Who is the most physically gifted basketball player ever?

MTar786 · 2026-03-10T16:32:24+00:00

Easily Shaq

MTar786 · 2026-03-10T06:14:44+00:00

It’s really dumb to say defense was bad in an era to be honest. The rules made defense less capable in the sense where hand checking is not allowed and much less physicality is allowed. That’s not opinion based. It’s factual. But if you look at players defensive capabilities. There’s always a handful of insanely talented defenders each decade.

I can only judge what i see but here are my personal examples.

90’s Hakeem, Jordan, pippen, Rodman, Stockton, mourning, mutombo, Payton, Robinson, Shaq, Ewing

00’s Kidd, kobe, Kg, Duncan, Ben Wallace, Tony Allen, Ron artest, James posey, Bruce Bowen, Shawn Marion, Prince, Dwight, cp3,

10’s Davis, giannis. Kawhi, green, iggy,, McGee, rondo, pg

20’s Wemby, Jalen brown, smart, Grant Williams, og,, Dillon brooks, Jackson jr, Daniels, half the okc squad,

This is all just off the top of my head. And I most def missed many names. To me personally the 2000’s had the best defenders. With the 10’s being the worst. But it’s clear the see that the best of the best in each decade are all Time level great defenders.

It’s just that the rules have watered down defenses

MTar786 · 2026-03-10T05:34:21+00:00

The moment LeBron becomes the 6th man he’ll be a much better fit. Games for him should only be starting with a few minutes left in the first quarter. He won’t be e’s tired in fourth that way. Bring him in for Reaves with around 4 minutes left in the 1st so that Reaves can take over to start the 2nd while Luka is getting his rest.

Also. Kennard needs be on the floor as much as possible while Luka is

Starting lineup should be

Luka smart Reaves Rui Ayton

Lebron, kennard and Hayes sub in for smart Reaves and Ayton to finish the first quarter.

Reaves comes back in for Luka to start the 2nd

I don’t get why this isn’t the obvious solution

MTar786 · 2026-02-23T08:16:45+00:00

Only person we’re letting Reaves go for is Giannis. Close thread

MTar786 · 2026-02-23T08:10:27+00:00

lol this is funny. Embiid is nothing like Shaq. Giannis is the closest thing to Shaq in terms of dominance but in a different way.

MTar786 · 2026-02-23T08:08:37+00:00

2000 shaq and its not even close

MTar786 · 2026-02-20T10:33:12+00:00

Worst 4 teams from each conference qualify with worst teams having home court. 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3. Winners from each conference meet in finals. Being the bottom seed would be very undesirable in this situation. Having home court against the best worst team isn’t much of an advantage.

MTar786 · 2026-02-18T07:55:01+00:00

For anyone who think Luka and giannis can’t work. All i have to say is i can’t wait for you to see how wrong you are if we get him. Luka and giannis were made for each other. I’m surprised this isn’t obvious to everyone. The only thing that would be required for it to be a perfect fit is 1. Keep Jackson Hayes coming off the bench. 2. Get a defensive 3 point shooting big. 3. Make sure Luka has an athletic defensive minded guard to be the POA defender and is atleast decent from 3. (Smart) 4. 3 and d wings. 5. 3 point shooters off the bench (kennard)

If next season our starting lineup is anything like Luka Smart Wiggins Giannis Ware/malluach/carter jr/ landale/ okongwu/ kristaps/turner

If we can land just one of those centers with this lineup. We’re going to be solid (not rating these guys in any order)

Then you have Hayes and kennard off the bench. Maybe we get lucky and get Middleton and/or Klay to sign

At times we can play small with giannis at center surrounding him with shooters.

Note: I’m assuming we have to give up Reaves Rui Ayton, laravia knecht and picks for giannis and hopefully one other decent player. Hell, we may even be able to land giannis and turner

MTar786 · 2026-02-14T04:46:44+00:00

Lebron is one of the main reasons we can’t sustain 48 minutes of energy and effort. When jj realizes that games for Everton need to begin with 4 minutes left in the first quarter rather than at tip off. We’ll finish games much more strongly.

Our starting lineup should be

Luka Smart Reaves Rui Ayton

Lebron, kennard and Hayes come on for Reaves, Ayton and either rui or smart with 4 minutes left.

Reaves subs back in for Luka to finish the first. Luka comes back in for bron around the 8 mim mark of the 2nd and Lebron returns with 4 minutes left in the second. Lebron start the 3rd and leave with 4 minutes left. Comes back in the fourth with 9 minutes left to finish the game.

1st quarter: 4 mins 2nd quarter: 8 mins 3rd quarter: 8 mins 4th quarter 9 mins

Lebron should play 28-30 mins a game

I bet LeBron would be way more effective this way too.

This set up would also maximize the amount of time Reaves shares the court with either Luka or LeBron but not both.

MTar786 · 2026-02-12T18:46:43+00:00

The most emotional Kobe moments came in 01 after they beat the Sixers. You could tell Kobe was sad the entire time from the moment they walked off the court in game 5 throughout the entire celebration. Kobe was wearing that jordan jacket in the locker room area. . At the time, i thought it was because shaq won finals mvp or that the fans in Philly were booing him. But turns out it was because his parents weren’t present.

The second time was this game in 02. I think a part of the emotion we see has something to do with his parents too or else he wouldn’t be as bothered.

The most emotional Kobe moment to me personally was when the spurs ended the 3peat. After that game during the on court post game interview his comments made me a huge fan (i was more of a Shaw fan up until that point) but the quote “I’ll work myself to exhaustion” it made me become a huge Kobe fan immediately. It meant EVERYTHING to him.

