I was reading the latest Sports Illustrated the other day when I came across an article on who is the greatest player in NBA history? Lebron James or Michael Jordan? My first thought was neither. Blasphemy, you say!

Comparison of athletes from different eras is an interesting but fruitless endeavor to start with as those engaged will pretty much defend their opinions to the death. However, since that is the game of the moment, lets play.

My candidate is the Big œO, Oscar Roberson. This is a player who almost recorded a career triple double over 13 seasons. Check the record book. Lets look at some aspects of the comparisons:

PASSING: Clearly the Big œO reigns. Thats hands down over Michael or Lebron.

SHOOTING/SCORING: The œO again. Free throws, field goals, average (and with no 3 pointers)

REBOUNDING: The best I can do here is give Michael and Lebron a tie.

DEFENSE: Best defender in his day”The Big œO. Yes, there are more good athletes today but the talent in his day was spread over 8 teams not 30. The only knock was that sometimes he was lazy about defending but I could say that about the other two as well.

BALL HANDLING: We are not really going to have a conversation about this are we?
Milwaukee won their only championship because no one could get Oscar to turn it over or prevent him from going where he chose on the court. He was a ball handling clinic.

Oscar Roberson was never a high flyer, never needed to be. Efficiency was his game. He was only on one Championship team. Also, for most of his career he was in the same division as Bill Russell and his Boston Celtics. They had several players who won multiple championships and they are not in the Hall of Fame.

Most of the current media never even saw Oscar Roberson play. I played against him in his first professional game ever and his numbers looked just like they looked the rest of his career.

Since we comparing today, lets do one more. Shaquille ONeal is retiring. There are those who would claim he is the best big man ever. Because of the lack of competition at his position we will never know how good he might have been.

Had Shaq played back in the day against those centers of that era he would most certainly have improved. Here are a few I would definitely rate over him.

WILT CHAMBERLAIN 72 285 lbs. Fastest player in the NBA. Greatest physical specimen ever. Check the record book for more.

BILL RUSSELL 69 235 lbs. They didnt keep blocked shots as a stat in his time. My bet is he would have averaged double figures. Biggest winner of all time.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR 73 250 lbs. Great shooter. Unstoppable œsky hook. Dominating force at both ends of the court.

Others worth mentioning:

NATE THURMOND, WILLIS REED, WALT BELLAMY, WES UNSELD. BOB LANIER, ROBERT PARISH.

I am sure I have left someone out. These centers were bona fide in every sense and would have battled Shaq at every turn. Shaq would have been the beneficiary of that competition.

Beware of getting trapped in comparison in your own life. You are a stand-alone work of art and worthy of your spot on the planet.

There will always be someone œbetter than you or œworse than you. There will be someone smarter or richer or more beautiful, etc., etc. And you will be better in those things than lots of other folks. So what!

The question is, do you fully bring to the party 100% day in and day out? Do you fully utilize what you have to give? Sorry, that was 2 questions. Do that and you will thrive and be satisfied.

Check out Coach Todds latest book on lulu.com œThe Art of Losing Coaching Athletics and Thriving in a Made-for-TV World.