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“Skip Bayless ranks LeBron James 9th on his all-time list of top 10 NBA players”: The veteran analyst has Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson above the 18x All-Star

Arjun Julka
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"Skip Bayless ranks LeBron James 9th on his all-time list of top 10 NBA players": The veteran analyst has Shaquille O'Neal and Magic Johnson above the 18x All-Star

Television personality Skip Bayless reveals his top 10 players from the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team, and LeBron James is on it.

With the NBA celebrating its 75th anniversary, several media outlets have been assigning rankings from the pool of the all-time 75 players. The primary focus of each analytical debate has been the top 10 players. Recently, ESPN revealed its rankings, setting social media on fire.

Now we all know this is a futile discussion. However, it makes for a fun conversation and high television ratings. ESPN’s list did raise a few eyebrows as predicted and now has every sports analyst/pundit making their corrections to it.

Thus, it was a matter of time before former ESPN employee Skip Bayless dished out his list.

During a recent episode of The Skip Bayless Podcast, the veteran analyst had a fan question that asked him to name his top 10 players from the 75th-anniversary team. Bayless looked to have already prepared for this question and would reveal his list soon.

Also read: “Jayson Tatum takes a leaf out of Kobe Bryant’s book”: The Celtics All-Star puts Andre Drummond and Kessler Edwards on a poster

Having watched Bayless talk NBA for decades, I think we all knew who was going to be his no.1. And the list did have his nemesis, Mr. LeBron James.

Skip Bayless reveals his top 10 picks from the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team.

It was without a doubt that Bayless would have Michael Jordan at the top of the heap, having covered MJ since his days in Chicago. The Undisputed analyst found the thought of having LeBron James over Jordan laughable. Bayless didn’t hesitate to take a shot at co-panelist Shannon Sharpe.

The contrasting views of Bayless and Sharpe on James are a topic of regular debate on their show Undisputed.

Skip’s list goes as follows.

    1. Michael Jordan
    2. Magic Johnson
    3. Shaquille O’Neal
    4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
    5. Tim Duncan
    6. Bill Russell
    7. Kobe Bryant
    8. Larry Bird
    9. LeBron James
    10. Wilt Chamberlain

The veteran analyst even went on to say that if he had any of his top 7 players, he would beat James’ team. Bayless didn’t hold back from taking a shot at James’ second title in Miami.

“Tim Duncan, who should have another ring. Thank you, Ray Allen.”

Also read: “The one thing that bothers me is I would’ve been the Finals MVP”: Draymond Green believes he would have been on the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team, hadn’t it been for his altercation with LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals 

The top 10 list of the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team does make for a great barbershop conversation. However, just like every discussion, there is no conclusion.

About the author

Arjun Julka

Arjun Julka

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Arjun Julka is a NBA author at The SportsRush. Basketball isn’t just a sport for this 26-year-old, who hails from Mumbai. He began watching the sport after stumbling upon a court in his society, helping him identify an undiscovered passion for the game of hoops. Now an ardent fan, Arjun supports Stephen Curry and the Warriors but also enjoys watching Giannis Antetokounmpo own the paint. When it comes to the GOAT debate, the TSR author feels LeBron James is yet to receive a lot of his due but cannot deny marveling at Michael Jordan’s resume.

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