Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by all State. Some
Speaker 1: people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance
Speaker 1: by checking all State first. Like you know to check
Speaker 1: the date of the Big Game first before you accidentally
Speaker 1: buy tickets on your twentieth wedding anniversary and have to
Speaker 1: spend the next twenty years of your marriage making up
Speaker 1: for it. Yeah, checking first is smart, So check all
Speaker 1: State first for a quote that could save you hundreds.
Speaker 1: You're in good hands with all States savings. Very terms
Speaker 1: apply All State Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.
Speaker 2: All Right, Welcome into the Webstroit with Nick Great Podcast
Speaker 2: YouTube show like rate, subscribe review. This is our special
Speaker 2: serialized edition of the show as we countdown the fifty
Speaker 2: greatest NBA players of the last fifty years. If you
Speaker 2: missed our first episode in this series, we laid out
Speaker 2: the parameters. We told you the guys who were too
Speaker 2: old for the list, we told you the guys who
Speaker 2: just missed the cut on the list, and we gave
Speaker 2: you guys fifty to forty nine where Bernard King and
Speaker 2: Carmelo Anthony heard their names called. Today, we are going
Speaker 2: to give you the next five guys forty eight through
Speaker 2: forty four.
Speaker 3: There listen most of these names. I'm certain you know.
Speaker 2: There might be one name in particular you don't know,
Speaker 2: but you damn well should.
Speaker 3: So we will do all of that.
Speaker 2: Demonse, who's my co host sidekick if you will for
Speaker 2: the regular podcast, We'll be shouting out in the names
Speaker 2: and will at some point ask some questions. We also
Speaker 2: have callers involved to ask some of the questions that you,
Speaker 2: the audience are thinking about. But we will start with
Speaker 2: number forty eight, the forty eighth best player of the
Speaker 2: last fifty years in the NBA. One Tiny Nate Archibald.
Speaker 4: Number forty eight, Tiny Archibald.
Speaker 3: So tiny Naight.
Speaker 2: Archibald's resume reads as follow. He is three time first
Speaker 2: Team All NBA, three time first Team All.
Speaker 3: NBA, two times second Team All NBA.
Speaker 2: And the reason if you do know his name, you
Speaker 2: probably know him when he was a Kansas City King,
Speaker 2: where he won a scoring and assist title in the
Speaker 2: same season. Averaged thirty four and eleven that year, the
Speaker 2: only player in league history to ever wins scoring and
Speaker 2: assist titles in.
Speaker 3: The same season.
Speaker 2: I believe the only players to ever win it at
Speaker 2: any point in their careers.
Speaker 3: Are Lebron, Wilt, Harden.
Speaker 2: And Russ. He did it in the same year. He
Speaker 2: also has two top five MVP finishes, and his careers
Speaker 2: kind of into two parts pre and post Achilles. But
Speaker 2: before the Achilles injury he averaged twenty seven and nine,
Speaker 2: not for a season, not for a couple of seasons,
Speaker 2: but for six seasons. But you guys know, we try
Speaker 2: to put a heavy emphasis in this show on postseason accomplishments.
Speaker 3: His postseason resume is thin.
Speaker 2: However, post Achilles injury, he went to Boston and we
Speaker 2: don't think of him as burden.
Speaker 3: The Kale perish that was the latter part of the
Speaker 3: nineteen eighties.
Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty one, you could argue during the Celtics
Speaker 2: playoff run that he was their second best player behind
Speaker 2: Larry Bird.
Speaker 3: Kale wasn't Michail yet.
Speaker 2: He averaged fifteen and six during that playoff run, again
Speaker 2: arguably their second best guy. He was absolutely outstanding in
Speaker 2: Game seven of the eighty one Eastern Conference Finals against
Speaker 2: a devastatingly good Philly team.
Speaker 3: Philly team that would.
