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Speaker 2: Welcome in another very special edition of What's Right with
Speaker 2: Nick Wright, as we continue our countdown of the fifty
Speaker 2: greatest players of the last fifty years in the NBA.
Speaker 2: We are already now to the top seven. Last week
Speaker 2: we did number eight, A cheme a lot, Number nine,
Speaker 2: Shaquille O'Neill. The top seven. You guys know who the
Speaker 2: seven guys are. Obviously, the question is in what order
Speaker 2: will they come? Number seven is a guy whose apex
Speaker 2: was one of the five best apexes we've seen in
Speaker 2: NBA history, So why is he number seven and not higher?
Speaker 2: Came into the league a little old left the league
Speaker 2: a little early, but while he was there, from the
Speaker 2: moment he stepped on the court, was one of the
Speaker 2: best players in the league and stayed like that for
Speaker 2: a full decade. Number seven Larry Bird. So here's Larry
Speaker 2: Bird top line of the resume. Nine times First Team
Speaker 2: All NBA, one time second Team All NBA. He is
Speaker 2: a three time MVP and those MVPs came in three
Speaker 2: consecutive years. The only person eligible for this list to
Speaker 2: win three MVPs in a row. The only others to
Speaker 2: do it, ever, are Wilt and Russell, and those guys
Speaker 2: are too old for the list. By the way, from
Speaker 2: his rookie year to nineteen eighty eight, he was top
Speaker 2: four MVP voting all nine seasons, and the way it
Speaker 2: went for him was he had three straight second place
Speaker 2: finishes followed by three straight first place finishes. So from
Speaker 2: a six year stretch of eighty one to eighty six,
Speaker 2: not only did his team win the title, well two
Speaker 2: of the From the nineteen eighty finals, how about that
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty finals to the end of the eighty six season,
Speaker 2: Larry Bird collected three league MVPs, two finals MVPs, three
Speaker 2: second place finishes. And three championships. He's three time All Defense.
Speaker 2: He invented the fifty to forty ninety club and he
Speaker 2: did it twice. And he's one of only three guys
Speaker 2: in the last fifty years to average at least twenty
Speaker 2: four and ten for his career. The other two are
Speaker 2: Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Karl Malone. Everyone remembers Larry Bird,
Speaker 2: the iconic scorer, you know, the first true great deep
Speaker 2: shooter of any era, because he came into the league
Speaker 2: around the advent of three point line. Didn't shoot, you know,
Speaker 2: ten percent is when he threes. This guys shoot today.
Speaker 2: But he was the first star player that it was
Speaker 2: truly a weapon. For what I think younger folks don't
Speaker 2: understand is was an exceptional rebounder, averaging ten rebounds a
Speaker 2: game for his career and one of the greatest passers ever.
Speaker 2: His court vision was in the eighties, surpassed only by
Speaker 2: Magic and Isaiah. That's it. So that's Larry Bird top
Speaker 2: line resume stuff. Now we will get to the playoffs,
Speaker 2: as we do with everybody on this list. At this
Speaker 2: point of the list, we must go year by year
Speaker 2: by year. So in the playoffs again, top line, three
Speaker 2: time champ, two time finals, MVP, five time finalists. So
Speaker 2: let's just start with his rookie season nineteen eighty his
Speaker 2: rookie year to close out his first playoff series ever
Speaker 2: thirty four, ten and seven to beat Moses Malone and Houston.
Speaker 2: That is his first playoff series ever, thirty four, ten
Speaker 2: and seven. He averaged twenty two, fourteen and four in
Speaker 2: a round two loss to Doctor J and Philly, and
Speaker 2: had thirty one and twelve in the Celtics only win
Speaker 2: of that series. So that's Larry Bird. Couple interesting things
Speaker 2: that you're gonna hear there. One is, wait, Houston was
Speaker 2: in the East. They were in the East. There were
Speaker 2: some weird geographical alignments in the early eighties. But also
Speaker 2: the guy averaged it is twenty two, fourteen and four
Speaker 2: as a rookie in round two against Doctor J in
Speaker 2: eighteen eighty one, his first championship. How does he get there?
Speaker 2: We already mentioned guys on this list that were on
Speaker 2: that team, Kevin McHale, but McHale was barely a contributor
Speaker 2: on this team. Tinyn eight Archibald was an important contributor
Speaker 2: on this team, but the best player on this team,
Speaker 2: without question was Larry Bird. With respect to Cedric Maxwell,
Speaker 2: who will get to well, we won't get to on
Speaker 2: the list, but was an important part of the finals
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty one averages twenty four to thirteen and seven
Speaker 2: in a round one sweep of Chicago in the Eastern
Speaker 2: Conference Finals, again against Philly, the team that knocked him
Speaker 2: out last year. Year two, Larry Bird averages in the
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference Finals twenty seven, thirteen and five, avenging the
Speaker 2: previous year's loss, beating Philly in seven games. By the way,
Speaker 2: and this is one of my favorite sliding doors moments
Speaker 2: in NBA history. They're down three to one in that series.
Speaker 2: They come back and win game five, six and seven.
Speaker 2: And if you remember our Doctor J discussion, the Celtics
Speaker 2: won games five, six, and seven by a combined five points.
Speaker 2: They won those games by two, one and two. If
Speaker 2: they don't win those games one of those games, Doctor
Speaker 2: J probably has an extra ring. Larry maybe only has two,
Speaker 2: and he's thought of quite differently. So those were critical moments.
