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Speaker 2: Welcome in another special episode of What's Right with Nick
Speaker 2: Wright and the podcast in YouTube shows, we continue our
Speaker 2: countdown of the fifty greatest players of the last fifty
Speaker 2: years in the NBA, and today's episode, I can't believe
Speaker 2: we're already here. We get to the top ten. All
Speaker 2: go on today's episode is we do players twelve, eleven
Speaker 2: and ten. We include the inspiration for this project, which
Speaker 2: I started years and years ago. He's actually the first
Speaker 2: one up. We'll get to him in just a moment.
Speaker 2: And all three of these guys have a claim that
Speaker 2: they were on the single greatest team in NBA history.
Speaker 2: In fact, I think the two greatest teams in NBA
Speaker 2: history were comprised of these three players plus you know,
Speaker 2: obviously some others one notable player who we just had
Speaker 2: in the rankings. But we will that will make sense
Speaker 2: when we are done, You're gonna be like, really, the
Speaker 2: two greatest teams ever. We can discuss that maybe at
Speaker 2: the very end. But Number twelve the inspiration for this project.
Speaker 2: You could argue the most underrated player in the history
Speaker 2: of professional basketball.
Speaker 3: Number twelve Moses Malone.
Speaker 2: So why is Moses Malone the inspiration for the project?
Speaker 2: It's because upon research, I was like, why is he
Speaker 2: not discussed as one of the greatest players ever. He's
Speaker 2: won three league MVPs. Full list of guys with more
Speaker 2: Kareem Michael Lebron, Wilt Russell.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 2: It's the same number of MVPs as Magic and Bird.
Speaker 2: He has two other top four MVP finishes. By the way,
Speaker 2: he was four time first team All NBA, four time
Speaker 2: second Team All NBA, two time All Defense, a six
Speaker 2: time rebounding champ, a career average of twenty and twelve,
Speaker 2: and during his eight year peak where he won the
Speaker 2: three MVPs over eight seasons, he averaged twenty six and
Speaker 2: fourteen night in night out. He has the most rebounds
Speaker 2: of the last fifty years, third most rebounds all time,
Speaker 2: and he's top ten all time in points. He's not
Speaker 2: remembered as fondly for reasons I can't quite figure out.
Speaker 2: And we'll talk about his amazing playoff success and some
Speaker 2: really good playoff success against one Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who
Speaker 2: might show up number one on this list when we
Speaker 2: finally get there. He was a trendsetter, never played college
Speaker 2: ball right from high school to the ABA. But the
Speaker 2: reason I think he doesn't get the long term respect
Speaker 2: is because at the end of his career he bounced
Speaker 2: around the league so much. In fact, and before we
Speaker 2: get to the playoff stuff, true story about Moses Malone
Speaker 2: in relation to me, I was about eight years old,
Speaker 2: so this is early nineties. Moses is still playing, and
Speaker 2: I'm in the back of my dad's car looking through
Speaker 2: my basketball cards because I used to have a giant
Speaker 2: collection of basketball cards, and I come across a Moses Malone.
Speaker 2: I think it was at Lanah Hawk's card. And the
Speaker 2: way my dad tells the story is I just start
Speaker 2: crying and he's like, what is wrong? And I said,
Speaker 2: I'm just worried, Like what are you worried about? I
Speaker 2: was like, I'm worried that when I make the NBA,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get traded all the time, like this Moses
Speaker 2: Malone guy. That's true story. Little did I know that
Speaker 2: while Moses Malone was traded quite a bit, uh, he
Speaker 2: was one of the greatest players in league history from
Speaker 2: the late seventies to the mid eighties. So let's go
Speaker 2: through the playoffs stuff. And yes, at eight years old,
Speaker 2: I did think I was gonna make the NBA. I
Speaker 2: didn't really give up the ghost on that till about
Speaker 2: eleven years old. Okay, postseason accomplishments one time champ, two
Speaker 2: time finalists, and a Finals MVP, and that one time champ,
Speaker 2: I think it's it's not I think I know it's
Speaker 2: one of the two best teams ever. The eighty three
Speaker 2: Sixers and the twenty seventeen Warriors are the two greatest
Speaker 2: teams ever. He was the Finals MVP for that team.
Speaker 2: But let's start with nineteen seventy five. He's nineteen years
Speaker 2: old and averages twenty three to eighteen in the first
Speaker 2: playoff series of his life. He's nineteen, including a thirty
Speaker 2: and thirty game, a thirty point thirty rebound game. Nineteen
Speaker 2: seventy seven, he's to the NBA thirty. He has a
Speaker 2: thirty one and twenty six in his first series ever
Speaker 2: against Elvin Hayes and West un celt He averages twenty
Speaker 2: and seventeen for the series. In round two against Doctor
Speaker 2: J who would eventually team up with more on him
Speaker 2: in a moment. He has a thirty and twenty five
Speaker 2: game from nineteen seventy nine until nineteen eighty five, so
Speaker 2: that's a six season stretch. He averages twenty six and
Speaker 2: fifteen in the playoffs nineteen seventy nine, first round exit,
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty Let's go thirty seven and twenty to close
Speaker 2: out the Spurs in round one. He's swept by Boston
Speaker 2: in round two, a Celtics team that was an excellent
Speaker 2: obviously excellent Celtics team didn't win the title, but a
Speaker 2: great Celtics team averages twenty five and eleven against those
Speaker 2: Celtics in that series nineteen eighty one, and this is
Speaker 2: where he'd get his respect. They beat the defending champion Lakers.