Speaker 2: Win the title a couple of years later, arguably the
Speaker 2: greatest team ever a couple of years later once they
Speaker 2: get Moses and thirteen and twelve in the clinching game
Speaker 2: of the NBA Finals. For Tiny Night Archibald, his inclusion
Speaker 2: is somewhat controversial. I understand that, but five time first
Speaker 2: or second team All NBA. Keep in mind when people
Speaker 2: were arguing Klay Thompson got snubbed from the NBA's all
Speaker 2: time seventy five lists, and one of the first names
Speaker 2: they said should be taken off was Nate Archibald. Clay
Speaker 2: zero time first or second team All NBA. Reggie Miller,
Speaker 2: who made the NBA's all seventy five list, isn't making
Speaker 2: my top fifty zero time first or second team All NBA.
Speaker 2: I've had to listen to weeks of Kyrie Irving should
Speaker 2: have been Top seventy five. Kyry Irving one time second team,
Speaker 2: zero time first team. So tiny Nate Archibald demons with
Speaker 2: three first teams, two second teams, two top five MVP,
Speaker 2: finishes a thirty four and eleven year and the keep
Speaker 2: art of a champion. He's number forty eight on the list.
Speaker 4: Go ahead, Hyan, Pops Lea've talked basketball basically every single
Speaker 4: day since I've known you. Yeah, the name tiny Archibald
Speaker 4: has never come up. Okay, Yeah, Paul Pier's team at
Speaker 4: Ray Allen, maybe they've come up.
Speaker 2: Why is he okay? So tam Mac, we've talked about Tamac.
Speaker 2: By the way, is the same number of first or
Speaker 2: second team All NBAS as Archibald.
Speaker 3: He has five of them, just like Archibald.
Speaker 2: And if t Mac at some point in his career
Speaker 2: was a key piece of a champion the way Archibald was,
Speaker 2: he'd have made it. But the other guys you mentioned,
Speaker 2: Ray Allen one time in his career was first or
Speaker 2: second team All NBA. Paul Pierce, as consistent as he was,
Speaker 2: one time in his career was first or second team
Speaker 2: All NBA. So again, like you were not consistently or
Speaker 2: even briefly a consensus top ten guy if you don't
Speaker 2: have more than one first second All NBA team appearance.
Speaker 2: And am I giving him a little benefit of the
Speaker 2: doubt because of what he could have bandoned? Not for
Speaker 2: the Achilles, Yes, because thirty four and eleven is thirty
Speaker 2: four and eleven. Twenty seven and nine for six years
Speaker 2: is twenty seven and nine for six years. And can't
Speaker 2: argue well the playoffs would have been too big for him,
Speaker 2: not with what he did for the eighty one Celtics.
Speaker 2: That's why he comes in at number forty eight, which
Speaker 2: brings us down to a name everybody knows, number forty seven,
Speaker 2: one of the greatest rebounders and defensive players of all time,
Speaker 2: Dennis Rodney.
Speaker 4: Number forty seven, Dennis Rodney.
Speaker 3: Now, his individual accolades are slim.
Speaker 2: We talked just a moment ago about first and second
Speaker 2: team All NBAS He has zero, and he only has
Speaker 2: two times. He only two times was third team All NBA. However,
Speaker 2: two time Defensive Player of.
Speaker 3: The Year, and that speaks to it.
Speaker 2: We're gonna talk about this, how disrespected defense is on
Speaker 2: some of these end of year awards or lists. Twice
Speaker 2: he was considered the single best defensive player in basketball,
Speaker 2: and yet none of those times was anyone like. Well,
Speaker 2: that means he's got to be one of the ten
Speaker 2: best players in the whole sport.
Speaker 3: No, that's not how it works.
Speaker 2: Seven Dime All Defense First Team, another additional time All
Speaker 2: Defense Second Team, seven dime Rebounding Champion, And where the
Speaker 2: majority of his real heft in deserving this ranking is
Speaker 2: his participation on great teams and his contribution to those teams. So,
Speaker 2: Dennis played fourteen years in the NBA. Nine of those
Speaker 2: fourteen he made a conference finals. Six of those fourteen
Speaker 2: he made an NBA finals. Five of those fourteen he
Speaker 2: was an NBA champion. He played one hundred and sixty
Speaker 2: nine career playoff games, one hundred and two full seasons
Speaker 2: of playoff games, averaging ten rebounds per game.
