This topic contains 19 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar OhCanada- 13 years, 1 month ago.

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  • #19394
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    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    The decade of 2000-2010 was probably one of the greatest decades in NBA history.

    It’s fair share of great players and future hall of famers: Garnett, Duncan, Bryant, James, O’Neal, Iverson, Wade, Pierce, Nowitzki, Kidd.

    We saw players revolutionize the way we saw and played basketball with KG coming out of high school to Iverson’s killer crossover. We saw players give passing some flair, I’m looking at you “White Chocolate” to big men with the ability to pass like a point guard.

    We saw high school players playing with 15year veterans, and we saw some fail.. After enough fails, we saw the rule taken off.
    KG was a different player, straight out of high school, he took his lanky 6’10” frame to the NBA where we saw him start only home games. We saw him grow into a man, by his 3rd season, he was repping. One of the best passing bigmen to ever play the game, if not the greatest passing bigman. We saw him block shots, pass the ball, we asked ourselves, how does a guy who’s about is 6’10” and weighs about 230, be so dominant, especially in the paint? His footwork was unique and his midrange shot was deadly. 1 championship doesn’t begin to reflect on how great his career was.

    Duncan is by far the most boring player to watch. But if you’re a post player, you’ll learn so much from watching just 1 game. He doesn’t try to do too much, he plays on both ends of the floor, a bank shot is his unique jump shot. He came into the league, dominant. Winning a title in his second year and winning a couple more after that. He’s a coach’s dream and a defense’s nightmare. His leadership and coachability, along with his work ethic, kept him at the top of his game and kept himself on top of the charts. If he were a 6’4″ guard, he’d still be great because his footwork is so amazing and his pursue for the ball on rebounds or loose balls is impeccable. This guy is a winner and he’s proved many a time.

    Bryant, better known by his first name. A player who has been criticized much of his career for various reasons. Ball-hogging, asking for a trade, giving up, and not winning without Shaq. Now what? 5 championships and is on the verge of another 3peat. The 2nd greatest shooting guard of all time. He has it all, the complete offensive game. Midrange, fadeaway, stepback, off the dribble, friendly touch around the rim, 3 ball (especially that left corner), pull up game, post up, back you down, and keep you on your heels.. better yet, on your knees. With offensive skill like that, who needs to pass the rock? Not only that, he’s a defensive monster on ball. You think Kobe, you think offense, winner, championships, greatness. What about All Defensive 1st Team (8x)? When it’s all set and done, I wouldn’t be surprised if he won 7 rings.

    LeBron, going through a very tough time at the moment, but you have to admit.. kid’s got talent. There’s many players with an ego like LeBron.. It just so happens he’s the best one with that ego. Came into the league without much of a jumpshot, people were wondering if he’d ever develop into a good shooter, he did it. He has his jumpshot and his 3ball is coming in. He’s a rare find, a point guard mentality and skills in a 6’9″ 255 body. With the speed and hands of a player much smaller. Body control and timing are perfect and unteachable. Passes beautifully, rebounds viciously, scores easily…Basically… He’s worth the price of admission-ly. LOL. 2 time MVP and maybe 1 or 2 more to come. He’s going to win a championship, now with the Heat.. it seems inevitable that he’s going to win at least 3-4. He’s a walking triple double that was pulling in comparisons to Magic Johnson as a high school junior. Get ready 2010-2020.

    Shaquille O’Neal. Arguably the best player of the decade. ARGUABLY. But he’s easily the most physically dominant. Block shots, power you down, dunk on your head, body you up. Anything he wants. Funny how he was in the same position 14 years ago that LeBron is in now. He won 3 championships with Kobe and Phil. He won another with Wade, looking to maybe join a championship contending team or a pretender that may turn into a contender after Shaq joins. An unstoppable force on offense, unmovable object on defense. He’s in the paint, you’re not even going to try. One of the funniest players off the court is one of the most vicious players on it. Ego the size of his body but he only shows it behind closed doors, where egos should stay. Future 1st Ballot HoF. Put him on the list of the top 5 centers of all time. Always trying to help people outside of basketball. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Learning to help and making your teammates and better aswell as people in need? Whether he retires this season or next.. The NBA will miss a character and unstoppable force on both ends like Shaquille O’Neal.