Speaker 2: He averages thirty one to eighteen against Kareem. This is Kareem.
Speaker 2: You could argue, is he's still at his peak? I
Speaker 2: don't know. He had just won League MVP a year prior.
Speaker 2: He averages thirty one and eighteen, including a thirty eight
Speaker 2: point twenty three rebound game in game one. The next round,
Speaker 2: he beats the Spurs in seven games. George Gervin go home,
Speaker 2: averaging twenty eight to twelve, including a forty one and
Speaker 2: fifteen in game three, and then beats the Kansas City
Speaker 2: Kings in the Western Conference Finals. How does he beat him?
Speaker 2: It's two two? What happens in games five and six?
Speaker 2: He is a forty two and twenty three followed by
Speaker 2: a thirty six and eleven to get to the finals.
Speaker 2: He was the best player in those finals against Boston,
Speaker 2: but they lose to Boston in six. He averages twenty
Speaker 2: two and sixteen, leads the series, leads Bird leads the
Speaker 2: series in points per game and rebounds per game. That's
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty one nineteen eighty two. He loses in round
Speaker 2: one to Seattle despite averaging twenty four and seventeen, and
Speaker 2: goes to Philly. So what happens in Philly. That's the
Speaker 2: faux faux fou year. Moses Malone predicted they would not
Speaker 2: lose a playoff game, they'd go faux fau fo. Instead,
Speaker 2: they went faux five to fou for the playoffs. Nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty three, first playoff game with Philadelphia thirty eight points, seventeen, rebounds,
Speaker 2: four assists, averages thirty one and sixteen for a sweep
Speaker 2: against the Knicks. Then next round against Milwaukee averages twenty
Speaker 2: two to fourteen and to make the finals, head a
Speaker 2: twenty eight and seventeen to close them out. And then
Speaker 2: in the finals again out playing Kareem Abdul Jabbar with
Speaker 2: a championship on the line, outplays Kareem averaging twenty six
Speaker 2: to eighteen, leading the series in points and rebounds. Again
Speaker 2: the next year, he's out in round one, but averages
Speaker 2: twenty one and fourteen. Nineteen eighty five, back in the
Speaker 2: conference finals, loses to Boston. A great Celtics team, average
Speaker 2: twenty eleven for the playoff for the that entire playoff run.
Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty seven, he's with Washington. Now you're playing the
Speaker 2: great Detroit Pistons. Isaiah Thomas had thirty one and sixteen,
Speaker 2: and the only game that was close they got swept.
Speaker 2: Nineteen eighty eight. Again, Now you're old. Moses came into
Speaker 2: the league nineteen seventy five. It's now nineteen eighty eight,
Speaker 2: playing Detroit again, averages eighteen eleven for the series. Nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty nine, it's playing for the Hawks, averages twenty one
Speaker 2: and twelve for the playoffs. So Moses Malone top ten
Speaker 2: all time, in points, top three all time and rebounds.
Speaker 2: The only guys with more MVPs are Lebron, Michael Kareem,
Speaker 2: Wilt and Russell. Arguably the best player is certainly the
Speaker 2: finals MVP on arguably the best team ever. The twelfth
Speaker 2: greatest player of the last fifty years won Moses Malone.
Speaker 2: Now I'm excited for a caller who undoubtedly never watched
Speaker 2: a single Moses Malone game to tell me why I'm wrong.
Speaker 2: Let's see who it.
Speaker 4: Is on take that, Mike Florio. Oh hello, Nick, caught
Speaker 4: up with your latest ranking Moses Malone. Moses Malone ahead
Speaker 4: of Yannis and KD.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: I'm all for schooling up the youngs.
Speaker 2: Nick.
Speaker 4: This one's a bit hard to claim from what I
Speaker 4: can tell watching on YouTube. Because that's the only place
Speaker 4: I've ever seen Moses Malone. He was great at offensive rebounding,
Speaker 4: but usually just cleaning up his own misses. I'm not
Speaker 4: sure that's actually greatness, but you have him ahead of
Speaker 4: two of the best players I've ever seen in my life,
Speaker 4: guys who just scored instead of missing to get their
Speaker 4: own rebounds in score. I feel like you're reaching here.
Speaker 4: I feel like you're trying to, you know, make a
Speaker 4: statement to the young people, and I feel like you
Speaker 4: missed Moses Malone way too high on this ranking.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yannis or KD could pass Moses Malone. Jannis would
Speaker 2: have passed him if Yannis had gotten to the finals
Speaker 2: or won the title this year. KD maybe could have
Speaker 2: passed him, but he gotten to the finals or won
Speaker 2: the titless year instead of losing in round one. But
Speaker 2: the three mbps has to matter, The longevity has to matter.
Speaker 2: The idea that he was just cleaning up his own
Speaker 2: missus fifty percent from the field for his career, Gabe,
Speaker 2: look that up, buddy, And so no, I'm very he's
Speaker 2: the inspiration for this list.
