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| "By the way, he's got one on his toe." |
However, since everyone wants to use titles to measure the greatness of a player let's take a look at it. Here is a sampling of some of the greatest players to ever play the game that have won multiple titles:
1. Bill Russell -11
2. Kareem Abdul Jabbar- 6
3. Michael Jordan- 6
4. Magic Johnson-5
5. Kobe Bryant- 5
6. Tim Duncan-4
7. Larry Bird-3
8. Wilt Chamberlain-2
So if we're only looking at titles why aren't people talking about Bill Russell or Kareem as opposed to Jordan? Better yet, why not Robert Horry who has 7 rings? While you're at it throw in Derrick Fisher who has 5! My point exactly! If we were only looking at titles we'd have to put Horry in the discussion and we all know that that doesn't make any sense. He was just a guy that was lucky enough to get on the right boat 7 times.
Titles don't always tell the story of greatness because Dan Marino was probably the most gifted quarterback to ever play the game and he never won a title. Can you say that Joe Montana was better than Marino or Peyton Manning because he won 4 Super Bowls? Absolutely not! He was just blessed to be throwing to the best receiver to ever play the game in Jerry Rice and coached by the inventor of the west coast offense, Bill Walsh!
Along those same lines we saw the same thing happen in the NBA with the Bulls. Not only did Jordan have Scottie and Rodman, they played for probably the best coach to ever walk the side lines. So to win 6 titles with that cast of characters wasn't impossible bruh.
Rings don't always tell the story of greatness because Jerry West, who is the Logo of the NBA, only has one. I think that people loved Jordan so much that after he started winning titles they started equating greatness with championship rings. Like I said before if that is the case, then Robert Horry is the 2nd greatest player in NBA history. Now how stupid does that sound?
Greatness comes down to a players complete game and what they bring to a team. Is the team better with a particular player on the field or on the court? But the amount of titles that a guy wins isn't the deciding factor because it's a team award. If that were that case they should change the NBA Logo to Bill Russell or Robert Horry! So to say that a person with more titles is greater based on the rings alone is completely ridiculous. By using that logic what you'll be saying is that Reggie Miller, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins and Patrick Ewing weren't great players! C'mon bruh!
Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Hit me up on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Youre absolutely right Jay. If that were the case Robert Horry would be in the conversation..he's got what..7? And nobody days he's the best player ever lol
ReplyDeleteHorry was the best at being at the right place.
ReplyDeleteCuz, you are right to a certain extent, but you have went way overboard. Anybody with common sense of the game of basketball would not say that Robert Horry is an all time great. Sheer number of rings don't make you a great player, its the role you play in the success of the team. Are you the centerpiece of the team, the alpha dog, "The Man". For example, as great as Kobe was, his first 3 rings were somewhat discounted because the clear #1 option and center of those Laker championship teams was Shaq..check the stats and the 3 Finals MVP's. Shaq was the man on those teams, so folks wanted to see if Kobe could win while being the central figure of the team. True he did get a big assist with the Gasol trade, but we all know the team was built around Kobe as the centerpiece.
ReplyDeleteSecond, you bring up the Bulls team and said that its not hard to win a championship when you have Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, and Phil...that's only 3 players my man. The rest of the supporting cast were journeyman players who barely belonged in the league...Jud Bueschler, Bobby Hanson, Cliff Levingston, Darryly Hopson, etc. Rodman was a non-scorer, Kukoc was soft, but the Bulls had a great system, defined roles, and The G.O.A.T. who made them better than they actually were. That's what great players do, make other players better. Notice none of the cats named won ever another title? Even Pippen didn't win another one, and he's a HOF. Kerr latched on with another all-time great in Tim Duncan and won a ring, Horace Grant and Ron Harper rode the Shaq/Kobe train to another ring.
I certainly agree that you can be great without winning a ring: Ewing, Barkley, Malone, Iverson, Reggie Miller, all great players who don't have a ring. But when you rank them against other great players who have led their team to the promised land, that's where they fall short. Can you really AI is a better player than Isiah Thomas (Comparison of who is greatest small guard to play the game) when Zeke beat MJ, Bird, and Magic in one championship playoff run as the leader of the Pistons in 90? Can you say Barkley is a better power forward than the 4-time champ Tim Duncan? While Chuck was in the bar having drinks or on the golf course, Tim was at home or in the gym working on his game to lead his team to a title. That is the thing that separates the best of the best, the ones that are willing to do whatever it takes to "lead" their team to a title, not ride the coat tails of another superstar.
And by the way, I've always thought Kareem is the closest thing to the G.O.A.T. He had a phenenomal career, but he didn't get along with the media, hence why he doesn't get the respect he deserves.