20 greatest shooting guards ever: The HoopsHype list
We have taken our HoopsHype 75 list and split it into five positions: point guards, shooting guards, small forwards, power forwards and centers. The catch is, the players who received some votes but were ultimately left off our list are now included in the positional rankings, so you can see who nearly made the cut for our Top 75 list.
We continue here with who we consider to be the best shooting guards who ever played basketball, led off by our GOAT selection: Michael Jordan.
Michael Jordan
Top accolades: Six NBA titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, 10 All-NBA 1st Team selections, 14 All-Stars, one Defensive Player of the Year award, nine All-Defensive 1st Team selections
NBA rank: 3rd in steals, 5th in scoring, 47th in assists, 123rd in blocks, 131st in rebounds
Not a consensus pick in our Top 75 list, but close to it, as six of our eight voters picked Michael Jordan as the No. 1 player in their ranking. It’s impossible to argue that, too, as Jordan had the highest peak of any of the GOAT candidates and the longest list of top-level achievements (as of now). Jordan was a madman as a competitor, which led to him training as hard as any NBA player ever in order to get his body in elite shape to destroy opponents.
His mid-range game – face-ups, jab-steps, pull-ups, turnarounds, fadeaway, all of it – was second to none, and he was also a freakish athlete who could finish through contact and over length. And then there was the aspect of his clutchness, as Jordan was so often successful in nailing game-winners in the most high-pressure situations imaginable. Oh, and he was a top-tier defender, too.
Jordan was the face of the NBA for a long time, and his star status outside of the basketball world was almost hard to believe, and still sort of is. Overall, he’s still currently the GOAT, according to our voters.
Kobe Bryant
Top accolades: Five NBA titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, 11 All-NBA 1st Team selections, 18…
Source : yahoo
