It takes a special individual to go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. One needs to play at an extremely high level for a very long time which is incredibly difficult but some individuals manage to perhaps go even a level beyond that.
We are talking about those chosen few who influence the game in some way shape or form, which is not easy to do for one single person. It requires a combination of a lot of factors but once someone achieves it, their names get etched forever in the minds of all those who love the game.
NBA Fans Debate Who Are The Most Influential Players Of The Last 30 Years
There are some names that immediately come to mind when we talk about the most influential players of the last 30 years and a fan recently gave his list of 4. Ball Bound on Instagram then put forward the question of who NBA fans would add/remove from the list and they had a lot to say about it.
“Half the world wouldn’t know what the NBA is if it wasn’t for LBJ”
“Kobe did the same thing Jordan did😭”
“Bron>Curry”
“Add Dirk for leading the European revolution”
“LBJ over AI”
“Lebron and Shaq 🤷🏽♂️”
“Ngl I’ll remove Kobe and that’s my favorite on this list other Ai”
“Remove Kobe add bron everything else right”
“Jordan, Shaq (no disrespect to Kobe), AI, Curry”
“Remove Kobe and add Dirk, Dirk made a whole new center build❤️”
“Where Tim Hardaway at”
“Wild card picks: Ginobili and Vince.”
“Damn agree🔥”
“Sorry I get it but you cannot talk basketball of the last 30 years without LeBron James.”
“Where’s KD”
“it says influential, not best of the best everyone knows how dominant Lebron is but influential nahh everyone wants to be like jordan kobe AI or curry, who wakes up n shoots a fadeaway or shoots a 3 n says “Lebron!”? exactly nobody .”
“Well I would put Dirk over there”
“MJ, AI, Dirk, Curry. The last three had an immeasurable impact on dribbling, spacing, and three point shooting respectively”
“Player empowerment in the NBA today is because of Lebron”
LeBron James is one name that popped up often and you would be hard-pressed to dismiss him in this conversation. LeBron certainly has had a major influence on the league and this era of player empowerment is certainly driven by him.
Dirk Nowitzki, who recently became the first German player to get his jersey retired, is another name that comes up often and Dirk definitely has a case. The success he had after coming over from Europe led to teams drafting more players, especially big men, from abroad in the hopes of landing the next Dirk. His ability to shoot so well for a man his size also led to more stretch fours coming into the league and he is certainly one of the most influential players of his generation.
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