Fans of all sports enjoy debating who is the greatest in their respective leagues, so it’s difficult to argue when an actual basketball legend makes his all-time Top 10 list.
Except when some of the most dominant players are missing from the list.
Julius Erving got down with social media star Joy DeAngela to discuss who would be on his top ten list, and the response was pretty unexpected.
“I have five guys who are untouchable – Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor,” Erving explained. “That is my all-time greatest team.” Everyone else had to be on the second or third team, which I decided when I was 15 years old. I’m sticking with it.
“The next group of guys would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Ervin ‘Magic’ Johnson, and probably Karl Malone,” Erving went on to say. “I’m always arguing with my son about where Tim Duncan belongs, and he’s always like, ‘He belongs ahead of Karl Malone for sure.’ I’m going to take Karl Malone and that last spot… Tiny Archibald is a favorite of mine.”
When DeAngelo questioned Erving why modern athletes like Stephen Curry and LeBron James weren’t on the list, he responded sharply.
“He hasn’t had enough playing time.” Curry must complete his career, according to Erving. “Everyone I mentioned there has had their careers ended.”
Erving is a legend in his own right and it is his own personal list, but Malone over Duncan? That’s a hard one to get behind. Larry Bird could actually make the list over Malone.
Duncan has five championships with the San Antonio Spurs, Bird has three with the Boston Celtics while Malone has come up empty in the NBA Finals in three opportunities, two with the Utah Jazz and one with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Malone only outperforms Duncan and Bird in terms of points per game and field goal percentage. Malone retired with 25 points per game to Duncan’s 19 and Bird’s 24.3, and Malone led the pack in field goal percentage with.516 while Duncan and Bird were.506 and.496 respectively.
Duncan (10.8) has a tiny rebounding advantage over Malone (10.1) and Bird (10.0), but he dominates in blocks with 2.2 per game versus Malone’s and Bird’s 0.8 each.
Not to be outdone, Bird has the most assists, steals, three-point percentage, and free throw percentage among the three forwards.
Another argument would be why was Kobe Bryant overlooked for Archibald.
Bryant and Archibald played in separate eras, with Bryant in the 1990s and 2000s and Archibald in the 1970s and 1980s, although Bryant has better statistics in every categories except assists and field goal %. In addition, Bryant won five championships to Archibald’s one.
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