- Best player other than Iverson to never win a title. 2) Magic Johnson- The guy beat AIDS. 1) Michael Jordan- 2nd best to ever lace up, average minor league career, most successful brand in basketball. As much as I like Barkley, you can't have him at 3. Actually Magic and Bird should be tied at 2. Those two guys saved the NBA. Their battles were epic. Both were great in their own way with two totally different types of games. The kid from Akron better than MJ? That's a totally different thread but, I believe you are wrong. Just remember 6-0. 3peat, 3peat. Oh, by the way nothing wrong with 2 wrist bands on the wrist. Back in the day that was the style. Go look at some of the films from that time (if you can get past the shorts). The kid from Akron's hair line was backing up when he wore the head band. Bald or receding hair line, you pick.
December 12, 20178 yr 1. Michael Jordan 2. Magic Johnson 3. Larry Bird 4. Karl Malone 5. Charles Barkley 6. David Robinson 7. John Stockton 8. Patrick Ewing 9. Scottie Pippen 10. Clyde Drexler 11. Chris Mullin
December 13, 20178 yr Author 1. Michael Jordan 2. Magic Johnson 3. Larry Bird 4. Karl Malone 5. Charles Barkley 6. David Robinson 7. John Stockton 8. Patrick Ewing 9. Scottie Pippen 10. Clyde Drexler 11. Chris Mullin If Pippen and Stockton were ahead of The Admiral I could get behind this list too.
December 13, 20178 yr If Pippen and Stockton were ahead of The Admiral I could get behind this list too. The Admiral was Rookie of the Year, a Defensive Player of the year and a league MVP...plus a Champ. He also averaged 25 points and nearly 12 rebounds for the first 7 years in the league until he was injured and missed an entire season. He is also top 15 all time on Win Shares.
December 13, 20178 yr Author The Admiral was Rookie of the Year, a Defensive Player of the year and a league MVP...plus a Champ. He also averaged 25 points and nearly 12 rebounds for the first 7 years in the league until he was injured and missed an entire season. He is also top 15 all time on Win Shares. Yeah, but he went to HS in a place called Manassas...
December 13, 20178 yr I Agree I am just going to ask this for discussion sake: Does Magic get to much credit for the Lakers success? He went to a team that had multiple All-Stars, the league's all-time leading scorer and they drafted James Worthy. Would he have been as successful without those guys? He couldn't shoot and wasn't a very good defender? Does Larry "Legend" get to much credit for the Celtics success? They had 2 other great post players: Parrish and McHale and 2 great point guards in his career as well: Dennis Johnson and Nate Archibald. Is there success over glorified because of the state of the league and the timing of their entrance into the league? Would either of them be considered great if they wouldn't have had each other as well? Just asking for a friend.
December 13, 20178 yr I am just going to ask this for discussion sake: Does Magic get to much credit for the Lakers success? He went to a team that had multiple All-Stars, the league's all-time leading scorer and they drafted James Worthy. Would he have been as successful without those guys? He couldn't shoot and wasn't a very good defender? Does Larry "Legend" get to much credit for the Celtics success? They had 2 other great post players: Parrish and McHale and 2 great point guards in his career as well: Dennis Johnson and Nate Archibald. Is there success over glorified because of the state of the league and the timing of their entrance into the league? Would either of them be considered great if they wouldn't have had each other as well? Just asking for a friend. Similar questions could be posed for Pippen. Just sayin'.
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