Allen Iverson – one of the worst shooters to ever be a superstar, Iverson gets most of his popularity from his ‘toughness’ and the ‘hiphop’ attitude he brought to the game
Isiah Thomas – surprising? don’t be. Isiah gets way too much credit for leading the Bad Boy Pistons to 2 championships – but he wasn’t a great shooter, didn’t play defense as well as any of his teammates, and only led the league in assists once. Despite this, a lot of fans put him in their top 5 PGs all time. The Pistons were a great team Isiah was just one cog in their engine but because he was their leader people give Isiah mostly all the credit – Dumars/Rodman/Aguirre/Mahorn/Laimbeer/Johnson had a lot to do with their success too
Carmelo Anthony – is he one of the greatest offensive players ever? perhaps. He is perhaps fairly rated now but most of his career he was overrated. A ball hog that only served to drag the team down, it’s no wonder that every team he’s ever been on gets worse with him playing
Kyrie Irving – Kyrie is a top 25 PG don’t get me wrong – but some fans consistently put him as one of the top 3 PGs in the game when really he is most definitely not better than Curry, CP3 or Dame. Or Westbrook for that matter.
What do the players I cite all have in common? they were all “flashy” players (also called the ‘eye test’ by ignorant fans to justify their high ranking i.e you don’t know how great __ is because you never saw him play! the eye test you fool!). Flashy players tend to be overrated because of the excitement they bring on court leads fans to believe that they are better than they actually are. This is the reason why people think Kobe is better than Duncan. He’s not. But because he played in a bigger market, had ‘flashier’/’skilled’ moves, he gets ranked higher.
People also tend to overrate players for ‘toughness’ this is not related to any stat or award – but I guess we want our players to be like gladiators or something they gotta tough out any injury! any player who dares try to limp off the court and get medical attention is a pussy! this is an argument used by male fans often insecure about their masculinity so they project it onto NBA players
My Magic the Gathering top 10 lists have been the most popular articles on my site by far… so here’s one for Hearthstone! (up to the GvG expansion). The top 10 hearthstone cards of all time for both class and neutral cards… if you want some ideas on what to craft, this should be a good place to start.
Neutral cards
10. Haunted Creeper Set: Naxxramas
A great value for its cost. 2 mana for a 1/2 that spawns 2 1/1s is 3/4 worth of stats spread out over 3 creatures which is extremely mana efficient. Great for zoo decks.
9. Azure Drake Set: Classic
This card has been around since the beginning and why not? It’s a decent 4/4 stat line, gives you extra spell damage, draws you a card and is a Dragon to boot! which makes it versatile enough to fit in Shaman decks, Mage decks, Druid decks, etc and Dragon decks as well.
8. Acolyte of Pain Set: Classic
This is a pretty common card to see in many decks, because its so versatile. Its 3 mana for 1/3 stat may not look like much, but you’re guaranteed at least 1 card and sometimes 2 or 3 cards out of him. If you get 2 cards, its an Arcane Intellect with a body which is pretty good. 3 cards and it’s insane value.
7. Sludge Belcher Set: Naxxramas
The best taunt minion in the game. Because he has a great body for the cost, and produces another minion with taunt after he dies, this makes him extremely sticky, which is always a great thing when you need a defensive minion.
6. Mad Scientist Set: Naxxramas
This is an insane card for value because not only is he a 2/2 for 2, which is decent, but like Knife Juggler, his value is tremendous because he pulls a secret out of your deck for free! If you’re a Mage or Hunter, thats 2-3 mana value for free, basically, which makes this card insanely good.
5. Knife Juggler Set: Classic
Before the nerf this card would have been higher, but even after the nerf its still an insane card. It’s a 2/2 that could randomly kill your opponents minions or threaten lethal when you play other minons on the board which is crazy. And its just 2 mana.
4. Abusive Sergeant Set: Classic
He’s the best 1 drop in the game, bar none. Since Leper Gnome got nerfed, Abusive Sergeant is 2/1 for 1 mana plus gives other minions the ability to trade up for much much more powerful minions which makes his value insane.