Speaker 5: He was.
Speaker 2: If we let me say one more thing about Moses Malone.
Speaker 2: If you were to ask me, who were the greatest
Speaker 2: players in the league, the guy to hold the belt
Speaker 2: between the basically the start of the league. We'll call
Speaker 2: it Russell's rookie year because we're not talking Mike and
Speaker 2: Bob pettittt From Russell's rookie year until right now, at
Speaker 2: most thirteen guys have held that title best player in
Speaker 2: the league. Moses is one of those guys. It was
Speaker 2: Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, going back and forth. Then
Speaker 2: it was Kareem for a decade who took it from Kareem,
Speaker 2: Bill Russell, who took it from Bill Russell. I'm sorry, jeez,
Speaker 2: I said that wrong. Who took it from Kareem, Moses
Speaker 2: Malone who took it from Moses, Larry Bird, then Magic,
Speaker 2: then Michael, then a Keen, then Michael again, then Shack,
Speaker 2: then Duncan. Then there's some argument some would say after
Speaker 2: Duncan was Kobe. I would say, after Duncan and Lebron,
Speaker 2: but let's give it to Kobe, then Kobe, then Lebron,
Speaker 2: then Yannis. Though that's the full list of people to
Speaker 2: be the best player a lot Moses is on that list.
Speaker 2: He's the twelve best player of the last fifty years.
Speaker 2: We'll be right back with ten and eleven. Ooh boy,
Speaker 2: these are fluid rankings as we sit here today. We'll
Speaker 2: do that next.
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Speaker 2: All right, welcome back in What's Right with Nick Wright,
Speaker 2: the podcast and YouTube show. Like rate subscribe reviews, we
Speaker 2: continue our special editions of the fifty greatest players of
Speaker 2: the last fifty years. We are today. We got into
Speaker 2: the top twelve. Let's just keep it moving.
Speaker 3: Number eleven Julius Erving.
Speaker 2: So doctor j What must be included is what he
Speaker 2: did in the ABA. He is four time first Team
Speaker 2: All ABA to one time second Team All ABA then
Speaker 2: goes to the NBA five time first team All NBA,
Speaker 2: two time second team All NBA. So NBA and abas
Speaker 2: combined nine time first team, three time second team. What
Speaker 2: about MVPs. He won the ABA MVP three times, he
Speaker 2: won NBA MVP once and then was top five in
Speaker 2: MVP voting five other times. So think about what that
Speaker 2: means for Doctor J when we're discussing it. He had
Speaker 2: a decade where no matter what league he was in,
Speaker 2: he was either the best guy or a top five guy.
Speaker 2: His MVP award like voting goes as follows from ABA
Speaker 2: to the NBA second first, first, first, then comes to
Speaker 2: the NBA fifth tenth, second, first, third, fifth, sixth. So
Speaker 2: from nineteen seventy two to nineteen eighty four, with one
Speaker 2: exception his second year in the NBA, he's top six
Speaker 2: in MVP voting. Every single year. He wins four of them,
Speaker 2: he finishes second two other times. Like That's who he was.
Speaker 2: And it wasn't just that he was this great regular
Speaker 2: season player where he's a three time ABA scoring champion.
Speaker 2: In the playoffs, he's unbelievable. So he's a two time
Speaker 2: ABA champion, two time ABA playoff off MVP and then
Speaker 2: when he came to the NBA. Yes, he was a
Speaker 2: champion on the team we talked about arguably the greatest
Speaker 2: team ever, the eighty three sixers, but he also made
Speaker 2: three other finals. So after dominating the ABA for his
Speaker 2: half decade playing there, he comes to the NBA and
Speaker 2: his first seven years in the NBA, he makes the
Speaker 2: finals four times, wins the title. Is the best player
Speaker 2: on three finalists. So let's go through it. Nineteen seventy
Speaker 2: two and Demonse sits here during these Rancor shows but
Speaker 2: doesn't chime in the doctor J stuff. Demonse is going
Speaker 2: to blow your mind because I know you've seen some
Speaker 2: of the highlights. Nineteen seventy two. He's twenty two years old.
Speaker 2: His first playoff series ever. He averages thirty eight and
Speaker 2: nineteen A twenty two year old in his first playoff series,
Speaker 2: how would I average? Thirty eight points nineteen rebounds, including
Speaker 2: a fifty three point fourteen rebound game Round two, he's
Speaker 2: playing Rick Berry in the ABA. Averages thirty one and
Speaker 2: twenty one in a seven game series, but they lose
Speaker 2: in seven. Nineteen seventy three, he's twenty three years old.
Speaker 2: He averages thirty and nine, but he loses in round one.
Speaker 2: He does have a forty and ten game nineteen seventy four,
Speaker 2: he's twenty four years old. He goes twelve to two
Speaker 2: in the playoffs and route to his first championship. To
Speaker 2: get to the finals, averages thirty and nine in the finals.
Speaker 2: First finals game everages twenty four years old, so the
Speaker 2: same age Jason Tatum is right now. He has a
Speaker 2: forty seven to ten in his first finals game ever.
Speaker 2: For the Finals, he averages twenty eight points, eleven rebounds,
Speaker 2: five assists, two blocks, one steal per game. That's doctor
Speaker 2: J in the ABA at twenty four nineteen seventy five.
