![]() ![]() So for better or worse, here are the best 30 players in NBA history, assiduously ranked. Others argued it should be about the numbers and that awards don’t always end up belonging to the most deserved individual.īut decisions had to be made. There were passionate pleas to weigh unprecedented accomplishments over sustained excellence. O’Neal was physically and statistically unlike any center the NBA has seen. But how much more credit do you give Bryant for winning more rings and drawing legit comparisons to Michael Jordan?Īnd who do you give the nod to between three legendary guards-Chris Paul, Steve Nash, and Allen Iverson-when there’s only room for one? As each individual involved in this incredibly difficult and necessary endeavor lobbied for the player they thought deserved proper billing, we quickly realized it was going to be hellacious coming to a consensus. Instead, the politicking and petty attacks on each other’s basketball intelligence got really heated, over multiple Zoom calls and text threads, when we tried to properly rank Shaq and Kobe and a bunch of point guards toward the bottom of our 30 Best NBA Players of All Time list. It’s guaranteed to get hardcore basketball fans in their feelings and, in our humble opinion, do a much better job than some of those other rankings floating around the interwebs that shall remain nameless.Īlmost up until deadline, we debated whether Shaquille O’Neal, inarguably one of the best big men in NBA history and a true disruptor on the court, deserved to be ranked higher than the late, great Kobe Bryant. Nor did we particularly labor over why Tim Duncan, for instance, deserved top 10 status over Kevin Garnett and Kevin Durant (for now). When the Complex Sports crew started to put together this list, we didn’t waffle over whether LeBron deserved to be ranked higher than MJ. I'm not a Hall of Fame guy."Īnd the Hall of Fame career in San Antonio will continue for a few more years.The toughest debates may not be the obvious ones. ![]() I've never felt like I really belonged, to be honest with you," Popovich said earlier this year. ![]() "In all honesty, I always felt the Hall of Fame is like for Red Holzman, Red Auerbach and Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Duncan and Ginobili had to go in first, and Popovich is part of a class that also includes two other people close to him - former Spurs assistant Becky Hammon and Parker. The longstanding belief was that Popovich wanted certain people in the Hall before he would allow himself to be under consideration. "He's amazing," said Golden State coach Steve Kerr, who played for Popovich and assisted him with the national team. Popovich, along with all the wins and the five titles, also won an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games that were played in 2021. "He's not intimidating yet, but I'm sure he's going to get intimidating when I see him in real life," Wembanyama said after the draft. And he's about to become the star of the latest - and perhaps final - phase of Popovich's career. He's coming to the NBA with eyes on becoming a superstar, an icon, a champion. The losing ends now, if Wembanyama has anything to say about it. Those struggles, along with his age, created speculation that Popovich might opt to retire. Spurs select French phenom Victor Wembanyama 1st overall in NBA draftīut with Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili gone, the Spurs haven't won a playoff series since 2017 and went a combined 121-186 over the last four seasons, basically losing more games in the last four years than they did in the previous eight years combined.Wade, Nowitzki, Popovich among stars of 2023 class headed to Basketball Hall of Fame.1 picks and became franchise-cornerstone big men. Popovich talked before the Spurs' last game of this past season about how, during his career, he has been the "beneficiary of serendipity to a max degree" - and that was even before San Antonio won the lottery and the chance to draft Wembanyama, potentially having him follow in the footsteps of David Robinson and Tim Duncan who came to the Spurs as No. And I'm excited to see whatever the next phase is in that journey." "I think no matter what Pop does, he's going to find a way to do that because that's in his heart. "His ability to connect and spend time and bounce between the really detailed development of basketball players and the bigger picture of developing people is just so impressive," Spurs managing partner Peter J. He'll enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next month. And Popovich is one of only five coaches with at least five championships Jackson won 11, Red Auerbach won nine and Popovich is in a group with Riley and John Kundla as winners of five. □ /圆TsUqQ03n- also third in playoff wins with 170, behind only Phil Jackson (229) and Pat Riley (171). The San Antonio Spurs today announced that President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Gregg Popovich has signed a five-year contract. ![]()
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