Bill Neal: Basketball—Who are the Top 5 ever?

 

What about the most exciting ever?

 

 :10—When it comes to the game of basketball, who’s the greatest of all-time? Of course, there’s room for debate. But you know what they say. The man with the pen has the last word! (or something like that).

:09—But how can you explain it. You may not understand the game but you love the game, you’re not quite sure who’s who on whatever team but you get excited out of your mind anyway, and to top It all, you buy the overpriced team shirt for Golden State and you live in Pittsburgh…. And Pittsburgh doesn’t even have a team!

:08—And for those of “us” who claim to be in the know, we watch it…sometimes repeatedly, we dissect it, play it, coach it, bet on it, mentor it, love it, hate it and can never ever get enough of it!! (I see I got you all pumped up just talking about it!!!)

:07—And here’s why. It’s the love of the game. The poetry in motion, the artistry of it all. Defying gravity. The electricity, the momentary delusional thoughts that force their way into your feeling of euphoria that you can actually do what you are seeing. Ha!  Unless you are Connie Hawkins, Kenny Durrett, Myron Brown, BB Flenory, Karen Hall, Sam Clancy or Len “Houn-Dini” Johnson you never did and you never will.  But you love it just the same!

:06—The one thing that is not debatable is that while most anybody on any level can play the game, to play it at its highest possible level, you must be blessed with exceptional talent and possess an insatiable will to be the best at all costs.  Though you may never be as good as Michael Jordan, you will have to be in the same zip code.

 

:05—Add to that the pure requirements of the game that none other demands of you (and don’t get it twisted I am a football player born and bred and I love that game, too, but for some reason it doesn’t enlist the same instant acceleration of energy); but what other sport demands that you turn forward, backwards, sideways at the same time while having to dribble, pass, shoot, rebound, jump, cover, see, twist and score…and all decided in a matter of seconds? NONE!

:04—With that, let’s conclude with the five best of all. And of course, now let the debates begin. The 5 greatest teams off all time.  #1 Boston Celtics, #2 LA Lakers, #3 Chicago Bulls, #4 Detroit Pistons, #5 Golden State Warriors.

:03—The 5 greatest players of all time…The G.O.A.Ts. #1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, #2 Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlin, #3 Michael Jordan, #4 Magic Johnson, #5 Kobe Bryant.

:02—The 5 most exciting players of all time.  #1 Julius “Dr. J” Erving, #2 “Pistol Pete” Maravich, #3 Steph Curry, #4 Vince Carter, #5 Dominique Wilkins… (You almost forgot about the human highlight film, didn’t you?)

:01—I’ll conclude by saying what you already know. The game has proven to only get better with time, and I am sure you, like the rest of us, get the delusions to still play while watching the NBA Finals. And for the record, it will be Golden state in six!

:00—GAME OVER.

 

 

 

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