Clyde drexler in the same vein.

I love this pick. Charles was super underrated due to never winning the chip. At his peak he was like future Lebron, going coast to coast, dunking on everyone, blocking shots, outrebounding dudes half a foot taller than him. Second best player on the Dream Team.

It’s a shame that Scottie Pippin doesn’t get the credit he deserves since he played with Jordan because he was legit a top 5 to 10 player in the NBA in that era.

Pick any big man from that era.

The Admiral, Ewing,

How can we say this about Charles when he has an MVP? I understand that Jordan and maybe even Hakeem was better but how is anyone with an MVP in the running for this title?

The MVP Charles Barkley?

They both have MVPs so there’s an argument neither of them count.

I think that KG had the better season in 2004, but Duncan was still overall the best player from 2001-06

KG was absolutely the best player in the world in 2004. That was an absolute all-time season. I’d actually say it was the best season anyone had in between Jordan and LeBron.

Kevin Durant was absolutely the best player in 2021 after Solomon Hill ended LeBron’s prime

Sucks for him that in 09 he has a season that arguably surpasses Kobe only for Bron to hit GOAT level

Certified ball knower.

Best player on that Redeem Team and the best player on the NBA season following that.

Biased take of course.

Who was better in ‘06?

If Wilt was not the best player in the world in 1967 nobody was

I think Wilt was comfortably the best player in the league from 65-68. He won MVP 3 times a row during those years.

It wasn’t really a 1A/1B situation. Russell was the best from 1957-65 while Chamberlain was unquestionably the best during his Philadelphia 76ers years from 1965-68. You can argue other years for Wilt, but can’t take away that stretch

1967 Wilt was definitely better

66-68 is one of the best three season runs by a player ever

Reddit people aren’t bayesians and think BITW jumps around based on MVPs.

Why did you have to state something I strongly agree with in a way that’s going to have anyone who responds to you spamming the nerd emoji? It’s not even like Bayesian inference is a particularly challenging concept, but I know what happens when you drop that kind of terminology on an NBA player rankings post.

bayesians

What does this mean?

You have that backwards. Kobe is the answer and never the best because of Duncan. How is a player who won back to back MVPs never the best?

Duncan was definitely the best player in the league in 2002-2003 - surely others here remember? 

At minimum Duncan was the best in 02/03. Shaq wasn’t locked in mentally enough and had started his decline. Duncan carried that team to the championship. I can say confidently that for at least one year Duncan was the best in the NBA. The answer is probably KD, he just was never better than LeBron.

2016 is currys best argument

KG wasn’t considered better than Duncan… by anyone being serious.

It wasn’t any shade on KG, Duncan was just Duncan.

I think 16 Steph was the best player in the world. LeBron was great. But that unanimous season was absolutely outrageous.

It’s kinda crazy actually. Both the best PG’s ever have an argument for not being the best player in the league. I actually do agree with your reasoning as well. Bird was usually perceived as the better player at the time, its revisionist history to say Magic was better. I do believe MJ was the best player in 88’-91 as well. His best argument is ‘87 like you said but MJ’s scoring was just insanely off the charts that it’s a debate.

Steph I think it was still comfortable LeBron. Yes his 2016 regular season was insane, but LeBron was the overall better player and the playoffs showed it.

Kinda interesting how the both best PG’s ever might’ve not been the best player in the league, and it’s at least debatable

In the four seasons of 1986-1987 through 1989-1990, Magic won 3 out of the 4 MVPs, went to 3 straight Finals, and won two titles. I feel like he clears Jordan here for at least part of this stretch, so he doesn’t qualify.

Kobe was considered the best in the world in 2008 (and arguably a bit before) and was at worst debatable with LeBron in 2009 and 2010.

Steph is a good one. If you don’t think he was better than LeBron in 2015 and 2016, he was never the best in the world.

Steph is probably the best answer that you have to really reaaaaalllllyyyy think about otherwise it’ll sound insane.

But I agree. It’s always been a conundrum for me but I felt like lebron was a better player even while Steph and GSW were thrashing Cleveland, you have KD, Kawhi, and harden, then Giannis comes along.

