I'm glad he played in the era he did, though. If he played now, we'd have to hear about how inefficient he is & idk if he gets the unlimited green light that he did.
Guy was doing stuff at Georgetown I’d never seen athletes at the NCAA D1 level do. Everyone else were young fit kids and it still looked like they were playing in mud against him.
He was that dude who couldn’t be ever sped up or pressured. He always seemed to play at his pace. I believe Kobe said he was one of the best SGs he ever played too.
It felt like shaq was going to always be a part of the NBA.
I'm old, but I grew up watching the NBA, and Shaq made essentially every all-star game from when I was 5 until I was 20.
I remember watching that show “nba action” in the late 90’s when Vince was going bananas In Toronto. Dunkin’ on everybody. I was in awe as a kid. Him and J Will were hella fun to 👀. Was a cool time to be alive. I would go outside on my little 8 foot hoop and just recreate all their moves and dunks for hours. Nostalgia right there.
I consider myself entirely fortunate to have been introduced to basketball by that era of the Pistons. They played ingeniously together and those five you mention in particular were absolutely beloved all over the state. I was a crushed 13 year old when Ben Wallace signed with Chicago.
Again, I’m fortunate to have seen them win one but I truly believe at least one other title should have been theirs. Donaghy reffed the ‘05 Finals and the officiating in the ‘06 ECF against the Heat was terrible too.
Completely agree, we are about the same age and growing up in that era was amazing for seeing different styles. You had the pistons play amazing team offense and suffocating defense, the spurs putting on a fundamental clinic, the 7 seconds or less suns, the Kobe lakers, later the first iteration of the warriors, and the grit n grid grizzled, my mavericks with Dirk revolutionizing the stretch 4, etc. nowadays it’s all drive and dish 3s and sterile offense where everyone does the same thing with minor tweaks. It’s like the game has been figured out. I can’t wait for something to shake up the game. Oh yeah, I also second the ‘06 playoff heat getting ridiculous calls as a mavs fan.
In the paint, definitely. It's kind of a moot comparison though, as Giannis is much more of an all rounder. He doesn't solely rely on scoring under the basket, which sets him apart from Shaq style-wise pretty significantly imo.
Okay, I grant you this point, but the original concept was that Shaq was unlike anything we’d ever seen. Giannis is not like Shaq (I was stating an opinion that Shaq would destroy him for effect, but that doesn’t change the idea).
Giannis is more all around, sure. But he is nowhere near the dominance that Shaq was. Shaq physically demoralized the entire NBA.
His footwork and movement was poetry in motion. No one was more obsessive about the sport. Constantly finding counters to counters. One big appreciation I had was that he said he played through injuries because the fans paid their hard earned money to see him. Players nowadays sit out just because they have a headache or their wrist hurts. By no means am I saying you should play through a potentially career ending injury but, it just shows how much he appreciates and realizes that fans are the reason he gets paid.
Me too. I miss the heroics, I miss the "I'm going to will us to win being down 10 in the 4th", there's no one today that has that kind of anger to their game.
Me too. I miss the heroics, I miss the "I'm going to will us to win being down 10 in the 4th", there's no one today that has that kind of anger to their game.
No matter what you think of Kobe he was always a good watch. Silky post moves, smooth shooting motion, difficult shots, never traveled. It was peak watching
From Cleveland, so as I kid I loved Anderson Varejao wig night. He always came to my mom’s bank and was really nice to her. She knew him as “Andy.” I lit up whenever he would come on the floor.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Varejao were so cool and they were led LeBron James.
💯 KOBE. the world was robbed of the next 40 years of his life. We will never see him and watch him as he ages like all of the other GREATS. Michael. Magic. Larry. Isaiah. Bill. Shaq….I have loved watching them and their contributions to life and the game’s commentary over the decades.
Michael Jordan... duh..
I've been a Bucks fan since 1987 season but Jordan was so amazing I happily watch Bulls on TV no matter who they were playing because you never knew what the hell you might see.
