22) Kevin Garnett - 4x first-team All-NBA, MVP placements of 1-2-2-3-5. Numerous All-Defense years, DPOY. Overall, Garnett's career in the NBA is defined by two sets of evaluations - 1) in his Minnesota years, he was wildly underrated as a player (example, 2004 he should have easily been unanimous MVP, another example, in 2005 he led the league in rebounding, Win Shares, VORP, BPM and he was DROPPED to 11th in MVP and 2nd team All-NBA), 2) in his Boston years he was wildly overrated, but he played with better players and won a title where Paul Pierce was FMVP. So, I guess it all balances out.
Garnett is the best "out on the floor" defender I have ever seen. He also was a guy (similar to David Robinson) where you could put him on any crappy team and he'd elevate the team by a LOT of wins in a short period of time. Not a great offensive player, but made himself above average. Run the Timberwolves' lifetime record with and without him and see how that makes you feel.
21) Kevin Durant - look, the guy has a couple titles and a couple Finals MVPs and is 6x All-NBA, and has MVP placements of 1-2-2-5-5, but what I really focus on are those 2013 and 2014 MVP battles with LeBron. I mean, my goodness. Durant is playing 3,100 minutes and putting up historically great statistics. He beats LeBron in 2014 and loses to him in 2013, but my goodness are those two great years. How great?
https://stathead.com/tiny/n4wX9
I think that Kevin Durant feels a lot of pain from not being seen as the player that LeBron is. I think it REALLY bothers him, and I think it is the reason he went to Golden State and the reason he left Golden State. He REALLY wanted some titles for his legacy, and then when people said, "Great, Harrison Barnes has a title too" he had to go to Brooklyn to try to win his own title (which it appears he realized wasn't going to happen, since they went out and got Harden).
His regular season advanced numbers and honors are roughly the same as Harden's, and he has better regular season numbers and awards than Curry. So, they are at ##25 and 24, I will leave him up here at #21, but he still doesn't crack the top 20. He probably has an argument for 20. He also can reapply in 2024. If he has a couple Nets titles by then, he will move up significantly.
20) Charles Barkley - in 1993, Charles Barkley played as well as Michael Jordan. He was MVP, led the Suns to the Finals and they lost in 6 games despite games where Chuck had like 44-24-5 on 65% shooting. That pretty much sums up the career of Charles Barkley. He is great, often historically great, yet he could never quite win it all. Barkley was 5x first-team All-NBA and had MVP placements of 1-2-4-4-6-6-6-6, meaning he was recognized as a top 6 player 8 times but was only 5x first-team. Bad luck. Barkley is the only player in the history of the NBA who ever won the most MVP first-place votes and yet was not MVP (1990, Jordan and Magic split the vote and Magic won). More bad luck.
Most "Game Scores" of over 30 (a star level game) -- 1) Jordan, 2) LeBron, and then.........3) Charles Barkley. Run any advanced stat or Game Score stat and/or adjusted shooting stat - Barkley is WAY up there at the very top. Almost +3,000 adjusted shooting! TS% 12th, PER 12th, Win Shares 17th, BPM 14th, VORP 11th, ORtg 12th, WS/48 14th.
Barkley was insanely good. Kevin Durant will need to wait until 2024 to pass him.
19) Moses Malone - there is a defect in The Matrix, because I am changing his spot. Sorry, Moses. Upon years of reflection, I have to move him down to 19. Look, Moses was a great players and SUPER dominant (3x MVP, FMVP, MVP placements of 1-1-1-3-4-6, 5x first-team All-NBA). His 1983 season he was so dominant that he declared before the playoffs "fo, fo, fo" and actually ripped through 4-5-4 due Moncrief spoiling things. But he SWEPT the Magic/Kareem Lakers in 1983. Swept them. Kicked Kareem's ass so badly that he got his regularly scheduled Moses Malone Migraine. His offensive rebounding totals are insane, as if he was actually playing a different game than every other player who played basketball after 1974. Most career Offensive Rebounds:
| 1. | Moses Malone* | 7382 |
| 2. | Artis Gilmore* | 4816 |
| 3. | Robert Parish* | 4598 |
| 4. | Buck Williams | 4526 |
| 5. | Dennis Rodman* | 4329 |
| 6. | Charles Barkley* | 4260 |
| 7. | Shaquille O'Neal* | 4209 |
But Moses drops a spot anyway because I am going to elevate an existing player on my 2018 list a couple spots. I will blame this on Moses's rather pedestrian advanced stats (he is something like 40th in VORP), but it is really a decision to give a different player more credit.
18) Hakeem Olajuwon - also a victim of re-ranking. A truly great player (MVP, 2X Finals MVP, 6x first team All-NBA). His MVP placements aren't super great (1-2-4-4-5-5-7) and his playoff record is pretty poor other than the two title years. He tends to be a little overrated on most boards. If you go through his WS/WS/48, BPM, VORP, Adjusted shooting, etc. you aren't seeing a top 10 or top 12 all-time player.
17) Julius Erving - As always with Doc, it depends upon how you evaluate those ABA years. But having had three years to think about it, I am moving him up.
If you give full credit, he has 4 MVPs and 9x All-League, so imagine Rick Barry with 4 MVPs. His MVP placements are 1-1-1-1-2-2-3-5-5-6. TEN times in the top 6 and nine times in the top 5. And then you ask what people at the time felt. Well, Kareem and he made the 35th Anniversary team in 1980. So, as of 1980, he was regarded as one of the 11 best players of all-time. This ranking came from people who had actually seen him play. From 1974 to 1986, Julius Erving won more professional basketball games than any other player and played in the Finals 6 times, winning three titles. Look, I am just going to move him up. You can say I am giving him 50% credit for the ABA or 40% or 67%. Who cares? He is 17th.
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