Speaker 3: In those playoff games.
Speaker 2: He was a massive part of the mini dynasty in Detroit.
Speaker 2: He was a massive part of the final three championships
Speaker 2: for the Bulls with Michael he In those three finals,
Speaker 2: he had to guard Shawn Kemp.
Speaker 3: Karl Malone, Karl Malone, wear.
Speaker 2: Them out, tire them out, and make them work on
Speaker 2: when they had the ball through his defense. And it
Speaker 2: is not a coincidents that despite the fact that he
Speaker 2: was not as good as he once was and the
Speaker 2: Bulls were the two time defending champs that in ninety eight.
Speaker 3: You saw it in the last Dance.
Speaker 2: How much rope they gave him because they knew in
Speaker 2: the biggest spots they needed him. Also, it is interesting
Speaker 2: because when you talk about the greatest defenders that are nonsenters,
Speaker 2: greatest non center defenders of the last fifty years. Dennis
Speaker 2: Robmin's going to come up, Scotty Pippens's going to come up.
Speaker 2: Not one of the greatest ever, but Ron Harper was
Speaker 2: a hell of a defender. What do all three of
Speaker 2: those guys have in common? Oh, they were all in
Speaker 2: the ninety six to ninety eight Bulls together. That's very
Speaker 2: interesting because I you know, I was told Michael always
Speaker 2: guarded the other things. Was Michael guarding the fourth best
Speaker 2: player on the other team. I'm gonna have to look
Speaker 2: into that.
Speaker 3: But Rodman was a massive part of winning throughout.
Speaker 2: The entirety of his prime, and so I understand he
Speaker 2: doesn't have the traditional numbers that go along with a
Speaker 2: placement on this list, but he was such a dominant
Speaker 2: defensive force that.
Speaker 3: I think there's no question he on this list.
Speaker 2: I thought he got snubbed from the NBA's original top
Speaker 2: all time Top fifty. I'm glad he was included on
Speaker 2: the updated top seventy five. We'll take a caller on
Speaker 2: Dennis Rodman's career before we wrap up with him.
Speaker 5: What's up Nick and Devon's It's a from LA I'm
Speaker 5: a longtime Nick Wright. Stand first time caller, And my
Speaker 5: question for Nick is about Dennis Rodman. Can a guy
Speaker 5: who can't even score be top fifty of all time?
Speaker 5: To me, it's giving very much Draymond Green minus the passing,
Speaker 5: plus the crazy red hair.
Speaker 3: Please weigh in, tell me what's right. So Ange's right
Speaker 3: in this regard.
Speaker 2: He couldn't score, and he's not as good as a
Speaker 2: pastor as Draymond Green.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 2: Draymond also, we'll see how many more titles he wins,
Speaker 2: will see how much longer his career goes. Draymond has
Speaker 2: a case to be on the next version.
Speaker 3: Of this list seventy five of the last seventy five
Speaker 3: something like that. Like Draymond, I'm not.
Speaker 2: Dismissing him, but as good of a defender as Draymond is,
Speaker 2: Rodman I feel was a touch more impactful. In fact,
Speaker 2: of the last fifty years, the only two guys who
Speaker 2: are hands down better defenders than Dennis Rodman are a
Speaker 2: chem Olajuan and Tim Duncan.
Speaker 3: After that, there's you know, Dennis is at least.
Speaker 2: In the argument with everybody else, and that first title
Speaker 2: he won with Chicago again, I want to remind people
Speaker 2: out of that series win the Bulls. The seventy two
Speaker 2: win Bulls jumped out to a three to nothing series lead,
Speaker 2: and then only once they were down oh three, did
Speaker 2: George Carlin's infinite wisdom let Gary Payton start to guard
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan.
Speaker 3: He gave Michael fix.