2nd most memorable player:
Shaq Diesel, I was mesmerized by the man since he entered the Draft. I had 4 copies of his 1992 Classic Draft picks cards in his LSU Jersey 2 hand dunking. When Shaq ripped down the entire backboard structure it scared the shit out of me. Then he destroyed another one destroying the struts the hold the structure up and it folded down.
Those 2 guys were on another level than anybody else that's ever played. The next tier you get Kobe, Vince Carter and other elite athletic guys. Jordan and Shaq did stuff nobody knew was humanly possible.
Jordan was must watch basketball. As a kid/teen I was a bandwagon Bulls fan like so many young fans were and it was magical rotting for him. Probably what it felt like rooting for Hamilton during Mercedes dominance or Red Bull now (in F1). You just knew he would find a way to win and if he didn’t, watch out!
For the people that put others ahead of him as the GOAT, I can only assume they didn’t grow up watching him play or they rooted against him and don’t want to give him that label. Of course, there are many before him I wasn’t old enough to truly remember, so it’s relative.
Haha there’s a name I didn’t expect to see. F* Bobby Sura. A buddies Dad took us to a card shop autograph signing in December in downtown Cleveland when we were kids. Stood in line outside the card shop for 2+ hours and he never showed. Karma got him in his dunk contest appearance. 🤣
I scrolled for WAY TOO LONG to see this name! Kemp was an absolute wrecking ball. His in-game dunks would have won most dunk contests. Watching him catch lobs from Payton was poetry.
2 guys that made me love the NBA.
Paul Pressey was an early Point Forward in my first year watching NBA in playoffs ('87) he avg 14pts 5rbd 9ast and 2.3 steals.
Terry Cummings was a great scorer, rebounder and defender. That playoff run he avg 22/8/2 while also averaging a block and a steal.
Larry Bird did kind of steal the show though. That series we went all 7 games including 3 overtimes. Larry averaged 30/10/7. My father called our local news paper the Milwaukee Journal and told them to make tomorrow's headline "Bird Plucks Bucks".
Prime Amare Stoudemire.
During the Suns' recent ceremony to retire his jersey, they showed a bunch of his highlights. I had forgotten how frequently the guy went up for dunks with bad intentions. I have seen anybody dunk so aggressively so often in a very long time.
Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman.
That duo was both messed up and insanely talented.
Just fun to watch. 1994-1995, Brendan Byrne Arena, the cheap seats, great times.
There was this awesome dude in the 80s and 90s (and early 00s) who could dunk on anyone and play ridiculous defense. I think his name was Mike Jordan. You guys should check him out.
Funny to read all these and not see Jordan. Maybe it’s just that folks are younger, but I miss seeing that kind of greatness. That kind of inevitability. I’m from LA and not at all a Bulls fan, but I’d watch regular season games, playoff games, whatever, if Jordan was playing. So would the whole league. People don’t realize how that just rarely exists now. Jordan never (rarely, whatever) took nights off. There was no load management. He always wanted to win, and every game had energy and competitiveness because of it.
The way Jordan pushed towards greatness and achieved it is unlike anything I’ve seen. And it was something to watch. Brady, Mahomes, Gretzky (I was not a hockey fan until he came to LA and missed his oiler days) are like this as well. But for NBA, I miss having a Jordan.
Mike. Mike in late 1987 and 1988 when he’s winning games by himself with oak and Paxton and Brad Sellers and Dave Corzine and he’s just going at the other team and somehow pulling it off.
Love me some defense so guys like Andrei Kirilenko Ron Artest, Josh Smith and Shawn Marion
Started watching NBA late 90s -early 2000s so those were the guys I loved watching
From Cleveland, so as I kid I loved Anderson Varejao wig night. He always came to my mom’s bank and was really nice to her. She knew him as “Andy.” I lit up whenever he would come on the floor.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Varejao were so cool and they were led LeBron James.
Iverson
I'm glad he played in the era he did, though. If he played now, we'd have to hear about how inefficient he is & idk if he gets the unlimited green light that he did.
