WEBVTT - Nick Wright's Top 50 NBA Players of the Last 50 Years # 18-16: Barkley, Karl Malone, Dirk 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.240 This episode is brought to you by all State. Some 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.120 people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:08.840 by checking all State first. Like you know, to check 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.440 the date of the Big Game first before you accidentally 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:15.480 buy tickets on your twentieth wedding anniversary and have to 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.920 spend the next twenty years of your marriage making up 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.520 for it. Yeah, checking first is smart, So check all 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:23.880 State first for a quote that could save you hundreds. 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.600 You're in good hands with All States savings. Very terms 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:41.320 apply All State Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:45.920 Welcome in. There's another special edition of What's Right with 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:48.920 Nick Wright as we count down the fifty greatest players 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.320 of the last fifty years in the NBA. Now, last 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.360 week's was controversial. We knew it would be because last 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:59.040 week's was where I had my one almost I don't 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:02.840 know cheat code inclusion Luka antij That is, so this 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:06.480 list will age well. I understand Luca is not accomplished 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:09.880 enough to be twentieth. He hasn't technically accomplished enough to 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.360 be on the top fifty. But sometimes when you know, 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:15.240 you know, and I'm telling you right now, if people 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:20.000 were making a list of the greatest composers in world history, 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.400 and someone was like, Hey, there's this kid named Beethoven. 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:26.479 I think he should be on it. They're like, Eh, 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.959 he's only on one symphony something. If you put him 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:30.559 on the list, you'd feel good about it. So that's 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:33.200 the Luca part of it. However, now we're to the 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:37.200 top eighteen, and every single person on this top eighteen 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.760 not only clearly deserves to be there, but what you 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.200 are going to see is when you hear who we 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:48.200 get to and they're all NBA teams and their MVP finishes, 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.000 and they're all time rankings as far as scoring or rebounding, 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.920 whatever it is, you're going to realize, as great as 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:57.240 a player such as Chris Paul was, as great as 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.720 David Robinson was, guys who were just outside of this 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:05.279 top eighteen, this eighteen are head and shoulders statistically better 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:09.120 than everyone else on this list, with the possible exception 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.720 of James Harden. James Harden's the only one who has 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:16.560 a statistical resume all NBA's MVP finishes similar to these guys, 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:21.519 but Harden obviously has such a non existent great playoff 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.760 resume that he can't be included here. If he had 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.760 just one singularly great playoff run, he would have been, 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:33.040 But so eighteen seventeen sixteen will be today's episode. Oddly enough, 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:37.000 they are all power forwards, so you probably know who 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.359 the three guys are already, but what order will they 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:43.919 be in? Number eighteen and it pained me to put 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.200 him here. I'd love for him to be higher. He's 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.080 one of my favorite people in sports. He was one 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:52.720 of my favorite players to watch. But eighteenth is as 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:56.600 high as I could put him. Number eighty Charles Barkley. 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:01.000 So Barkley had five times, was for Team All NBA, 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:06.560 five times, Second Team All NBA, one time Third Team 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:10.480 All NBA. When it comes to MVPs, he was a 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:15.360 one time MVP and eight times he finished in the 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:19.080 top six. Eight times he was a top top six 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:21.840 MVP finisher, and he won a rebounding title if you 0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.480 care about that. Never did win a scoring title. Obviously, 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:26.840 he was the best player on one finalist. And what 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.519 you will see about Charles when we talk about some 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.680 of the best players in sports history to never win 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:36.720 a ring is Charles' excuse if you will, for never 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.360 winning a ring. It's not much of an excuse. We'll 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.680 get to that momentarily, but before we get to, you know, 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.000 when he came closest to winning rings. Let's just go 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:49.760 through the postseason resume as a rookie. A rookie in 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.800 