NBA: Top 5 guards of all time

I recently read an article which quoted Michael Jordan as saying that he could have beaten LeBron James one-on-one in his prime, but wouldn’t be so sure of beating Kobe Bryant in his prime. Reading this article got me thinking once again about the never ending debate: “Who’s better? Jordan or Bryant or James?”.

Now, we cannot really compare Jordan and Bryant to James. After all, the former two are guards, while James is a forward and they have plenty of physical disparities. But what we can do, is compare players who play at the same positions. I chose the older traditional format and decided to compare Guards with Guards, Forwards with Forwards, and centers with centers. So, this article is the first of 3 such articles. Today, we’ll take a look at the top 5 guards to have ever played in the NBA.

Who am I to make such a list? Just another NBA fan and sportswriter, who wants to end this debate once and for all.

Methodology

Ranking the top 5 guards of all time is, well, insane. However, I have tried to be a little methodical about it.

Firstly, I should have seen them play, even if it’s only on videos on the internet. I cannot possibly take into account players like Bob Cousy or Paul Arizin merely because I heard that they were legends.

Secondly, I did not base this list solely on statistics. Stats are great, but nobody needs a list compiled by a person if they merely want to compare statistics. All you need is a website which gives you PER or win shares or usage % or some other designer stat. So, I considered the totality of their statistics, how much each player impacted his team and how highly they were regarded both on and off the court.

Also, all players on this must be well known enough that I don’t have to dig enough statistics to show how good each of them was.

Now that we have established that, let’s get started.

5. Kobe Bryant, 1996-Present, Los Angeles Lakers

Career Averages: 25.5 PPG; 5.3 rebounds; 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals

That’s right. This list is so talented that Bryant, possibly one of the most lethal scorers in the history of the game, is ranked at no. 5.

Bryant has won 5 NBA Championships, 1 MVP award, has been named to the All-Star roster 15 times and has led the league in scoring twice. He’s played an incredible 220 games and has been the leader of the Los Angeles Lakers ever since Shaq left.

A protegé of Phil Jackson’s (there’s one more of his on this list), Bryant is one of the fiercest competitors this game has ever seen. His never-say-die attitude has made him one of the longest playing guards in the NBA right now.

Will he able to rebound from his injuries, carry the Lakers one last time and be able to add to his 5 championship rings? Probably not. But if there’s one thing which we have learnt watching this guy play, it’s this: Don’t count out the Mamba.