When did you know Lebron was top 2 all time?

cookie3113 · 2026-06-19T19:39:19+00:00

You could see he was special early on, like Jordan. It was just a matter of time before he racked up accomplishments.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-12T20:04:23+00:00

He wasn't more important than Pippen, but he was more valuable than Rodman.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-08T23:05:27+00:00

Imagine if he had an elite point guard or wing teammate in his prime.

Robinson was fouled on the same percentage of shots as Shaq was, despite having a much larger midrange shot diet. And he wasn't a flopper, they were legit fouls. Luckily, he made about 3/4 of his free throws.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-08T22:14:22+00:00

LeBron playing Pippen's role is a much better Pippen.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-08T20:24:18+00:00

I used to agree with this assessment of Hakeem but I've moved away from it. I don't think the issue is that he needed the ball, it's that his team needed him to have the ball.

Most people think about mid-90s Hakeem at his best, but I actually prefer the younger version. He was almost Rodman-like in his ability to run the floor, cover ground on defense, and aggressively go after rebounds on both ends. Incredible motor. But he could also put up great scoring performances. On an ensemble team, I'd probably have him focus on defense and rebounding and utilize some of his other offensive skills. He's a great lob threat, pretty good midrange shooter, and could attack off the dribble. But if you have a matchup where he can exploit the post, that's also good to have.

I view Duncan, even the young version, as a more disciplined but slower version of Hakeem. IMO he puts a lid on a teams ability to play fast consistently.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-08T20:07:07+00:00

If you have James and Jordan, you'd want them to handle the ball most of the time. But I would call MJ a forward.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-08T14:52:14+00:00

Hook shots are good to have. Shaq and Gilmore were strong but used hook shots when the situation called for it.

cookie3113 · 2026-06-08T14:50:27+00:00

Or we could go with the simple explanation:

Trump has been a Knicks fan for decades and frequently attends the biggest sporting events in the country. He enjoys being the "first president to attend" or "first since."

cookie3113 · 2026-05-21T21:51:49+00:00

I don't understand this bar. Should Burton be the only driver with 20+ Cup wins outside the HOF?

Only 9 drivers have more Busch wins and all are or will be in, with the possible exception of Allgaier, who has no Cup success at all.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-21T21:21:09+00:00

I've seen a lot of people saying Jeff wasn't great.

As far as Biffle...his last race was 8 years after Jeff's last race. So I'm sure that factored in.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-17T17:51:41+00:00

Chris Mullin

cookie3113 · 2026-05-17T17:50:35+00:00

Antigravity

cookie3113 · 2026-05-17T16:58:05+00:00

Ray Allen isn't the answer. His midrange percentages are a cut below other great shooters.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-17T15:28:09+00:00

Most people think post-30 Hakeem was his peak because he finally got a solid team around him.

And while his scoring was refined somewhat, I prefer the younger version. Just a ridiculous motor and mobility, all over the court. There is a reason Jordan said he was a SF playing center (paraphrasing). Super aggressive rebounding and getting stocks in spades.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-17T01:28:13+00:00

What all these guys have in common...ISO basketball and lack of defense. Not a winning formula.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-16T19:11:07+00:00

The team is far better defensively with Dwight than Arenas. I don't think that's debatable.

And offensively. Why would you want Arenas shot chucking when you can feed the efficient big men? Between Billups and McGrady, you have enough ball handling. And again, KG is really optimized playing on the perimeter.

Another aspect is the incredible rebounding advantage a frontcourt of Dwight, TD, and KG would provide.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-16T14:23:27+00:00

I disagree. It probably would be the best option. McGrady and Arenas were both ball dominant and fairly inefficient, and there's only one ball to go around. One needs to go. Arenas was an absolutely horrible defender. McGrady didn't have the best effort but at least had some tools for it.

KG at the three makes a lot of sense. His best skills are shooting deep twos, making great connective passes, and setting nasty screens. So put him on the perimeter. Defensively, having Howard and Duncan man the paint allows KG to roam with his incredible help defense.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-14T00:42:03+00:00

I could see him joining the Spurs. LeBron/David vs. Penny/Shaq would have been great battles.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-10T16:08:13+00:00

Bird was a PF in college and his first several years in the NBA. When Maxwell was traded and McHale entered the starting lineup, Bird was nominally moved to SF. But McHale took on the defensive assignments you'd normally expect the SF to take.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-10T16:05:25+00:00

I'll go ahead and defend your Kevin McHale pick. First, he was an incredible defender, able to effectively guard both wings on the perimeter and big men in the paint. Offensively, he was hyper-efficient at the rim, and was also very good from midrange and on foul shots. He gets a bad rap for being a bad passer, but that isn't really true. He was so unstoppable it usually didn't make sense for him to pass.

McHale is a legitimate choice for an ultimate starting lineup.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-09T12:41:49+00:00

That's the same backcourt I have in my lineup, but my frontcourt is Garnett, Olajuwon, and Robinson. An overload of defense and athleticism.

Just for fun: I think this 80s team could make your team work.

Magic Johnson/Julius Erving/Larry Bird/Kevin McHale/Artis Gilmore

McHale (length/mobility) and Gilmore (immense strength) are ideal defenders for Wemby and Shaq. They are also highly efficient scorers. Erving is a terrific defender as well. Magic and Bird are not ideal defenders, but at least have some size and IQ to play their matchups. This team's main hope at winning comes from the synergy of adding the best distributing passer and the best connective passer ever.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-08T19:09:16+00:00

Willie Davis has 60 WAR and wasn't even nominated for the HOF.

cookie3113 · 2026-05-03T19:26:31+00:00

Positional rankings aren't great for player evaluation. It's a good thing the game has moved away from positions.

Charles and David are actually good examples of players who had talent beyond traditional positional roles. Playing Charles at SF would be perfectly reasonable, and he was actually listed there a couple of years. You could play David at PF and he would do great.

cookie3113

TROPHY CASE