April 10, 2025 • 11 mins
Basketball's most influential figures throughout history have shaped not just how the game is played but also its cultural significance and global appeal.
• Early legends like Chamberlain, Russell, and West established the star vs. system debate that continues today
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar served as the crucial bridge between basketball eras while setting the scoring record that lasted decades
• Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saved the NBA with their compelling rivalry that transcended sport
• Michael Jordan transformed basketball into a global phenomenon with his perfect Finals record and cultural impact
• Allen Iverson, Kobe, Duncan and Shaq each brought unique elements that expanded basketball's appeal
• Stephen Curry fundamentally changed how basketball is played with his revolutionary three-point shooting
• Modern stars like Harden, Westbrook and Jokić continue to innovate with signature styles
• The most important player debate remains open with compelling cases for multiple legends
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trayton, asusual.
I hope you're all having awonderful, wonderful day Now.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe most important NBA player.
I think it's pretty importantto talk about that, right?
But before we talk about that,excuse me, make sure you hit
that like and subscribe button.
Please make sure to comment andtell anyone who's anyone about
(00:22):
the show.
I'm trying to get the ratingsup a little bit, just a little
bit.
But again, you guys heard whatwe're talking about the most
important NBA players, the mostNBA players.
That's crazy.
Can we make that a topic?
The most NBA players and who'sthe most NBA player?
Anyway, getting back on track,so we have a lot of players in
NBA history, right, a lot ofimportant players, but who's the
(00:44):
most important NBA player?
That was actually a tough one.
I don't know if I have thatanswer.
I know what y'all wonder, trey.
Why are you then talking aboutthe most important NBA player?
I want y'all to help me decide.
I got a couple of players thatI've listed off, another couple
of players that I do think could, could run away with the with
the tight, ok, but at the sametime, I do want to be fair,
(01:07):
because we even got some youngguns who, who some people might
think are the most important.
But let's talk about them,shall we?
So, um, first batch up here wegot will chamberlain, jerry west
and bill russell.
Right, they kind of set thetone for that starburst team or
system player debate, if youwill.
Some players, some people lookat wilton jerry as the stars,
right, because they drug theirteams to the playoffs, to the
(01:29):
championship.
That's the perception, thenarrative, the notion that we
try to give.
But at the same time billrussell won his championships,
all because his team was sostar-studded, team system versus
star.
You know I'm saying right, andthey all mean and matter a lot
to the nba's game.
Okay, so again, when you thinkabout most important players,
(01:49):
you have to consider these threeand which I'm mad, is more.
I mean hell, will 100 pointgame bill, most championships
accrue to everybody.
Nba player jerry yeah, he lostin the finals the most, but I
mean he went to 10 of them.
Things too.
You do got to give credit tothat tip of the cap.
(02:10):
Them three, they matter a lot.
How about someone like KareemAbdul-Jabbar?
Right, he's kind of that bridgeof the generation between Wilt,
jerry and Bill, to like Magic,larry, isaiah Thomas, hell, even
Jordan, right, like he's thatbridge and that's a lot when you
think about it.
That's a lot of longevity rightthere.
(02:31):
Longevity does matter too.
You got to give credit to that.
But he's that bridge.
And then you also got to thinkabout the racial fight that he
also had to fight as well too.
During this time period, kareemAbdul-Jabbar matters a lot.
He has the most unstoppableshot in the game today.
He scored the most points, andkeep in mind too, that was
(02:53):
without three-pointers as welltoo.
So Brown was able to get anadvantage opposed to Kareem, but
still he was able to do what hedid.
And that scoring title lastedfor how many years now?
How many decades?
Just saying like that, likethat matters a lot.
Even though his record wasbroken.
Still number two, that's not bad.
First is the worst, second isthe best.
Right, then we gotta talk aboutspeaking of third well, I
(03:17):
didn't say third, but magic,larry and isaiah thomas.
I know we usually talk aboutmagic and larry, right, for most
important, important players.
You got to include IsaiahThomas because he is quite
integral into the NBA's historyand you could pair him with
Jordan a little bit, but I thinkyou got to slide him with Magic
(03:37):
and Larry.
I think he came up more so withMagic and Larry, more of a
thorn in their side too.
But then also with Magic andLarry, they were extremely
important because that wholeracism barrier right, you got
white guy versus black guy.
Both are elite.
