NBA’S GREATEST CENTERS (Reprinted From 6/27/07)

Posted by Jeff Sack under SDC Birthday Bash

With Thursday June 28, 2007 being the NBA Draft, and as of this writing it looks like that Ohio State University Center Greg Oden will be chosen number one by the Portland TrailBlazers, what better time than to open the discussion of the greatest centers in the history of the NBA. Notice I am saying NBA, NCAA would have a totally different list, and perhaps we will delve into that at some future time. Now realize, that every list like this is subjective, my parameters may be different than yours, and we might both disagree with a third party. After all ESPN had Michael Jordan as their top athlete of the 20TH Century, where I would have him at best number three behind Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. After you read my definitive list I would love to read yours. Just go to the Comments Link on this page. My list will be in order of importance Number One of course being the best. Let the debate begin!

1) Bill Russell-Boston Celtics: The best way to start off any list is with controversy and this choice will probably cause some! The most athletic, best skilled, most dominant greatest scorer? No, the man who follows him on this list is superior in each of those categories. So why does Russell lead my list? As 50 Cent would say it?s the bling baby! 11 NBA Championships in 13 NBA seasons, period end of discussion! Not only the greatest ratio in NBA history; the greatest ratio of any professional sports figure in USA history (although Derek Jeter looked like he could possibly threaten it his first few seasons with the Yankees!) Think of it, it boggles the mind! Russell sacrificed personal numbers on offense to do the dirty work, so that his team could achieve this amazing mark. He knew he did not need to be a scorer, he had Bob Cousy, and Tommy Heinson in the early days, and later Sam Jones and John Havlicek for that. No he needed to clean the glass, rebounding was one of his greatest strengths, and be that force in the middle that would effect games defensively. The greatest team player of all time, how appropriate was it that he presented the Eastern Conference Finals Championship Trophy to the young man who now personifies team player in the NBA LeBron James.

2) Wilt Chamberlain- Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors Philadelphia 76ers LA Lakers: The Most Dominant player ever to play the position. Nobody before him or since has ever had the ability to simply impose their will by sheer size and force, he truly was the Goliath of the NBA. And because of that Chamberlain probably never got the respect due to him in his career, or his lifetime that ended far too quickly. People looked at him and just expected greatness, as if he exerted no effort to become the magnificent force that he was. That combined with the fact that the early part of his career was spent being defeated by his good friend but heated rival Russell. One of three athletes that probably best typified the ?Swinging Sixties? along side Ali, and the New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

3) Kareem Abdul-Jabar- Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers: A polarizing figure, a Muslim who changed his name from Lew Alcindor and like Ali who changed his name from Cassius Clay took a lot of heat for it. Abdul-Jabar was really the heir to Chamberlain, breaking his scoring record but never embraced by middle America, the way that Chamberlain was. Abdul-Jabar was a quite man very cerebral, and very proud, and somewhat shy that people took for an aloofness. Took the college game to a new level at UCLA with Coach Wooden, the NCAA outlawed dunking for years because of him. So he came up with the ?Sky Hook? the prettiest rainbow jumper you ever saw, it has always perplexed me why more Pros never took to it. He won a championship with the Bucks as the ?Big O? Oscar Robertson finally won a ring to cap off his career. Kareem then won a string of championships in the eighties when the Lakers picked up a young point guard from Michigan Earvin ?Magic? Johnson, and ?Show Time? was born.

4) Moses Malone- Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee: The Most Dominant center of my generation, Malone was born a year before me in 1955, and went straight to the NBA out of high school. He almost got himself a championship with the Rockets, in 1981 as he took probably the team that had the worst regular season recrord to the NBA Finals by strapping them on his back in the Post Season. Malone and the Rockets knocked off the heavily favored Lakers, shocking the world, and leading the center to say that he and four guys from his old neighborhood would beat their opponents in the finals. The Boston Celtics and their ?Big Three? of Bird, Parish, and McHale had a little something to say about that winning their first of three NBA Championships as a unit. Malone would finally get that elusive ring two years later as he was teamed with Dr. J Julius Erving, and Mo Cheeks to beat the Lakers in 1983.

5) Hakeem Olajuwon- Houston Rockets: Phi Slamma Jamma Baby ! The best foreign born center on the list, first made the Finals in 1986 when he teamed up with a player who probably played 15 years before his time; Ralph Samson. The former Virginia Cavalier was a 7′4″ power forward who was actually a frustrated two guard, a guy who enjoyed dribbling running the floor and shooting the outside ?J?. But this was long before the era of Dirk Nowitzki, as players that size were expected to play with their back to the basket. Houston, in their second trip to the finals in five years, ironically met the same opponent and the same fate as the 1981 edition, going down to defeat to the Celtics. But Hakeem would later be teamed with former college teammate Clyde Drexler and won back to back championships in the nineties.

