The new 1-2: Shaq and Kobe top our list of the NBA's 50 best players, as chosen by general managers and personnel men

Sporting News, The, March 4, 2002 by Dan Graf

How can you be sure Shaquille O'Neal is the best player in the NBA?

Imagine the league without the Laker's 7-1, 360-pound (we're not buying the 335-pound media guide estimate) center. There would be no talk of a Lakers dynasty and less complaining about the lack of true centers because the not-so-true guys would be measured against the likes of Dikembe Mutombo. Title contenders would be built an entirely different way.

These days, if you want to win a championship, you have to figure out how to deal with O'Neal, which is a nearly impossible prospect. That's why Shaq tops THE SPORTING NEWS list of the NBA's 50 best players. We asked one general manager or personnel man from each team to rank the league's top players based on current ability--not potential or past performance--and O'Neal came up No. 1 on 15 of the 18 ballots received.

"An immovable mountain" one personnel man calls O'Neal, and that defines him about as well as anything. Former Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis--another player who weighs considerably more than his last recorded 292-pound measurement--probably did the best job guarding Shaq, but Sabonis went into self-exile in Lithuania after losing two straight playoff series against the Lakers. His retirement leaves about 100 pounds and a good deal of skill between Shaq and the rest of the league's not-so-big men.

"When you look at Shaq, you have got a guy who is just immense in the middle," one G.M. says. "He has that combination of size and skill and strength. There just have never been many like him. Look at him. What would you say his weakness is? Foul shooting? I think any one of us could live with that."

It doesn't hurt the Lakers that teammate Kobe Bryant finished second in the balloting. Bryant received just one No. 1 vote, but he finished second to O'Neal only because he's not a uniquely sized center in a center-starved league.

"It's kind of like comparing apples and oranges," one personnel man says. "If you're going to start a franchise, it's Shaq. To win the seventh game of a series, it's Kobe. As far, as value to the franchise, the hardest piece to get is Shaq. You know, he's the only piece like him in the entire world. With Kobe, you have the McGradys, the Carters--there are others in his category. Shaq completely shatters the category class."

The top 50

1 Shaquille O'Neal, C, Lakers. If his size doesn't lead to career-shortening foot problems--he already is hindered by an arthritic big toe--O'Neal has a chance to be remembered as the most dominant big man ever.

2 Kobe Bryant, SG, Lakers. One personnel man calls Bryant "the Lakers engine," and it's a good bet Bryant, 23, still will be running high on this list long after O'Neal, who will be 30 on March 6, has retired.

3 Tim Duncan, PF, Spurs. If O'Neal is the player every G.M. would love to have, Duncan is the player every G.M. loves. Duncan isn't the physical freak O'Neal is, but his game is freakishly consistent, a compilation of perfectly honed inside skills. "He may be the best all-around big man of all-time," one G.M. says. Duncan has dropped from first to third since TSN last did these rankings two seasons ago, but that probably has more to do with the Lakers' two titles than anything Duncan has done.

4 Kevin Garnett, SF, Timberwolves. Garnett, 25, was third on this list two years ago, but he's a distant fourth today. Does that mean Garnett is slipping? Hardly but he has leveled off statistically after a rapid climb in his first four seasons. Garnett is the league's highest-paid player for good reason, and, athletically, the league hasn't seen anything like him at his 6-11 size. Still, he would be No. 1 on this list with a more reliable post game.

5 Tray McGrady, SG, Magic. McGrady wasn't even in the top 50 two seasons ago, but look what a move out of Vince Carter's shadow in Toronto did for him. He reached 40 points in three of four games during a rare good stretch of health in late December and could be the league's most unstoppable scoring threat when his back is right.

6 Allen, Iverson, SG, 76ers. "Beep, beep--he's everywhere!" one personnel man says. Proof that speed is as important in basketball as in any other sport, Iverson usually is there and gone before most players even get there. Last season's MVP is shooting a miserable 39.6 percent, but he still is the guy most NBA players least like to guard.

7 Vince Carter, SG, Raptors. When Carter came into the league, scouts said he had no outside game to complement his thunderous dunks, but he quickly took care of that, shooting at or near 40 percent from 3-point range in his second, third and fourth seasons. Too bad McGrady didn't find himself until he left Toronto, because McGrady and Carter could have rivaled Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in their prime.

8 Chris Webber, PF Kings. Personnel men ranked him highly but were reluctant, given Webber's history of injury problems and his inability to transform the Kings from a good team into a great one. "(Ranking him this high) was a stretch," one official says. "The Kings play better without him." Still, there aren't many 6-10, 245-pounders who can handle, distribute and shoot the ball like a guard and defend like a center.