In the past 30 years in the NBA, who are the "once-in-a-generation" talents?

side note: did anyone see the bird & magic documentary on HBO......had me glued to the TV......some of the best TV i have seen...EVER!!!!

take iverson off the list please, dude is a once a generation team wrecker.....if ruining things is a consideration than he should definitely be on the list....
 
Originally Posted by airmaxpenny1

- Duhon...The ability to not only stay in the NBA despite no discernable basketball abilities but to be the starting point guard for 2 years is far greater than anything I have ever seen in sports.  It is amazing.  There will never, EVER be another Chris Duhon
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Man, fire Donnie Walsh. Hire this man
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Originally Posted by DublBagn


take iverson off the list please, dude is a once a generation team wrecker.....if ruining things is a consideration than he should definitely be on the list....
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_ please.
 
Originally Posted by bijald0331

Originally Posted by airmaxpenny1

- Shaq...I don't know if any big man will ever have his combanation of athleticism and strength.
- Bird...Just a supreme feel for the game, and understanding of basketball as a team sport.
- Jordan....Goat
- Barkely....6'5 PF who could just dominate the game offensively.
- 'Bron-...More Athletic than anybody I have ever seen in any sport.
- Dirk...A 7 foot German who could shoot better than anyone else.
- Magic...A point guard who could play center unreal.
- Iverson...5'11 scoring champ, pretty sure dude would be a pro at whatever sport he had choose to focus on.
- Hakeem...Only big man who could have also been a guard.  Best footwork and moves I have ever seen for a big man.
- T-Mac...As Daryl Morey said, T-Mac off talent alone might be one of the 10 best ever.
- Duhon...The ability to not only stay in the NBA despite no discernable basketball abilities but to be the starting point guard for 2 years is far greater than anything I have ever seen in sports.  It is amazing.  There will never, EVER be another Chris Duhon
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I cannot agree more with post. 
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Add Kobe, Duncan, and Durant to that list and you're good!
- Kobe...Because although he's a China knockoff of Jordan, he's still a generation removed (case in point: stupid kids arguing that he can touch Jordan's greatness).
- Duncan...No flash, all substance. Dominated from the start. Consistent as all hell. Winner in every sense (exception: flabbergasted look every time he fouls).
- Durant...His offensive numbers are just going to be absurd!
 
Originally Posted by Al3xis

Why would Nash be on this list when we saw stockton?


And Talent is not the same as accomplishments.
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So why are Durant, Barkley, and even Bird on the list?
 
Originally Posted by marionthebarberian

Originally Posted by DublBagn


take iverson off the list please, dude is a once a generation team wrecker.....if ruining things is a consideration than he should definitely be on the list....
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_ please.
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No kidding eh. Remember the good times! AI is a bonafide once-in-a-lifetime talent off the mere fact that he started 2 NBA trends (cornrows and arm sleeves). You're the man when your peers wanna be like you!
 
the ? says talent ... not your favorite players, or the best players of a given generation ...
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talent |ˈtalənt|
noun
1 natural aptitude or skill : he possesses more talent than any other player | she displayed a talent for garden design.
• people possessing such aptitude or skill

once people reassess the ? and answer we can have a debate

2 people and a 2 year period where this was evident

Hakeem 94-95
Jordan 91-92
 
DoubleJs07 wrote:

Out of curiosity, who would you compare to KD and Dirk?


Bird, Dirk, T Mac, Rashard Lewis  ( 
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 ) and KD
I don't really like to compare players but these are all guys who are above average in height and ball handling, plus shoot the ball extremely well. 

Once in a generation players it seems like you wouldn't have anyone one who is currently playing in the league to compare them to...When Shaq came around, we could only compare him to Wilt. When Lebron came around we could only fairly compare him to Magic. Same with Iverson and Zeke, etc....

I know part of the KD argument is that he's so far advanced (based on stats) at 21 than a T Mac or a Dirk, or whoever...but it's hard to do those type of age/stat comparisons because each player is in different situations with their respective teams. At 21, Kobe could have been the greatest skilled player of all time (hypothetically) but he was a role player to one of the most dominant players ever in Shaq on a championship contending team. So we really only saw flashes of what he was capable of...

Anyways, back to my beer.
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Originally Posted by cRazy dav0

the ? says talent ... not your favorite players, or the best players of a given generation ...
smh.gif


talent |ˈtalənt|
noun
1 natural aptitude or skill : he possesses more talent than any other player | she displayed a talent for garden design.
• people possessing such aptitude or skill

once people reassess the ? and answer we can have a debate

2 people and a 2 year period where this was evident

Hakeem 94-95
Jordan 91-92
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How do you measure talent in a vacuum?
Oh wait, I get it. The answer is DARKO! Where's my prize?
 