Speaker 2: I know Michael acted in the last dance like he
Speaker 2: didn't go look at the box scores. He gave Michael fix,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden Seattle wins Game four, Then
Speaker 2: Seattle wins Game five.
Speaker 3: Now all of a sudden game six. It felt like
Speaker 3: the Bulls had to win it.
Speaker 2: Michael still is deal o' Gary Payton and Dennis Rodman
Speaker 2: throws up a nine to nineteen five and three wild
Speaker 2: guarding shown camp in the next two years in the
Speaker 2: Fires guarded Karl Malone and gave Malone fits both series
Speaker 2: when Malone.
Speaker 3: Was had one and it was winning MVPs in this league.
Speaker 2: So, Dennis Rodman, if we're going to value defense at all,
Speaker 2: and you're one of the five greatest defensive players last
Speaker 2: fifty years, you've got to be one of the fifty
Speaker 2: greatest overall players of the last fifty years.
Speaker 6: This episode is brought to you by Unstoppable Discover the
Speaker 6: inspiring true story about Anthony Robliss, who defined every expectation
Speaker 6: to become a national wrestling champion. And Unstoppable, a new
Speaker 6: original movie from Amazon MGM Studios and director William Goldenberg,
Speaker 6: Evoking the excitement and camaraderie of classic sports dramas and
Speaker 6: thrilling wrestling matches. Unstoppable features an all star ensemble cast
Speaker 6: including Durelle Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheatle, Michael Tanya, and
Speaker 6: Bobby Canavalli. Watch Unstoppable now exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Speaker 2: All right, let's see the next guy on the list.
Speaker 2: Very different player than Dennis Rodman. Not known for his defense,
Speaker 2: instead known for his scoring. It's number forty six, Dominique Wilkins.
Speaker 4: Number forty six, Dominique Wilkins.
Speaker 3: So.
Speaker 2: Dominique Wilkins is one time first Team All NBA, four
Speaker 2: time second Team All NBA, two time third Team All NBA.
Speaker 3: His honors are as follows.
Speaker 2: He was a scoring champion for his career, He's twenty
Speaker 2: five points per game. For a decade, he averaged twenty
Speaker 2: eight points per game. He's fourteenth on the all time
Speaker 2: scoring list. He finished runner up in the nineteen eighty
Speaker 2: six MVP voting and he.
Speaker 3: Has two other top fives.
Speaker 2: Now the knock on Dominique never made round three.
Speaker 3: However, you've got to look at who knocked him out.
Speaker 2: He got knocked out twice by Milwaukee, And I promise
Speaker 2: you you're about to be introduced to a player on that Milwaukee.
Speaker 3: Team that gets forgotten the history.
Speaker 2: But it was that Milwaukee team at Sidney Moncreef and
Speaker 2: Marcus Johnson. The Hawks were under dogs and both the
Speaker 2: series they lost to them, they beat them once, we
Speaker 2: lost them twice. Who else did they lose to? Well,
Speaker 2: they lost to Boston three times. Was Dominique supposed to
Speaker 2: beat Bird Michale p No, he wasn't. Lost to him
Speaker 2: three times, lost to Detroit twice. Was supposed to beat
Speaker 2: those Pistons.
Speaker 3: He wasn't. Then in the nineties when.
Speaker 2: He was still relevant. Guess who beat him in the
Speaker 2: nineties the Bulls and Shack's magic. So you look at
Speaker 2: who was knocking a Dominique out, you want to crush
Speaker 2: him for not beating Milwaukee. I'd rather just give those
Speaker 2: Milwaukee players credit, which we're going to do shortly.
Speaker 3: But you're he was outgunned consistently outgunned. However, he did
Speaker 3: have a chance.
Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty eight was his chance. The Celtics were on
Speaker 2: their last legs. Now, I don't think they could have
Speaker 2: ever beaten that Pistons team. But in Round two nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty eight Epics series against Boston, they're up three to
Speaker 2: two on Boston, trying to send Boston home. Game six,
Speaker 2: Dominique those third ten and four and they lose by two. Okay,
Speaker 2: so now game seven against Boston again, Game seven, this
Speaker 2: is your moment, Dominique, how are you gonna respond? At
Speaker 2: the Boston Garden. Game seven, Dominique had forty seven points
Speaker 2: and they lost by two.
Speaker 3: Again, I'm just not holding it against him.
Speaker 2: He averaged thirty one for the series, but it's burn
Speaker 2: Mikale Parrish on their last legs. So I'm not holding
Speaker 2: against Dominique that he was not able to get past
Speaker 2: teams that were just clearly and obviously more talented than him. Now,
Speaker 2: if he had more playoff success, he's skyrockets up this list.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people would argue that Dominique
Speaker 2: in a vacuum was better than Clyde Drexler. But Clyde
Speaker 2: Drexler went to three finals. Two is the best player
Speaker 2: and won a title is the second best guy. So
Speaker 2: that part has to matter, but it can't be all
Speaker 2: that matters. Now, go ahead, what's caller? I don't know
Speaker 2: who you are, but you're on live talking about Dominique Welcomes.
Speaker 7: Obviously you're really thorough and you care a lot about
Speaker 7: rules and order when you put things together. You take
Speaker 7: these lists seriously. So for all the time we've spent
Speaker 7: on this, I just I don't remember any of the
Speaker 7: qualifications being pointless victories and dunk contests thirty years ago.
Speaker 7: I just, for some reason, I don't recall that on
Speaker 7: the checklist. Dominique seriously.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I know this caller by the way, and
Speaker 2: I don't know if we have the ability to at
Speaker 2: some point put up a shot of his shot Demanse.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you noticed what I noticed there,
Speaker 2: But that's Gabe, and Gabe's got a very you know,
Speaker 2: a palatial beach of state.
Speaker 3: He could have taken that video anywhere he wanted to do.
Speaker 2: I think it's a coincidence or you know, a happy accent,
Speaker 2: that he took that video in front of not only
Speaker 2: a liquor cabinet, but a liquor cabinet that is prominently
Speaker 2: featuring two two hundred dollars bottles of place Azul tequila.
Speaker 2: I see you, Gabe. Also, yeah, I mean look at that.
Speaker 2: That's not one, that's two. I mean that's a good
Speaker 2: three thousand dollars worth of liquor just behind them. So
Speaker 2: that a little distracting. But Inerston gave trying to you know,
Speaker 2: he's trying to pocket shame over all the other callers.
Speaker 2: I understand, But Dominique, these are one of those things
Speaker 2: where domin the legend of that dunk contest overshadows how
Speaker 2: good he was again twenty five points per game for
Speaker 2: his career, number fourteen on the all time scoring list,
Speaker 2: and twenty eight points per game for a decade, and
Speaker 2: then loved who loved basketball so much? My man went
Speaker 2: to Greece and was getting buckets when he was damn
Speaker 2: near forty.
Speaker 3: That doesn't really help you on this list, but it's
Speaker 3: relevant to me.
Speaker 2: So I think Dominique, when you ask guys who played
Speaker 2: against him, he was a dominant scorer, and so he's
Speaker 2: just barely ahead of Carmelo, dominant scorer of his era.
Speaker 2: I think Dominique was a touch better, and while Carmelo
Speaker 2: did make a conference finals, Dominique never did. Carmelo never
Speaker 2: had a game like in the playoffs like Dominique did.
Speaker 2: The forty seven in game seven in the Garden. Again,
Speaker 2: you're up three to two on Boston. You have a
Speaker 2: chance to finally exercise those demons. You go thirty five,
Speaker 2: ten and four in game six and you lose by two.
Speaker 2: And then you score forty seven out dueling bird and
Speaker 2: you lose by two again. I'm not holding that against you.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back with number forty five.
Speaker 3: Welcome back in.
