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June 27, 2011 By 11 Comments

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Filed Under: NBA Tagged With: Dirk Nowitzki, michael jordan, NBA
About Jerod Morris

A proud graduate of Indiana University, Jerod Morris founded Midwest Sports Fans in August of 2008 and has been its Managing Editor every day since. Follow him on Twitter (@JerodMorris) for MSF updates, sports discussion, and a compelling daily assortment of funny and interesting links.
In addition to his work at MSF, Jerod hosts the fast-growing Indiana basketball postgame show The Assembly Call and provides regular music recommendations at IndieChristmas.com. He also helped develop the Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting platform on which MSF and all of his other sites are run.

  • Randy

    My Top 20 NBA Players of All-Time:

    1) Michael Jordan
    2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    3) Bill Russell
    4) Wilt Chamberlain
    5) Oscar Robertson
    6) Kobe Bryant
    7) Magic Johnson
    8) Larry Bird
    9) Shaquille O’Neal
    10) Jerry West
    11) Hakeem Olajuwon
    12) Moses Malone
    13) Julius Erving
    14) John Havlick
    15) Kevin Garnett
    16) Tim Duncan
    17) Karl Malone
    18) Dirk Nowitzki
    19) Elgin Baylor
    20) Charles Barkley

  • NBA Fan

    Nice article, Lets see the other guys picks.

  • tonythestatmaster

    1) Michael Jordan
    2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    3) Bill Russell
    4) Magic Johnson
    5) Kobe Bryant
    6) Larry Bird
    7) Wilt Chamberlain
    8) Shaquille O'Neal
    9) Tim Duncan
    10) Oscar Robertson
    11) Hakeem Olajuwon
    12) Moses Malone
    13) Jerry West
    14) Isaiah Thomas
    15) Charles Barkley
    16) Dirk Nowitzki
    17) Dwayne Wade
    18) LeBron James
    19) Allen Iverson
    20) Kevin Garnett

    The first 13 I like a lot. 14-16 could go either way. 17-20 probably isnt right but James will eventually be in the top 20 if not already and Iverson is the person I think people forget about. Does he deserve to be in the top 20? Probably not but I just put him in there to give him a bit of respect. This wouldnt necessarily the exact list Id give to ESPN for a resume if you get what I mean lol.

  • JordanHater

    Lets see Kevins UNIQUE picks……………gotta be better than this

  • Mitch

    Moses Malone was ranked twice at #13 and #17

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JerodMSF

    Good catch. The second Malone was supposed to be Karl. I updated it. Thanks.

  • ahmad

    1) Jordan
    2) Abdul-Jabbar
    3) Bryant
    4) Magic
    5) Bird
    6) Russel
    7) O'Neal
    8) West
    9) Olajuwon
    10) Malone
    11) Erving
    12) Nowitzki
    15) Garnett
    16) Duncan
    17) Malone
    18) James
    19) Baylor
    20) Barkley

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  • MLGENTRY21

    I don't understand how the era Kobe Bryant played in is any stronger than Jordans? In fact I believe it is weaker. To knock the teams those bulls have beaten does not make sense to me. The bulls beat the Lakers, Trailblazers, Suns, Supersonics, and the Jazz to win their six NBA titles. I will agree that the 91 Lakers were a washed up team, but all the others were superb. The lakers have defeated a run down Reggie Miller, a 5 foot 10 ball hog, The New Jersey Nets, a decent Orlando Magic team, and a great Celtics team. To even compare any of these teams (Excluding the Celtics) to the teams Chicago beat…It wouldn't be close. The two Jazz teams are one of the best teams in NBA history in my opinion, and if it wasn't for Jordan they would have surely won. The 96 Sonics team had a big 3 that would compete with anyone in the league today in Gary Peyton, Shawn Kemp, and Detlef Shrempf.Even the Eastern Conference teams the Bulls defeated were solid.. The Knicks and Patrick Ewing; that team (when coached by Riley) was one of the toughest teams in sports. The 98 Pacers were a fantastic team, and took the Bulls to seven games, even the Cavaliers of the early 90s would have been able to compete maybe even beat the 00 Pacers, 01 Sixers, and the 09 Magic. I would go as far as to say the first 3 titles Kobe won with the Lakers were solely due to Shaq. Now I know the Bulls never would have won without Phil or Scottie…But would Shaq have won without Kobe? What if he had Tracy Mcgrady or Vince Carter playing along side him? I think there is a good chance the lakers would have still won those first 3 titles. If you add in the fact that there was no Hand check rule in Jordans prime..This allowed defenders to attempt to sway and control his movements with their hands..A huge advantage for the defense. By the time Kobe rose to stardom, the handcheck was already one of the most frequently called fouls in the league. I respect your argument for Kareem, while I disagree it does make a lot of sense…but I don't see how Kobe Bryant will ever be better than Michael.