the playoffs, had a twenty three and eleven in an 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:58.520 Eastern Conference Finals game versus the eighty five Celtics. Again, 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:04.000 as a rookie, entire playoff run, he averaged fifteen and 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.360 eleven for his sixers team that went all the way 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.160 to the Conference finals. Again, that's as a rookie nineteen 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:15.600 eighty six, his second year, in the second round of 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.839 the Eastern Conference playoffs, he had a thirty one twenty 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:25.200 six and six. Again, thirty one points, twenty rebounds, six assists, 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:28.320 six steals in Game one of the second round of 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.200 the playoffs in his second year, in Game four of 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:35.880 that series, he had a thirty seven, fourteen and nine. 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:40.520 He would lose in seven by one point to Milwaukee. Remember, 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.000 earlier in the list we talked about Sidney Moncrief and 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:47.800 those underrated Bucks teams of the eighties. He averaged twenty eight, 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:52.680 fifteen and four for that series. As a second year 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:57.280 player nineteen eighty seven, played Milwaukee again, this time in 0:04:57.400 --> 0:05:00.360 round one. Lost in round one, but averaged twenty five 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:04.279 and thirteen. Nineteen eighty nine played Ewing in the Knicks, 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:08.159 averaged twenty seven to twelve and five, but again lost 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:12.039 in round one. And now this is Barkley's window ninety 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:14.880 to ninety five, the end of his time with Philly 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.000 and his the beginning of his time with Phoenix. And 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.720 without spoiling anything here, here's what you need to know. 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:26.280 In those ninety to ninety five, that's six seasons. Five 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:30.719 of those years he made the playoffs. All five years, 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.320 Charles Barkley lost to one of two people in the playoffs, 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:40.040 Michael Jordan or Akim Olaje one. So why doesn't Barkley 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.599 have a ring? Well, he kept running into Michael Jordan 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:46.799 or Akim Olaje one, So let's go through it. Nineteen 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:51.480 ninety Game one of the playoffs throws up a thirty 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:56.559 eight and twenty one to start the playoffs averaged twenty six, 0:05:56.920 --> 0:05:59.520 fourteen and four in round one to get out of 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:02.440 round one for the first time since year two nineteen 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:06.200 eighty six that we talked about. Round two against Jordan's 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:10.279 Bulls put up a thirty and twenty in game one, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:14.120 put up a thirty four to twenty and eight in 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:18.560 Game three, but they lost the series. Of course. Then 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.119 the next year he played Michael Jordan, lost to Michael 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:25.080 Jordan again, and then shortly thereafter went to Phoenix Phoenix. 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:28.880 The spoiler alert, this is gonna end with him losing 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.360 to Michael Jordan. But how did he get there? 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:32.360 All? Right? 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:37.440 The Western Conference Finals for Charles Barkley nineteen ninety three 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.680 wins League MVP. It's his best chance to win a title. 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:44.559 He's never been to a finals. In fact, he's never 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:49.800 been to a game six of a conference finals. So 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.960 what does Barkley do against Seattle, Peyton and Kemp in 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.920 the Western Conference Finals? With the series tied two games 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:01.000 a piece? In Game five, throws up a forty three 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:06.640 point fifteen rebound, ten assist game again critical game five 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:10.560 of the series to get up in the series A 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.360 game away from the NBA Finals, puts up a forty 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:18.200 three fifteen to ten, and then in Game seven has 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:22.360 flatley one of the greatest playoff games anyone has ever played. 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.880 By game score, I think Basketball Reference might have its 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.760 game score as top two playoff game ever. If you 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.520 go back and watch it, it's remarkable. When I was 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.640 doing the research for this list and I went back 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.360 and watched what I could find of this game on YouTube, 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:43.040 I had Barkley's number from a night of drinking at 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.640 the NBA Finals years prior. I'd never texted him. I 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:49.960 text him just to tell him how amazed I was 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:52.160 with the performance. I was. Again, I was a little 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.679 I was eight years old when he did this Game 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.760 seven to get to his first and what would be 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:02.880 his only NBA Finals again Seattle. Forty four points, twenty 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.200 four rebounds to get to the finals. So what does 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:10.120 he do in the finals? In Game two, puts up 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:13.800 a forty two and thirteen in a game they would 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.920 lose by three. In Game four, puts up a thirty 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.640 two to twelve to ten in a game they would 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:26.440 lose by six. Averaged for the playoff run to the finals, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.280 twenty seven points, fourteen rebounds, four assists. For the finals 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:33.959 basically the same twenty seven points, thirteen rebounds, six assists. 