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Jan 16, 2022
12:56:27am
wjman11 Playmaker
I think your premise is reasonable and there is no perfect ranking system.
One of the obvious issues with any ranking is how do you weigh longevity/consistency with peak performance.

Here are a couple of my thoughts on your list —

Tier 1/2 - Kareem won six titles and six MVPs. 9 times in the top 3 for MVP voting, 15 times in the top 5, and 17 times in the top 10. Based on your criteria it seems he would be in tier 1.

I think someone could argue Wilt into tier 1 as well. A lot of people feel he had empty numbers and didn't win so they drop him down. But he led the league in scoring 7 straight years, led the league in rebounding 11 straight years, led the league in assists once (with 4 top 10s). 4 MVPs, 7 times in the top 3 for MVP, 10 times in the top 5, and 11 times in the top 10. 3rd all-time in WS/48, 2nd all-time in total win shares in only 14 seasons, 3rd all-time in offensive win shares and 5th in defensive win shares.

Tier 2/3 - You put a lot of weight on championships in making this division. One thing I think that is a flaw when people do this is how the championships are allocated to different players. Bryant was on five title teams, but in his first title in 2000, he averaged 15.6 pts on .411 true shooting percentage in the finals. In 2001, he averaged 24.6 pts on .501 true shooting. Shaq's run through the playoffs from 2000/2001/2002 was one of the most dominant ever. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to give Bryant credit for the first three championships in the all-time rankings and not give credit to Pippen for his six.

Similarly, Duncan gets credit for leading his team to five championships. In 2014, Duncan averaged 15.4 pts in the finals. That same playoffs he averaged 13.8 pts in the 2nd round. In 2007 he averaged 18.3 pts in the finals. Malone/Barkley/Giannis/Dirk/D. Robinson/Olajuwon never played on teams where they could win playoff series by only scoring 15 pts per game. Duncan is obviously a great player, but he also played with great teammates and had a great coach.

Finally, there is a lot of randomness/luck in who wins the championship but that often gets discounted. Olajuwon happened to get his team to the finals the two years Jordan was out. What if Jordan had played baseball the years Barkley or Malone led their teams to the finals and played basketball the years Rockets won. If not for injuries, the Warriors probably beat Toronto and Curry has four titles and Durant has three.

Tier 4 -
If you credited Kawhi with leading two teams to titles (2014 Spurs and 2019 Raptors) would you move him up a tier?

David Robinson — I think you have him too low. 5th all-time in career PER, 2nd all-time in WS per 48, 4th all-time in BPM, 10th all-time in VORP.

Scottie Pippen - In 2000, the Blazers lost to the Lakers in the WCF in 7 games. The Blazers outscored the Lakers in that series, and would have been the favorites in the finals against Indiana. Would that have changed your ranking of Pippen had the Blazers won that championship?

Tracy McGrady - You don't have him on your list. 5 top 250 VORP seasons (same as Bryant), 5 top 250 BPM seasons (Bryant has 2), 1 top 250 season for WS per 48 (Bryant has 0), 1 top 250 season for win shares (Bryant has 3). Career per 100 possessions, McGrady 31.6 pts, 9.1 rebs, 7.1 assists, 2.0 steals, 1.4 blocks, 3.5 turnovers. Bryant is at 35.8 pts, 7.5 rebs, 6.7 assists, 2.1 steals, 0.7 blocks, 4.3 turnovers. McGrady missed a ton of games and was out of the league by 33 but in his peak he is definitely in tier 4 and is generally very underrated.
wjman11
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wjman11
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