Of the big team sports, only basketball allows one player to make an OVERWHELMING impact on the team. You take Shaq and put him on ANY team, no matter WHAT level of talent, his team is in contention for the playoffs (and likely the championship). I’d say Duncan was in that field as well.
Who else is in it? I’d say it was very small.
Probably just Shaq, Duncan and KG. If you put them on the expansion Charlotte Team this summer, I’ll bet that no matter what level of journey men talent that surrounded them, they’d make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Who else can you say that about?
Definitely NOT Iverson and McGrady. They couldn’t make the Eastern Conference playoffs WITH veteran talent.
Probably not Yao…yet.
I am torn about Kobe and Jermaine O’Neal. If I had to pick ONE of these to be able to do it, I’d lean toward Kobe…even though size helps win games in the NBA.
Anyone else?
Kidd?
Webber?
Dirk?
I’d take Kobe over Yao. He’s got more experience, and one of Yao’s strengths is his passing from the post. Doesn’t help much if your teammates can’t shoot. Kobe can do it by himself when he needs to. Of course, that’s sometimes a problem when he INSISTS on doing it by himself when it’s not called for, but that’s another topic.
I’m not sure I really agree with your premise, though. Nobody does it alone, and the conventional wisdom these days is that you need two stars to win it all. Iverson is a bad example this year since he was hurt. Didn’t McGrady have injury problems as well? His team did make the playoffs in previous years, and he even took them to the Finals. Shaq never won a title alone. He made the Finals once, but had help from Penny Hardaway back when he was a star, and others like Nick Anderson when he was a big outside threat. He never won anything without Kobe, just like Jordan never won without Pippen.
Webber isn’t a big star the way Shaq, Duncan and Garnett are. He’s got a very good supporting cast that he works well with, but they’ve never managed to win. If I had to take any one player to answer the question, I’d go with Garnett first, then Duncan. Garnett in particular has more of an all-around game than Shaq, and there are times when Shaq just doesn’t feel like doing anything.