Speaker 2: He's in year two. How did they win them? Game
Speaker 2: five Larry Bird had facing elimination thirty two, eleven, five,
Speaker 2: three and two. Game six, he had twenty five sixteen, four,
Speaker 2: two and two and Game seven twenty three, eleven, five,
Speaker 2: five and two, and then Game six of the finals
Speaker 2: against Moses in Houston with the title on the line,
Speaker 2: had twenty seven, thirteen and five averaged four of the
Speaker 2: series fifteen, fifteen and seven. Didn't not win finals MVP.
Speaker 2: I think that's a pretty questionable one for Larry not
Speaker 2: to have won it, but he did. Nineteen eighty two,
Speaker 2: Philly got him back. Doctor J was at this moment,
Speaker 2: I think, still a better player than Larry Bird. Doctor
Speaker 2: J was on the downswing and Larry was on the upswing.
Speaker 2: Was still Doctor J got him back. Bird averaged for
Speaker 2: the series eighteen points, fourteen rebound, seven assists. They lose
Speaker 2: in seven in the Eastern Conference Finals. Nineteen eighty three.
Speaker 2: Remember Sidney Moncreef. Earlier on the listen, I said most
Speaker 2: underrated player of the eighties. He was swept by Sidney
Speaker 2: Montcreef and Milwaukee in round two for the playoffs that year,
Speaker 2: twenty one points, thirteen rebound, seven assists for the playoff averages.
Speaker 2: And now we're to the stretch of the three straight
Speaker 2: MVPs nineteen eighty four wins League MVP for the playoff
Speaker 2: run as a whole twenty eight points, eleven rebound, six
Speaker 2: assists on fifty two percent shooting. Round two against the
Speaker 2: Nixon Bernard King, another guy on our list, averages thirty
Speaker 2: eleven and seven, including the playoff game of his life
Speaker 2: up to that point, Game seven against the Knicks in
Speaker 2: round two, Larry Bird had thirty nine points, twelve rebounds,
Speaker 2: ten assists. In that series. He scored thirty five plus
Speaker 2: three times the next round, got revenge on Moncreef and
Speaker 2: the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals, and then in
Speaker 2: the finals against Magic and Kareem and the Lakers twenty
Speaker 2: nine to twenty one, a twenty nine point twenty one
Speaker 2: rebound game down to one in Game four to even
Speaker 2: the series. Followed that up with a thirty four point
Speaker 2: seventeen rebound game to go up three to two, and
Speaker 2: they win the title in seven. He's Finals MVP. They
Speaker 2: have two overtime wins in that series, so that's one
Speaker 2: that man another sliding, so two of his first three
Speaker 2: titles easily could have gone the other way. He averages
Speaker 2: for the finals twenty seven, fourteen and four nineteen eighty
Speaker 2: five as the defending champs averages pardon me, thirty five,
Speaker 2: eleven and six in round one in a sweep of Cleveland.
Speaker 2: Again he's the defending champ. Comes into the playoffs League
Speaker 2: MVP again averages thirty five and eleven with six assists
Speaker 2: in round one against Cleveland. Against Isaiah and the Pistons
Speaker 2: in round two, game two to go up two zero,
Speaker 2: forty two points, ten rebound, six assists, and then forty three,
Speaker 2: thirteen and five to go up three to two in
Speaker 2: a critical Game five. They would win in six. They
Speaker 2: dismantle the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Finals. But that
Speaker 2: Lakers team in eighty five, nobody was beating them. The
Speaker 2: Lakers crush them, and watch crush them is unfair. The
Speaker 2: Lakers won the series in six games. Third, though, acquitted
Speaker 2: himself quite nicely twenty four points, nine rebounds, five assists
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty six. Then we get there what many people,
Speaker 2: not me, but many people consider the best team ever.
Speaker 2: It's his third straight League MVP. He's gonna finish it
Speaker 2: with another finals MVP. They they they sweep the Bulls
Speaker 2: in round one. You know he's on that Bulls team, right,
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan. They swept him in round one, and in
Speaker 2: Jordan's famous sixty three point double overtime game, Larry had
Speaker 2: thirty six points, twelve rebounds, eight assists. They beat Dominique
Speaker 2: in Atlanta in Round two, including twenties while averaging twenty
Speaker 2: seven points, ten rebounds, seven assists. They sweep Milwaukee in
Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference finals. He averages twenty seven points, nine rebounds,
Speaker 2: eight assists, two steals, so they're eleven and one en
Speaker 2: route to the finals. In those finals, they're playing Houston.
Speaker 2: Remember a team from last week we talked to Houston
Speaker 2: team that also had Ralph Sampson. He averages in the
Speaker 2: finals twenty four points, ten rebounds, nine assists is two
Speaker 2: total assists, shy. I think it was two of averaging
Speaker 2: a triple double for the finals, something only Lebron would
Speaker 2: do later in NBA history. He has twenty nine to
Speaker 2: twelve in Game six to win the title. So that's
Speaker 2: the end of his championships. It's not the end of
Speaker 2: his great playoff moments. Nineteen eighty seven sweeps Jordan again
Speaker 2: in round one seems relevant. Thirty two, fourteen and six
Speaker 2: to finish off that sweep to open round two against
Speaker 2: Moncreef in Milwaukee forty points, eleven rebounds, seven assists for
Speaker 2: steals and then to go up three to two or
Speaker 2: three to one in that series forty two, seven and
Speaker 2: eight in a double overtime victory, and then in game
Speaker 2: seven against Milwaukee thirty one to ten in eight. So
Speaker 2: think about this for a moment. They win the title
Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty four, they lose in the finals in
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty five. They win the title in nineteen eighty
Speaker 2: six for his league MVP all three years finals MVP twice.
