Look at some of the guy who have won rings: Jordan, LeBron, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Shaq, Giannis, Duncan, Hakeem, Curry, Kareem, etc. They each have experienced winning championships as a number 1 option.
They all have things in common. We’ll explain what that is in a minute.
Generally speaking, there are three fundamental components that make up a player, on the court. Scoring, Playmaking, and Defense.
Scoring – the ability to put the ball in the basket. Whether it’s in the paint, in the post, mid-range, three-point shooting, scoring is the most important aspect of the game, and almost every single player in the NBA over the last 60 years that has been considered a #1 option has been good at scoring. The ability to create one’s shot is also a fundamental aspect of this.
Playmaking – the ability to create shot opportunities for others. Whether directly – like passing the ball straight up – or indirectly – by setting picks, or moving off-ball to create space – playmaking is an integral part of the game, and some of the best offenses year-to-year have their share of great playmakers or great ball movement. The more involvement the team has, the better.
Defense – defense is what you do to prevent the other team from scoring, obviously. Whether it’s being an imposing force downlow that prevents the other team from driving and scoring in the paint, or being able to lockdown a skilled ballhandler on the perimeter, defense is integral part of the game, and most championship teams have good defenses.
And the +1 is staying healthy.
So based on what we’ve seen, almost every single #1 option on a championship team has usually been great in at least 2 of these 3 fundamental components, in their primes. Many of them are even all-time at these.
Bill Russell – okay scorer, all-time (GOAT?) defender, all-time playmaker
Wilt Chamberlain – all-time scorer, excellent defender, good playmaker
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – all-time scorer, very good defender, okay playmaker
Bill Walton – okay scorer, all-time playmaker, all-time defender,
Magic Johnson – very good scorer, all-time (GOAT?) playmaker, okay defense
Larry Bird – great scorer, all-time playmaker, solid defense
Michael Jordan – all-time (GOAT?) scorer, excellent defender, and good playmaker
Hakeem Olajuwon – all-time scorer, all-time (GOAT?) defender, okay playmaker
Tim Duncan – good scorer, all-time (GOAT?) defender, very good playmaker
Shaquille O’Neal – all-time scorer, good playmaker, good defense
Kobe Bryant – excellent scorer, excellent defender, very good playmaker,
LeBron James – all-time scorer, all-time passer/playmaker, and great defender
Stephen Curry – all-time scorer (GOAT shooter), all-time playmaker (GOAT off-ball effect), okay defense
You can notice how some of the “jobbers” – other great players that unfortunately were blocked by winning – were often only great (or even only just good) at just 1 of these 3 things, or some of the things they were great at, didn’t translate well in postseason.
John Stockton is regarded as a great playmaker and passer, and also a great defender. He is an all-time player. But it can also be true that an all-time player can have some flaws that leave them more vulnerable in the playoffs than others. In playoffs, his defense did not reliably shutdown elite scoring guards, and his playmaking relied a lot on the pick’n’roll – which, when elite teams were able to counter, the Jazz offense would frequently have long scoring droughts where his playmaking was rendered null, and he wouldn’t be able to score or start a run.
Similarly, Karl Malone, despite being an amazing athlete and prolific scorer, was also stifled a lot in the playoffs. Malone could jumpshoot and finish well at the rim, but he did not have an elite post-game that he could use to easily make his own shots. Similarly, he was a very good defender, but he was not a defensive stalwart the way other bigs in his era like Hakeem, Robinson, and even Ewing and Mutombo were. And Malone’s playmaking was never particularly a strength or large part of his game.
Charles Barkley was an awesome player, and very efficient scorer, but he didn’t have the defensive prowess that some of the top centers at his time had, nor was his passing and playmaking elite.
David Robinson is a unique case in that he was a great defensive player, and a great playmaker, and a really good scorer. Many will bring up his lack of a post-up game, but his supporting cast prior to Duncan’s arrival was never really that strong. He didn’t have the type of backcourt support that Shaq or Hakeem or Kareem had. Hence why he is in our exceptions article.
We can apply this for some more contemporary examples: Russell Westbrook is an amazing player. His scoring averages can be prolific but his shooting has never been consistently strong enough thus hurting the resiliency of his scoring, especially in the postseason. and this also applies to his defense. Westbrook has always been a great playmaker, but his lack of consistent jump shooting can results in opponents sagging off on him. As a result, he isn’t always going to attract attention in the high post that can allow consistent passing opportunities to teammates that cut. Due to this, his playmaking primarily stems from him employing a heliocentric style of play in which he attack’s the rim and gives it out rollers and spot up shooters.
Opponents can leave him alone as a spot up shooter, thus hurting his off ball impact and limiting his versatility as a playmaker. With better shooting and more consistent defense, he would have been able to make further runs. Some of his potential defensively was always sprinkled out throughout, and a recent example can be found in game 1 of the 2023 WCR1 matchup between the Suns and the Clippers.
Dirk Nowitzki was always a prolific scorer, but was not as great defensively or with playmaking compared to Duncan.
So you can see a trend. It’s hard to win, because you cannot just be “good”. You have to be great, even possibly the GOAT in at least 1 of these three major areas of the game. Having such skills will make it possible for an NBA star to find success as a number 1 option on a NBA Finals championship team.