They went to college and playedagainst one another in the
championship game, then becomerivals that storyline that's
kind of hard to go up against.
(03:58):
That really is so again, yougot to almost put them as one
person when you're talking aboutmost important.
But then you also got toinclude Isaiah Thomas as well
too, because he does factor intothat equation.
When you look at Michael Jordan,yes, he did have Hakeem
Olajuwon to battle against.
Yes, we do go up againstCharles Barkley.
(04:19):
Yes, we do have Scottie Pippen,dennis Rodman, all these good
players, but still the stardomthat he had eclipsed everybody's
.
The legacy he has makeseverybody a legacy chaser.
So that could be the mostimportant NBA player in people's
eyes.
And I get that too.
It's easy, it's clean 6-0 inthe finals.
(04:39):
Yeah, depoy six mvps like whatare we talking about here?
But again, there are otherplayers that matter too, and he
did have to build on top oflarry and magic's entertainment
that they provided, because thenba was starting to lose a
(05:00):
little, a little, a littleentertainment value.
Before them, two boys camealong.
So, again, michael, yes, doeshave all this working for him,
but it was built on top of Magicand Larry as well, too.
We got to remember that.
Yes, mike did help out.
They did come before, though.
(05:21):
You got to remember that.
Then we also got to rememberplayers like AI, kobe, timmy,
tim Duncan meaning, and Shaq,well, with Allen Iverson.
Ai, meaning he brought thebasketball swag right, that riz,
the culture we always got toappreciate.
(05:43):
That Keep in mind too.
He also took his team to thefinals, lost to my Lakers, but
still, though, you got tomemorize, you got to remember
that moment too, because thatwas an important factor.
A lot of times, people have agood team and he did have a good
team as well but people want tosay, well, you took your team
to the finals.
That's what he did, and he diddo that pretty well.
And, again, he also broughtthat basketball swag, that riz,
that culture along with him.
(06:04):
And, as of that, you've got toremember that Kobe.
Part of this is because of hisuntimely demise, unfortunately,
but how he approached the game,that Mamba mentality was there
before that too.
So his death did help out,amplify his importance to the
NBA, but before that, too, hewas fairly important.
(06:25):
Remember someone like JasonTatum clings to his words,
that's his favorite player.
Remember that.
Kyrie Irving that's hisfavorite player.
Devin Booker same thing.
These are stars in the game whoidolize Kobe Bryant.
You got to remember that.
Tim Duncan, ultimateprofessional.
If we talk about importance, wegot to remember Timmy is five
(06:50):
and one in the finals.
He's beaten quite a few playerslike a LeBron, like a D-Wade,
like a Kobe.
And Shaq, he's gotten the bestof players and he's very
underrated.
So when we're talking aboutmost important, 1-1 in every
decade that he played, that'skind of tough.
(07:11):
You can't sleep on that.
How about Shaq?
We talk about dominance.
Only person that could be moredominant physically was Will
Entertainment factor too.
You got to remember.
Remember like these guys areextremely important.
Then we got to talk aboutplayers like lebron, james kd,
(07:31):
even kawaii, which you can put aquestion mark around, kawaii,
but these were a new wave ofplayers.
Now, keep in mind, I think, theimportance of these guys might
be a little less than theimportance of an AI Kobe, tim
and Shaq, which might be evencrazy to say.
And y'all might be wondering,well, what the hell is Steph
(07:51):
Curry?
I put Steph in a world of hisown Because, remember, ladies
and gentlemen, he did change theway we view the game today and
we'll wait and I want to give ita little bit more time before I
say it's a good way to view thegame as opposed to a negative
way, because, keep in mind too,folks are chucking three balls
more nowadays.
So, I mean, is that really good?
(08:13):
I don't know, we'll find out.
But the way he's changed thegame has helped amplify guards a
little bit.
I will say that is givingguards the shorter guards and
the ability to play with thebigger players, with the taller
players.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,the way steph curry has changed
the game and now how everyoneplays to shoot threes, that's
(08:33):
pretty important, that'sextremely important.
You're, you're affecting playstyle, because before that we
were playing inside out in termsof bigs going to the guards.
So how about james harding?
Because that was a slightiteration of steph curry.
He changed the offense, likeslightly, so we can talk about
incorporating now the sidestep,because that's used by everybody
(08:56):
in a mama, focusing on theoffensive triple doubles, if you
will like, the 30-point tripledoubles, if you will, which keep
in mind too.