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.120 Now he also is the one that kind of lost 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:41.360 packson on the shot that won the title. That's gonna always, 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.840 you know, bounce round in his head. But that's what 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:46.520 he did. So that's ninety three's first year in Phoenix 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.720 Wins League. MVP gets to the finals is unbelievable. The 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.160 run to the finals is very good. In the finals, 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.000 loses to Jordan and what I think was Jordan's f 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:59.280 finest finals performance ever that series against the Suns. The 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:03.880 next year, starts the playoffs off with a thirty six 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:08.600 point nineteen rebound, seven assists for steel game averaged for 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.520 the first round of that's of that playoffs averaged thirty 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:16.840 seven to thirteen and six, including a fifty six point 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:20.240 fourteen rebound four assist game. But then in round two 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.280 he plays at Keema LaJuan and they lose in seven. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:28.280 The next year, another remarkable round one, putting up a 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:31.600 thirty four to fourteen and three average, but then in 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.920 round two they lost to a kim Olajuan in seven, 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.000 again despite the fact, by the way in that series 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.760 he had a forty seven and twelve and then if 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.400 we're being honest, it was kind of over for him. 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:48.000 Then shortly thereafter he went and joined a Keem's team. 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.440 His body started breaking down. He had one more great 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.280 playoff game the rest of his career in nineteen ninety 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:57.960 nine against Shaq and Gobi had a thirty point, twenty 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.000 three rebound, five assist game in the only game Houston 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:02.760 won in that series, and that was kind of it 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:08.320 for Chuck. So he kept running into Jordan's dream the 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.720 two greatest players of the nineties by a wide margin, 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.679 those two guys, and he couldn't get thrown. So that's 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:18.600 why Charles Barkley is where he is, eighteenth on the list. 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.120 We have a caller that wants to chime in on 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:23.200 the Chuckster, go right ahead, Heye. 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.679 Sehn Gonzalez hosted the Sports Illustrated Weekly podcast here and 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:30.600 lifelong Sixers fan as a native Philadelphian. Of course, I 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.360 think Charles Barkley should be higher the number eighteen on 0:10:33.400 --> 0:10:35.800 the list. I'm not supposed to reveal who's at seventeen, 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.720 but I will say I'm preemptively upset by it. Of course, 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.360 Charles Barkley should be higher than him, not just because 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:44.880 he was a better basketball player, but because of the 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:49.080 cultural figure that he is and was then and still remains, 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.360 so his outsized influence all over the place should have 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:56.280 him higher. Anyway, the whole thing is terrible. It's absolutely 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.600 more terrible than my Charles Barkley acts. I'm so sorry 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.400 that was awful, but so is your list? 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.360 All right? Well, that last part my list is not awful, John, 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.520 I apologize. We disagree about seventeen versus eighteen. That was 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:10.960 the worst Charles Barkley impersonation I've ever heard. So why 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:14.120 do I have Barkley eighteen and the person John is 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:18.560 talking about at seventeen? Well, we'll discuss that next. Because 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:24.200 the guy at seventeen has the regular season resume that 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.440 everyone knows it's good. I don't think people know quite 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:29.280 how good it is. What do you do with a 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:32.840 guy who was good but not great in the postseason, 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.800 but in the regular season has an argument he was 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.880 one of the three greatest players ever. That's number seventeen. 0:11:40.920 --> 0:11:41.760 We'll do him next. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.920 This episode is brought to you by Unstoppable. 