3. Sylvanas Windrunner Set: Classic
The best classic legendary. Her deathrattle steals an opponents minion and forces him to play his way around it. It gets a ton of value because of that and her stats are pretty decent at 5/5 as well so sometimes the opponent is forced to hard remove her. She’s the best legendary in Standard and one of the best overall which makes her one of the best neutral minions.
2. Dr. Boom Set: Goblins vs Gnomes
The best legendary in the game. He creates 2 [Boom Bot]s when he drops down and there’s the value. Those Boom Bots deal 1 damage each on attack plus on death deal an additional 2-8 damage. That’s a massive range, but either way for 7 mana, you get a TON of value from Dr Boom you will always get 3 minions on the board and you’re opponent is guaranteed to spend at least 2 cards killing them.
1. Piloted Shredder Set: Goblins vs Gnomes
Piloted Shredder is one of the best minions in Hearthstone history. Why is that? Because its 4 mana investment for a 4/3 which is already decent stats, plus you get a 2 cost minion for free which makes it essentially a 6 mana card for 4 mana. Thats great value, and because its so sticky, it can go into every deck.
Class cards
10. Swipe Set: Classic
One of the best Druid cards. 4 damage to one thing, and 1 to everything else. For 4 mana. Sounds good to me.
9. Flamewreathed Faceless Set: Whispers of the Old Gods
Umm yeah… a 7/7 for 4 mana is just ridiculous. Ridiculous.
8. Flamewaker Set: Blackrock Mountain
This is the card that makes Tempo Mage go. Its a 2/4 for 3, which is fine stats, but every time you play a spell you get 2 damage to your opponent or minions for free. Thats ridiculous. Especially when combined with other cards that make spells cheaper.
7. Imp Gang Boss Set: Blackrock Mountain
It’s a 2/4 that spawns up to 4 1/1s potentially for 3 mana. Thats major value, and this is one of the best minions in the game due to how sticky it becomes. One of the best Warlock cards.
6. Tunnel Trogg Set: League of Explorers
This is one of the best 1 drops in the game, maybe even the best. Shamans can just drop it, and it grows exponentially when they play cards like Feral Spirit or Totem Golem the turn after and it becomes insanely hard to remove and has mega value for its cost. So yeah, its a good card.
5. Animal Companion Set: Classic
3 mana for either a 4/2 with charge, a 2/4 that gives all your minions +1 attack, or a 4/4 Taunt. Any one of those sounds good to me! An incredible card.
4. Muster for Battle Set: Goblins vs Gnomes
3 mana for 3 minions plus a 1/4 weapon sounds like a good deal to me. This is probably the best tempo card in the game, and one of the best cards ever.
3. Innervate Set: Classic
Anyone want to argue this isn’t the best Druid card? Its 2 extra mana. For 0 mana. Think about that. In Magic that’s like a Black Lotus, almost.
2. Unleash the Hounds Set: Classic
One of the staple Hunter cards but wow how amazing is this card. You can summon up to 7 1/1s with charge for the low low cost of just 3 mana. No wonder every Hunter deck has this card.
1. Fireball Set: Classic
4 mana for 6 damage. Nuff said.
Edit: I’ve made a video about it here
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnIyxm_xrVE
For those who don’t know, every year the NBA goes through a lottery process for teams to select players, either high school or college, that want to play in the NBA. Because NBA teams are world renowned, the first draft pick usually tends to be the best player out of all available players in the world. So its kind of a big deal, and while most number one picks end up busting, there are alot that lived up to the hype too. So here’s the top 10 number one draft picked players of all time!
1. Kareem Abdul Jabbar Selected in 1969 by the Milwaukee Bucks
Kareem Abdul Jabbar is the NBA’s all time leading scorer
Kareem is greatest #1 pick of all time and arguably the greatest player ever. He won 6 MVPs, 6 Championships, 2 Finals MVPs, Rookie of the Year, the NBA’s #1 in points scored, #3 in rebounds and #3 in blocks. He won Rookie of the Year and led the Bucks to a championship in his second season. That’s what I call instant success.
2. Lebron James Selected in 2003 by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Lebron James is the most dominant player in the game today
Lebron is either the best small forward or second best small forward of all time depending on where you rank Larry Bird. But either way he’s one of the greatest players of all time. 4 MVPs, 3 championships, 3 Finals MVPs, and Rookie of the Year, he’s the modern day Oscar Robertson, able to score, rebound and pass well. Cleveland definitely didn’t mess up this pick.
