Since it is obvious that readers of B/R love to debate, I have a debate to consider.
With many great centers of the NBA having retired, the paucity of adequate replacements dotting NBA rosters, the diminishing quality of teaching of the inside game to centers, and so many players 6-10 and up seeking to be a jump shooting PF rather than a center (thanks KG and Dirk), I thought this would be a good time to review and debate who the greatest to ever man the Center position is.
Do you solely go by statistics, in the process ignoring winning and playing up individual numbers? Or does one consider winning of greater importance, which could, in theory, overrate a good player on great teams? This is known as the Bill Walton on the Boston Celtics Factor.
The three men in the picture, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, and George Mikan, provide a good sample.
While all three have won multiple championships with the Minneapolis and Los Angeles versions of the Lakers, the eras that they played in, along with the type of dominance each displayed, has to be reviewed. All of the men were, in their respective eras (Mikan—1950's, ...
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Article written by Raymond Settles
NBA: Who Is the Greatest Center of All-Time?
August 24th, 2010 by Raymond Settles Leave a reply »
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