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Watch Unstoppable now exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.880 All right, welcome back in What's Right with Nick Wright 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.120 fifty greatest players the last fifty years in the NBA's 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.679 we continue our countdown and we get to truly the 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:29.520 most legendary players in the history of the league. Number 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:34.200 eighteen was Charles Barkley. Number seventeen is a player whose 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.760 postseason resume, one could argue, is not quite as good 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:43.840 as Barkley's, but his regular season resume is truly not 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:49.280 only unimpeachable, but it's hard to make an argument that 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:55.040 anyone other than Lebron and Kareem clearly have a better 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:01.480 totality of regular season work than this player. You probably 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:06.800 know who he is. Number seventeen Carl Malone, So the Mailman. 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:11.960 Eleven time first team All NBA that is tied for 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.760 the second most ever, two time second team, one time 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.160 third team, which gives him the fit tied for the 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.720 fifth most All NBA teams ever. He's a two time 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:29.600 MVP with nine years Top five MVP finisher nine years. 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.880 He was a top five MVP finisher. When we started 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.400 making this list, he was the second all time leading scorer. 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.000 Lebron has since passed him. He is now the third 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.760 all time leading scorer. He's the seventh all time leading rebounder. 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:44.600 He has the second most minutes of all time. He 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:49.200 has a career average of twenty five and ten. He's 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.760 the only player of the last fifty years to have 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.360 a career average of twenty five and ten other than 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.640 Joel Embiid, and Embiid has the benefit of not having 0:13:58.640 --> 0:14:00.920 that end of his career part of it drag him 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:05.440 down like most guys do. He has seventeen seasons of 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:08.200 averaging at least twenty points per game. That's tied for 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.480 the second most of all time. So again, he's the 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:13.679 number three all time leading scorer, number seven all time 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.320 leading rebounder, number two all time in minutes, top five 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.800 in all NBA teams. His second most first team all 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.360 NBA is ever the only twenty five and ten guy 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.440 of the last fifty years. Second is seventeen years averaging 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.640 at least twenty points per game. So why is he 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:33.440 only seventeenth, Well, it's not because the postseason resume is 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:38.240 non existent. But the postseason resume is not nearly what 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:40.960 the regular season resume is. So let's go through the 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:43.520 good with a little bit of the bad mixed. In 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:47.720 nineteen eighty eight, averaged thirty two to twelve for his 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:51.280 first career series win, and then average twenty nine to 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.920 twelve in a seven game loss to the Lakers who'd 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.960 gone to win the title, including in Game seven thirty 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:03.040 one p. Fifteen and so again, Young Garl malone game 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:06.280 seven against a Lakers team that would go on to 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:09.840 win the title thirty one, fifteen and four in a 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.200 couple of years without much in the playoffs. In nineteen 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.800 ninety one, had a thirty eight, thirteen and four to 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:20.080 beat Phoenix in Round one, and then had a forty 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:24.440 and sixteen in a game two loss in Round two 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.680 to Drexler and the Blazers. They would lose that series 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.240 in five. Nineteen ninety two, he gets to his first 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:34.240 career Western Conference Finals. How does he get there by 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.800 eliminating Kemp and Peyton in Seattle with a thirty seven 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:43.520 and thirteen, and then in ninety two against Portland in 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:46.760 the Western Conference Finals had a thirty eight and fourteen 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.360 in a critical game five series tied two games apiece, 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.600 but they lost in overtime. They would go on to 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.080 lose the series, and he wasn't great in the final game. 0:15:56.360 --> 0:16:02.160 Nineteen ninety four, Western Conference semis Game seven against a 0:16:02.280 --> 0:16:06.680 Kembey thirty one points, fourteen rebound, six assists to get 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.880 back to the Western Conference Finals, but lost to a 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:12.360 team in those Western Conference Finals, and then lost to 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:15.000 a team again in round one next year. This is 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:17.000 why a team's gonna be so high on this list. 