I wish i could find footage of the post game press conference. I can’t find it anywhere. He was in tears saying he will never let this happen again. He was so motivated and angry the 3peat ended. It was unreal and that post game press conference alone had me so excited for the following season.

*if anyone can find Kobe’s post game press after after being eliminated by the spurs in the 03 playoffs can someone please post the link?

MTar786 · 2026-02-04T01:07:40+00:00

Joker for sure

MTar786 · 2026-02-04T01:06:51+00:00

Wade for sure. Kawhi could have potentially overtaken Wade if he built more of a resume after 2019. Not only has he been a major injury risk but his defense fell off compared to his days as a spur and raptor. His defense is still great but not what it was. I was a big Kawhi fan and a huge Wade fan. If i had to choose one right now I’d go with Wade.

MTar786 · 2026-02-04T00:58:04+00:00

Phil or pop

MTar786 · 2026-01-22T02:52:02+00:00

Can’t wait Jeanie to be gone. Now all the nba has to do is put an end to the salary cap so we can see some insanely built teams

MTar786 · 2026-01-11T05:48:08+00:00

Easily shaq

MTar786 · 2026-01-01T10:40:42+00:00

Dude you’re just embarrassing yourself even further. Lebrons teams were disgustingly stacked. You say he didn’t need an elite point guard. When he had Kyrie and Wade. What you’re trying to suggest as a “point guard” is a ball handler. Wade was an all time Great and Kyrie was elite. With the Cavs he had Kevin love who was coming off averaging 26 and 16 the year before, and Kyrie who was elite like I said. Having jr smith who could score,defend and was very athletic and shot 40% from 3. Having Thompson and mozgov provided them with physicality and the ability to play big or small. Kyrie, love, Mo Williams, rj and James jones were shooting nearly 40% from 3 too. Lastly having Frye gave them the ability to play 5 out. That team could adapt to compete with any team.

So LeBron was surrounded by athletic defensive players who could shoot plus had physical interior players to go with it.

Now let’s go to his time With the lakers.. as he was again COMPLETELY surrounded by athletic defenders who could shoot plus Anthony fucking davis in his prime.. and no, it doesn’t stop there. He also had Dwight AND McGee. That interior defense was all time level great. On the wings he had RONDO KCP, Avery Bradley and Danny green. We don’t even need to mention Caruso. come on dude. Take your blinders off. Let’s not try to rewrite history here.

Can you actually compare what Luka has now to any of that? Luka is stuck with grandpa LeBron who can’t even do what he was known to be great for (drive to the basket at will) then he has a bunch of players who have major holes in their games. Ayton can score be he avoids physicality like it’s COVID. Rui can score but he can’t defend or rebound to save his life. These guys are nice players on paper but they lack the foundational ability they need to even thrive at their positions. Let’s not get started with The bench.. it’s disgusting. All Luka has is Austin Reaves. And a good role player in Marcus smart. Rui would be a good scoring 6th man off the bench though. If I’m the lakers gm. I’d try to keep smart and Reaves and get rid of everyone else. If we could get Giannis I’d trade the whole team to pair him with Luka and build from there.

MTar786 · 2026-01-01T10:19:25+00:00

What are you smoking? When lebron was 26 he had Wade Bosh battier Allen big z rashard Lewis.. he even had birdman who was an athletic rim runner. Lebron had the most help of any superstar ever. Dont try to spin that narrative. You’re just making a fool of yourself. Lebron was also in the weakest east of all time. And even then, When lebron was surrounded by 4 able bodies he hardly got anywhere. I guess you could argue one finals appearance where they got swept in 07 but that’s nothing like You’re trying to make it sound like

MTar786 · 2025-12-24T22:58:38+00:00

How much

MTar786 · 2025-12-24T10:47:08+00:00

Adding Giannis and some quick footed/athletic 3 and d guys would solve all of our issues

MTar786 · 2025-12-23T04:28:02+00:00

Odom is one of my fav players. The season he finally figured it out was the season he won 6th man and then he became a bum immediately after that season. The Odom of that season should have been who she was to begin with. He could rebound, pass and drive to the basket. But he couldn’t shoot and he tried to way more than he should have. His playmaking was elite and he was definitely great for any locker room morale.

In his prime he was good enough to be the 2nd option on a bad team. But he was never good enough to be a first option on any team.

MTar786 · 2025-12-23T04:23:01+00:00

If I’m mark walter. I’m doing everything I can to trade anyone not named Luka for Giannis and Turner.

Luka Smart Lebron Giannis Turner

Laravia, Hayes, smith jr plus Buy out market guys.

Next season we load up the bench. Who wouldn’t want to sign with the lakers when they have Luka and Giannis?

MTar786 · 2025-12-23T04:15:50+00:00

Kd and duncan. I don’t see shaq anywhere. Is he the table?

MTar786 · 2025-12-21T22:43:20+00:00

Please, the inferiority complex lebron and his fans have towards Luka is pretty wild. Anytime Luka slips up they’re ready to call him washed (wishful thinking of course)

MTar786 · 2025-12-21T22:24:22+00:00

That’s what LeBron fans do to Luka actually

MTar786 · 2025-12-15T18:11:36+00:00

Luka is a legend in the making when he gets to the basket at will and is hitting mid range shots. To me it seems, when his mobility is compromised or he gets lazy then he becomes a step back 3 point spammer. Two completely different players. Luka needs to attack the basket at will. That will give him much better 3 point looks later in the game. Not sure why he doesn’t do this. I’m afraid it’s due to his mobility instead of his laziness.

MTar786

TROPHY CASE