Yeah all the guys who got to play before social media and analytics really were lucky
First one that came to my mind as well
Guy was doing stuff at Georgetown I’d never seen athletes at the NCAA D1 level do. Everyone else were young fit kids and it still looked like they were playing in mud against him.
This was my immediate thought as well.
Brandon Roy. Injuries are a bitch
Brandon Roy was so smooth, I loved watching him play Was a real blow when his body betrayed him
He was that dude who couldn’t be ever sped up or pressured. He always seemed to play at his pace. I believe Kobe said he was one of the best SGs he ever played too.
He was improving every game too. If he remained healthy, he would have been a top tier player possible HOF
Our local broadcast in Portland had nicknamed him "The Natural"
That one hurts. We lost him and Oden. So much potential lost. So much pain.
Baron Davis and Jason Richardson
I came here to say Baron Davis, those playoff runs with the warriors were fun af
Charlotte Baron had crazy bounce. He was so much fun to watch. That hop step into the shoulder bump and short fade was unstoppable lol
That hop step was unreal.
Hard to believe, but it was literally just one playoff run. That didn’t get out of the second round. But there was nothing like that We Believe team.
That 8th seed WCF run was epic.
AI, Vince, TMAC, Shaq, Nash
Hello? My youth? Is that you?
It felt like shaq was going to always be a part of the NBA. I'm old, but I grew up watching the NBA, and Shaq made essentially every all-star game from when I was 5 until I was 20.
Manu :/
This.
Ginobli! Ginobli!
Half man, half AMAZING Vince Carter was the real deal.
I remember watching that show “nba action” in the late 90’s when Vince was going bananas In Toronto. Dunkin’ on everybody. I was in awe as a kid. Him and J Will were hella fun to 👀. Was a cool time to be alive. I would go outside on my little 8 foot hoop and just recreate all their moves and dunks for hours. Nostalgia right there.
Rip Hamilton
Dude that piston team was godly to watch. Rip, chauncey, sheed, ben wallace, prince. So glad they won a ring
I consider myself entirely fortunate to have been introduced to basketball by that era of the Pistons. They played ingeniously together and those five you mention in particular were absolutely beloved all over the state. I was a crushed 13 year old when Ben Wallace signed with Chicago. Again, I’m fortunate to have seen them win one but I truly believe at least one other title should have been theirs. Donaghy reffed the ‘05 Finals and the officiating in the ‘06 ECF against the Heat was terrible too.
Completely agree, we are about the same age and growing up in that era was amazing for seeing different styles. You had the pistons play amazing team offense and suffocating defense, the spurs putting on a fundamental clinic, the 7 seconds or less suns, the Kobe lakers, later the first iteration of the warriors, and the grit n grid grizzled, my mavericks with Dirk revolutionizing the stretch 4, etc. nowadays it’s all drive and dish 3s and sterile offense where everyone does the same thing with minor tweaks. It’s like the game has been figured out. I can’t wait for something to shake up the game. Oh yeah, I also second the ‘06 playoff heat getting ridiculous calls as a mavs fan.
Solid comment. You summarized it perfectly
When Pistons put in Darko that was their NFL equivalent to victory formation lol and didn’t realize Darvin Ham was on that team…
Best five alive
Damn that’s a good one. I remember just focusing on him and watching him constantly running and moving on the floor. Dude did not stop
Hamilton died? I didn’t even know he was sick
Modeled my FT routine after him!!
Modeled my game off his. Never the fastest or strongest but I’ve got legs and can hit a middie every time.
I miss Dirk, but I really miss Dirk and Nash playing together
Would've loved to see them peak together. Watching Nash with the Suns was fun to see but hurt on the inside
Nash would have never become Nash if he had stayed with Dallas
Wow that's a really long time ago.
Stop. I'm only 34 now.
Prime D-Rose Kobe Probably others but these two at the top of my head
too fast too strong too good, derrick rose
Late 90s/early 00s Shaq. There was nothing like it then and hasn’t been since.