Russell Westbrook started thattriple double repeatedly,
consistently getting right.
Although Big O was the firstperson to get it, russ was the
first one to get it consistently.
(09:16):
So James Harden, russellWestbrook, you could put them in
the same boat.
But James also, the way he gothis buckets, it's a little bit
different.
So that's why I separated those.
But the sidestep for James andthen the triple doubles for
Russell Westbrook Got to focuson that.
But are those important for youtoo?
They have changed the game alittle bit too.
(09:38):
Even someone like a NikolaJokic, he has been able to
change the game because he'sgetting triple doubles.
Keep in mind I said RussellWestbrook is getting triple
doubles, but also the wayJokic's doing it is a little bit
different.
Now Is that going to change thegame?
Because now we're looking forbigs to be able to pass.
That's the new thing.
Can your bigs pass as well asscore as well as rebound's?
(10:01):
What we're focusing on, thatcomplete, quote-unquote player,
keep in mind, it's theefficiency, that completeness,
quote-unquote of thetriple-double, because people
did gripes about Russ and histurnovers and the lack of
efficiency that he would haveJames Harden, similar-ish things
.
Right With Jokic it is a littlebit more efficient.
(10:23):
So that's the differencebetween Jokic, russ and James
Harden, but we really couldthrow them all in the same wave.
If we're being honest and keepin mind too Jokic, we do have
other bigs who are consideredpassing bigs, like Arvita Sabas,
sabonis you know that's DemontaSabonis' daddy you got Wilt
Chamberlain, who was considereda good passing big.
Bill Russell was a good passingbig, as well as Bill Walton.
(10:45):
So I mean we got a coupleplayers out there who were
passing bigs too.
Just the efficiency piece thatI'm talking about.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,I say all of this to say I'm
curious who you all are thinkingis the most important NBA
player, because a lot of theseguys have a solid, strong case
(11:06):
for being the most important NBAplayer in the history, like I
can make Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
If you said Kareem, I wouldunderstand it.
Anybody on this list, I can hearit like all right, I guess I.
If you try to say Yoki, I thinkthat's way too early.
But still, okay, I understandthe logic in what you're saying.
(11:27):
I guess I don't agree, but Ihear what you're saying.
So again, I'm definitelycurious what you all are saying.
So please let me know what youall are saying.
But also, like subscribe,comment, tell anyone who's
anyone about the show.
My name is Trey.
I'm the host of Get a Bucket.
(11:47):
Hope you all are having a goodone.
Take care.
What's up everybody?
It's your favorite show'sfavorite show Get a Bucket.
I'm your host, trayton, asusual.
I hope you're all having awonderful, wonderful day Now.
Today we're going to talk aboutthe most important NBA player.
I think it's pretty importantto talk about that, right?
But before we talk about that,excuse me, make sure you hit
that like and subscribe button.
Please make sure to comment andtell anyone who's anyone about
(00:22):
the show.
I'm trying to get the ratingsup a little bit, just a little
bit.
But again, you guys heard whatwe're talking about the most
important NBA players, the mostNBA players.
That's crazy.
Can we make that a topic?
The most NBA players and who'sthe most NBA player?
Anyway, getting back on track,so we have a lot of players in
NBA history, right, a lot ofimportant players, but who's the
(00:44):
most important NBA player?
That was actually a tough one.
I don't know if I have thatanswer.
I know what y'all wonder, trey.
Why are you then talking aboutthe most important NBA player?
I want y'all to help me decide.
I got a couple of players thatI've listed off, another couple
of players that I do think could, could run away with the with
the tight, ok, but at the sametime, I do want to be fair,
(01:07):
because we even got some youngguns who, who some people might
think are the most important.
But let's talk about them,shall we?
So, um, first batch up here wegot will chamberlain, jerry west
and bill russell.
Right, they kind of set thetone for that starburst team or
system player debate, if youwill.
Some players, some people lookat wilton jerry as the stars,
right, because they drug theirteams to the playoffs, to the
(01:29):
championship.
That's the perception, thenarrative, the notion that we
try to give.
But at the same time billrussell won his championships,
all because his team was sostar-studded, team system versus
star.
You know I'm saying right, andthey all mean and matter a lot
to the nba's game.
Okay, so again, when you thinkabout most important players,
(01:49):
you have to consider these threeand which I'm mad, is more.