Speaker 2: Then in nineteen eighty seven, seemingly exhausted, he has a
Speaker 2: sweeps Jordan in round one, goes seven in round two
Speaker 2: against a very good Milwaukee team, is a monster in
Speaker 2: the critical games of the series. It opens the series
Speaker 2: with a four point game, It has another forty point
Speaker 2: game to go off three to one. Then when they
Speaker 2: lose games five and six, in game seven has thirty
Speaker 2: one to ten and eight to move on to face Detroit.
Speaker 2: Against Detroit, they're tied with the Pistons two to two
Speaker 2: averages thirty six, ten and seven in the final three
Speaker 2: games to win that series in seven, including in Game
Speaker 2: seven thirty seven, nine, and nine, So that is four
Speaker 2: straight trips to the finals in a period where he's
Speaker 2: winning all the league MVPs. In the finals, once again,
Speaker 2: the Lakers were too much. Bird, though played well again
Speaker 2: twenty four to ten and six for the finals, and
Speaker 2: that's kind of the end of the road for Boston.
Speaker 2: It's not the end of the road for Bird, for
Speaker 2: it has a few other massive moments. Nineteen eighty eight,
Speaker 2: Detroit beats them after a that seven game war with Dominique,
Speaker 2: including the the that's the Dominique's most famous game, the
Speaker 2: game seven loss to Larry where Larry scored two winning
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter and they move on. But Detroit
Speaker 2: was too much for him. And then in nineteen eighty
Speaker 2: nine he has bone spurs and back issues, and that's
Speaker 2: basically the end. So the reason Bird can't be higher
Speaker 2: is it's really just a ten year run. But what
Speaker 2: an unbelievable ten year run for his career, twenty four
Speaker 2: to ten and seven in the playoffs. The only other
Speaker 2: person to average he averaged twenty four to ten and seven.
Speaker 2: The only other person in playoff history to average twenty
Speaker 2: ten and five is Yannis Yannis. By the way, I
Speaker 2: think one day We'll probably supplant Larry Bird past Larry Bird,
Speaker 2: but hasn't yet Larry Bird your seventh greatest player of
Speaker 2: the last fifty years. Let's go to some Larry Bird
Speaker 2: callers before we move on.
Speaker 3: Hey, Nick, that was just doing a quick Danny Age
Speaker 3: contribution rideer. I think about all the things that Danny
Speaker 3: has contributed to the NBA, and it got me thinking
Speaker 3: about Larry Bird. Saw have Larry Bird at seven on
Speaker 3: your top fifty LI seven? Really there are six guys
Speaker 3: better than Larry Bird. You have Luca Legend at twenty, Hattie,
Speaker 3: only have Larry Legend at seven. Larry's just like Luca,
Speaker 3: but a much better defender. Plus, besides Danny Ainge, Larry
Speaker 3: Bird never had a top twenty guy with him. I
Speaker 3: mean Magic had Kareem and Kobe had Shack. Who did
Speaker 3: Larry Bird have. I gotta get back to my contribution, right,
Speaker 3: But Larry and seven.
Speaker 4: It's crazy one. My favorite Larry Bird's story is good
Speaker 4: because I'm gonna tell it to you. The end of
Speaker 4: a long road trip Portland Trailblazers coming up on the schedule,
Speaker 4: Larry Bird turns to his teammates and says, you know
Speaker 4: what fellas I'm gonna play tomorrow left handed? Wouldn't you
Speaker 4: know what he does? Goes out there and scores forty
Speaker 4: seven points, not all of them left handed, but a lot.
Speaker 4: Then the other day I saw video Larry Birds signing
Speaker 4: autographs with his left hand.
Speaker 2: Larry Bird is left handed? Ruined the memory. I wasn't there,
Speaker 2: I was eight, but it was on the Larry Bird.
Speaker 5: VHS tapes and I've incorporated that into my memory bank.
Speaker 5: So Nick, did this ruin an all time great Larry
Speaker 5: Bird's story, not my telling of it, the idea that
Speaker 5: he's left handed.
Speaker 2: No, let me respond to Wilds and then Jenna Larry Bird,
Speaker 2: much like a couple other all time greats, Lebron James
Speaker 2: and myself rights left handed but plays sports right handed.
Speaker 2: His right hand dominant, but rights and probably eats left handed,
Speaker 2: so he is right handed. He played that game left handed.
Speaker 2: He had a lot of legendary stuff. It didn't make
Speaker 2: you know, it's not one of the reasons he's top
Speaker 2: seven all time, but the three point contest thing was
Speaker 2: pretty legendary. Hell, the McDonald's horse commercials with Jordan from
Speaker 2: the early nineties, those were pretty legendary. Now as far
Speaker 2: as Jenna's point that he didn't have another all all
Speaker 2: timer alongside him, that's true. What's also true, though, is
Speaker 2: he had tiny Nade Archibald for Ring one and Michale.
Speaker 2: Was that McHale wasn't great. He had perished for basically
Speaker 2: the entirety of it. He had Walton in eighty six
Speaker 2: along with McHale. It's not like he didn't have excellent teammates.
