When it comes to G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) debates in the NBA, it often boils down to what the player in question was the greatest at. One could call Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell the winning G.O.A.T., Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James the longevity G.O.A.T., and perhaps Chicago Bulls icon Michael Jordan the composite G.O.A.T. just as a few examples.
The folks over at our sister site Hoops Hype recently put together their own G.O.A.T. based on the best five-year stretch of a player’s career. Using their own Global Rating Metric, H/H’s Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon rate all the best players in league history.
Let’s take a look at where Celtics alumni fell on this list.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Michael Cooper weighs in on Redick and his critique of the Hick From French Lick. https://t.co/6UZCTpgLXV
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No. 21 - Kevin Garnett
“One of the NBA’s toughest two-way forces ever, Kevin Garnett was a unicorn before the age of unicorns, a big man with elite size, length, and athleticism who still had the skill to grab a rebound and bring the ball down himself,” writes H/H.
“A face-up menace with post moves and the burst to blow by fellow big men, Garnett was also a monster defensively, protecting the rim at a high level but also having the ability to switch onto guards and stay in front of them.”
No. 9 - Bill Russell
“The winningest player in league history, Bill Russell gets dinged a bit for the era he played in, along with the fact he didn’t chase points as much as he could have,” relates H/H.
“Russell had the athletic ability and touch around the basket to easily score more than he did in his prime, but he preferred to do the dirty work on the glass, defensively and as a creator, acting like the engine of the Celtics’ dynasty of the ’60s.”
No. 6 - Larry Bird
“The last player to win three MVP awards in a row, a feat Nikola Jokic looks likely to match this season, Larry Bird was a true all-time great of the sport, with confident shooting ability, the prowess to make tough shots over good defense and underrated rebounding and playmaking touch,” shares H/H.
“Bird’s five-year peak from 1983-84 to 1987-88 features his three MVP campaigns, as well as two championship seasons with the Boston Celtics, a run in which the Hall-of-Fame forward led the league in free-throw accuracy three times and in nightly minutes twice.”
No. 5 - Shaquille O'Neal
“There was a time in the early ’00s when it truly looked like Shaquille O’Neal, along with Kobe Bryant, were just going to keep winning forever, the former was that dominant during his five-year peak,” says H/H.
“He was enormous, freakishly athletic, long, a battering ram down low, had soft touch around the rim, could finish with either hand over either shoulder but usually was able to just bulldoze foes and power dunks in opponents’ faces.”
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