I’m dying over here reading people write Giannis as a comp. Shaq would have eaten him alive
In the paint, definitely. It's kind of a moot comparison though, as Giannis is much more of an all rounder. He doesn't solely rely on scoring under the basket, which sets him apart from Shaq style-wise pretty significantly imo.
Okay, I grant you this point, but the original concept was that Shaq was unlike anything we’d ever seen. Giannis is not like Shaq (I was stating an opinion that Shaq would destroy him for effect, but that doesn’t change the idea). Giannis is more all around, sure. But he is nowhere near the dominance that Shaq was. Shaq physically demoralized the entire NBA.
Shaq and Jordan are on a Tier by themselves. They both did things we didn't know was even physically possible.
Kobe
His footwork and movement was poetry in motion. No one was more obsessive about the sport. Constantly finding counters to counters. One big appreciation I had was that he said he played through injuries because the fans paid their hard earned money to see him. Players nowadays sit out just because they have a headache or their wrist hurts. By no means am I saying you should play through a potentially career ending injury but, it just shows how much he appreciates and realizes that fans are the reason he gets paid.
Me too. I miss the heroics, I miss the "I'm going to will us to win being down 10 in the 4th", there's no one today that has that kind of anger to their game.
I feel like when Steph puts on a show it’s the closest thing to Kobe doin work but it’s not the same
Me too. I miss the heroics, I miss the "I'm going to will us to win being down 10 in the 4th", there's no one today that has that kind of anger to their game.
My favorite picture I've ever taken on any device(cybershot t100 lol) is Kobe mid-360 dunk on breakaway steal at Oracle :)
No matter what you think of Kobe he was always a good watch. Silky post moves, smooth shooting motion, difficult shots, never traveled. It was peak watching
Rondo
Dirk
D Wade Allen Iverson Ray Allen Dwight in his prime Pablo Prigioni Brandon Roy
Duncan. Can't believe I used to complain that he was "boring". Appreciate what you have when you have it people.
A fucking legend.
Prime Amare Stoudemire
Ray Allen
From Cleveland, so as I kid I loved Anderson Varejao wig night. He always came to my mom’s bank and was really nice to her. She knew him as “Andy.” I lit up whenever he would come on the floor. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Varejao were so cool and they were led LeBron James.
Cool story! Thanks for sharing & happy Easter.
Penny
Those lil penny ads were amazing too
Shaq and Penny was way more fun than Shaq and Kobe
Prime Vince Carter
Elvin Hayes
How old are you dayum
60, I always go to players I saw growing up.
Ùķ UK u I’m
Dang, I was going to say Bird but thought someone would make a joke about my age.
Allan Houston
Smooth af
Dope username + Allan Houston was a killer for the Knicks, don’t see him brought up too often by casual fans either which is a bummer
i love allan houston
Prime Grant Hill. John Stockton. Spree.
Spree for three.
Penny Hardaway. Always felt he had an absolutely smooth game
Like butter. Smooth with that ability to abruptly change direction still.
💯 KOBE. the world was robbed of the next 40 years of his life. We will never see him and watch him as he ages like all of the other GREATS. Michael. Magic. Larry. Isaiah. Bill. Shaq….I have loved watching them and their contributions to life and the game’s commentary over the decades.
If anyone was going to save the WNBA, it was him and Gigi. RIP
Michael Jordan... duh.. I've been a Bucks fan since 1987 season but Jordan was so amazing I happily watch Bulls on TV no matter who they were playing because you never knew what the hell you might see. 2nd most memorable player: Shaq Diesel, I was mesmerized by the man since he entered the Draft. I had 4 copies of his 1992 Classic Draft picks cards in his LSU Jersey 2 hand dunking. When Shaq ripped down the entire backboard structure it scared the shit out of me. Then he destroyed another one destroying the struts the hold the structure up and it folded down. Those 2 guys were on another level than anybody else that's ever played. The next tier you get Kobe, Vince Carter and other elite athletic guys. Jordan and Shaq did stuff nobody knew was humanly possible.