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.160 If you notice from the Barkley segments, like what happened 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.400 to Barkley? Why do he make more the finals? Oh? 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:23.440 He lost to a keep? What happened to Malone? 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:23.520 Oh? 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:26.840 He lost to akeep nineteen ninety six? Though, for Carl 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.800 Malone facing elimination in the Western Conference Finals against Seattle 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.480 in game six, thirty two points, ten rebounds, seven assists, 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.760 four steals, but then in game seven wasn't great and 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:41.880 he still hadn't been to a finals. Now we're a 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:46.080 decade into his career, nineteen ninety seven, this is gonna 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:49.920 be Malone's moment. He won League MVP that year. Who's 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:51.960 controversial a lot of people thought Jordan should have won it. 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:54.560 Jordan should have won it, but Malone won League MVP. 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:58.560 It's his first League MVP. He's playing Shack in round two, 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.360 has a forty two and nine, followed by a thirty 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:05.560 two and twenty in games four and five, and they 0:17:05.640 --> 0:17:09.159 beat Shaq in five. Utah died. It had a thirty 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.800 seven and ten in game three against the Bulls down 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:16.600 oh two and for the series average twenty four, ten 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.760 and four. Not bad, but he was always efficient in 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.240 his career. Is only forty four percent in those finals. 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:26.240 The Bulls win in six to another majestic Jordan, you know, 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:28.840 performance in Jordan moment, the flu game and all that, 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.199 and he loses in six to Michael. But twenty four 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.600 to ten and four not that bad. Nine ninety eight 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.440 gets a Keem in round one, has a thirty one 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.439 and fifteen against Akeem. A Keem at this point now 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:45.560 a Keem was older but was on the downside. Malone 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.960 again had just won League MVP, almost wanted again thirty 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.359 one and fifteen to beat a Keemen round one. In 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:55.680 round in round three against Shaq and Kobe, he had 0:17:55.800 --> 0:18:00.359 a thirty average. Pardon me, thirty eleven and five to 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:04.120 sweep Shack and Kobe out sweep Mountain Western Commends finals. 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:06.800 Then in the finals they fall down three to one. 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:09.960 What does he do in game five thirty nine points, 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.359 nine rebounds, five assists, and then in game six the 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:18.119 box score looks good thirty one points, eleven rebounds, seven assists, 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:21.399 But we all know the story there, Bulls down three, 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.560 MJ hits two free throws, Bulls down one. Karl Malone 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.680 is the ball in the right box. MJ comes around 0:18:28.720 --> 0:18:31.040 the baseline, strips it from him, goes down, hits the 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:34.720 jump shot stocked and misses Desperation three, and the Bulls 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.680 win the series. Bulls win the title. So we average 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.359 for that series more than respectable twenty five point eleven rebound, 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.639 four assists, this time on fifty percent shooting, but not 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:49.800 quite enough. Then in ninety nine, he's is the league 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:56.199 MVP in Round two Game six, facing round two. In 0:18:56.200 --> 0:18:59.560 game six, he has eight points and his team goes home. 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:04.080 In two thousand, starts the playoffs off. Carl Malone not 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:07.439 dead yet, fifty to twelve to start the playoffs off 0:19:07.480 --> 0:19:10.239 against Seattle, but they don't go very far. He then 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:13.520 eventually signs with the Lakers in four. In four, to 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:17.920 his credit, he did have a thirty point playoff game, 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:20.240 but he got hurt late in the playoffs. It's one 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:22.280 of the reasons the Lakers got blown off the court 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:26.119 against Detroit. Then his career was over. So he doesn't 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:30.720 have a lot of singularly great postseason moments. However, fifty 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.880 four times he scored thirty in a playoff game, that's 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:37.040 the ninth most all time. One one hundred and fifty 0:19:37.080 --> 0:19:39.880 four times he scored twenty in a playoff game, that's 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.680 the fifth most all time. He is seventh all time 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:49.440 in playoff minutes, playoff points, and playoff rebounds. So something 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:53.119 there is some compiling there. I understand that, and he 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:55.560 was not No one's gonna argue he was a great 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:57.960 playoff four. He got a little worse come the postseason, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:03.240 but in the regular season the resume is unimpeachable. That's 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.120 how he becomes the seventeenth greatest player of the last 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:09.720 fifty years. Karl Malone here is a caller who has 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:11.479 a Karl Malone question or comment. 