Speaker 2: What's Right with Nick Right podcast and YouTube show. We
Speaker 2: are counting down in a special series, the fifty greatest
Speaker 2: players of the last fifty years. We have given you
Speaker 2: guys fifty through forty six, some previously in a different episode,
Speaker 2: some earlier in this very episode, but.
Speaker 3: We are now at number forty five. Number forty five.
Speaker 2: Is a name everybody knows, and he at least has
Speaker 2: one game everybody knows. But I don't know if people
Speaker 2: know how big of a big game player Big Game
Speaker 2: James actually was.
Speaker 3: Number forty five is, of course James Worby.
Speaker 4: Number forty five games worthy.
Speaker 2: Now, he does not have the individual accolades to deserve
Speaker 2: to be on this list, aside from that thing you
Speaker 2: see right there, Finals MVP in nineteen eighty eight, but
Speaker 2: he's only two time All NBA Third Team. He was
Speaker 2: never top five or top ten league MVP boat getter.
Speaker 2: So how does he get here? Well, it's not like
Speaker 2: his individual numbers were bad. He averaged twenty and six
Speaker 2: for eight years from twenty from nineteen eighty five to
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two. But it is about his contribution to
Speaker 2: winning and the fact that he was at his best
Speaker 2: in the biggest spots, not just that famous Game seven
Speaker 2: of the finals. Let's go through it. He's a three
Speaker 2: time champion with six finals appearances. He was somewhere between
Speaker 2: the second or third best player on those teams depending
Speaker 2: on the year. We're talking about one one hundred and
Speaker 2: forty three career playoff games, Okay, one hundred and forty three,
Speaker 2: and it was two full seasons. Across all of those games,
Speaker 2: he is thirty seven minutes per game, fifty four percent
Speaker 2: shooting on averages of twenty one, five and three. So
Speaker 2: we can think about that cross more than a decade
Speaker 2: of deep playoff runs twenty one, five and three on
Speaker 2: fifty four percent shooting. That's his playoff averages, which means
Speaker 2: his playoff averages are better than his regular season averages.
Speaker 2: As far as minutes fuell go percentage points, he got
Speaker 2: better in the biggest spots. Eighty one times he scored
Speaker 2: at least twenty in a playoff. Eighty one times James
Speaker 2: Worthy scored at least twenty points in a playoff game
Speaker 2: to open the nineteen eighty seven finals against Boston. Now
Speaker 2: keep in mind with the eighty seven finals that you're
Speaker 2: against bast Since his long rivalry the eighty six Celtics,
Speaker 2: some people would argue is the greatest team. Ever, how
Speaker 2: does he start those finals thirty three, nine to ten?
Speaker 2: Then next year, how does he end the finals? And
Speaker 2: this is I mean, this is where he got his
Speaker 2: nickname Big Game James thirty six, sixteen and ten in
Speaker 2: Game seven of the Finals against a Pistons team that
Speaker 2: would win the next two titles, including sweeping the Lakers
Speaker 2: out in the very next year, a dominant, great Pistons team.
Speaker 3: Now you feel badly for the Pistons. You know anything
Speaker 3: about NBA history.
Speaker 2: Game six was the Isaiah Thomas Sprain ankle game probably
Speaker 2: should have won the series right there. They had a
Speaker 2: tough call go against them with the Kareem shot at
Speaker 2: the end of Game six.
Speaker 3: But James Worthy can't control that.
Speaker 2: Control what he can control thirty six, sixteen to ten
Speaker 2: in forty four minutes of a Game seven of the Finals.
Speaker 2: By the way, Game four of the Finals the next year,
Speaker 2: Magic is out with an injury and James Worthy drops
Speaker 2: forty points. So keep that in mind that the first
Speaker 2: time Magic's not around for a key playoff game. Now
Speaker 2: they end up losing Detroit Swepton. James Worthy drops forty points.
Speaker 2: The playoff numbers are just absolutely out of this world.