A big part of it I think is defense. Lebron was still a great defender while curry was at his peak. That can’t go overshadowed.

Curry has spent lots of time as a top 3 player in the league but I’m not sure if I’d say he was ever higher than 2nd best in the world

You’re right, it’s Magic Johnson. I didn’t think it was true because of the three MVPs, but Jordan was the clear best player in the league and it wasn’t close from 1986 on and pre 1986 Bird was the best. Magic might have gotten MVP, but the advanced and normal stats all show Jordan was a full step above the entire league every year from 1986 until his first retirement and the best for the few years after he came back.

I would say so. It’s probably one of the shortest “eras” in sports but those 2 years were definitely Hakeem’s

Are you asking if Jordan unretired took some time to get conditioned and came back for a couple of months during that two year period…would he be considered better than Hakeem?

Like he did in 1995? He took some time to get conditioned, came back on Mar 19 and played until May 18…when he was knocked out by the Magic in the 2nd round. He was not the best player in the world at any point during that comeback.

I would argue that David Robinson was the best player in the league in 1995…right up until the WCF…which is why he won the MVP easily. However, Hakeem took it back that series.

Some of you really are the dumbest stat nerds on the planet with zero basketball knowledge.

Did all these people not watch 2008 Chris Paul. That was basketball nirvana.

truth nuke

35pts, 11reb, 6ast, 2blk, 1stl for the first 40 games of 2023-24.

41-10-7 on Jokic and 70-18-5 on Wemby in the same week.

51 on Gobert and KAT

Imagine what he could’ve done that year if kuminga didn’t fall on his knee

There’s better players than Harden who haven’t been BITW

I don’t think Duncan is an obvious answer at all. I think he was the best from 2002-06, with a strong argument for other years too

Duncan was absolutely the best player in the league from 03-07 or so. You could play with the date range but he had a clear run as the top guy.

I take Duncan over Kobe (making Kobe the answer). But there’s an argument for a lot of these. 

I think “best” is just too nebulous and hard to prove. You have to go further down the all time list for a clear answer (probably Barkley). 

If he was behind CP3 then why didn’t Paul win the MVP (or lead his team to greater success)? I’m not even a big Kobe fan but this “Chris Paul 2009” talk is internet revisionism in real time.

Not 2nd or 3rd best player though. There’s 5 positions.

I still think 2024 was his year. 

Reality does tend to upset Kobe fans.

Yes because calling Kobe “the best player” is hating. 

Kareem was not the best player in the league past like 1980

Best player at that particular time, not best player who was still active at the time.

Duncan gets hit because he was boring to watch and doesn’t have a huge fan base since he was in a small market. But if you go back and look at the numbers in the early-to-mid 2000s, he was really holding it

Steph was the best player for the majority of the 15-22 stretch saying he never was once is kinda crazy

Stop spreading misinformation. Steph Curry was the best player in the league multiple years in his career.

Steph Curry’s 4-year pure RAPM during his prime years:

2014: 11

2015: 2

2016: 3

2017: 3

2018: 1

2019: 1

2020: 1

2021: 6

2022: 2

Jerry West has 14 All-Star selections and no MVPs while being considered an all-time great. He won the Finals MVP in ‘69 on the losing team but didn’t even receive votes in the regular season.

I don’t think there is any year of his career were he was better than one or more of Russel, Chamberlain, Robinson, or Kareem.

Yet he won back to back titles in a league with Shaq, Duncan, and LeBron

Kobe was the best from 2006-08. Most people agreed at the time. SLAM, Bleacher Report, journalists, fans, other players. He was the leader of the Redeem Team and considered the best there too.

GM surveys had him as the hardest player to gameplan for and a top-three defender.

Embiid won an MVP while averaging the most points per minute ever, leading the league in scoring for two years while playing All-NBA defense.

Sure, he was neck-and-neck with Jokic when he won the 2022-23 MVP, but 2023-24 he was unanimously the MVP halfway through the season until he got hurt. Not a single person can seriously deny that Embiid was head and shoulders above everyone else in 2023.

https://theonion.com/nation-to-always-remember-yao-ming-s-22-point-8-reboun-1819572771/

and was the best player in the world in his peak season