    Allen Iverson.. The most unstoppable player under 6’1″. An ill crossover that broke many ankles including…Yeah, you know who…A player that translated Hip-Hop into basketball. Said what he wanted off the court and did what he wanted while on it. Fade away J? Got it. Floater over the 7fter? Cash. Crossover pull-up? Wet. Kid’s got game.. serious game. So serious, Reebok gave him a lifetime contract. Pulled him team into the playoffs year after year. His body is tired, maybe not his body, his back.. from carrying his team for so many years. He even dragged his team into the Finals and stole a game against the Lakers. Most exciting player of the decade? Try All-Time. Watching 76ers games and change the channel when he’d be subbed out. Allen Iverson kept the 76ers fans happy for years.. Not just 76ers fans. NBA fans around the world wanted to copy Iverson’s game. Not everybody is 6’6″ or 6’10” so as long as you were small and quick, you knew you wanted to be like Iverson.

    Dwyane Wade, the closest game to Jordan that we have in this era, won a championship in his 3rd season in the league. Wade dominated the Mavericks in what seemed to be easy. Injuries hit Wade hard after that but he could have btch and moaned about it. He didn’t, he went back to the office and worked. Worked hard so when he got his chance at the spotlight, he’d steal it. He did. The 2008 Olympics catapulted Wade back on top of his game. People wrote him off and did him wrong. He put up a 30-7-5 season, should have won MVP as he yanked his team into the playoffs. A player who so confident in himself that he’ll pull up for the 3 and use his quickness to drive it in and dunk over Anderson V. Calm, cool, and collected when the game is on the line. You can’t tell if he’s losing by 20 or winning by 20 when you look at his face. One this is forsure, I see a couple more championships coming his way in the very near future. Will be on the list of to 5 shooting guards of all time. Plays hard on both ends, defensively he’ll shut down your best player.. He’ll block your shot if your 7ft tall…TWICE.. Brook Lopez, SMH.

    Paul Pierce is a strong physical player. Good in the clutch with that mid range shot from the right side of the free throw line, I bet you guys knew that. If you didn’t, watch all of his game winners or big shots.. 90% of the time it’s from there and you know what? You still can’t stop it. One on one, he’s too fast for bigger players, and too strong for smaller players. His quick feet and strong upper body help him defend almost anybody. He’ll post you up or shoot over you with his slow set shot. One thing is for sure, he’s going on the list of the All-Time Greatest Celtics.. And that’s a pretty damn good list to be on.

    Dirk Nowitzki is the GREATEST shooting big man of all time. Players followed his style, mainly players overseas. Most bigmen who are shooters can’t do anything else. Dirk can. He can shoot, post-up, shoot off the dribble, fade away, clutch, and he can take you off the dribble, few bigmen can do that. A high release jump shot that seems unblockable. Add his patented fadeaway. Unstoppable. Not a soft defender but not the greatest defender of all time. He’ll hold his own game in and game out and he’ll show why Don Nelson wanted him on his team years ago.

    Jason Kidd, classy guy that looks like he came straight out of the movie American History X. Eyes in the back of his head and gum at the tips of his fingers. His jumpshot was M.I.A. when he came into the league but it eventually came and now he’s a pretty good 3pt shooter. Now away from his offense, this guy can dominate the game that very few players can. When you hear, Dwight dominated the game last night, you expect maybe 30pts and 12rbs. You hear Kobe dominated, you think 50pts. You hear Jason Kidd dominated? 0pts, 12rebs, 13asts, 4stls. Yeah, that’s domination without even scoring. Not only that, his leadership on the court is nearly unmatched and his decision making is a beauty to watch. His uncanny ability to literally make his teammates better is remarkable. I still think the trade for Devin Harris was worth it, even though Devin is an All-Star. Kidd is a Legend.

