Quote:
Originally posted by BktBallRef
Quote:
Originally posted by Mark Padgett
To make a comparison of how much better he was than anyone else who played then, you would have to compare Michael's talent to that of a reserve guard on a .500 ballclub. We all know there are better players than that that have played over the past decade.
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If the players that he played against were not very good, why do you feel he he was so great? How can his greatness truly be measured? 
IMHO, one of the most important aspects of how great a player a person is, is how did they compare to other great players that they played against. I don't know that being the greatest player of your time makes you the greatest ever if you never played other great players.
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By this criteon, it has to be Russel! Russel regularly stopped/topped Chamberlain. It was one of the classic match-ups in sports history. Russel was the only player to stop Chamberlain. He is also the only one to face, and consistenly defeat head-to-head, another contender for best of all time. And he did it while giving up 5 or more inches. Even in his era, he was not big for a center, but he he proved you only have to be "big enough".