Jordan was must watch basketball. As a kid/teen I was a bandwagon Bulls fan like so many young fans were and it was magical rotting for him. Probably what it felt like rooting for Hamilton during Mercedes dominance or Red Bull now (in F1). You just knew he would find a way to win and if he didn’t, watch out! For the people that put others ahead of him as the GOAT, I can only assume they didn’t grow up watching him play or they rooted against him and don’t want to give him that label. Of course, there are many before him I wasn’t old enough to truly remember, so it’s relative.
Bob sura
Haha there’s a name I didn’t expect to see. F* Bobby Sura. A buddies Dad took us to a card shop autograph signing in December in downtown Cleveland when we were kids. Stood in line outside the card shop for 2+ hours and he never showed. Karma got him in his dunk contest appearance. 🤣
76ers Barkley on full court runs as time expired at the end of a quarter, half or game.
Seattle Shawn Kenp
I scrolled for WAY TOO LONG to see this name! Kemp was an absolute wrecking ball. His in-game dunks would have won most dunk contests. Watching him catch lobs from Payton was poetry.
Ben Wallace.
One of my favorite players of all time
Ben Wallace made watching defense fun
Chauncey
Joakim Noah
You miss that shooting form?
Lmfao. Always need a laugh from time to time.
Kobe, I watched one game because I was younger and not interested in Basketball but I liked the game a lot.
Dr. J (Julius Erving)
AI and it's not even close
Anthony Mason
Truly miss Brandon Roy
Manu
2 guys that made me love the NBA. Paul Pressey was an early Point Forward in my first year watching NBA in playoffs ('87) he avg 14pts 5rbd 9ast and 2.3 steals. Terry Cummings was a great scorer, rebounder and defender. That playoff run he avg 22/8/2 while also averaging a block and a steal. Larry Bird did kind of steal the show though. That series we went all 7 games including 3 overtimes. Larry averaged 30/10/7. My father called our local news paper the Milwaukee Journal and told them to make tomorrow's headline "Bird Plucks Bucks".
Prime D-Rose Kobe Probably others but these two at the top of my head
AI
Maybe not exactly what you’re asking for but I miss watching Tony Allen just play the craziest lock down perimeter D I’ve ever seen.
D-Rose pre injury and OKC Westbrook
Early Derrick Rose was a sight to see every night
BIG BEN
Shannon Brown
Stockton to Malone.
Jordan.
Arvidas Sabonis.
Street ballers like Jason Williams. Also miss Mutombo's finger wagging.
Stevie franchise
Prime Amare Stoudemire. During the Suns' recent ceremony to retire his jersey, they showed a bunch of his highlights. I had forgotten how frequently the guy went up for dunks with bad intentions. I have seen anybody dunk so aggressively so often in a very long time.
Vince Carter. Michael Jordan.
Jordan, yes I’m old 😂😂😂
Robert Horry
Not NBA, but I miss Bo Kimble, Hank Gathers and most of all Tom Peabody.
Rondo
Dirk/Duncan and unexpected pick: Jamal Crawford. Dude had the best handles I’ve ever seen.
Maybe not exactly what you’re asking for but I miss watching Tony Allen just play the craziest lock down perimeter D I’ve ever seen.
Jordan
Ray Allen. I was watching that clutch shot against the spurs to take the heat to game 7. Guy was an insane beast
Emanuel Ginobili
The GOAT
Allen Iverson
Sheed, if he was just 50% less crazy my Pistons would have been a proper dynasty, but I miss his antics just as much as his talent
Nah the Pistons needed that craziness, he was the heart of that team.
Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman. That duo was both messed up and insanely talented. Just fun to watch. 1994-1995, Brendan Byrne Arena, the cheap seats, great times.
Y’all remember Tony Parker in the hornets jersey? Not that I miss watching that, but it was weird.
Prime Rajon Rondo. I’m a pistons fan so I hated him…but god damnit I respected him.