I mean hell, will 100 pointgame bill, most championships
accrue to everybody.
Nba player jerry yeah, he lostin the finals the most, but I
mean he went to 10 of them.
Things too.
You do got to give credit tothat tip of the cap.
(02:10):
Them three, they matter a lot.
How about someone like KareemAbdul-Jabbar?
Right, he's kind of that bridgeof the generation between Wilt,
jerry and Bill, to like Magic,larry, isaiah Thomas, hell, even
Jordan, right, like he's thatbridge and that's a lot when you
think about it.
That's a lot of longevity rightthere.
(02:31):
Longevity does matter too.
You got to give credit to that.
But he's that bridge.
And then you also got to thinkabout the racial fight that he
also had to fight as well too.
During this time period, kareemAbdul-Jabbar matters a lot.
He has the most unstoppableshot in the game today.
He scored the most points, andkeep in mind too, that was
(02:53):
without three-pointers as welltoo.
So Brown was able to get anadvantage opposed to Kareem, but
still he was able to do what hedid.
And that scoring title lastedfor how many years now?
How many decades?
Just saying like that, likethat matters a lot.
Even though his record wasbroken.
Still number two, that's not bad.
First is the worst, second isthe best.
Right, then we gotta talk aboutspeaking of third well, I
(03:17):
didn't say third, but magic,larry and isaiah thomas.
I know we usually talk aboutmagic and larry, right, for most
important, important players.
You got to include IsaiahThomas because he is quite
integral into the NBA's historyand you could pair him with
Jordan a little bit, but I thinkyou got to slide him with Magic
(03:37):
and Larry.
I think he came up more so withMagic and Larry, more of a
thorn in their side too.
But then also with Magic andLarry, they were extremely
important because that wholeracism barrier right, you got
white guy versus black guy.
Both are elite.
They went to college and playedagainst one another in the
championship game, then becomerivals that storyline that's
kind of hard to go up against.
(03:58):
That really is so again, yougot to almost put them as one
person when you're talking aboutmost important.
But then you also got toinclude Isaiah Thomas as well
too, because he does factor intothat equation.
When you look at Michael Jordan,yes, he did have Hakeem
Olajuwon to battle against.
Yes, we do go up againstCharles Barkley.
(04:19):
Yes, we do have Scottie Pippen,dennis Rodman, all these good
players, but still the stardomthat he had eclipsed everybody's
.
The legacy he has makeseverybody a legacy chaser.
So that could be the mostimportant NBA player in people's
eyes.
And I get that too.
It's easy, it's clean 6-0 inthe finals.
(04:39):
Yeah, depoy six mvps like whatare we talking about here?
But again, there are otherplayers that matter too, and he
did have to build on top oflarry and magic's entertainment
that they provided, because thenba was starting to lose a
(05:00):
little, a little, a littleentertainment value.
Before them, two boys camealong.
So, again, michael, yes, doeshave all this working for him,
but it was built on top of Magicand Larry as well, too.
We got to remember that.
Yes, mike did help out.
They did come before, though.
(05:21):
You got to remember that.
Then we also got to rememberplayers like AI, kobe, timmy,
tim Duncan meaning, and Shaq,well, with Allen Iverson.
Ai, meaning he brought thebasketball swag right, that riz,
the culture we always got toappreciate.
(05:43):
That Keep in mind too.
He also took his team to thefinals, lost to my Lakers, but
still, though, you got tomemorize, you got to remember
that moment too, because thatwas an important factor.
A lot of times, people have agood team and he did have a good
team as well but people want tosay, well, you took your team
to the finals.
That's what he did, and he diddo that pretty well.
And, again, he also broughtthat basketball swag, that riz,
that culture along with him.
(06:04):
And, as of that, you've got toremember that Kobe.
Part of this is because of hisuntimely demise, unfortunately,
but how he approached the game,that Mamba mentality was there
before that too.
So his death did help out,amplify his importance to the
NBA, but before that, too, hewas fairly important.
(06:25):
Remember someone like JasonTatum clings to his words,
that's his favorite player.
Remember that.
Kyrie Irving that's hisfavorite player.
Devin Booker same thing.
These are stars in the game whoidolize Kobe Bryant.
You got to remember that.
Tim Duncan, ultimateprofessional.
If we talk about importance, wegot to remember Timmy is five
(06:50):
and one in the finals.