Speaker 2: Those Celtics teams were great even though they didn't have
Speaker 2: another super superstar. But I mean McHale was, you know,
Speaker 2: top thirty five on our list, pretty damn good. And
Speaker 2: so I think that that is. I think seven is
Speaker 2: perfectly fair to him, especially when you think of the
Speaker 2: six guys who are ahead of him, number seven on
Speaker 2: the list, Larry Bird, number six on the list is
Speaker 2: a guy. Handful of guys who played against him say no,
Speaker 2: I actually think he's one of the two greatest players ever.
Speaker 2: We'll discuss him next. What's right.
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Speaker 2: All right, welcome back in What's Right with Nick Wright's
Speaker 2: special edition. As we count down the fifty greatest players
Speaker 2: of the last fifty years, and we are now to
Speaker 2: the top six. We just did Larry Bird at number seven,
Speaker 2: and number six is a guy who everyone has an
Speaker 2: opinion of, and I think even though we all watched
Speaker 2: his entire career, I think because it overlapped with Lebron,
Speaker 2: who has all the longevity records, and he's going to
Speaker 2: end with all the totals records, the overall long ngevity
Speaker 2: and raw numbers of this player. It's almost forgotten by
Speaker 2: some not to mention the fact, oh yeah, he won
Speaker 2: five championships. You probably will. I guess I could be
Speaker 2: talking about one of two guys, because there are two
Speaker 2: guys yet to be named on this list, whose career
Speaker 2: overlapped with Lebron, whose raw numbers are unbelievable, and who
Speaker 2: won five championships, And there's gonna be hotly contested who
Speaker 2: should be ahead of who? Well, I guess we're about
Speaker 2: to find out. Number six Kobe Bryant. So Kobe Bryant's
Speaker 2: totals and frontline resume stuff, let's just get right to it.
Speaker 2: Eleven times first Team All NBA. That is the second
Speaker 2: most ever, tied for the second most ever behind only Lebron.
Speaker 2: Two times second Team All NBA, two time third Team
Speaker 2: All NBA, fifteen total All NBA teams. That again is
Speaker 2: tied for the second most ever, behind only Lebron. Now
Speaker 2: he only has the one league MVP, but eleven times
Speaker 2: he finished in the top five, So eleven time first
Speaker 2: Team All NBA, eleven top five MVP finishes. He is
Speaker 2: twelve time All Defense. He is a two times scoring champ,
Speaker 2: including a season where he averaged thirty five points per game.
Speaker 2: He has the fourth most points in NBA history. And
Speaker 2: some of these numbers here are just bananas. He's scored
Speaker 2: at least thirty four hundred and thirty one times in
Speaker 2: his career. That is five and a half full seasons
Speaker 2: of thirty point games. That's the fifth most ever. He's
Speaker 2: scored at least forty won one hundred and twenty two
Speaker 2: times in his career. That is the third most ever.
Speaker 2: He's scored at least fifty twenty five times in his career.
Speaker 2: That is the third most ever. He's scored at least
Speaker 2: sixty six times in his career. That is the second
Speaker 2: most ever. He has obviously the second most points in
Speaker 2: a game ever, the eighty one point game against Toronto,
Speaker 2: and then he also has the game against Dallas where
Speaker 2: he scored sixty three points through three quarters and they
Speaker 2: asked him, you didn't want to go for seventy, try
Speaker 2: for eighty. He's like, no, I'll do that another time,
Speaker 2: and he did it a few weeks later. So that's
Speaker 2: the regular season stuff. It's jarring. The postseason stuff, a
Speaker 2: lot of great some a little bit of bat and
Speaker 2: Kobe versus Duncan is going to be contested, obviously by
Speaker 2: virtue of the fact that I haven't put said Duncan's
Speaker 2: name yet he's ahead of him. One of the deciding
Speaker 2: factors is Duncan doesn't have as many tough playoff moments
Speaker 2: as Kobe. I'm not even holding the teenage Kobe stuff
Speaker 2: against him, but I don't want to focus on Kobe's
Speaker 2: tough playoff moments. Instead, six race players last fifty years.
Speaker 2: Over these next ten minutes, I want to focus on
Speaker 2: mostly his great playoff moments. He's obviously a five time champion,
Speaker 2: a seven time finalist, and a two time finals MVP.
Speaker 2: And just like he is the fourth most regular other
Speaker 2: season points ever, he is the fourth most playoff points ever.
Speaker 2: But let's do it like we've done it for everybody,
Speaker 2: year by year. So nineteen ninety seven, he's eighteen years old.
Speaker 2: Eighteen years old, and in round one he is a
Speaker 2: twenty two point game. Nineteen ninety eight, he's nineteen years old,
Speaker 2: also as a twenty two point game. But that's about it. Again,
Speaker 2: he's a literal teenager. You can't hold any He wasn't
Speaker 2: that good in that Round Lebron game. In the league
Speaker 2: as a teenager, didn't make playoffs first couple years, we
Speaker 2: don't know how he would have done. Not fair, But
Speaker 2: now we will get to his actual playoffs. Soup nineteen
Speaker 2: ninety nine, finally a starter, because those first few years
Speaker 2: he also wasn't a starter. He's playing real minutes and
Speaker 2: averages as a twenty year old in nineteen ninety nine,
Speaker 2: twenty point seven rebounds, five assists for the playoffs. They
Speaker 2: get to Round two, two thousand, his first time in
Speaker 2: the playoffs as a star, and he played like it
Speaker 2: in the playoff run. The run to the championship, Kobe
Speaker 2: Bryant average twenty one points, four rebounds, four assists. He
Speaker 2: was the unquestioned second best player on a dominant champion.