Speaker 2: They lose in round one, despite the fact that he
Speaker 2: scores thirty four separate times nineteen seventy six to get
Speaker 2: back to the finals in a seven game series, averages
Speaker 2: thirty two points, eleven rebounds, five assists. Game one of
Speaker 2: the final Finals throws up a forty five to twelve,
Speaker 2: and four Game two of the Finals throws up a
Speaker 2: forty eight fourteen to eight. Four of the Finals averages
Speaker 2: thirty eight points, fourteen rebounds, five assists. He's now won
Speaker 2: two championships, so now in the ABA, he's won three MVPs,
Speaker 2: two titles. Two. They don't have finals MVPs in the ABA,
Speaker 2: they have just playoff MVPs. Won that twice. So he's like, Okay,
Speaker 2: maybe I should go over to the NBA. Try my
Speaker 2: luck there. First playoff game ever in the NBA, thirty
Speaker 2: six points, ten rebounds, five assists against the defending champion Celtics,
Speaker 2: who they the Philadelphia seventy six ers went and beat
Speaker 2: thirty four to nine, and six against Moses who we
Speaker 2: just talked about to get to the finals. First in
Speaker 2: the NBA. In the finals in the finals, tied two
Speaker 2: to two against Bill Walton and that Blazers team. In
Speaker 2: Game five, thirty seven points, nine rebounds, seven assists. They
Speaker 2: lose by like five. Game six, facing elimination, forty points,
Speaker 2: six rebounds, eight assists, they lose by two. But he
Speaker 2: gets he gets dinged because they were up two. Oh
Speaker 2: they lost four straight. He averaged thirty points, seven rebounds,
Speaker 2: five assists for those finals nineteen seventy eight nineteen seventy nine,
Speaker 2: back to back first round or where you can't get
Speaker 2: out of the East. He averages in those two years.
Speaker 2: Averages in the playoffs twenty four points nine, rebounds, five assists,
Speaker 2: including in that probably the best moment of George Gervin's career,
Speaker 2: a Game seven where Gervin beat Doctor J. He scores
Speaker 2: at Doctor J had thirty four, five and eight in
Speaker 2: the Game seven loss to Gervin. Nineteen eighty, He's back
Speaker 2: in the finals. Outplays Larry Bird, whose name we haven't
Speaker 2: heard yet on this list in the Eastern Conference Finals,
Speaker 2: averaging twenty five, eight and four, tied to two. In
Speaker 2: the finals against the nineteen eighty Lakers, Kareem Magic that
Speaker 2: team Norm Nixon if you want him, Doctor J thirty
Speaker 2: six points nine and rebounds six assists, but they lose.
Speaker 2: Kareem is too much in that game with forty to fifteen,
Speaker 2: and then Game six is the famous game Kareem's out
Speaker 2: with an injury, Magic jump center. Magic has one of
Speaker 2: the greatest games ever and the Lakers win. So now
Speaker 2: he's been to the finals twice in the NBA, lost
Speaker 2: in both nineteen eighty one, playing that great Milwaukee team
Speaker 2: that we talked about earlier. Game seven against Milwaukee, second
Speaker 2: round of the playoffs twenty or I guess the back
Speaker 2: then this was the first round. But to get to
Speaker 2: the conference finals twenty eight points, seven rebounds, three is says,
Speaker 2: six blocks in a game seven to get to the
Speaker 2: conference finals. Go up three to one on the Celtics.
Speaker 2: They blow the three to one league. They lost games five, six,
Speaker 2: and seven by two points two points, one point. That
Speaker 2: Celtic team would go on to win the title. He'd
Speaker 2: have won that title. You cannot convince me otherwise he
Speaker 2: wouldn't won that title. They're up three to one, they
Speaker 2: lose those three games by combined five points. Instead, Bird
Speaker 2: goes on to win the title. Nineteen eighty two, Okay,
Speaker 2: let's just go back to the finals again, where Doctor
Speaker 2: j W should be. In the finals, he outplays Bird.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. In nineteen eighty two, gets back to the
Speaker 2: finals against defending champion Boston. I believe he outplays Bird
Speaker 2: to get to the finals. Twenty nine points in a
Speaker 2: game seven, twenty nine points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals,
Speaker 2: three blocks to beat the Celtics, the defending champs, to
Speaker 2: get back to the finals. In the finals, you're playing
Speaker 2: the Lakers again and again. Kareem's too much. Magic's too much,
Speaker 2: but he averages twenty five point eight rebounds and in
Speaker 2: Game six, the final game of that series, thirty points,
Speaker 2: eight rebounds, three assists, five blocks, but they lose nineteen
Speaker 2: eighty three. They add Moses, Moses, who's had success against Kareem.
Speaker 2: They finally have some help. As we talked about earlier.
Speaker 2: They lose one game. The entire playoffs. They sweep the
Speaker 2: Lakers who have been beating them. He averages for the
Speaker 2: playoff or for the finals nineteen points, nine rebounds, five assists,
Speaker 2: one steal, three blocks. That's Doctor J. So the idea
Speaker 2: that Doctor J is, you know, one of the greats,
Speaker 2: but not one of the greatest. I rejected out of hand.