He's beaten quite a few playerslike a LeBron, like a D-Wade,
like a Kobe.
And Shaq, he's gotten the bestof players and he's very
underrated.
So when we're talking aboutmost important, 1-1 in every
decade that he played, that'skind of tough.
(07:11):
You can't sleep on that.
How about Shaq?
We talk about dominance.
Only person that could be moredominant physically was Will
Entertainment factor too.
You got to remember.
Remember like these guys areextremely important.
Then we got to talk aboutplayers like lebron, james kd,
(07:31):
even kawaii, which you can put aquestion mark around, kawaii,
but these were a new wave ofplayers.
Now, keep in mind, I think, theimportance of these guys might
be a little less than theimportance of an AI Kobe, tim
and Shaq, which might be evencrazy to say.
And y'all might be wondering,well, what the hell is Steph
(07:51):
Curry?
I put Steph in a world of hisown Because, remember, ladies
and gentlemen, he did change theway we view the game today and
we'll wait and I want to give ita little bit more time before I
say it's a good way to view thegame as opposed to a negative
way, because, keep in mind too,folks are chucking three balls
more nowadays.
So, I mean, is that really good?
(08:13):
I don't know, we'll find out.
But the way he's changed thegame has helped amplify guards a
little bit.
I will say that is givingguards the shorter guards and
the ability to play with thebigger players, with the taller
players.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,the way steph curry has changed
the game and now how everyoneplays to shoot threes, that's
(08:33):
pretty important, that'sextremely important.
You're, you're affecting playstyle, because before that we
were playing inside out in termsof bigs going to the guards.
So how about james harding?
Because that was a slightiteration of steph curry.
He changed the offense, likeslightly, so we can talk about
incorporating now the sidestep,because that's used by everybody
(08:56):
in a mama, focusing on theoffensive triple doubles, if you
will like, the 30-point tripledoubles, if you will, which keep
in mind too.
Russell Westbrook started thattriple double repeatedly,
consistently getting right.
Although Big O was the firstperson to get it, russ was the
first one to get it consistently.
(09:16):
So James Harden, russellWestbrook, you could put them in
the same boat.
But James also, the way he gothis buckets, it's a little bit
different.
So that's why I separated those.
But the sidestep for James andthen the triple doubles for
Russell Westbrook Got to focuson that.
But are those important for youtoo?
They have changed the game alittle bit too.
(09:38):
Even someone like a NikolaJokic, he has been able to
change the game because he'sgetting triple doubles.
Keep in mind I said RussellWestbrook is getting triple
doubles, but also the wayJokic's doing it is a little bit
different.
Now Is that going to change thegame?
Because now we're looking forbigs to be able to pass.
That's the new thing.
Can your bigs pass as well asscore as well as rebound's?
(10:01):
What we're focusing on, thatcomplete, quote-unquote player,
keep in mind, it's theefficiency, that completeness,
quote-unquote of thetriple-double, because people
did gripes about Russ and histurnovers and the lack of
efficiency that he would haveJames Harden, similar-ish things
.
Right With Jokic it is a littlebit more efficient.
(10:23):
So that's the differencebetween Jokic, russ and James
Harden, but we really couldthrow them all in the same wave.
If we're being honest and keepin mind too Jokic, we do have
other bigs who are consideredpassing bigs, like Arvita Sabas,
sabonis you know that's DemontaSabonis' daddy you got Wilt
Chamberlain, who was considereda good passing big.
Bill Russell was a good passingbig, as well as Bill Walton.
(10:45):
So I mean we got a coupleplayers out there who were
passing bigs too.
Just the efficiency piece thatI'm talking about.
So again, ladies and gentlemen,I say all of this to say I'm
curious who you all are thinkingis the most important NBA
player, because a lot of theseguys have a solid, strong case
(11:06):
for being the most important NBAplayer in the history, like I
can make Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
If you said Kareem, I wouldunderstand it.
Anybody on this list, I can hearit like all right, I guess I.
If you try to say Yoki, I thinkthat's way too early.
But still, okay, I understandthe logic in what you're saying.
(11:27):
I guess I don't agree, but Ihear what you're saying.
So again, I'm definitelycurious what you all are saying.
So please let me know what youall are saying.
But also, like subscribe,comment, tell anyone who's
anyone about the show.
My name is Trey.
I'm the host of Get a Bucket.
(11:47):
Hope you all are having a goodone.
Take care.
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