Speaker 2: He had three thirty point games in Round one against Sacramento.
Speaker 2: He was obviously the passer on the historic Kobe de
Speaker 2: Shaq Lobb in Game seven against Portland, including in that
Speaker 2: game twenty five points, eleven rebounds, seven assists. Again, this
Speaker 2: is Kobe Bryant at twenty one years old on a
Speaker 2: run to the finals. And here's something that Kobe fans remember,
Speaker 2: but I think a lot of other folks don't. Game
Speaker 2: four of the Finals, so Kobe misses Game three with
Speaker 2: an injury that he suffered in Game two. He's back
Speaker 2: in Game four. That game goes to overtime. The series
Speaker 2: is only two to one. Shack fouls out. Kobe scores
Speaker 2: eight points in ot finishes with twenty eight for the
Speaker 2: game and they go up three to one, obviously going
Speaker 2: to win the championship and to buy the way in
Speaker 2: Game six, the title clinching game, twenty six points, ten rebounds,
Speaker 2: four assists. Two thousand and one, though, is when he
Speaker 2: fully arrived as a top five player that playoff run
Speaker 2: in two thousand and one. In the playoff run, he
Speaker 2: averages twenty nine points, seven rebounds, six assists. He's twenty
Speaker 2: two years old. Round two against Sacramento Game three thirty six,
Speaker 2: seven and four, and in Game four to finish off
Speaker 2: the sweep, plays all forty eight minutes and has forty
Speaker 2: eight and sixteen. Forty eight and sixteen, twenty two years
Speaker 2: old to finish off the sweep of the Kings. Averages
Speaker 2: for the series thirty five points, nine rebounds, four assists.
Speaker 2: Opens the next round, so he closed out Sacramento with
Speaker 2: forty eight, opens the next round with forty five and ten,
Speaker 2: so that's ninety three points in consecutive playoff games for
Speaker 2: the one Lakers to eliminate the Spurs that round, he
Speaker 2: has thirty six, nine and eight. In the finals, he
Speaker 2: scores thirty three twice, averages for the finals twenty five,
Speaker 2: eight and six. The Lakers are fifteen and won that playoffs.
Speaker 2: Some people think it's the greatest team ever. He was dominant,
Speaker 2: utterly dominant. He's twenty two years old. He was their
Speaker 2: second best guy. Like, if you want to know why,
Speaker 2: well the man how good was Shack during that run? Well?
Speaker 2: Go look, the Shack numbers are cartoonish during these three years,
Speaker 2: but that shouldn't overshadow what Kobe did two thousand and
Speaker 2: two going for the three peat. Opens the playoffs with
Speaker 2: the thirty four point game for the playoffs averages twenty
Speaker 2: seven to six and five. They're kind of coasting until
Speaker 2: the Western Conference Finals against the Kings, down three to
Speaker 2: two in that famous Game six. Everybody knows the officiating
Speaker 2: not great. But in the famous Game six, he has
Speaker 2: thirty one eleven and five and Game seven, the ot game,
Speaker 2: the game where Paga air what should have been the
Speaker 2: game winner. He plays fifty two and a half of
Speaker 2: fifty three minutes and scores thirty ten and seven. They
Speaker 2: needed every last bit of it to get back to
Speaker 2: the finals. In the finals, which they were, they had
Speaker 2: no chance. New Jersey was drawing dead against them. He
Speaker 2: averages twenty seven, six and five, including the key game
Speaker 2: of those finals was Game three. You're up two zero?
Speaker 2: Is it gonna be serious? Is it not? Kobe has
Speaker 2: thirty six, six and four. They win their third straight type.
Speaker 2: So that's Kobe. Bryan's twenty three years old, his three
Speaker 2: time champion. Now I have won the finals MVP because
Speaker 2: Shack again refer to the Shack video. All he did
Speaker 2: over those three years in the finals was average thirty
Speaker 2: six and sixteen. But Kobe had a key moment in
Speaker 2: two thousand to win the championship, the game Shack fouled
Speaker 2: out of In two thousand and one, he was utterly fantastic,
Speaker 2: back to back forty five plus point games and then
Speaker 2: kicked ass in the finals. And two thousand and two
Speaker 2: you could argue he was I don't think he was,
Speaker 2: but one could argue at that point he was third
Speaker 2: best player in the league. You could argue with Shaq
Speaker 2: Duncan Kobe, that's how good he was. So now let's
Speaker 2: go to two thousand and three. They're going for four
Speaker 2: in a row. Obviously, no one's won four in a
Speaker 2: row since Russell Celtics. Nobody had been to four straight
Speaker 2: at that point in time since Bird Celtics right or
Speaker 2: the with the Celtics and the Lakers in the eighties
Speaker 2: did it. He's going for four in a row. For
Speaker 2: the playoffs. He averages thirty two to five and five
Speaker 2: in two thousand and three. That's the first playoffs he
Speaker 2: outplays yet he averages thirty two to five and five
Speaker 2: for the playoffs. He opened the playoffs with thirty nine,
Speaker 2: five and eight. Round two against San Antonio, he scores
Speaker 2: thirty five four times, but they lose in six. In
Speaker 2: that playoff run. By the way, Shaq and Kobe combined
Speaker 2: per game sixty points, twenty rebounds, ten assist. The rest
Speaker 2: of the Lakers though we're not up to the task.
