At Shaq's peak he was literally unguardable. Just a force. It was great to watch.

But he also didn't sustain that pace throughout his career. He knew when to pick his spots, especially in the postseason. All in all, his career doesn't match up to Hakeem and even Duncan.

Having Shaq in the top 10 just seems odd to me. Kobe as well, to be fair. It's hard to seperate their myth from their play. It also doesn't help that they played so recently and their greatness is so embedded into our minds, relative to greats of past eras.

It's clear to see Shaq or even Jordan and think you're seeing something that humans shouldn't be able to do. But obviously Duncan and Hakeem and others managed to do great things but just weren't as flashy. Seperating the style from the substance is hard and, this is just me talking, less athletically gifted players get short-thrift relative to great athletes because we (me included), in this modern age, value spectacular play over craft.

I'd have Shaq (and Kobe) closer to 12 or 15 then top 10.

But really once you get anywher from 8 to 12 or 15, your lists just favor personal preference more than anything. I'm not mad at the ESPN list, it just isn't my top 10, which is fine.