Speaker 2: You can't dismiss what he did in the ABA, and
Speaker 2: let's get to a Doctor J. Caller. I specifically requested
Speaker 2: we get Chris Brussard for Doctor J because he can
Speaker 2: discuss why the ABA stuff is really impressive. Let's listen
Speaker 2: to Bruce Sard.
Speaker 7: Love the love you given the Doctor Doctor J.
Speaker 2: Julius Irvin.
Speaker 7: A few years ago, nick I started saying that Doctor
Speaker 7: J has three titles instead of just one. He won
Speaker 7: one in the NBA, but he won two in the ABA,
Speaker 7: and obviously if he had three rings, people would hold
Speaker 7: him in even higher esteem than they already do. But
Speaker 7: here's why I valued the ABA rings as much as
Speaker 7: the NBA rings, because ABA was just as good as
Speaker 7: the NBA. At least half of the best players in
Speaker 7: the world were in the ABA, half were in the NBA,
Speaker 7: and the two leagues used to play exhibition games, and
Speaker 7: the ABA won more than the NBA. They won seventy
Speaker 7: nine to seventy six in total games. But then during
Speaker 7: the last three years of the league they actually won
Speaker 7: about sixty six percent of the games against the NBA.
Speaker 7: So if we value the NBA titles of that era,
Speaker 7: and we do, the Knicks won their two titles during
Speaker 7: that era. Jerry West won his one title during that era,
Speaker 7: Wilts title. One of his second title, came during that era.
Speaker 7: We should value the ABA rings just as much as
Speaker 7: we do in the NBA rings. So it's good to
Speaker 7: see the doctor getting so much love.
Speaker 2: Three rings for doctor j That's exactly right, Bruh. I
Speaker 2: couldn't say it any better. Nine time First Team All
Speaker 2: ABA or NBA, three rings, four mbps if you're counting
Speaker 2: the ABA MVPs, and now all of a sudden, he
Speaker 2: is nine times he was top five MVP, winning it
Speaker 2: four times, four other time, five other times been top five.
Speaker 2: We went through the resume.
Speaker 4: It is.
Speaker 2: It's not unimpeachable, but it is damn near bulletproof. There's
Speaker 2: Doctor j welcome back in. It is What's right with
Speaker 2: Nick Wright? Special episode, Special Editions. And you might say,
Speaker 2: was that a special wardrobe change? So here's the deal.
Speaker 2: Spoiler alert for what's about to be revealed in about
Speaker 2: thirty seconds. The tenth greatest player of the last fifty
Speaker 2: years is Wardell Stephan Curry. What you are about to
Speaker 2: see I recorded right before these finals started, the finals,
Speaker 2: that Steph just won his fourth ring, so all of
Speaker 2: this information still applies. I'm gonna let you guys see
Speaker 2: what we were saying about Steph right before these finals.
Speaker 2: Then I'm gonna be back in this exact outfit talking
Speaker 2: momentarily about the finals that just happened, which cemented him
Speaker 2: ahead of Julius Irving and as the tenth best player
Speaker 2: of the last fifth years. But I mean, he was
Speaker 2: top twelve even without this ring, as you're gonna see
Speaker 2: from what he had already accomplished that we talked about
Speaker 2: last week. But you guys are seeing right now.
Speaker 3: Number ten Steph Curry.
Speaker 2: So Steph Curry, four time First Team All NBA, three
Speaker 2: times second Team All NBA, one time Third Team All NBA.
Speaker 2: Gotta be honest, I would have before I looked it up,
Speaker 2: I would have thought he had more than four First
Speaker 2: Team All NBA's. I'm a little surper four as great,
Speaker 2: but as far as other guys on this list, it's
Speaker 2: a little less than you would expect. What about his MVPs,
Speaker 2: we know it. He's a two time MVP, including the
Speaker 2: first ever unanimous MVP in twenty sixteen. Even though Lebron
Speaker 2: Trduani Aos in twenty thirteen he got nine nine of
Speaker 2: one hundred votes, I'm not still better. He has two
Speaker 2: other MVP top fives. He's a two time scoring champion,
Speaker 2: He's a one time steals champion. He was the best
Speaker 2: player on the greatest regular season team ever. He is
Speaker 2: a fifty to forty ninety guy, and damn near a
Speaker 2: fifty to forty ninety career guy forty seven, forty three
Speaker 2: to ninety one for his career. So, then with Steph,
Speaker 2: the question is playoffs, and the answer is he has
Speaker 2: been really good in the playoffs, but as of now,
Speaker 2: he's a six time finalist and as of recording, he's
Speaker 2: a three time champion. He was the best player on
Speaker 2: four finals teams. He was well, yeah, he was the
Speaker 2: best player on four finals teams. You could argue three
Speaker 2: finals teams. What are you gonna do with twenty nineteen,
Speaker 2: who's gonna say's the best player? Durant was probably the
Speaker 2: best player during the season, but then he got hurt
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. He was the best player on one
Speaker 2: champion and the second best player on two other champions.