Speaker 2: That was, you know, Spurs were better. Spurs deserved to win,
Speaker 2: so instead of you know, going for a fourth straight,
Speaker 2: they're out in round two to San Antonio. The team
Speaker 2: was gash four. They're down two to one to the
Speaker 2: defending champion Spurs. In round two, Kobe has forty two,
Speaker 2: six and five. That's his first forty point game since
Speaker 2: the back to back ones in the playoffs. That is
Speaker 2: that we just talked about No. One. He gets back
Speaker 2: to the finals beating Garnett and Minnesota in the Western
Speaker 2: Referends Finals, they lose to Detroit, and if we're being fairy,
Speaker 2: as a rough finals, he has one good game and
Speaker 2: their one win thirty three, four and seven, but for
Speaker 2: the finals averages twenty three points, three rebounds, four assists
Speaker 2: on just thirty eight percent shooting. And now Shack's gone,
Speaker 2: and now it's a bit of a wasteland for a
Speaker 2: little bit. Oh five, they missed the playoffs in the
Speaker 2: middle of his prime. Not great. Six. This is a
Speaker 2: weird one because the six first round has a couple
Speaker 2: of his best moments and then his arguably worst moment
Speaker 2: of his career. So six first round against Phoenix, Game four,
Speaker 2: he hits a layup to end regulation and force overtime,
Speaker 2: and a buzzer beater in overtime where he does the
Speaker 2: famous Michael Jordan pantomime fist pump celebration that puts them
Speaker 2: up three games to one. Game five, they lose. Game six,
Speaker 2: Kobe scores fifty fifty points, eight rebounds, five assists, but
Speaker 2: they lose in overtime. Game seven is the rough moment
Speaker 2: he's angry about. Game six, he scores fifty and they lose.
Speaker 2: He scores twenty three in the first half, but only
Speaker 2: had one assists in that first half, and they're down twenty.
Speaker 2: They're down by fifteen. Something happened in a halftime in
Speaker 2: the locker room about Kobe needed to pass more so
Speaker 2: in the second half of that game, he refuses to shoot.
Speaker 2: In the second half of the game seven of a series,
Speaker 2: they were up three to one in where Kobe in
Speaker 2: a buzzer beater to win a game, a fifty point
Speaker 2: game and a loss. Second half, he takes three shots,
Speaker 2: scores one point on a technical free throw, and they
Speaker 2: lose by twenty plus. So now it's shacks gone. You're missed.
Speaker 2: The playoffs out in round one. Now we're to seven
Speaker 2: Phoenix again in round one, down oh two, Kobe keeps
Speaker 2: them alive by scoring forty five, six and six, but
Speaker 2: they lose in five anyway, Kobe average thirty three to
Speaker 2: five and four. Then there's the career crossroads, the famous
Speaker 2: you know he went on Steven A. Smiths radio show,
Speaker 2: floated that he wanted to be traded, trash them his
Speaker 2: teammates in that in that parking lot video, and the
Speaker 2: Lakers don't trade him. Instead, they trade four pal and
Speaker 2: now Boom. Kobe finally has a legitimate team around him.
Speaker 2: And what do they do? They make three straight finals
Speaker 2: forty nine, four and ten. In game two of a
Speaker 2: Round one sweep of Carmelo and Ai in Denver averages
Speaker 2: thirty three, seven, seven, and Round two against Utah, scoring
Speaker 2: at least thirty three and five of the six games
Speaker 2: thirty nine points to get back to the finals and
Speaker 2: close out the Spurs again, the defending champions Spurs in
Speaker 2: the finals averages twenty six to five and five, including
Speaker 2: thirty six and seven, but Boston wins in six average
Speaker 2: thirty six and six for the playoffs thirty point six rebounds,
Speaker 2: six a six. But he's back in the finals and
Speaker 2: obviously the next two years they would win the title.
Speaker 2: Well again his long career. We gotta go year by
Speaker 2: year on it OH nine for the playoff run averages
Speaker 2: thirty points, five rebound, six assists in Round one Game
Speaker 2: four against Utah thirty eight and six to go up
Speaker 2: three to one. Forty point game in game two of
Speaker 2: Round two against Houston. That was a weird series that
Speaker 2: Houston team had no business taking the Lakers seven, but
Speaker 2: they did to the Lakers one in seven. Obviously magnificent
Speaker 2: in the Western Armends finals against Carmelo, Carmelo's best, only
Speaker 2: real chance to make the finals average thirty four, six
Speaker 2: and six, had two forty point games and a game
Speaker 2: of thirty five six and ten in those Western Conference finals.
Speaker 2: He opens the finals with forty points, eight rebounds, eight assists.
Speaker 2: He averages thirty two points per game for the series.
Speaker 2: For his first finals MVP and I would argue, I
Speaker 2: think most people would argue the most important ring of
Speaker 2: his career up to that point, it tied Shack. That
Speaker 2: was a real rivalry at that point in time. It
Speaker 2: proved you could win it without Shack. But did Kobe
Speaker 2: Bryant rest. Oh No, of course not. Kobe Bryant won
Speaker 2: the type to rest. Very next year they win it again.