3. Magic Johnson Selected in 1979 by the Los Angeles Lakers
Magic Johnson is considered by many to be the greatest passer of all time
Magic is a top 5 player of all time. How many rookies can say that they won Finals MVP? He won 3 Finals MVPs in his career, 3 MVPs, 5 championships, and led the Lakers to NINE NBA Finals. All he did was win, be the greatest point guard of all time, and average 20/8/12 in the playoffs. Yeah, he lived up to the hype.
4. Tim Duncan Selected in 1997 by the San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan has won championships in 3 different decades
The greatest power forward of all time, Duncan has led the Spurs to 5 championships split between 3 different decades, the 1990s,2000s & 2010s. He’s just a winner. 5 championships, 2 MVPs, 3 Finals MVPs, Rookie of the Year, Needless to say, the Spurs made a good pick on this one.
5. Shaquille O’Neal Selected in 1992 by the Orlando Magic
Shaq was the most dominant center in the 2000s
Shaq was the most dominant center to play since Wilt Chamberlain. He was Rookie of the Year, beat Jordan’s Bulls and led the Magic to the Finals in his third season. He also had 4 championships, 1 MVP, 3 Finals MVPs, including a dominating 3-peat with the Lakers later in his career.
6. Hakeem Olajuwon Selected in 1984 by the Houston Rockets
Hakeem Olajuwon is the all time leader in blocked shots
Even though the 1984 draft had Michael Jordan in it, Hakeem wasn’t a bad pick either for Houston. He ended winning 1 MVP, 2 championships, 2 Finals MVPs, and the all time leader in blocked shots. Probably the most versatile center ever, he also had a quadruple double once and is the only center who is top 10 in steals.
7. David Robinson Selected in 1987 by the San Antonio Spurs
David Robinson led the Spurs for 10 years
David Robinson was one of the greatest centers of all time, captaining the Spurs for 10 years until he teamed up with Duncan. He won 2 championships, 1 MVP, Rookie of the Year, scored 71 points in a game before, and had a quadruple double in a game before.
8. Allen Iverson Selected in 1996 by the Philadelphia 76ers
Allen Iverson has the second highest playoffs scoring average in NBA history
Along with Isiah Thomas and Tiny Archibald, the greatest 6 footers to ever play the game, Allen Iverson won an MVP and led the Sixers to the Finals almost by himself. He also had Rookie of the Year, 4 scoring titles, and holds the second highest playoffs scoring average in NBA history at almost 30 points a game, second only to Michael Jordan.
9. Elgin Baylor Selected in 1958 by the Los Angeles Lakers
Elgin Baylor captained the Lakers to 8 Finals appearances
This Rookie of the Year was one of the most dominating players of the 60s along with West, Oscar, Russell and Wilt. He averaged 27/13.5/4.5 for his career, which is astounding, and shot 61 points in a Finals game before, still an NBA record. He led the Lakers to 8 Finals appearances, co-captaining the team along with Jerry West.
10. Dwight Howard Selected in 2004 by the Orlando Magic
D Howard led the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals
While he didn’t win a championship yet, Dwight Howard is the greatest Orlando Magic player, their all time leading scorer, and one of the greatest defenders ever. a 3 time defensive player of the year, 5x rebounds leader and 2x blocks leader.
7 out of the top 10 #1 draft picks of all time won Rookie of the Year. Note that I left out Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson because they were territorial picks, but could’ve been number one as well
Another basketball post! yay! In this post I want to talk about just how underrated ABA players.
Edit: I made a video about the top 10 underrated players here:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z9tVTAuHHA
For those of you who don’t know, the American Basketball Association or ABA, was founded as an alternative league to the NBA and at that time alot of players who felt that the NBA wasn’t paying them enough or too traditional took to the ABA which had a lot of modern rules like the 3 point range, a colored ball, etc
However, the ABA eventually merged with the NBA in 1976, but the NBA refuses to merge ABA player’s career records with the NBA, which is a disservice to former ABA players who later went to the NBA. As a result, several former great ABA players are underrated by the public both because ABA games were not readily televised back in the day, and because their career totals are not fully accounted for in the NBA.
