Welcome to this week’s edition of the Wednesday Top 5.
You may have notice Kevin Durant has been on a roll as of late. He’s scored 30 points or more in his last 11 games. This brings out
an interesting topic for my rankings this week: The top pure scorers in the NBA
in my generation.
I’m just 22 years old, so these rankings (and all my
rankings) will come from only the years I’ve been alive, 1991-present. The reason being I don't want to rank players and teams that I haven't witnessed.
So here we go with this week's Top 5.
1.
Kobe Bryant: He’s had an injury-filled season
this year, but no one can deny his dominance throughout his career. He's averaged 25 points a game in his career. He ranks fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring
list, about 500 points away from the great Michael Jordan. How do you know
Bryant is on his game? His face turns into a scowl that makes opponents shiver.
2.
Michael Jordan: I didn’t get to see a lot of
Jordan while growing up, since retired when I was seven, but what I do
remember seeing was spectacular. There is no one that can compare to Jordan’s
relentless style. Bryant might have that attitude sometimes, but Jordan
perfected it. He bullied his way to the rim and finished with acrobatic,
graceful layups or jump shots. He ranks fourth on the all-time scoring list and
finished his career averaging 30 points a game.
3.
Kevin Durant: This is only his seventh season,
but he’s already one of the NBA’s all-time greats at scoring the basketball.
He’s currently on an 11-game streak of 30 or more points a game. Only Kobe
Bryant and Tracy McGrady have longer stretches in their careers. Even LeBron James has been impressed with Durant’s ability. KD can do it all. Shoot the 3-point shot,
drive to the rim, finish with authority and knock down the mid-range jumper.
He’s got the complete arsenal. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up
among NBA legends.
4.
Allen Iverson: The guy could just flat out
score. Whether it was crossing a guy up or hitting a fade away jumper from
behind the arc, Iverson was by far one of the more entertaining players to
watch. He ranks 21st all time in scoring and averaged 26 points for
his career. He helped redefine the point guard position as well, being the
first score-first point guard of his era.
5.
Tracy McGrady: There are a lot more names I
could put on this list, but McGrady makes the cut. He was one of my favorite
players growing up and when he was in his prime, boy could he score. He
averaged 32 point points in a season once. Thirty-two! That’s incredible. The
moment I remember best of McGrady was when he scored 13 points in 35 seconds to
beat the Spurs in 2006. Just an unbelievable scorer in all aspects of the game
offensively.
Top Videos
-Check out this Sports Science comparing LeBron and Durant.
-How about Doug McDermott’s performance last night? He
capped it with a game winner.
-Not a video but a note from Nebraska basketball. Deverell
Biggs was dismissed from the team Tuesday. Here are my thoughts on the
situation.
Thanks for reading, and let me know if I missed any scorers
that you wanted to see on this list.
Reach me at: award6344@gmail.com
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @_andrewward
No comments:
Post a Comment