I think that inorder to make the list good you need to define the generations.
Im going to say with in a decade that they came in/ started off their careers. 1979 non withstanding
So Starting from the 80's
Bird
Magic
Stockton
Jordan
Malone
Barkley
Akeem
Ewing
For that era those are the prototype.
90's
Payton
Shaq
Tmac
Kidd
Dirk
Garnett
Those are the guys who's game is pretty much unique to the guys that arent on the 80's list
2000's
Lebron
Rose

Those are the guys who I feel game's dont resemble anything as a whole we have seen ( on a fairly consistant basis)
Rose in only on there because his athletic ability out of a guy who can be a true point and average 23-25 a game is astounding. There might be guys better than him, but the way he does it is what has him make the list

Now you have guys who are great who have games that you can directly trace the lineage to who they resemble.

There are certain guys who I leave off who are better, or who have accomplished more because they arent as "unique" as the guys I have listed.

For example Akeem, and Duncan are close in that they both are guys oriented with the fundamentals. Akeem is more athletic, and to me in his prime clearly the better player. But as sick as Akeem (Hakeem) and his footwork is you cant tell me that knowing how to use your pivot foot isnt a fundamental skill.
 
/\ Duncan is not a once in a generation player. He was a classic 7 foot big man who did everything the right way. It's not a stretch to say we'll see probably see that again one day.

It would be a stretch to say we'll ever see another 6 foot shooting guard score at will or another 6'8 freak of nature who does things athletically that are matched by few in the sport.
 
Originally Posted by airmaxpenny1

- Duhon...The ability to not only stay in the NBA despite no discernable basketball abilities but to be the starting point guard for 2 years is far greater than anything I have ever seen in sports.  It is amazing.  There will never, EVER be another Chris Duhon
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Originally Posted by Al3xis

Why would Nash be on this list when we saw stockton?


And Talent is not the same as accomplishments.
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I thought about Stockton before making the comparison, but I think they're two different players. Stockton thrived in the half-court and was the master of the pick and roll. Nash was the master of the fast break and excelled at getting teammates quick shots. They were only similar in that neither had much athletic ability. 
 
Originally Posted by Al3xis

KG is more of a 'once in a generation' talent than Duncan.
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Ehhh, is he really though?  I'm not arguing that either was a once in a genration type but the game has moved so far away from fundamentals towards athleticism that I think we'll see a lot more KG's than Duncan.  Duncan was the perfect blend of everything you could ever want, while KG was more of a phyiscal freak of nature.  We see a lot more physical freaks today than guys with all-around ability.
 
To me, Kevin Garnett is one of the most talented players basketball has ever seen. Him getting the most out of that talent is a different story.
 
Also I may have missed his name if someone said it...but isn't Penny a once-in-a-generation type? A legit 6-7 natural point guard. We've alot of "point forwards" and big guards who can play the point in spurts but never a really big PG who was a legit point. Shaun Livingston is the only one I can think of that came after Penny that was a LEGIT point guard.
 
Originally Posted by Im Not You

/\ Duncan is not a once in a generation player. He was a classic 7 foot big man who did everything the right way. It's not a stretch to say we'll see probably see that again one day.

It would be a stretch to say we'll ever see another 6 foot shooting guard score at will or another 6'8 freak of nature who does things athletically that are matched by few in the sport.
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Thats exactly why Duncan aint on the list and KG is word to Allen. 

Iverson is the one who I dont really want to say belong's on my list.
Cause on one hand I dont think we will see a guy 6ft, with a 40 inch vert 6'5 wingspan and tough as nails.
But on the other hand being 6ft 165 and being 6'2 185 aint that much different imo, and there are guys like that without the role Iverson had rotting on benches. Do I think a guy who resembles Iverson exist's and was there in the 90's yea in certain ways. Will that guy get a role like Iverson on a modern team? No and thats cause you have to have a "PG" that can defend 2's on a consistant basis and have an elite shotblocker to protect that little 6'ft guard.  
 
I would have to disagree.



I think Duncan's skillset is by far more superior then KG, which makes more of a "rarer talent".



I think we have to narrow down the requirements. Theres way too many "once in a generation" talent if we're talking about players who dominate either the pure skill, or pure athleticism categories.
 
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