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2003 NBA champion Stephen Jackson received appreciation from Shaquille O'Neal for his list of the 10 greatest basketball players ever. Shaq had Jackson and Matt Barnes as guests on "The Big Podcast with Shaq" where they discussed the GOATs.
While talking about this, Shaq said that people always favored smaller players for the GOAT. He cited the fact that six-time league MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is never mentioned. This prompted Jackson to share that he has multiple big men in his top 10.
Here is what Jackson said:
"I have five big men in my to10en," Jackson stated. (42:30 mark)
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He then proceeded to name the players on his list, with Tim Duncan being the highest ranked big at fourth followed by Shaquille O'Neal at five. He also named Kareem, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell at eight, nine and 10 respectively.
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Shaq responded by thanking Jackson for including him in his list.
During his first few seasons in the league, Stephen Jackson got to be a first-hand witness to two of the big men on his list.
He played his rookie campaign in 2000-'01, the season immediately after Shaquille O'Neal won MVP. During that time, the Shaq-led Lakers were also in the midst of their three-peat (2000-2002)
After Jackson spent his first year in the league with the New Jersey Nets, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs where he got to play with Tim Duncan. During Jackson's time with the Spurs, Duncan won back-to-back MVPs. The Spurs also won the title in 2003 with Duncan leading the squad and Jackson playing a major supporting role.
Jackson left the Spurs in the summer after their title win but he would return in the middle of the 2011-12 season via trade. During Jackson's second stint with the Spurs, Duncan wasn't quite the same MVP-caliber player. However, he was still considered as the team's top player and was still good enough to earn All-Star nods.
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Who were the other players on Stephen Jackson's top five before Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal?
Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal, who were ranked fourth and fifth respectively in Stephen Jackson's list had three non-bigs ahead of them.
Before Duncan, Jackson listed LA Lakers star LeBron James, who is currently in his 22nd season, and is the only active player on the list.
On Tuesday, James tipped off year 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He registered 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 34 minutes. The Lakers won 110-103.
Number two on the list is the late Kobe Bryant who won five titles including three with Shaq. The top player on Jackson's list is Michael Jordan, who led the Chicago Bulls to six titles during the 90s.
The Bulls dynasty won three straight titles from 1991-93. After that three-peat, Jordan announced his retirement from basketball. He would return in 1995 and the Bulls resumed their dominance as well. They would once again win three consecutive titles from 1996-98 before Jordan announced his second retirement.
