True Jason Kidd the "point guard" in this argument. However, one would have to be foolish not to put AI on an all-team of the present. If I didn't have such an admiration for MJ, Jason Kidd would have made MY list. That's what makes this BB unique. We can give our opinions on things. That's cool if you're a Jason Kidd fan. Him and AI are both part of he all-domestic abuse team. Shawn Kemp is the coach of the all-wedlock team.

I think you mean the "out of wedlock team", Tony

Although I'm a fan of his, Scottie Pippen would make the "domestic abuse" team too.

Yeah, my fault, the "all out-of-wedlock" team. As far as a "domestic abuse" team there would also be Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson. Any others? Oh yeah, that DeShaun Stevenson guy who was caught with 14-year old's. I won't go there.

Although Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won 6 titles to Wilt Chamberlain's 2, I would still pick Wilt in his prime over Kareem in his prime in an instant. Russell's total of 11 in 13 years (not to mention his 2 NCAA titles and his Olympic gold medal in the two years before that) is so absurd that you have to pick him first. As a rebounder, he was statistically a very close second to Wilt, but when you took his size into account (6'9", 230 vs. 7'1", 275 for Wilt), you would have to say that he was a better rebounder, pound-for-pound (to borrow a boxing term).

Right now the holy trinity of NBA centers is Wilt, Russell, and Kareem, and the second tier are players like Moses Malone, George Mikan, Akeem Olajuwon, and now Shaquille O'Neal. I think that if Shaq can keep up what he's doing for another 3 or 4 years and win 2 or 3 more titles, he will climb up to the level of the holy trinity.

I love when they talk about someone being the best "pure" point guard. One example is John Stockton. He is one of those in contention for that title, but when they talk about the best point guard of all time, with no qualifiers, the answer begins and ends with Magic.

I have to agree on that. I would have no problem picking "the best" guards or small forward - they would be Magic at the point, Jordan at the shooting guard and Bird at small forward. It is the center position with the three that Don Corpuzzi mentioned, and the power forward position that is harder. You can alway cheat and say Russell could be a power forward, but that's the easy way out.

As much as I hate the guy (well, the player, not the man), I would have to say that Karl Malone is the greatest power forward in the history of the NBA. Not only is the guy freaking huge, but he runs the court like a deer and even has a decent 15 foot jumper. If he sticks around he could very well become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Bob Pettit was also a great one in his era (from what I've read), but if he played today Karl Malone would eat him up. I don't know if Elgin Baylor can be considered a "power" forward since he was 6'5", but back in his day that was plenty big. And you don't see too many small forwards averaging 30 points and 17 rebounds a game.

Here's my team, using people in their correct positions:

Starters
C-Bill Russell (doesn't need the ball all the time)
PG-Magic (imagine if he could pass the ball to these guys)
SG-MJ (do I even need to explain it?)
PF-Karl Malone (see my paragraph above)
SF-Larry Bird (greatest passing forward ever)

Bench
Wilt Chamberlain (he'll wear out the defenses)
Oscar Robertson (can play the one or the two)
Jerry West (him, Larry, and MJ can fight over the last shot)
Elgin Baylor (the original skywalker)
Shaquille O'Neal (first Wilt and then Shaq? The defenses must be crapping in their pants)
John Havlicek (he does everything)
Bob Pettit (The first great PF)
Julius Erving (the ABA version)

Coach: Phil Jackson (only Phil can manage these egos)

As you probably noticed, I left off Abdul-Jabbar. No room for finesse when you have Wilt and Shaq on the bench.

Definitely! If I had to have a coach, I would have Phil. My assistants would be Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy! (Hey, I'm a Knicks fan. Gotta support my boy!)

Since you're a Knicks fan, let me ask you a couple of questions. First, where does Patrick Ewing rank among all-time Knick greats? And second, where does he rank among all-time centers?

I wasn't born yet when the Knicks had Willis Reed and Walt Frazier. In my opinion, Ewing was the third-best center in the years between the end of Kareem's domination (1987) and the beginning of Shaq's (1997). The best center of that era was Hakeem, and the second-best was the Admiral. But that's just my opinion.

