Ten Best All-time Basketball Players

The need to write a list of opinion to answer Charles Barkley's current list is too overwhelming to pass up.  To begin I will list the great players who were favorites of mine omitted from the list.  It is important that the criteria is spelled out for the ultimate list.  Two simple measurements:  1.  helping your team be better than they would without you, and 2.  winning championships.  Here is my omission list, in no particular order:

Barkely, Baylor, Oscar, Shaq, Pistol Pete, Malone, Hakeem, Rick Barry.

Several won championships, and multiple championships (Shaq) and all were stellar performers, but do not warrant inclusion for one reason or the other.  Some were individually spectacular players (Baylor, Pete) but never were able to lead their tens to the top prize. Moses Malone may be the most respected player ever.  Going to the ABA straight from high school, almost unheard of at that time, he played 21 years as a professional, winning one title, and defining the importance of his role of an offensive rebound leader. Pete and Rick were ball handling magicians, but like Barkley, never seemed to inspire their teammates to team greatness.  At times, despite their individual play, some seemed to actually hinder the team's ability to get to the playoffs and win the championship.

1.  Kareem
2.  Michael
3.  Magic
4.  Russell
5.  Bird
6.  Kobe
7.  West
8.  Dr. J
9.  Duncan
10. Wilt

Current players that will certainly vie for inclusion in the top 10 list are LeBron, Blake  (who like Kareem in just a couple of years has his team contending), Wade,  Dirk and Durant.

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Few Americans know or follow rugby.  This highlight link is to a match considered one of the best of all time, between Australia and New Zealand. Probably a wee bit of a rivalry. It looks like a great sport (note the lack of pads or helmets) and a great game.