14-year NBA veteran Kendrick Perkins was on ESPN’s NBA Today on Wednesday where he revealed his top five point guards of all-time. The topic was brought up because August 14 was Magic Johnson’s 65th birthday.
Like much of what Perkins and other sports talking pundits such as Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless say, his list was debated and scrutinized by many.
Kendrick Perkins Reveals His Top 5 Point Guards Of All-Time
Big Perk’s Top 5 Point Guards
- 1. Stephen Curry
- 2. Magic Johnson
- 3. Oscar Robertson
- 4. Russell Westbrook
- 5. John Stockton
Perkins started off his list with Curry, the all-time leader in three-pointers made. His outside shooting has helped to spur a change in the way the game is played, as three-point shooting has become so much more frequent. The 36-year-old Curry has won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors as well as two MVPs.
Second on his list is Johnson, who many consider to be the GOAT at the position. Johnson won five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and was named league MVP three times. His career average of 11.2 assists per game is the most in NBA history.
In third came Robertson, the original king of the triple-double. In 1961-62, he became the first player to average a triple-double in a season. He was named MVP in 1963-64 and won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971. Roberson averaged more than 30 points per game in six of his first seven seasons as a member of the Cincinnati Royals.
Westbrook, who came in fourth on Perkins’ list, is the all-time triple-double leader with 199. In 2016-17, Westbrook won MVP as he became just the second player to average a triple-double in a season. He averaged a triple-double during three of the next four seasons as well. Westbrook won two scoring titles with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Rounding out his list is Stockton, the all-time leader in both assists and steals Stockton. He currently has 3,715 more assists and 581 more steals than any other player. Stockton was somewhat of an ironman, as he didn’t miss a game in 17 of his 19 seasons. Additionally, he led the league in assists for nine straight seasons spanning from 1987-88 to 1995-96.
Who Was Missing From His List?
Since the list was limited to just five players, some all-time great point guards were omitted from Perkins’ list. Dave McMenamin was also on the set of ESPN’s NBA Today. He first brought up why Johnson should be ahead of Curry. McMenamin said how Johnson is ahead of Curry in total MVPs and championships won.
Then, McNemanin mentioned he mostly had a problem with the back of Perkins’ list. He brought up Chris Paul (known as ‘The Point God’) and Jason Kidd (second all-time in assists and steals) as two players that were huge omissions. While McMenamin was discussing them, ESPN also showed a graphic that showed those two along with Isiah Thomas, Gary Payton, and Steve Nash as star point guards that Perkins did not include. Other notable Hall of Fame point guards that weren’t on Perkins’ list include Walt Frazier, Bob Cousy, and Jerry West (many debate if he should be considered a point or shooting guard).