Speaker 2: Now you might say, hold on, Nick, you have Steph
Speaker 2: ranked the head of Durant. How are you saying that
Speaker 2: Durant was the best player, because when they played together
Speaker 2: in those finals, Durant was the best. However, Steph, his
Speaker 2: totality of his body of work means he has had
Speaker 2: the better career. Let's talk about Steph's playoffs stuff, because
Speaker 2: I think it's misrepresented on both sides. I think folks
Speaker 2: that act like ste has not been great in the
Speaker 2: playoffs are lying, and folks that act like, actually, STEP's
Speaker 2: been a better in the finals than in the regular season.
Speaker 2: That's obviously a lot. Okay, twenty thirteen first playoff series ever,
Speaker 2: he has a thirty and thirteen, and he has a
Speaker 2: forty four and eleven in double overtime against the Spurs
Speaker 2: to start round two. I believe that was his greatest
Speaker 2: playoff game. That it's unfair, it wasn't his greatest playoff game ever,
Speaker 2: but that was the welcome to the to super stardom
Speaker 2: Steph Curry moment when everyone had to take notice. Twenty fourteen,
Speaker 2: they lose in seven against the Clippers in round one.
Speaker 2: He averages twenty three to eight for the series, including
Speaker 2: a thirty three point five rebound, nine er sisters three
Speaker 2: steal game in Game seven. So that's a game seven
Speaker 2: against Chris Paul, Steph's second year in the playoffs, and
Speaker 2: he has a thirty three to five, nine to three
Speaker 2: in game seven. Twenty fifteen sweep of Anthony Davis in
Speaker 2: New Orleans averages thirty four, five and seven and had
Speaker 2: his second career forty point playoff game. In round two,
Speaker 2: he has a thirty two and ten to close out Memphis.
Speaker 2: You remember that series, that series Memphis was up to one.
Speaker 2: That was actually a little bit of, you know, a
Speaker 2: tumult for the Warriors. They figured it out in games four,
Speaker 2: to five and six, Steph closed them out with thirty
Speaker 2: two and ten in the conference finals against Houston, averages
Speaker 2: thirty one points, five rebounds, six assists. And then in
Speaker 2: those finals, what everybody remembers is Deli giving him trouble
Speaker 2: Lebron's masterpieces in games one, two, and three. What should
Speaker 2: not be forgotten is this Game four of those finals.
Speaker 2: I believe to be Steph Curry's finest playoff moment. He
Speaker 2: had thirty or game five, pardon me not game four.
Speaker 2: He had thirty seven, seven and four in the key
Speaker 2: game Game five of those finals to go up three
Speaker 2: to two on Cleveland. Deli had since been to the
Speaker 2: hospital getting ibs. He was so tired from running around Steph.
Speaker 2: That was that was a great team. But because Clay
Speaker 2: doesn't dribble and Draymond was a better offensive player then
Speaker 2: than he is now. But everybody knew you had to
Speaker 2: stop Steph. He still dropped thirty seven to go up
Speaker 2: three to two on the Cabs in those finals. He
Speaker 2: did average in those finals twenty six points per game. Now,
Speaker 2: I believe Lebron was MVP of those finals, but it
Speaker 2: is criminal that in the official NBA record books, Steph
Speaker 2: Curry got zero Finals MVP votes. It was seven for
Speaker 2: Andre Guadala, four for Lebron, zero for Steph. If you
Speaker 2: weren't going to vote for Lebron, not voting for Steph
Speaker 2: there as crazy, especially how he finished it. Okay, so
Speaker 2: now they're the champions. Then in twenty sixteen, he is
Speaker 2: as good of a regular season as any players ever had.
Speaker 2: His team wins seventy three games, he wins the scoring title,
Speaker 2: he wins anamnes MVP. He then gets hurt right before
Speaker 2: the playoffs, comes or right at the beginning of playoffs,
Speaker 2: comes back and has forty points, nine rebounds, eight assists,
Speaker 2: including a record that I don't know if will ever
Speaker 2: be broken seventeen points in overtime. He had a seventeen
Speaker 2: point overtime period in his first game back against Dame
Speaker 2: and CJ and Portland. That was the famous I'm back game.
Speaker 2: Who was kind of a little weird because then after
Speaker 2: that Warriors fans were like, oh, STEP's hurt when he
Speaker 2: didn't play great in the finals, but he had seventeen
Speaker 2: in overtime after then. This is key one of the
Speaker 2: reasons he's ahead of Durant in these rankings. They're down
Speaker 2: three to one to OKC Games five, six, and seven,
Speaker 2: he averages thirty three, seven and eight, including in game seven,
Speaker 2: another huge Game seven thirty six points, five rebounds, eight assists.
Speaker 2: Then the first four against Cleveland he plays well. He
Speaker 2: plays unbelievably in Game four thirty eight points, five rebounds,
Speaker 2: six assists to go up three to one on the Cabs.
Speaker 2: But then we know what happened. Lebron and Kyrie had
Speaker 2: dual masterpieces in game five. Lebron had a singular masterpiece
Speaker 2: in Game six, and then Steph had the worst playoff
Speaker 2: game of his life in game seven. Listen, that's got
Speaker 2: to be part of the story. He was I think
Speaker 2: six for nineteen. I can pull it up real quick.
