1st Team: Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Shaq
2nd Team: Steve Nash, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant, Giannis, Jokic
3rd Team: Chris Paul, James Harden, Kevin Garnett, Dirk, Dwight Howard
Source: [https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw9x4VUOF0S/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw9x4VUOF0S/?hl=en)
I actually agree with this list exaclty except I would switch Giannis with KG. But other than that, this seems like a perfect list.
by achyutthegoat
25 Comments
My minds telling me no
But my body, my body’s telling me Westbrook 3rd team
KG or dirk over Giannis. Otherwise I agree.
Gotta say seeing both Nash and Dwight on any ‘best of’ list by Shaq is surprising as hell.
Good for Shaq for being objective here too, this list is pretty spot on imo.
Actually a pretty solid list.
Prime Dwight was nearly unstoppable
Nash has an MVP over James Harden, but team wise, they basically achieved the exact same thing, but Harden was like 10 times the scorer Nash was. An MVP is an award given to you by the media, so it’s very subjective and there’s arguments that Harden could have won an MVP in a few of his past seasons. I know this list is just some random meme, but it shows just how hated he was. He was the Rockets entire offense and still made the WCF in multiple seasons. It’s basically what Nash did but he is a more prolific scorer, and even arguably a better defender. I would also put him over Dwyane Wade, who had LeBron on his team as the best player during their run together, and Wade wasn’t soloing the Heat to the ECF every year during his prime. I’d also say Harden is also an overall better offensive player than Wade as well.
Pretty short sighted tbh, Martians ain’t gonna be happy about this one 50 years from now.
I think James Harden should 100% be switched with Steve Nash.
Harden has about as much playoff success as Nash in terms of making it to multiple WCF but Harden also has the Finals appearance with the Thunder (granted in a much much different role but still contributed).
The injuries that affected those Suns teams were obviously a factor but the Rockets also had critical injuries (CP3). The Rockets (and Harden) do have the famous 27 missed threes in a row game which massively plays into the choke argument as opposed to the Suns injuries being a bailout? Not sure honestly.
The Suns lost to a very good Spurs team and the infamous 06′ Mavs team but Harden had to contend with the Kevin Durant Warriors AKA a legitimate contender for best team of all time.
And this is all team oriented and doesn’t even begin to cover individual stats/accolades. Steve Nash might have one more MVP but Harden easily clears in terms of MVP win shares because he was a legitimate contender for like 5 years there. Harden is actually 12th (!) at 3.65 win shares compared to Nash at 26th with 2.42 win shares.
Harden was putting up routine statlines of 40/12/14 and people wouldn’t even blink cause we just got so immune to it. Nash is a better playmaker but Harden isn’t that far behind by any means. Defensively they are probably very comparable. In rebounding Harden clears Nash by a comfortable margin.
Then there’s the scoring. My God. People might have forgotten already but Harden was putting up scoring numbers we haven’t seen since Michael Jordan. That’s nuts. I will admit the nature of how he got those points is unsavory to say the least but give him credit where it’s due. He had coaches, players, refs, and fans all scratching their heads at what to do to stop him.
Nash had a more aesethically pleasing style of play and took a mediocre Suns team to relevancy. Harden was the defining player on a team that many routinely consider to be one of the best teams to never win the title. The only “clear” advantage Nash has is the 1 MVP but Nash was beloved by the media and given his flowers whereas Harden was more a villain and that definitely cost him at least 1 along the way.
Tl;Dr People hate Harden’s style of play and like Nash more and the only reasonable reason people say Nash > Harden is the one MVP even though Harden was a stronger MVP contender for longer.
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I’m glad Shaq grew the fuck up and is actually giving Howard his respect and roses. As someone who watched Shaq and Dwight both solidly from 2006-2010, Shaq had to be the biggest asshole in the “Beef” between the two.
Like damn (Big Shaq fan btw) but he treated Dwight horribly, for no good reason. Like damn glad MJ didn’t treat Kobe like that.
Solid teams, imagine the field day Nash would have on his team, the amount of crazy plays Nash could make with those pieces. Imagine Nash with a horns offense, Wade and Giannis could slash, see Jokic and Durant on the perimeter catch a ton of defenses off guard.
Tim Duncan was a center most of his career including his prime Idek why someone even of shaqs caliber puts him at PF
No game 6 klay?
Shaq investing his fortune on the younger generation. Strictly business.
Am I crazy or where is 23…
This is a good enough list that I’m convinced Shaq had nothing to do with it
Switch Harden with Allen Iverson.
Switch Giannis with Dirk
Dwight Howard is a surprise
How many rings does each player have without a teammate on this list:
Duncan – 5
Lebron, Kobe, Steph – 2
Giannis, Jokic, KG, Dirk – 1
Shaq, Nash, Wade, KD, CP3, Harden, Dwight – 0
Kinda think that Kawhi should be on the list
Phenomenal list. Refreshing to see a former player be this objective, especially after seeing Dr. J’s…
I’m bias but dirk > giannis
Embiid in shambles
You think Dirk is better than Giannis and KG is not?
There’s an argument for Giannis vs Garnett vs Dirk but other than that I can’t argue with this list. Curry > Nash > CP3, Kobe > Wade > Harden, Shaq > Jokic > Dwight, and LeBron > Durant is easy.