6) Shaquille O?Neal- Orlando Magic, Los Angles Lakers, Miami Heat: Really my most difficult choice was deciding between number five and six. I debated these choices long and hard before I finally came to this decision. And as I said at the introduction of this piece my own personal bias does play into this list. But I think the reason that out weighed the other factors and had me place Shaq in sixth behind Hakeem, was simply lack of competition in his era. I guess in a way I am guilty of the same thing that I accused people of doing to Wilt. But Shaq truly is the last of the Dinosaurs, the really only dominant back to the basket traditional center of his era. And because he has not had the battles that the above players had I have penalized him in this ratings system. I had great hopes, when he and Alonzo Mourning were drafted 1-2 of Russell-Chamberlain battles but they never materialized, mainly due to Mourning?s health problems. Still O?Neal has taken three teams to the finals and won it with two which makes him a solid choice at six.

7) Robert Parish- Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls: I know another controversial choice, certainly there are others on the list to follow who had better individual skills; Patrick Ewing is a perfect example. But Ewing could not do what made Parish so valuable to the 1980?s Boston Celtics teams, become a third banana offensively behind Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, because he knew that role best suited the team. Ewing although a great player was too much of a superstar to ever sublimate his game for the good of the team. Parish wanted championships, and did what ever it took to win them.

George Mikan-Minneapolis Lakers: The NBA?s first big man and the leagues first superstar. Although Boston Celtics point guard Bob Cousy would become known as ?Mr. Basketball? Mikan put the league on the map before Cousy ever played his first professional game. Looking like an overgrown Clark Kent with his wire rimmed glasses, Mikan won four championships (1950, 1952-1954) in just nine NBA seasons. Not quite Russell numbers but still quite impressive. Mikan became Commissioner of the ABA in the 1960?s the rival league that eventually became incorporated and energized the NBA a decade later.

9) Bill Walton- Portland TrailBlazers, San Diego Clippers, Boston Celtics: If he had only stayed healthy, may have been much higher up on this list. Another one of John Wooden?s ?free thinkers? Walton was as well known for his connection with ?Liberal Radicals? and his being a ?DeadHead? as he was for his basketball prowess. Big Bill won a championship with Portland and legendary NBA coach Jack Ramsay in 1977 against Philadelphia. But he suffered a series of foot injuries the next year, which really decimated his NBA career. Walton would have one more season of glory in 1986, after being traded by the Clippers to the Celtics in exchange for Cedric Maxwell. Walton?s feet stayed healthy coming off the bench and became the sixth man on the team that many consider the greatest NBA Team of all time. Walton, suffered more feet woes in 1987, and retired soon there after.

10) Dave Cowens-Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks: Never has one man gotten more out of sheer grit and determination, than ?Big Red?. Cowens, was only 6′9″ amazingly small in an era dominated by the likes of Kareem, Wilt, Artis Gilmore and others. But what he lacked in size he made up for in heart and sheer hustle, diving for loose balls with reckless abandon. Cowens won two rings with Boston in 1974, and 1976 against the Phoenix Suns that featured the triple overtime win that many consider the greatest NBA Postseason game. Cowens, was a product of the seventies, at one time leaving the team mid-season to take a sabbatical, and temporarily became a Boston cab driver.

That is my top ten because of space considerations I will just list in order the rest of list; 11) David Robinson 12) Patrick Ewing 13) Nate Thurmond 14) Wes Unseld 15) Willis Reed 16) Bob Lanier 17) Jack Sikma 18) Artis Gilmore. This is my list and as I said at the beginning let the debate begin let me know your list.

Updates, Fresh From the Oven, Straight to Your Inbox

Promote:

Comments

2 Responses to “NBA’S GREATEST CENTERS (Reprinted From 6/27/07)”

Russ Loede on May 25th, 2008 5:39 pm

Top 10 Centers:
1. Russell
2. Lew Alcindor
3. Wilt
4. Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon – Most Skilled & Balanced Big Man Of All-Time (ex. “Dream Shake”, Top NBA leader in Blocks, Steals/Blocks Machine, and a Great Passer out of the Post). He was very creative and original and could beat you in a variety of ways.
5. Moses Malone – Sidenote: Helped “toughen” up The Dream and mentored him, was his main competition in in pick-up games…
6. Mikan
7. Shaq
8. David Robinson
9. Parish
10. Reed/Unseld/ (toss-up in order)…
Russ Loede on May 25th, 2008 5:50 pm

Top 10 Point Guards (Considering Jerry West was indeed more of a Shooting Guard – would’ve been in the Top 5):
1. “PISTOL” Pete Maravich – Imagine him in a Lakers Uni running the “Showtime” Squad in Magic’s Era in the 80s!
2. Magic
3. Big “O”
4. Isiah Thomas
5. Frazier
6. Stockton
7. Cousy
8. “GP” (Glove)
9. Kidd
10. Paul (Too Early?)/Nash
Honorable Mention: “Tiny” Archibald