Basketball Mount Rushmore

I've always found it interesting that basketball is always the one sport where your "Mount Rushmore" comes up, especially since there are pretty much 3 givens. I guess more often than not people ask because they want to see who your 4th choice is and why you left off said person. I'm gonna really irritate some people today, completely unintentionally. I swear.

Michael Jordan

It's Jordan, I can be controversial but I'm not about to be blasphemous by leaving Jordan off of this list. I'm not that crazy. Michael was 6-0 in the finals, never went to a game 7 in the NBA Finals. He won the regular season MVP 5 times, Finals MVP 6 times, and was even a Defensive Player of the year. And of course his Bulls held the previous best regular season record of 72-10 in the 1995-1996 season. That was of course before Golden State was able to break that record and make it 73-9 in 2015-2016. But so be it, records were meant to be broken. Also just to throw a little shade at Golden State, at least 72-10 won a ring that season.

Kobe

RIP Black Mamba. It's Kobe, the sheer dedication to the game he had will never be matched. Kobe went 5-2 in the finals. Kobe finished his career #4 in the all-time NBA points leaders at 33,643 points. Kobe also won 2 finals MVPs and one regular season MVP.

Above all else, his final game was definitely a "where were you?" moment. I vividly remember, even though I'm a Clippers fan and I can't stand the Lakers. I couldn't disrespect Kobe by not watching his last game. My eyes were glued to the TV just appreciating his last game. The man went for 60 in his final game. After struggling with injuries his last few playing years, boy was it great to see him show the world one last time that he was still "The Black Mamba". And mind you that same night the Golden State Warriors were about to win their 73rd game, but I didn't care. Records were meant to be broken, but there will only ever be one "Kobe's last game". This man gave his all to the game and I know he wouldn't have changed a thing, but man I just wish he wasn't taken away so soon so he could have actually enjoyed his retirement with his daughters. Thank you Kobe.

Lebron

Love him or hate him, it's still Lebron. He's the only player on this list that is still active and he's also the #3 all time points leader in NBA history. Although 4 seems to be his lucky number; 4 MVP's, 4 Finals MVP's, and 4 rings. Sure he still has a losing record in the finals , but we'll let that slide because it's Lebron. That's not me throwing shade by the way I'm being genuine. Lebron has so much both on and off the court for the NBA. Lastly, although especially recently Lebron has slowed down a little bit and has more injuries here and there at this point in his career. We all know Lebron still has a lot left in the tank. So we'll see what else he can add to his legacy.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

He's the NBA's all time leading scorer at 38,387 points. That should be enough of an explanation as to why he's on my list. But I can't disrespect Kareem by not acknowledging some of his accomplishments. Kareem won 6 championships (as a player, he has two more as an assistant coach), 6 regular season MVPs, and 2 Finals MVPs. Granted everyone on this list is an amazing two-way player. Kareem seriously was unstoppable on both sides. Kareem is the 3rd all-leading rebounder and 3rd in blocks all times, which is insane since blocks weren't even officially recorded until his 4th year in the league.

Last but not least, the Skyhook. This has to be the most iconic and unstoppable move in all of NBA history. The only moves that come close is Dirk's one legged fade away and like, Jordan's post ups.

Honorable mentions in no particular:

• Magic Johnson
• Wilt Chamberlin
• Larry Bird
• David Robinson
• Bill Russell
• Tim Duncan
• Shaq
• Dirk

Before I forget all of these men are absolute legends. I have to make a part 2 and I promise I will. Basketball has a crazy rich history of ridiculously talented players. I'll be showing those other players some love eventually.

Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoyed what you have read today. I have plenty of different articles on many different topics. Feel free to give those other articles a read or two. Also if you'd be so kind, I'd greatly appreciate a heart and if you really feel so inclined tips are always appreciated but by no means required.