Speaker 2: I think it was six for nineteen. We all remember
Speaker 2: the behind the back pass out of bounds earlier in
Speaker 2: the series. His you know, his wife accuses the league
Speaker 2: of being rigged for ratings or money. He throws his
Speaker 2: mouthpiece at a fan. The whole thing's ugly, so that
Speaker 2: was tough for him. But then to his credit, he
Speaker 2: recognizes the Warriors can't beat Lebron as presently constituted not
Speaker 2: a healthy Cavs team. He gets Kevin Durant to come
Speaker 2: join him, and then they have. You could argue I
Speaker 2: said it earlier. The two greatest teams ever, the eighty
Speaker 2: three Sixers and the twenty seventeen Warriors. Why they were
Speaker 2: both championship caliber teams that had been multiple finals and
Speaker 2: then added and in their prime league MVP. The Sixers
Speaker 2: added Moses, the Warriors added Durant. If people are like, oh,
Speaker 2: how you know who was? How good were the ninety
Speaker 2: six Bulls, well what if the ninety seven Bulls added
Speaker 2: to kim olaj one, then they'd be the greatest team ever.
Speaker 2: That's essentially what the Warriors did. They only did that
Speaker 2: because Steph allowed them to do it. Twenty seventeen, they're
Speaker 2: just sweeping their way through the playoffs. That looks like
Speaker 2: and to close out Portland. Steph has thirty seven to
Speaker 2: seven and eight, averages thirty five and seven for the series.
Speaker 2: Game one of the Western Afference Finals has another forty
Speaker 2: piece averages thirty two, six and five for the series,
Speaker 2: as they swept the entire West averages twenty seven, eight
Speaker 2: and nine in the finals, so that's important. Those were
Speaker 2: probably STEP's best finals. He averaged twenty seven to eight
Speaker 2: and nine. The problem is Durant averaged like thirty five.
Speaker 2: Soever it was clear Durant was Finals MVP for the
Speaker 2: playoff run. He averaged twenty eight six and seven twenty
Speaker 2: eighteen Western Conference Finals. This is key. These are again
Speaker 2: clutch moments facing adversity. They're down three to two to Houston.
Speaker 2: He has twenty nine to five and six, and then
Speaker 2: in game seven twenty seven points, nine rebound centesus four
Speaker 2: steals to get to his fourth straight Finals. Could have
Speaker 2: been the finals MVP at thirty seven in the final
Speaker 2: game of those finals and average twenty eight six and
Speaker 2: seven for the finals, but Katie got it, mostly because
Speaker 2: he hit that big shot over Lebron For the second
Speaker 2: straight year twenty nineteen, he has a thirty eight to
Speaker 2: fifteen and seven fifteen rebound Steph underrated rebounder firs size
Speaker 2: thirty eight to fifteen and seven to start the playoffs
Speaker 2: and then an iconic game against Houston. Durant's already gone down.
Speaker 2: If you just look at the box score, you say, oh,
Speaker 2: game six against Houston, Steph at thirty three points. He
Speaker 2: had zero in the first half and he had thirty
Speaker 2: three in the second half to beat James Harden Send
Speaker 2: them home, beat them in Houston, swept Portland without Durant
Speaker 2: in the conference finals, averaging thirty seven, eight and seven.
Speaker 2: Game three of the twenty nineteen finals tied one game apiece.
Speaker 2: Durant's not back yet. Steph had forty seven, eight and seven,
Speaker 2: but the Warriors lost by double digits in that game.
Speaker 2: Averaged thirty one five and six, not on great efficiency,
Speaker 2: but still thirty one five and six. For the finals,
Speaker 2: they obviously, you know, losing six. Durant comes back. The
Speaker 2: one What also hurts Steph there is they had two
Speaker 2: wins there. One of the two was when Durant came back,
Speaker 2: had eleven points in a quarter and then popped his achilles.
Speaker 2: But at that point he has five finals, he has
Speaker 2: three rings. Then he misses the playoffs back to back years,
Speaker 2: and now this year is back in the finals. So
Speaker 2: that's why he is where he is, without question. One
Speaker 2: of the twelve girls players the last fifty years won
Speaker 2: Stephan Curry. Let's get to a Steph Curry caller or
Speaker 2: callers if we can, please.
Speaker 5: What's up, Nick? How you doing? Melissa roll In here
Speaker 5: in national NBA reporter for Fox Sports. I have a
Speaker 5: question for you Steph Curry obviously completely changed the game.
Speaker 5: He revolutionized the sport. He made it possible for players
Speaker 5: to shoot from anywhere on the court. He made it
Speaker 5: so that NBA teams had to change their rosters. He
Speaker 5: made it so that players had to change their games.
Speaker 5: Did you consider putting him higher on your list just
Speaker 5: for the mere fact that Steph Curry changed NBA basketball
Speaker 5: as we know it, and.
Speaker 8: That it's Pablo host of esp and Daily Debatable from
Speaker 8: Around the Horn PTI all that stuff. I'm just here
Speaker 8: to automatically reject wherever you rank Steph Curry. And I
Speaker 8: truly mean automatically, because asking you to rank Steph is
Speaker 8: kind of like asking Kanye to assess where Pete Davidson
Speaker 8: ranks on a list of all time funniest comedians. And
Speaker 8: I don't need to compare Pete Davidson and Steph at all.
Speaker 2: One guy.