Speaker 2: So in round one they're playing the young Thunder. He
Speaker 2: has thirty two seven and three to beat OKC in
Speaker 2: game in game six, that was the pal tip end game.
Speaker 2: That's another sliding doors moment. If Powell doesn't get that
Speaker 2: tip and that thing goes seven, does Oka se knockout
Speaker 2: the defending Champlainers. I don't know, but they don't. Kobe
Speaker 2: has thirty two seven and three. They get they escaping
Speaker 2: round one against Oksee. Round two they sweep Utah. Kobe
Speaker 2: scores thirty in all four games, or at least thirty.
Speaker 2: Opened the Western Armends finals with forty five and five
Speaker 2: against Phoenix, averages thirty four to seven and eight for
Speaker 2: the series to get to his third straight finals. Second
Speaker 2: Diamon's career has been to three straight finals. Won his
Speaker 2: second tright finals MVP averages twenty nine, eight and four
Speaker 2: for the series. And yes, we all know he was
Speaker 2: six of twenty four in game seven, but the idea
Speaker 2: that someone else should have been finals MVP that year
Speaker 2: when he averaged twenty nine to eight and four was nuts.
Speaker 2: So from eight to twenty ten, made the finals all
Speaker 2: three years, won two titles. His playoff averages across those
Speaker 2: three years thirty points, six rebounds, six assists, and then
Speaker 2: it's basically over. Twenty eleven, he's swept by Dallas in
Speaker 2: round two, averages twenty three points for the playoffs. Twenty twelve,
Speaker 2: he has one final burst in him final three playoff
Speaker 2: games of his career, playing the Thunder of twenty twelve,
Speaker 2: the Thunder that would go on to the finals. He
Speaker 2: has thirty six, seven and six, thirty eight, eight and five,
Speaker 2: and is forty two point five rebounds zero assists in
Speaker 2: his final playoff game ever, which is a little fitting
Speaker 2: in a good way, similar to Kobe's final regular season
Speaker 2: game ever being the iconic sixty point game. And so
Speaker 2: that's the career so eighty eight career thirty point playoff
Speaker 2: games that is the third most ever. Find on limj
Speaker 2: and Lebron thirteen career forty point playoff games that's the
Speaker 2: sixth most ever and a career playoff average of twenty
Speaker 2: six five and five for the sixth greatest player of
Speaker 2: the last fifty years, the Great, the late Great Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 2: Let's go to some Kobe Bryant caller before we wrap
Speaker 2: it up.
Speaker 7: Kobe at number six. Fun fact about Kobe Bryant, He's
Speaker 7: the only player in the top Tennish discussion who won
Speaker 7: multiple championships without a top seventy five teammate. When he
Speaker 7: won his last two with paalgasov Gas All did not
Speaker 7: make the top seventy five. That puts Kobe in a
Speaker 7: class by himself in regards to championships. Michael Lebron, Shaq Kareem,
Speaker 7: you can go on and on. None of them won
Speaker 7: multiple titles without a top seventy five teammate like Kobe did.
Speaker 2: Props.
Speaker 8: Nick, appreciate you having me on the podcast. Bro. You know,
Speaker 8: over your career, I've had a lot of takes that
Speaker 8: I have vehemently disagreed with, but none more than you
Speaker 8: saying that Kobe is on this list of greatest players
Speaker 8: to never be the best player in the NBA. And
Speaker 8: I'm just trying to imagine a world where let's just
Speaker 8: take Luka Danca till you have top twenty on this list,
Speaker 8: starts a three year run next year where he wins
Speaker 8: a league in goes to three straight NBA finals, wins
Speaker 8: two championships, two finals. MVPs. Just me trying to imagine
Speaker 8: you going on first things first and not declaring he's
Speaker 8: the best player in the world, you know, and I
Speaker 8: know it would not happen, which is so fascinating because
Speaker 8: that is exactly what Kobe did from two thousand and
Speaker 8: eight to twenty ten. So yes, he was the best
Speaker 8: player in the league. And I get Lebron historically is
Speaker 8: better and which took that torch from him, but in
Speaker 8: those three years, he was the best player in the league,
Speaker 8: and you got to give him some love for that.
Speaker 8: So that's a small little correction you gotta make. But
Speaker 8: appreciate you having a big dog high on this list.
Speaker 8: Rip to the black mamble.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I want to comment on what Tye said there,
Speaker 2: because what ty is referring to something I've said in
Speaker 2: the past, I had not seen that video, which was
Speaker 2: I have said the prestigious Make Believe Best Player Alive
Speaker 2: title belt that it has only ever been held in
Speaker 2: NBA history by the following people, Bill Russell and Wilt
Speaker 2: Chamberlain in the sixties, Kareem almost the entirety of the seventies,
Speaker 2: Moses Malone briefly late seventies to early eighties, Larry Bird
Speaker 2: in the mid eighties, Magic Johnson after that, Michael Jordan
Speaker 2: obviously in the early nineties, a Keem Olajuan, then back
Speaker 2: to Jordan. After Jordan that time, it was Shack, then Duncan.
Speaker 2: This is the part ty gets upset about. Then Lebron
Speaker 2: to Giannis. He argues that it went Duncan to Kobe
Speaker 2: to Lebron. He makes the point he makes that from
Speaker 2: eight to ten, the guy I have as the best
Speaker 2: player alive. Lebron won zero championships. Kobe won two of them.
