Favorite NBA Player?

[Scout200]

Who is your favorite NBA player of ALL time?

-Scout

[WayOutWest]

Who is your favorite NBA player of ALL time?

-Scout

Shaq.  Been watching the NBA since 1985.  A great time to see some amazing players in their prime.  I got to see Magic, Bird, MJ, Kareem, Barkley, Malone, Dream, Ewing, N'que, Robinson, Duncan, Kobe, LeBron, etc..., etc...

Nobody comes close to the "dominance" of Shaq.  Kareem would still be my #1 pick of the "all-time draft" but I just got so "pumped" watching Shaq daddy pawn the league.  There has never been a player like the young Orlando Shaq, simply amazing.

[westkoast]

Probably Magic Johnson with Kobe Bryant coming as a very close second.  Magic had the game, personality, and has done a lot for various communities in Los Angeles.  Kobe Bryant doesn't have the personality but the work ethic and attention to detail I respect a lot.  He just isn't Magic.  Even if he wins 9 championships.

[Joe Vancil]

Bobby Jones - number 24 on the Philadelphia 76ers.  He played the game with intensity, but with an inner sense of peace.  He was the ultimate teammate, incredibly unselfish, and he had to work hard to overcome physical obstacles:  irregular heartbeat and epilepsy.

I still love Charles Barkley's quote about Jones:  "If everyone in the world was like Bobby Jones, the world wouldn't have any problems."

And before anyone asks:  current favorite is Tayshaun Prince.

[Wolverine]

Growing up (early '90s), I was a very casual fan, but Larry Johnson was far and away my favorite player.

Nowadays, it's definitely Tim Duncan.  He's got everything that you could want in a big man: back-to-the-basket scoring, good passing, unselfishness, fantastic defense, a high basketball IQ, ect.

For me, it's Duncan.

[westkoast]

To add to Scout's thread (since it doesn't warrant its own)  after you pick your favorite nba player of all time, who is your least favorite player of all time?

My least favorite player is Ray Allen. 

[WayOutWest]

To add to Scout's thread (since it doesn't warrant its own)  after you pick your favorite nba player of all time, who is your least favorite player of all time?

My least favorite player is Ray Allen. 

That would also be Shaq!  LOL!  If you every get to see tape of Shaq in his early years, before the Lakers, he had the potential to be BY FAR the greatest player to ever step on the court.  No player, not Wilt/Gilmore, had the combination of size, strength, speed, agility, etc... of Shaq.  Shaq just didn't have the mental game to be the GOAT.  You put Kobe's heart and mind in Shaq when he came in to the league and people would forget all about Russell and MJ.

[Reality]

There has never been a player like the young Orlando Shaq, simply amazing.

It's so refreshing when you step out of The Laker House.

[Reality]

To add to Scout's thread (since it doesn't warrant its own)  after you pick your favorite nba player of all time, who is your least favorite player of all time?

And then could we go with favorite single game performance of all time?
Or does that merit it's own thread?

[westkoast]

To add to Scout's thread (since it doesn't warrant its own)  after you pick your favorite nba player of all time, who is your least favorite player of all time?

And then could we go with favorite single game performance of all time?
Or does that merit it's own thread?

I think it would work fine all in one thread if you had 'favorite player and favorite single game performance from said player'

[Reality]

Who is your favorite NBA player of ALL time?

-Scout

Too hard for me to single it down to one player.
They all had faults as they were/are indeed human.
Bill Russell what can you say?  
Wilt was great and i believe he did have much weaker teams then Russell.  I do not think it's a cop out by the Wilties.  Not saying Wilt was better but i have no problem for those who say Wilt was the equal.  76ers should have definitely taken Wilt up on his offer to join them in the glory early-mid 80s.
Larry Bird indeed great but as he got older he got selfish imo.  Also his injuring his hand in a bar argument after the Celts had tied the Flamers 2-2 in the 1985 Finals is durn near unforgiveable.
Hakeem O was awesome for a couple years but not nearly enough to be GOAT.
Jordan was baddass, period.  Watered down league and ref pampering aside.
Timmy Duncs is right there but his submission to Poops idiotic stragegies (and lack of) along with Finley-Bonner type personell moves keeps him off the list.

[Reality]

I think it would work fine all in one thread if you had 'favorite player and favorite single game performance from said player'

But i want to allow for those being different players.

[westkoast]

I think it would work fine all in one thread if you had 'favorite player and favorite single game performance from said player'

But i want to allow for those being different players.

I think that should be another thread but I am not the boss of the board.

[Derek Bodner]

Favorite player for Sixers: Barkley (wasn't a fan during the Dr. J era.  Still too young)
Favor non-Sixers play: KG.  Ray Allen's actually an honorable mention.

Least favorite non-Sixer: Antoine Walker
Least favorite Sixer: Samuel Dalembert (slightly redeemed himself last year).

[Ted]

I grew up in Chicago. We moved out halfway through MJ's first season. It took me fifteen years in Utah to become a Jazz fan. So I thing you know who my FOAT is.

It was a good decade to be a Bulls fan.