The best player I ever coached was Gary Payton.
If Tim Duncan had Knicks on his jersey, he'd be a god.
I'm one of the best defenders to ever play basketball, so I'm still the first option on defense.
John Stockton is one of the true marvels, not just of basketball, or in America, but in the history of Western Civilization!
Charles Barkley played in an era where he was never the guy. He always had to take a back seat to Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, because what did they have that he never got? A championship.
Tracy McGrady is doing things we've never seen from anybody - from any planet!
I'm a basketball fan, I'm a fan of greatness and I think anybody who knows anything about basketball knows great shooters.
I would never have wanted to play with Magic Johnson, I would never have wanted to play with Michael Jordan, I would never have wanted to play with Karl Malone or John Stockton in my prime. We wanted to play against the Shaqs, the Kobes.
It's cool to be a Laker: that's basketball royalty, in a sense. The best franchise in basketball, so to be drafted by them is pretty cool, pretty special.
When people start comparing him with (Michael) Jordan then that's not a fair comparison. Jordan was a far more superior player in a very tough league, he was very creative. That's not taking away anything from LeBron because he is a great player, but it is not a fair comparison because Jordan is a far superior player.
And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start a team today, the greatest player and the one guy I would take would be Larry Bird.
Without question, no hesitation, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the best player I ever played against.
He'll never be Jordan. This clearly takes him out of the conversation. He can win as much as he wants to.
LeBron is making a case for himself to be one of the greatest players to ever play.
Doug Christie, what skill, what strenght, what power, what quickness. The visionof Magic Johnson, the athletisicm of Michael Jordan, the toughness of larry Bird. Dough Christie has it all
Michael Jordan was a tremendous basketball player.
Kevin Garnett was a great player, but he wasn't Kobe Bryant.
Well, (Michael) Jordan was definitely one of the kings of the game. There's no question that he was one of the more dominant figures. If you look at the top ten players of all time, he was certainly one of the most dominant guys.
I'm blessed just making it to the NBA. That was my first goal and dream. Playing with Kobe and Shaq and for a coach like Phil Jackson, and then going to play with guys like Jordan and Jerry Stackhouse, it's just a crazy experience.
He's the greatest clutch player I've ever seen. The hell with Jerry West!
I would have loved to play against Bill Russell. He was such a force.
I ask everybody, who's the best between Magic and LeBron? Everyone says Michael's greatest. But, OK, well, we'll give him his props. But LeBron is a better athlete, and he can do more than Michael on the basketball court.
A lot of people talk about the Fab Five, and they were wonderful, one of the best teams you'll ever see in college basketball. But the '89 team is the best one to ever play at Michigan in my opinion because they won the national championship. Winning a championship is winning a championship.
Kobe is Kobe. He is one of the best to ever play this game. Given the opportunity, he can embarrass you.
He reminds me of Michael Jordan. "You look and they have similar games where they want to lead their team to victory, no matter if they have to shoot the ball every time or if they have to rebound or pass, they're going to find a way to win." I've always said that Kobe Bryant is the best scorer in our game today and he's definitely proving himself.