Speaker 2: I understand that that part of it. My issue is
Speaker 2: I think Lebron became the best player in the NBA
Speaker 2: in two thousand and seven at twenty two years old,
Speaker 2: when he carried that team to the NBA Finals with
Speaker 2: the forty eight special against Detroit. Now some would say, Nick,
Speaker 2: your bias towards Lebron. I don't think I am, but
Speaker 2: so be it. I will. The addendum I would have
Speaker 2: is this, if Lebron didn't actually become the best player
Speaker 2: in the league until twenty ten, then it would be
Speaker 2: Kobe Bryant. Either way, there's a lot of guys on
Speaker 2: our list, on our top fifty, in our top fifteen,
Speaker 2: Durant Staph that also have not been best player alive. Hell,
Speaker 2: there's I'm trying to I don't want to spoil anything.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think other guys that would be on
Speaker 2: here was super Isaiah Thomas, the top fifteen guy, never
Speaker 2: best player alive, So it's it wouldn't be bad company.
Speaker 2: But I understand what Ty is saying. Also, though I
Speaker 2: mentioned Duncan being the best player, we are also now
Speaker 2: to the top five. We have not said Tim Duncan's name,
Speaker 2: and we just did Kobe's name, which means by definition,
Speaker 2: I've Duncan ahead of Kobe. Duncan will be coming up
Speaker 2: shortly on this list. It will cause massive consternation from
Speaker 2: folks that I've Duncan ahead of Kobe. We'll discuss that
Speaker 2: to wrap the show as another special episode of What's
Speaker 2: Right with Nick Right? The fifty Guards Players Last fifty
Speaker 2: Years continues right after this. All Right, welcome back in
Speaker 2: What's Right with Nick Right? The special edition fifty Guarys
Speaker 2: Players the Last fifty Years. We just gave you number
Speaker 2: six Kobe Bryant, So that means the five people left
Speaker 2: on the list, and I'll try to just say them
Speaker 2: alphabetically would be Kareem Abdul Jabbar. I gotta think of
Speaker 2: who they are and how the alphabet works, Lebron James,
Speaker 2: Magic Johnson, uh No, I forgot how the alphabet works.
Speaker 2: Michael Jordan, and Tim Duncan. Those are your five guys.
Speaker 2: There is a lot of a hotly contested debate is
Speaker 2: Kobe or Duncan. We have a caller that wants to
Speaker 2: chime in on that and might give you a little
Speaker 2: sneak preview into some of our Duncan stuff coming up
Speaker 2: in the weeks ahead. Here's the caller, Heynick.
Speaker 9: So you don't know me, but after I saw your
Speaker 9: list that came out, I had to hit my rolodex
Speaker 9: and find someone who did know you so that they
Speaker 9: could deliver this video of me telling you how off
Speaker 9: your rocker you are for ranking Tim Duncan ahead of
Speaker 9: Kobe Bryant. Now, yes they both have five NBA championships,
Speaker 9: so it's pretty close. But I just want to remind
Speaker 9: you of the situation that Kobe was walking into. He
Speaker 9: had to win that first three championships with Shaquille O'Neal,
Speaker 9: who constant battles between who is number one of that team?
Speaker 9: Whose team it was, you know, which ended in Shack leaving.
Speaker 2: For the heat.
Speaker 9: And then Kobe you know, was he done? Did he
Speaker 9: need Shack? No, he didn't. What he did was he
Speaker 9: won one with Andrew Binham and with Metal World Peace,
Speaker 9: two of them as a matter of fact. So let's
Speaker 9: compare that to Tim Duncan, who just kind of just
Speaker 9: mosied himself into the league and won those but with
Speaker 9: a well respected organization that rarely has any drama led
Speaker 9: by the greatest coach of all time, Greg Popovich. So
Speaker 9: let's look at that stability versus all the hurdles that
Speaker 9: Kobe Bryant had to overcome to have the same amount
Speaker 9: of championships.
Speaker 2: Okay, listen, I'm not gonna use this time to tear
Speaker 2: down Kobe. I was called Hi the sixth race player
Speaker 2: the last fifty years. But that's some of the most
Speaker 2: revisionist history I've ever heard. The idea that Kobe won
Speaker 2: the two championships with Bainum and Metal World Peace and
Speaker 2: did not mention Paalgasol's name is crazy. To say that
Speaker 2: Duncan had this massive advantage of a great coach in
Speaker 2: Greg Popovich, when Kobe's coach for all of his championships
Speaker 2: was Phil Jackson is outrageous. And to act like going
Speaker 2: to a team with Shaquille O'Neil was a detriment as
Speaker 2: opposed to a guaranteed finals birth, which gave Kobe so
Speaker 2: much to the experience, and as we just discussed how
Speaker 2: great he was, particularly Oh one to O two finals.
Speaker 2: It's just nonsense. They just total and utter revisionist history nonsense.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying it's nonsense to say you think Kobe's
Speaker 2: ahead of Duncan. I obviously disagree, but that those arguments
Speaker 2: fall on deaf years. To me, Tim Duncan will be
Speaker 2: showing up shortly in our series, and I think I
Speaker 2: might be able to prove to America why having him
Speaker 2: as one of the five best players of the last
Speaker 2: fifty years is not an overreach at all. We'll talk
Speaker 2: to you guys about that next week as we continue
Speaker 2: our countdown of the fifty greatest players of the last
Speaker 2: fifty years. On what's right