Speaker 2: So I think people focus just on that Game seven,
Speaker 2: just on that Finals MVP. We're talking two seasons worth
Speaker 2: of playoff games where he's twenty one to five and
Speaker 2: three on fifty four percent. Let's go to a caller
Speaker 2: who is a question about James Worth. Hey, Nick, it's
Speaker 2: Matt from DC, just moved to LA where everyone is
Speaker 2: obsessed with the Lakers.
Speaker 7: Okay, now I get big game James.
Speaker 3: He came through in the clutch and a lot of big.
Speaker 7: Playoff games, but he was always the second or third
Speaker 7: best guy on his own team.
Speaker 3: Okay, he always had Magic or Michael or Kareem.
Speaker 2: If this guy played for any other team, nobody would
Speaker 2: have ever heard about him.
Speaker 7: So I don't think he belongs in the top fifty.
Speaker 3: So you all as an apology, not me so much,
Speaker 3: Ma Newton Muggsy.
Speaker 2: So listen, much love for min Newton Muggsy. But I
Speaker 2: actually think that's the opposite is true. I think if
Speaker 2: he played for another team, he'd have a bunch of
Speaker 2: all nbas. He might have some top five MVP finishes.
Speaker 3: He's the number one pick of a draft. He won.
Speaker 2: He's the best player on the national champion in college
Speaker 2: again Michael Jordan. His gravity pulls in all the accolades
Speaker 2: or everything, but the famous Carolina team that Jordan hit
Speaker 2: the game winning Chuck Ward James Worthy the best player
Speaker 2: on that team.
Speaker 3: Like again, number one pick of a draft.
Speaker 2: It just happened to be the number one pick of
Speaker 2: the draft went to a Lakers team that was, you know,
Speaker 2: winning championships in the midst of you know, had just
Speaker 2: won championship a couple of years earlier. So because Magic
Speaker 2: and Kareem are there, and then Byron Scott later he
Speaker 2: never got the volume other guys would get.
Speaker 3: But I think it's undeniable how clutch he.
Speaker 2: Was, how productive he was, kind of how much of
Speaker 2: a key he was for what I believe to be
Speaker 2: the greatest team of the nineteen eighties. And you could
Speaker 2: argue he was on the greatest team ever in the
Speaker 2: Lakers of the eighties.
Speaker 3: So I think number four.
Speaker 2: If anything, thinking about it, I might have ranked James
Speaker 2: too low, which brings us to a guy that the
Speaker 2: whole world has ranked too low.
Speaker 4: Number forty four, Sidney Moncreve.
Speaker 2: So, Sidney moncree is four time All NBA Second Team,
Speaker 2: one time All NBA First Team, And nobody knows this,
Speaker 2: but now you do.
Speaker 3: In the nineteen eighties, what two teams had the best records?
Speaker 3: You probably know that you're like the Lakers and the Celtics.
Speaker 2: Correct, what team had the third best record of the
Speaker 2: eighties the Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaker 3: Did they have a bunch of stars?
Speaker 2: Nope, Marcus Johnson's a very good player, just made the
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame. And Sidney moncree But so here's where
Speaker 2: we've got to get, respect to defense. So Sidney Montcreeve
Speaker 2: two times defensive Player, of the Year while averaging twenty
Speaker 2: one points per game in his prime. So this guy's
Speaker 2: giving you twenty points per game on better than fifty
Speaker 2: percent shooting. He's six four and he's winning multiple Defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Years. He was top five MVP voting once.
Speaker 2: It's five time All Defense. He's the best player on
Speaker 2: a team that made the conference final three times. And
Speaker 2: this is important. Much like we talked about with Dominie.
Speaker 2: Here's who beat him in the playoffs. He got beat
Speaker 2: by Doctor J, Sixers four times, Bird Celtics three times,
Speaker 2: the Bad Boy Pistons twice, and Dominique Talks once. He
Speaker 2: also beat Dominique Talks two times. But Sixers, Doctor J, Sixers,
Speaker 2: Bird Celtics, and the Bad Boy Pistons those aren't fair fights.
Speaker 2: And yet he was their deep playoff run semi playoff
Speaker 2: runs every year.
