"You're excluding Magic, Bird, Isiah, Kareem!" - Chris Broussard questions 3x All-Star's logic for not including any pre-'90s player in his top 10
Death, taxes and controversy over who belongs among the NBA's top 10 players of all time. It seems there's no combination of players to satisfy everyone. According to three-time All-Star Gilbert Arenas, no player from before the 1990s belongs on the list. He believes the game has changed so much that older players wouldn't be able to keep up with the faster pace and tempo.
But on Fox Sports Radio, Chris Broussard shot down Arenas' notion.
"If you just want to say guys that played the bulk of their careers before 1990, then you're excluding Magic Bird, Isiah (Thomas), Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) and obviously (Bill) Russell, (Wilt) Chamberlain, Oscar (Robertson, Jerry West, Doctor J (Julius Erving).
"Like, really? Come on, Gilbert, you? How about doing a little challenge? Can I say this: Look at a little film and look at some numbers ... instead of just writing off, 'I can't even look at the '90s.'"
Broussard wasn't the only one who took offense to Arenas' comments. On social media, fans challenged Arenas, pointing out the obvious flaw in excluding the sport's pioneers who were ahead of their time.
Broussard said that despite massive differences in how NBA games are played today, the early greats could keep up:
"The pace of play today is high, and half of the shots that these guys take are 3-pointers. So, if anything, the players today should be scoring more points, right? I mean, Can you imagine if half of Larry Bird's shots – let's say 35% of Larry Bird shots – were 3-pointers, he'd average way more points!"
Arenas, who played from 2001 to 2012, had a successful career at Arizona before playing for the Golden State Warriors in his first two seasons. He then joined the Washington Wizards, where he blossomed into an All-Star.
The never-ending NBA top 10 controversy
Any NBA top 10 list will likely garner controversy at some level. Depending on the person creating the list, there are certain biases and criteria generating more weight.
Someone like Bill Russell, who won 11 championships in a less competitive era, ranks as a top five player on some lists. However, others don't believe that his rings are as meaningful as someone like Kobe Bryant, who won his five in a more difficult era and is left off other top 10 lists.
Despite the obvious changes in the game, the notion that players from the '60s, the '70s and '80s wouldn't be able to adjust to today's NBA is baffling.