    Dynasty were made, others were broken. We had a couple of lucky championships. Miami and Detroit weren’t suppose to win. Lakers dynasty broke up after 3 championships and 4 finals appearances. Spurs won 3 rings and Boston won another. Lakers now won another 2. We saw great coaches like Popovich and Phil Jackson. We saw other great coaches without a ring.. Don Nelson and Jerry Sloan. We saw the legends from the 90s slowly die out and the only ones left seem to be Grant Hill and Shaquille O’Neal. As music has changed over the years from hard rock in the 90s and handcheck rule wasn’t even there. Now it’s Hip-Hop and a fast paced fun game to watch where finesse seems to be the key to win.

    Where will we be for the next 10 years?
    Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings.

    Show us the way.

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  • #356262
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    Malik-Universal
    Participant

    i wouldnt exactly call detroits ring a lucky one… they were simply the better team

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  • #356266
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    Michael.S.
    Participant

    Nice summaries…i hope the next decade is as great as this past one. looks like its shaping out to be something special.

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  • #356269
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Universal, Yeah I agree but when you look at the roster on paper, it seems as if the Lakers were going to roll over the Pistons.

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  • #356271
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    gone
    Participant

    Didnt KG come out of high school in the 90s??

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  • #356275
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Yeah but I still consider him a 00’s player. This decade is where he made his mark.

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  • #356293
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    adamsc14
    Participant

    Nice but where is Steve Nash he made his mark in this decade 2 mvps.

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  • #356303
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Oooooooooooooh………..
    I can’t believe I forgot Steve Nash……

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  • #356365
    marcusfizer21marcusfizer21
    marcusfizer21
    Participant

    I always try to look at the boxscore and see if JKidd had a triple double… I always enjoy the excitement and sometimes cringe when he is 1 rebound or 1 assist shy from it..LOL

    The way he made New Jersey into title contenders from a laughing stock should have made him an MVP in 2002… I was disappointed that the panel went to Tim Duncan… I thought Kidd deserved it because of the way he made the Nets better turning the team that won 26 games to a team that won 52 in just one season…

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  • #356375
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Yeah Jason is one of those unsung superstars. unsung legend.

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  • #356651
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    dipt1982
    Participant

    Shaq, Kidd, Nash, Iverson, Kobe, Duncan, Pierce, and Nowitzki all made their first appearances in the 90’s, but I can see where you were going with how they evolved and made splashes in the 00’s. The 00’s definitely belonged to Kobe Bryant, 5 NBA titles, scoring title, All-Defensive teams, MVP, Finals MVP’s…No other player made an impact on the game in the past ten seasons like Kobe Bryant has…Aside from the ridiculous MJ comparisons every day, Kobe will go down as the best player in many fans eyes, he’s still creeping ever so close to the all time scoring record. 1-2 more rings and the scoring record pretty much cements his name as the greatest IMO…MJ did some great things, but he decided to take a break and try baseball for 2 years, had he played basketball instead, his legacy would have grown more, but he didn’t. I hate people who try to justify him winning 2 more rings ‘IF HE HAD PLAYED’. He didn’t, so we will never know. Kobe is a special player, stuck with one team, even when his team struggled, he carried them, never leaving for a new team/city a la LeBron…

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  • #356658
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    RUDEBOY_
    Participant

    I wouldn’t say Duncan is a boring player..If you’re a true fan of basketball you’ll love the way he plays the game..

    Duncan plays the game the right way coaches try to get every player to play it……

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  • #356833
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    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Yeah but the average young fan doesn’t like to see the Spurs play.

    Unfortunately because that’s the team that you learn the most from.

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  • #358367
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    I should have made one for Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich.

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  • #495472
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    BasketballGuru

    Legendary post man, legendary.

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  • #495521
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    BasketballGuru

    Legendary post man, legendary.

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  • #495518
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Wow, this is old.  Thanks man^

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  • #495566
    AvatarAvatar
    Tongue-Out-Like-23
    Participant

    Wow, this is old.  Thanks man^

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  • #495532
    AvatarAvatar
    OhCanada-
    Participant

    I love watching Duncan play, he is not boring at all. Maybe Popavich is boring but no way Duncans boring, have you ever watched Nesterovic play? Or Bogans?

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  • #495580
    AvatarAvatar
    OhCanada-
    Participant

    I love watching Duncan play, he is not boring at all. Maybe Popavich is boring but no way Duncans boring, have you ever watched Nesterovic play? Or Bogans?

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