What's Your Mount Rushmore Of The Best Ball Handlers In NBA History?
Seeing as how this morning I threw up a wake up blog of the best handles of the 2019-20 season, it's only natural that we piggyback off that blog with this question posted by SLAM. It's a tough choice no doubt, all 10 of those guys have some of the best handles the league has ever seen, all play with the ball on a string in a way most are unable to do. This isn't like previous debates where we can look at stats or shit like that to narrow things down, it's basically the eye test. Your Top 4 is most likely going to be different than my Top 4 and that's OK. It's hard to pick a wrong combination with this exercise but this is the internet so I'm sure there will be some disagreement.
Kyrie Irving
Look, do I love Kyrie? Most certainly not. But once again I am putting my bias aside because there is no way Kyrie Irving is not on this Mount Rushmore. Yes I know, this is very big of me. I don't care how badly he quit against the Bucks, I have eyes and those eyes tell me his handles are all time great. It's legit poetry in motion watching him breakdown defenders. When Kyrie wants to get to a certain spot on the floor, few people stop him.
Jamal Crawford
People need to put way more respect on Jamal Crawford's name when it comes to the best handles in NBA history. I feel like he gets overlooked way too much and frankly I will not stand for it. I mean his nickname is Jamal Crossover for crying out loud. He was a pioneer when it comes to a lot of what you see players do today and he sure as shit is making my Mount Rushmore.
Allen Iverson
Imagine having a conversation about the best handles in NBA history and not having AI on your list? Couldn't be me. I mean watch that video again and make a case that AI shouldn't be on this Mount Rushmore. Don't overthink this. There's a reason Iverson is pound for pound the best scoring guard in league history and his handles are a huge part of that. We ALL practiced the patented AI crossover growing up while looking nowhere close to the real thing. I know at the beginning of this blog I said it was OK to have different lists but if you don't have AI you're wrong. Period.
White Chocolate
I know I know, this is where people will probably push back most. Leaving off guys like Pistol Pete, Isiah Thomas, Steph Curry, etc isn't easy. I don't feel great about doing it, but that's just how good I personally think Jason Williams was. I understand that if not for Pistol Pete almost none of these guys develop the handles they had, but Jason Williams took it up a level. Now when you think of Williams you probably think of his passing first, but to me it was that plus the combination of his handles that made him so fun to watch.
So that's my list:
Kyrie Irving
Allen Iverson
Jamal Crawford
Jason Williams
Now feel free to yell at me in the comments, but not until you list your own four