Speaker 3: So let's go through some of these playoffs.
Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty three he swept Bird Celtics, averaging twenty three,
Speaker 2: seven and four again while playing all world defense. It
Speaker 2: was and then that year they played the Sixers. They
Speaker 2: were the only team to take even one game off
Speaker 2: the Sixers.
Speaker 3: The reason the Sixers.
Speaker 2: Didn't go faux faux fo the way Moses Mullan said
Speaker 2: they would Sixers. The eighty three Sixers are arguably the
Speaker 2: greatest team ever. The only team to beat him was
Speaker 2: Sidney Monkers Bucks. That's nineteen eighty three, nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 2: I know we're not allowed to talk about this, but
Speaker 2: it happened. He averaged twenty seven five and five while
Speaker 2: guarding a shooting guard you might have heard of named
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan, beating them three games to one.
Speaker 3: That happened. People act like it didn't happen. It happened.
Speaker 3: How could it happen?
Speaker 2: Jordan was six and oh because we don't count the
Speaker 2: times he lost in the six and oh round one
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty five, Sydney Moncrief guarding Jordan twenty seven five
Speaker 2: and five, his team wins three games to one. Nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty six, he had twenty three in a game seven
Speaker 2: win while injured against doctor j and older doctor j
Speaker 2: Admodley and a young Charles Barkley, and they beat the Sixers. Finally,
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty seven, down three to one to Bird trying
Speaker 2: to beat Bird again. Had back to back playoff career
Speaker 2: highs of thirty three and thirty four to force the
Speaker 2: Game seven that they then lost. So I don't know
Speaker 2: Howdney Moncreek. If you average twenty one a game for
Speaker 2: the prime of your career, annual defensive player of the Year,
Speaker 2: and you beat Burden a playoff series once, and you
Speaker 2: beat Michael on the playoff series once.
Speaker 3: And you beat Doctor j and Charles Barkley in a playoff.
Speaker 2: Series once, and you're on a team in the eighties
Speaker 2: that's relevant every single year, and yet you're not making
Speaker 2: the top seventy five list. It's just criminal demons. I
Speaker 2: know you have very strong Sydney montcreef opinions.
Speaker 3: What's up? I mean, this guy sounds like a good player.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but best player on a three time conference finalist
Speaker 4: put you at top fifty.
Speaker 3: I mean, Paul George did that. Okay?
Speaker 4: Are you?
Speaker 3: Are you really just trying to flex that you know
Speaker 3: older players.
Speaker 2: No, I'm not trying to flex that I know older players. However,
Speaker 2: we must give respect to our elders that have earned it.
Speaker 2: And I understand the idea that he did the same
Speaker 2: thing technically that Paul George did, but he did it's
Speaker 2: not the same thing as what Paul George did, And
Speaker 2: Paul George in the Defensive Player of the Year, and
Speaker 2: Paul George doesn't have the moment Moncrief had, and so
Speaker 2: I just he has been oddly.
Speaker 3: Forgotten to history.
Speaker 2: Again, I want to resay, there's people like he never
Speaker 2: made the finals. What was the year he was supposed
Speaker 2: to when the Sixers were making them every year in
Speaker 2: the early eighties, or when the Celtics were making them
Speaker 2: every year in the mid eighties, or when the Pistons
Speaker 2: were making them every year in the late eighties.
Speaker 3: Like, there's that's who you had to go through.
Speaker 2: You had to go through Doctor j and Andrew, Tony
Speaker 2: and Moses, and you had to go through Bird McHale
Speaker 2: and Parish. Then you had to go through the bad
Speaker 2: boy Pistons. It was a stack deck. Two time Defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Year. I think he was the second
Speaker 2: most egregious omission of the top seventy five lists the
Speaker 2: NBA just released. As it happens, the very most egregious
Speaker 2: omission of the NBA's top seventy five lists is our
Speaker 2: number forty three player on our countdown of the top fifty,
Speaker 2: and we will reveal him next week.