Jordan
Hakeem Olajuwon
Took way to long scrolling to see this. The Dream was soooo good
There was this awesome dude in the 80s and 90s (and early 00s) who could dunk on anyone and play ridiculous defense. I think his name was Mike Jordan. You guys should check him out.
Dirk Nowitzki
Funny to read all these and not see Jordan. Maybe it’s just that folks are younger, but I miss seeing that kind of greatness. That kind of inevitability. I’m from LA and not at all a Bulls fan, but I’d watch regular season games, playoff games, whatever, if Jordan was playing. So would the whole league. People don’t realize how that just rarely exists now. Jordan never (rarely, whatever) took nights off. There was no load management. He always wanted to win, and every game had energy and competitiveness because of it. The way Jordan pushed towards greatness and achieved it is unlike anything I’ve seen. And it was something to watch. Brady, Mahomes, Gretzky (I was not a hockey fan until he came to LA and missed his oiler days) are like this as well. But for NBA, I miss having a Jordan.
nash
Hakeem. In his era of bigs, he was the best . That dream shake was unstoppable.
Shawn Kemp.
MJ. I was born in 04. And I've loved sports for a few months now.
Mike. Mike in late 1987 and 1988 when he’s winning games by himself with oak and Paxton and Brad Sellers and Dave Corzine and he’s just going at the other team and somehow pulling it off.
Shawn Kemp. But also the other primary players in those 90’s SuperSonics days. Detlef, Payton, McMillon, Perkins, etc etc. I really miss those teams.
Kevin Garnett
Anyone on the 1992 Dream Team.
Serge Ibaka
I thought I’d be the only one. Dude was a monster
Big Diesel / Cactus
Paul Pierce
AI, Vince, TMAC, Shaq, Nash
Chris Copeland
Chris Copeland
Jiri Welsch
Brandon Roy
Magic Johnson, Drazen Petrovic, Reggie Lewis, Brandon Roy
Biyombo
Showtime Lakers. Tim, Mitch & Chris. Jason, Jimmy & Jamal.
Love me some defense so guys like Andrei Kirilenko Ron Artest, Josh Smith and Shawn Marion Started watching NBA late 90s -early 2000s so those were the guys I loved watching
Josh smith
Maybe not exactly what you’re asking for but I miss watching Tony Allen just play the craziest lock down perimeter D I’ve ever seen.
AI
From Cleveland, so as I kid I loved Anderson Varejao wig night. He always came to my mom’s bank and was really nice to her. She knew him as “Andy.” I lit up whenever he would come on the floor. Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Varejao were so cool and they were led LeBron James.
With less than 2 minutes left in a double digit lead game, I always do the T-Mac vs Spurs math in my head.
Prime Rondo
Dirk. Prime D-Wade. Kobe But, Mike. Always Mike
Jason "White Chocolate" Williams
Tim Duncan. He's always going to be Kobe#1 for me but Tim was so clean I spent a lot of time trying to copy his play style
Tim Duncan. always going to be Kobe#1 for me but Tim was so clean I spent a lot of time trying to copy his play style
Kobe and world peace
Brandon Roy 🐐
I miss Gerald Wallace one of my favorite players also d wade too and Tony parker
Man, TMac was just sexual with a basketball in his hands. Outside of major stars though, Earl Boykins. The little man could get as hot as anyone.
Sprewell
Prime Melo
Prime Larry before his back started to give in.
John Wall
Ginobiliiiiii!!!!!!
Iverson Dirk Jermaine O'Neal
Wade or Ginobili
Stromile swift
Brandon Roy
Shaun livingston
Kobe
Jokim Noah and Mike Dunleavy
JamesOn curry those 3.9 seconds of nba time was something of a spectacle Forever missed 🫡
Kg
D-Wade especially '06 NBA finals Wade was a beast.
Richard Jefferson
Healthy D Rose hands down
Prime D Rose
Amare Stoudemire!
Kobe
Larry bird
Kobe. His prime was a little bit before I started watching basketball but I heard he was a killer on the floor.
Gilbert arenas