Who Are The Greatest Go-To Guys in NBA History?

[beliges]

The two greatest perimeter players ever: MJ and Kobe. After that I'd take magic and bird. There are your 4 greatest go to guys to have ever lived really.

[PatriotsGirl]

MJ, Wilt, Bird for me.

[ClearSoulForce]

Same amount of points

1/2 FG = 2 points (maybe 3)
1/2 FT = 1 point

[rocketfuel]

How athletic was Kareem? Did he have a lot of other moves? Did he slam dunk a lot?

[Hawkeye15]

1/2 FG = 2 points (maybe 3)
1/2 FT = 1 point

make a basket, 2 points, miss it, 0. The average is 1.

make 1/2 from the line, the average is 1.

[Hawkeye15]

Michael Jordan above anyone. Wilt, West, and Bird are great choices. Among the modern guys, Kobe, and LeBron.

[Chronz]

1/2 FG = 2 points (maybe 3)
1/2 FT = 1 point

But you should be looking at it like this


2/4 FT = 1/2 FGA


3's change everything tho

[SLY WILLIAMS]

In my lifetime I would say

MJ (Best player of all time that I have seen)
Bird (Unreal in clutch situations. Most clutch NBA player I have ever seen)

The rest are a very distant 3rd.

[JollyRanch]

Thinking about guys that can create their own shots from anywhere on the court and the first two players that come to mind are: MJ and Kobe

[--23--]

Jordan & Bird

[RapOZo]

why would anyone say shaq? shaq can dominate for the first 46 minutes, but lot of times phil benched him late in close games because of his FTs, he also needs to be surrounded by good perimeter shooters to avoid double teams and score, but foul him and he is in trouble.

bird, kobe, mj, magic, can dribble out of a double team, take it to the rim on the bigs face or even take and make contested jumper. or find the open man if they feel like (in mj and kobe case.)

[vandoc]

I am interpreting this as who I would pick for my last shot..in other words, the most clutch players.
In no particular order:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar --you have one shot, so why not get the one shot nobody can stop?

Magic Johnson/Larry Bird --- have made some amazing last-second shots or found the right guy to do it.

Michael Jordan/Kobe Bryant --- the entire building knows you're taking the shot yet they can get it off, and make a lot of them too.

Nick Van Exel --- found a way to hit buzzer beaters.

Reggie Miller --- no explanation needed

Ray Allen --- See above.

Robert Horry --- always hit it when his team needed a basket

Isiah Thomas --- handled the ball so well that it was easy for him to get to the rim with little time on the shot clock

Allen Iverson --- can flat out score at will.

Tracy McGrady --- ask San Antonio

Derek Fisher --- ask San Antonio (0.4 secs)

Tim Duncan --one of the few big men I'd be comfortable taking the last shot

Dwyane Wade --- pre-LeBron coming to Miami, he was the most clutch player in the NBA in recent times

Kevin Durant --- ice water when hitting a long 3 for the win

Mike Bibby --- kept Sacramento in a lot of games

Chauncey Billups --- Detroit days

Gary Payton --- could save the game with a defensive stop too

Rasheed Wallace, Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, John Starks, Sam Cassell, Paul Pierce, Gilbert Arenas, Drazen Petrovic, John Stockton, and many more that I probably forgot should be mentioned too.

[rocketfuel]

These choices are all great, though I feel like the most exciting dramatic last second 3 point shots that were my favorites were Robert Horry and Reggie Miller..... it was one of those "NO WAY" moments.....

[Andrew32]

why would anyone say Shaq?

Maybe because he is by far the most unstoppable, efficient and consistent scorer ever from the field?
I guess only FT's matter though...

He also needs to be surrounded by good perimeter shooters to avoid double teams and score, but foul him and he is in trouble.

Shaq was always double/triple teamed in his Young/Prime years regardless of who you put around him and he routinely scored over double or triple teams.
He had amazing handles for a C and amazing ball control he was not easy to strip or keep from powering to the basket.
You speak of him like he is Bynum or something, haha.

The three best scorers / offensive anchors ever are Jordan, Shaq and Kareem.

[thenaj17]

But if Shaq gets fouled hes at least a 50% shooter, which is the same as shooting 50% from the field.

That's not the same if you need 2 or 3 points.

The problem with Shaq would be that he's not guaranteed to make either of his FT's if he got 2. 50% is over the course of a season doesn't mean every 2 he gets, he makes 1 of them.

I'd be worried he'd miss both!