You’re the GM: A new recurring article from KC Roberts which asks you, the fans, to decide who is the better player, who a team should draft/sign, or what your opinion is of a trade.

Today, at the dinner table in the Roberts family, we had pork and green beans. Your probably sitting there asking yourself, “Why the fuck do I need to know what KC is eating?”, well if so settle down, its all part of the build up to my story. Anyways, while enjoying the slightly overcooked  meal served my Momma Roberts, my brother brings up the recent Shaq trade and asks my father, my other brother, and myself what we think about the deal. Like most sports conversations in the family, we get way off topic and somehow start arguing if Shaq is  the best center in the history of the NBA.

Unfortunately my brothers and I were robbed of the opportunity to watch the greats like Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain play, seeing as how they played decades before we were even born. So, like in most arguements, my father was the voice of reason. He began telling stories of how he watched the two great centers face off in his childhood, or how Magic and Kareem played the most beautiful basketball ever, and how we were unlucky suckers in a way that only a 50+ self indulgent man could. However, I was hesitant to believe him. How could anyone be more dominant than Shaq in his prime? I have watched Shaq since his early days in Orlando and have been mesmerized by the spectacle that is Big Shaq Daddy. Not only was he a beast on the court but he was extremely entertaining off the court. Kazaam may go down in time as one of the worst movies of ever but you can’t deny that there are few things more entertaining than watching Shaq’s attempt at an acting career.

However, I admit my opinion is skewed. I learned while reading Moneyball by Michael Lewis (which if you haven’t read you really should) that someone’s evaluation of a player is greatly skewed by what they see them do and not what the stats tell them they can do. I can attest to this given my extremely high level of confidence in Johnny Mac, Blue Jays reserve infielder, when he steps into the batters box despite his .237 career batting average (if you didn’t know I’m a die hard Jays fan). So I thought the best way to solve this debate was to ask you guys out there who you think is the best player.

Here is a short bio on each player just to refresh your memories:

Wilt Chamberlain: In Chamberlain’s 15 year NBA career he accomplished many things including: winning seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, one assist, and eleven rebounding titles. Also Chamberlain won two NBA titles (Philly and LA), earned four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards and one NBA Finals MVP award. In 15 years Chamberlain was selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain is also famous for owning many of the NBA all time records, most famously being the only NBA player to ever score over 100 points in a game. Only 5 years after his playing career ended Chamberlain was welcomed to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Wilt averaged 30.1 ppg and 22.1 rpg over his career.

Bill Russell: What Bill Russell lacked in mind boggling stats he made up for in an absolute desire to win basketball games. In his career Russell only averaged 15.1 points per game but averaged 22.5 rebounds and was the ultimate team player. That was evident in the success of his Boston squad. In his 13 seasons in the NBA Bill Russell won 11 NBA Finals! That is one for each finger and two for the pinky or 0.85 for every season he played in the league. That is absolutely ridiculous. However there is an asterix: there were only 7 other team in the league when Russell played. Regardless, the man was a winner and beat the man above, Wilt, 7 out of 8 times in the Finals.

Shaquille O’Neal: The definition of entertainment. On the court O’Neal was unstoppable even in the 90’s and 00’s where 7 footers were common ground and the athletic ability of the average NBA player was far beyond that of the 50’s and 60’s. So far in his 16 year career Shaq has averaged 24.7 ppg and 11.2 rpg, which in the modern game is extremely impressive. O’Neal has won 4 NBA championships with 2 different teams in a 32 team league and has won Finals MVP 3 times. Shaq has also won 2 NBA MVP awards and really should have won more (Steve Nash… really?). Early in his career Shaq showed athleticism previously never seen in a 7 foot center and over powered defenders in the post and scored the majority of his points on dunks and offensive put backs. Once he arrived in LA, Shaq added a baby hook to his game and was unstoppable. Shaq was easily the most dominant big man of his generation.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Kareem invented the greatest shot ever: the Sky Hook. In his 20-year professional career as a member of the NBA… wait, 20 years?? Thats impressive and we haven’t even got to the actual stats yet. So ya where was I, oh right, In his 20 year career he scored the most total points of any player in league history with 38,387. Kareem also won a record six MVP awards and six NBA championships. For those couting out there he won the MVP and NBA Finals 30% of the seasons he played, which is nearly as impressive as Russell’s 85% when you consider there were 15 teams in the league by that time. In his career Kareem averaged 24.6 ppg and 11.2 rpg with a peak year of 34.8 and 16.6 in ‘71/’72.

So there you have it folks, the greatest four centers in NBA history. Now its your turn. Let us know in the comments who you think is the greatest center of all time. In a week we will tally the votes and declare a winner.

- KC Roberts