The San Antonio Spurs struck gold when they landed Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, with the big man leading them to the 2026 NBA Finals. Wembanyama is the third great center the Spurs have drafted in the last 40-odd years, after David Robinson (1987) and Tim Duncan (1997).
The Spurs sure have gotten lucky, something LeBron James hilariously expressed some frustration over recently. It is a great lineage of big men, but is it the best? Well, a Reddit user put them up for the Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Houston Rockets recently, and had a simple question.
San Antonio Spurs: David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Victor Wembanyama
Los Angeles Lakers: Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal
Houston Rockets: Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Yao Ming
Boston Celtics: Bill Russell, Robert Parish, Kevin Garnett
Which team are you taking?
by
u/Silver_Comment2825 in
NBAGossips
NBA fans were quick to dish out their takes, and there was one clear winner.
“I mean, it has to be the Lakers,” one fan felt it had to be the Lakers.
“Lakers got 3 top 10 guys in there,” another pointed out how great those three Lakers bigs are.
“If you are asking lineage, I contend homegrown (drafted) players count more. Therefore, this Spurs lineup takes the win,” one is going with the Spurs, considering they drafted all three of those players.
“Lakers hands down. They are missing George Mikan, the first superstar big man, along with Anthony Davis and Pau Gasol, all champions,” one fan pointed out that the Lakers can have even more great bigs in there.
“I mean, I would say it’s pretty obvious: Lakers > Spurs > Celtics > Rockets,” a fan ranks the Rockets at the bottom.
“Rockets are low-key insane here. Maybe at peak the best,” another has the Rockets at the top.
If we’re considering just the peak, it’s undoubtedly the Lakers. You can talk about how Dave Cowens should be there for the Celtics or Ralph Sampson for the Rockets, but it doesn’t make much difference. You’ll find Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal on most all-time top 10 lists, and you can’t say that for any other team.
Even if we only consider when the players were on those teams, it is still the Lakers. Chamberlain was past his best when he arrived, but still made four All-Star teams in five seasons. He finished third in MVP voting once and made one All-NBA and two All-Defensive teams.
If we do say it has to be players drafted by that team, then it’s the Spurs. None of Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, O’Neal, Moses Malone, Bill Russell, Robert Parish, and Kevin Garnett were drafted by those teams. The Spurs would be the only ones left here with three bigs, and what a group it is.
Robinson won two titles, one MVP, one DPOY, and one scoring title. Duncan won five titles, three Finals MVPs, and two MVPs. Wembanyana has already won one DPOY and is sure to rack up a whole lot more accolades in the years to come. This is a special trio.