Some of these great players include:
1. Mel Daniels
Mel Daniels
Has anyone ever heard of Mel Daniels? Well before I looked him up I haven’t. Probably the most underrated ABA player ever. He was a 6’9 Center that played for the Indiana Pacers, his awards include: 7 time ABA All Star 3 time ABA champion 2 time ABA MVP 1 time ABA all star game MVP 4 time All ABA first team ABA Rookie of the Year
and his career averages: 18.4ppg/14.9rpg/1.8apg
Now tell me how someone like that could be forgotten? A 3 time champion and 2 time MVP and averaged 15 rebounds a game?? My awards based ranking places him as the 30th best player of all time (!!), right between Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Arizin.
2. Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore
Along with Julius Erving, probably the greatest ABA player of all time. And yet he wasn’t elected to the Hall of Fame until 2011. How is this possible? His awards: 11 time ABA/NBA All Star 3 time ABA champion 1 time ABA Finals MVP 1 time ABA MVP 1 time ABA all star game MVP 5 time All ABA first team ABA Rookie of the Year
and averaged.. 18.8ppg/12.3rpg/2.4bpg
My awards based ranking places him as the 36th best player of all time (!!), right between Isiah Thomas and Dwight Howard. This guy should be a top 10 center of all time, but its always left out of conversations.
3. George McGinnis
George McGinnis
He was one of the most important players in the ABA along with Julius Erving, yet he isn’t even in the Hall of Fame yet! How is that possible? His awards:
6 time ABA/NBA All Star 2 time ABA champion 1 time ABA MVP 3 time All ABA first team
and averaged.. 20.2ppg/11.0rpg/3.7apg
How can a former MVP and 2 time champion who averaged 20/11 be forgotten?? My awards based ranking places him as the 39th best player of all time, right between John Stockton and Willis Reed.
4. Rick Barry
Rick Barry
Rick Barry does get acknowledge as one of the great small forwards, but I think not enough as he deserves. Look at his awards and stats:
12 time ABA/NBA All Star 2 time ABA/NBA champion 1 time NBA Finals MVP 9 time All ABA/NBA First Team NBA All Star game MVP NBA Rookie of the Year 1 time NBA scoring champion
and averaged.. 24.8ppg/6.7rpg/4.9apg
Rick Barry doesn’t get the credit he deserves. His stats and awards using my ranking makes him the 19th best player of all time, right between Karl Malone and Elgin Baylor. He has better stats than Kobe Bryant. He averaged 27 points a game in the playoffs. He lead the ABA AND NBA in scoring. He lead the Golden State Warriors to their only championship in 1975 almost by himself. He is one of the greatest players of all time, period, yet gets left off the all time nba fantasy draft. He is hardly ever mentioned by modern players. Most players place Scottie Pippen over him. Why??
5. Connie Hawkins
Connie Hawkins
Connie Hawkins was basically another Julius Erving, except not remembered as much. Why not? He started kind of late in the NBA, due to the NBA banning him for a scandal that he wasn’t a part of, but his awards include:
5 time ABA/NBA All Star 1 time ABA Finals MVP 1 time ABA MVP 3 time All ABA/NBA First Team
and averaged.. 18.7ppg/8.8rpg/4.1apg
My awards based ranking places him as the 41th best player of all time, right between Willis Reed and Chris Paul. Again, no one talks about him or mentions him but the dude averaged 25/12 in the playoffs.
Other forgotten former ABA players include
6. Spencer Haywood, a former ABA MVP, averaged 20/10 yet isn’t in the hall of fame.
7. Roger Brown, an all but forgotten ABA star that averaged 17/6/4 for his career.
8. Billy Cunningham isn’t mentioned that much either, even though he is a former ABA MVP, 21/10 player, and one of the top 50 greatest of all time.
9. David Thompson, a former ABA player who averaged 22/3/4, scored 73 points in a game before, and one of the greatest dunkers of all time, is often forgotten.
10. Dan Issel, a 22/9 ABA player who helped Gilmore win his championship but isn’t mentioned amongst the great power forwards.