Ewing probably rangs as the greatest Knick in my opinion. Sure Reed won a title for them, but Ewing just always gave it his all, even if he didn't come out on top. I agree that Hakeem is probably better than Ewing, but I totally don't agree that the Admiral is better than Ewing. Never! As for Ewing would rank on an all-time list, probably somewhere in the middle. I would put guys like Wilt, Bill, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq in front of him. But I would put Ewing in front of guys like Robinson, Shawn Bradley, Will Purdue, Bill Willington, Luc Longley, and so on!

How about Walt Frazier or Earl "The Pearl" Monroe as the greatest Knick?

Don't know, haven't really looked into them. I think, and I maybe wrong, but Ewing is the greatest Knick statistically (like most points, rebounds, etc).

What's up with Ewing beign an assistant coach for the Wizards? I think there's something else to it. Maybe MJ will want him to suit up.

I don't think Karl Malone was the best Power Foward ever.There's no way. I remember him choking a couple times aganst MJ and the Bulls,like when MJ stole it from Karl and took it down the court for a layup with like a minute left. Barkley was a choker too. To me,if a player can't get it done with the game on the line,they're pretty much worthless.

B.T.W ,
The Knicks can't catch a break can they?(McDyess)

So who's better than Karl Malone? The numbers don't lie. Steve Kerr hit a shot that won the Bulls the championship in 1997. Would you trade Barkley or Malone for Steve Kerr straight up? I don't think so.

Like I said in a previous post, I can't stand Karl Malone, but putting my feelings aside I still have to the guy his props. Outside of Bob Pettit and maybe Elvin Hayes, I don't think there's another power forward who even is worthy of being considered.

I heard Malone is going to retire if thats the truth The Jazz is going to suck sooo bad. Stockton is up there in age too.

Yeah I heard that too. It would be a shame that they didn't win a title, because they were a great 1-2 combo! I heard some rumors that they were going to go to New York & play (which I thought would be pretty cool, I actually like Stockton & Malone). But yeah, the Knicks can't catch a break with Spre & Dyess out now! Van Gundy, PLEASE COME BACK!

I'm not a huge Karl Malone fan myself. However, his numbers speak for themselves. Jimmy Kimmel craks me up when he makes fun of him on the Man Show.

I do a really good Karl Malone imitation, just like Jimmy Kimmel.

"Kaw Malow gonna play basketball cuz Kaw Malow is good at basketball."

Karl malone is an uncle tom

Ha! That's funny SAY HELLO.

Also, welcome to the board!

No one has yet to tell me who is better than Karl Malone at power forward.

Charles Barkley was once better than the Mailman. You have to admit that. But, Karl Malone wins the argument.

Well, I always looked as Barkley as a small forward. He did, however, put up numbers that a power forward could only dream of. I think that in his prime he was throwing down about 28 and 12. What Sir Charles accomplished for a man that is generously listed at 6'5" is amazing. He is definitely one of those unique players, and we may never see another one like him, especially since we have small forwards these days that stand as tall as 7 feet.

Yeah, you're right. He was the size of a small forward. My most memorable Sir Charles moment was when he lit up Chris Webber for 56 in the '94 playoffs.

I think Malone is about as good as they get at PF. For my all time team I would like to convert Chamberlain or Russell to PF and put Kareem at center, but that's cheating. He didn't come up very big when it counted against the Bulls. I still remember Pippen getting into his head when he was about to shoot those free throws - telling him the "Mailman doesn't deliver on Sunday" and Malone missing both shots.

Speaking of getting into people's heads, what about Dennis Rodman? You may say he's not the best PF of all time because the man could never score, but what if he did 2 things better than just scoring 1) Rebound like a machine 2) Get into opponents heads, and take them out of the game. What do you all think? I LOVE Rodman! He used to crack me up whenever he scored! He would pump his fists & arms going up the court, running like a woman!

At this point in history, I think that Kareem is probably the third best center in NBA history, behind Wilt and Russell (pick your order). Depending on what Shaq does between now and the day he hangs up his size 22s, Kareem might be pushed down to 4th best.

As for Rodman, I wouldn't list him as one of the top PFs of all time, but he was a hell of a rebounder. I did notice that when he was with Detroit, his defense was his first priority, and then later on he fell in love with rebounding and his defense took a back seat. He was never quite able to peak with those two skills at the same time.

I always thought his defense and rebounding peaked at the same time. When he was with Chicago he was given the task of guarding Karl Malone, and he still got over 16 rebounds a game. I never liked him as a person, but you can't say he didn't work hard and hustle. Not many people have his credentials - multiple rebounding titles and 5 championship rings!