Speaker 9: He affected the way millions on millions of people approach
Speaker 9: and could see the game of basketball.
Speaker 3: He's the greatest shooter of all time.
Speaker 8: Blah blah blah blah blah.
Speaker 9: Pete Davidson also pretty good shoot your shotter as it were,
Speaker 9: But simply because he's taken away so much of what
Speaker 9: you love, right, Like, whether it's your credibility of e
Speaker 9: the Andrew Wiggins stuff or all the titles that you
Speaker 9: wanted for Lebron, it's just impossible for you to assess them.
Speaker 2: And so for that reason I am out, Oh, okay, well,
Speaker 2: I appreciate Pablo, I think not even looking at where
Speaker 2: I have Steph rank before saying that he would have
Speaker 2: him ranked higher, I would just challenge anyone to Again,
Speaker 2: I don't want to reveal the rest of the list,
Speaker 2: but you guys know that nine names, ten names that
Speaker 2: haven't been discussed yet. You know we haven't You got
Speaker 2: him ahead of Shack? Do you have n't had of
Speaker 2: Larry Bird? Do you have him? Kobe Bryant, Akim Olajuan,
Speaker 2: the guys who are gonna be coming up in future
Speaker 2: episodes like is that do you? I don't think you do.
Speaker 2: And as far as do I give Steph extra legacy
Speaker 2: credit for how he changed the game, I do not.
Speaker 2: I If we're ranking the greatest baseball players ever, how
Speaker 2: do you fit? Do you have Jackie Robinson number one?
Speaker 2: Maybe the most important athlete ever, but it's not better
Speaker 2: than Babe Ruth. Those are separate discussions in a similar way. Yes,
Speaker 2: Steph Curry changed the game, but that to me, if
Speaker 2: I'm talking about how impactful you were, how great you were,
Speaker 2: I can't give you legacy points on that. I think
Speaker 2: I have him ranked quite fairly. I reject nearly everything
Speaker 2: Pablo said, except for the long list of jobs he
Speaker 2: currently has that he does, you know, at a halfway
Speaker 2: decent level. We'll be right back, all right, and now
Speaker 2: I'm back to the day after Steph Curry won his
Speaker 2: fourth title to talk about these finals, because we weren't
Speaker 2: able to talk about it during the bulk of that
Speaker 2: Steph Curry segment because we recorded it right when the
Speaker 2: finals started. So Steph going into these finals was right
Speaker 2: the neck and neck with Doctor J for eleven or ten.
Speaker 2: And what pushed him over the top was the two
Speaker 2: kind of odd omissions from his resume. He got them
Speaker 2: both accomplished one obviously a clear, con conclusive, no doubt
Speaker 2: about it finals MVP. I know some people argue, and
Speaker 2: I'm one of them, he deserved it over Iguidala in fifteen.
Speaker 2: But some of us who argue that think that was
Speaker 2: really a fight for second place, because Lebron should have
Speaker 2: won it. There hadn't yet been a Finals in his
Speaker 2: career where he was unquestionably the best guy on either
Speaker 2: team this Finals, there is no doubt about it. Additionally,
Speaker 2: he also hadn't yet had the transcendent, all time memorable
Speaker 2: finals game. He had some very good finals games, but
Speaker 2: the most points he ever had scored in the finals
Speaker 2: game came in a loss. As we discussed, the thirty
Speaker 2: seven against Cleveland in Game five in twenty fifteen is
Speaker 2: a great game, but I don't know how many people
Speaker 2: really remember it. People are going to remember Game four,
Speaker 2: down to one against Boston, who had seemingly taken control
Speaker 2: of the series. He has forty three points, ten rebounds,
Speaker 2: and out of this world shooting experience to quiet TD
Speaker 2: Garden to get the Warriors back in control of the series.
Speaker 2: And then while he wasn't great in Game five, Game six,
Speaker 2: he was sensational again thirty four to seven and seven
Speaker 2: rebounding from the first playoff game of his life where
Speaker 2: he didn't hit a three by making five of his
Speaker 2: first six threes, hitting six overall, winning a unanimous Finals MVP.
Speaker 2: So four rings and the architect in the heartbeat of
Speaker 2: the best dynasty since Jordan's Bulls. This rings cements the
Speaker 2: Warriors in my opinion. Six trips to the finals in
Speaker 2: eight years, four rings in eight years better than the
Speaker 2: Spurs dynasty. The Spurs won five rings, went to six finals,
Speaker 2: but they did it from ninety nine to fourteen, so
Speaker 2: over fifteen years. Better than the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe,
Speaker 2: who went to four finals won three rings in a
Speaker 2: five year stretch. This is better than that. So he's
Speaker 2: the architect of the best dynasty of his era. He
Speaker 2: has four rings, he has two league MVPs. As we discussed,
Speaker 2: he's the greatest shooter ever, he's one of the greatest
Speaker 2: teammates ever. And now finally, his resume has no blank marks.
Speaker 2: He's checked off every box you would want to check
Speaker 2: as a player. It's why he is in the top
Speaker 2: ten of the fifty best players of the last fifty years.
Speaker 2: Next week we will get to players eight and nine,
Speaker 2: a couple of big men, and the order and who
Speaker 2: they are might surprise you. Hey, thanks for watching Smash
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