0:20:12.000 --> 0:20:14.640 John Stockton. When it came to the Utah Jazz and 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.920 the Stockton Malone combo was the more important of the two. 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.760 I'm just saying that means that you've got John Stockton 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:24.679 as a top fifteen player. 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:27.280 No, Rick, you know I don't have John Stockton in 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:30.120 the top sixteen. We had John Stockton in the top 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:34.119 twenty five. We had John Stockton twenty fourth, which is 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.919 not at all anything to sneeze at. But Rick's the 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.359 first person I've ever heard make the argument Stockton was 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:44.639 better than Malone. I've literally never heard someone make that 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:49.080 argument again. Carl Malone eleven times was First Team All NBA. 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:53.760 John Stockton two times was First Team All NBA. Karl 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:59.280 Malone had nine top five MVP finishes. John Stockton had 0:20:59.680 --> 0:21:03.920 zero top five MVP finishes. So listen, I understand Stockton 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:06.440 all time leader and assists, all time leader and steals. 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.480 It's why he's in the top twenty five. But no, no, no, 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:12.200 Stockton's not better than alone. Nobody actually thought Stocktor's better 0:21:12.240 --> 0:21:15.520 than alone. I can't believe Rick actually thought that. I 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.240 love Rick Buker, He's one of my favorite things say 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:20.800 about colleagues of mine. Who I disagree lot Rick Bucker, 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:23.400 great guy, bad takes. This might be the worst non 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:25.680 Lebron rip buger take I've heard other than that. I 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:29.360 appreciate him contributing to the show. Number sixteen one more 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:37.560 power forward, this one with a ring. He's next, all right, 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.240 welcome back in What's Right with Nick? Right, as we 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:43.399 continue our special edition the fifty Greatest Players of the 0:21:43.480 --> 0:21:46.520 last fifty years. Next week we will be into the 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:50.520 top fifteen. I can't believe we've already come that far. 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:54.280 Number eighteen we just listed today was Charles Barkley. Number 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:57.760 seventeen we listed today was Karl Malone. Number sixteen plays 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:01.280 the same position. However, he has one thing those two 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:03.720 men don't have, and he got it under the most 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:07.320 difficult of circumstances. And this shows you how much a 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.919 ring can do for you, because, to be candid, he 0:22:11.160 --> 0:22:14.119 certainly doesn't have the regular season resume of Karl Malone, 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:17.280 and he doesn't. He's probably a little shy of the 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:22.280 regular season resume of Charles Barkley. But the one postseason 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:25.480 run was brilliant enough. Plus it's got a pretty damn 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:29.680 good regular season resume. Number sixteen the third greatest foreign 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:33.679 born player as of today in NBA history. Number sixteen, 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:38.200 Dirk Davitz Dirk. Four time first team All NBA, five 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:41.680 time second Team All NBA, three time third Team All NBA. 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:46.119 He won an MVP and three times he finished in 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:48.439 the top three of MVP voting. He was a fifty 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:51.680 to forty ninety guy. And this is something I don't 0:22:51.680 --> 0:22:55.960 think many people know. He he is the sixth all 0:22:56.400 --> 0:23:01.320 time leading scorer in NBA history. Again, the number six 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:06.200 all time leading scorer in NBA history is won Dirk Novitzky, 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:10.200 and it gets forgotten to some, but it matters when 0:23:10.240 --> 0:23:13.240 I say he doesn't have the regular season resume of Malone. 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:16.359 That's fair. Malone's third of Berkley. Maybe I shouldn't have 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:20.160 said it to Berkley. Barkley's got more regular top five 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:25.960 MVP finishes. However, Dirk had one playoff disaster that I 0:23:25.960 --> 0:23:28.800 think MVP voters then held against him. Will get to that, 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:31.359 but he, of course more than made up for it. 0:23:31.560 --> 0:23:34.960 So let's talk postseason. He obviously, you know, was a 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:37.719 finals MVP and a champion, but he also was the 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:41.840 best player on another finalist. Let's not forget about the 0:23:42.160 --> 0:23:45.160 six finals, where du after being up two to oh 0:23:45.359 --> 0:23:47.159 d Wade with a little bit of help from the 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:51.160 refs took that title from him, but Dirk carried two 0:23:51.200 --> 0:23:54.320 Mavericks teams that did not have anything close to another 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.920 superstar to the finals, won the title one time. We'll 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:00.439 get to that eventually. He came into the league nineteen 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:02.160