48. Chris Kaman
With summer dragging on and on and on before the NBA tips off, we’ve decided to initiate a multipart series that will be the definitive look at the best players in the NBA today. Over the next month or so we’ll run down the 50 guys that we think are the 50 best players, right here, right now.
With summer dragging on and on and on before the NBA tips off, we’ve decided to initiate a multipart series that will be the definitive look at the best players in the NBA today.
Over lunch at the Outback Steakhouse (word to Steve Irwin), your crack SLAMonline.com staff sat down and ranked the 50 best players in the NBA today. We realize that’s kind of ambiguous, but that’s how basketball is and that’s how we like it. Basically, though, we tried to list the 50 guys we think have the most value to their teams, right now, at this moment. This doesn’t mean they’ll never be traded, and it doesn’t mean they’re due tremendous contract extensions, but it does mean — since value is king in the NBA — that over the next month or so we’ll run down the 50 guys that we think are the 50 best players, right here, right now.
Before long it’ll be time for our annual NBA team previews. Right now it’s time for some law and order…
48. Chris Kaman, Los Angeles Clippers
By Sam Rubenstein
It’s becoming a guard and swingman’s league. The center position is on the endangered species list, and today’s dominant big men are explosively quick athletes with versatile games. Talents like Elton Brand.
On the other end of that is the Kaveman. He’s only 23 years old, getting better every year, and last season he was a borderline double double player. He might be the most rugged big man in the west already and he even has a 20-20 game to his name. Elton Brand was getting MVP buzz in part because Kaman was freeing him up by doing his dirty work. When the playoffs came around he wasn’t healthy, and the Clips lost a seven game series to Phoenix. With a healthy Kaman, who knows what would have happened. He’s valuable enough a player to swing a playoff series the other way.
The production as a rebounder, defender, and garbage buckets man is nice, but Chris also brings a little bit of mystique and intimidation. Just look at him. That hair. The glazed look of a neanderthal that’s about to club you over the head and drag you back to his cave for dinner. He’s been everything for the Clippers that #1 overall pick Michael Olowokandi was not. And you wouldn’t catch Kaman getting tazered. He’s probably got a cross bow with armor piercing tazer arrows at home. It’s probably aimed right between your eyes as you’re reading this, right now. Be still.
You can’t even stop him by going below the belt. Reggie Evans is supposed to be a tough guy, but he had to play dirty to get at Kaman. Chris shoved him to the ground, gave him a look of disgust, and walked away. Swagger. Even though his numbers are good and getting better every year, Chris is one of those outside the box score players. He’s critical to the Clipper rennaissance.
52 Responses to “48. Chris Kaman”
Sep.11 at 10:14 am
Marco says:
Evans was just going for the contents of the budgie smugglers. Not cool. Kaman should have cracked him one.
Sep.11 at 10:51 am
scott says:
Boris Diaw is vastly underated by the slam staff. You are telling me Diaw isn’t better then Milicic or Kaman?
Sep.11 at 10:58 am
John says:
@scott
Milicic yes, Kaman no.
Sep.11 at 11:11 am
Gilbert0 says:
50 most valuable to their team, maybe kaman sneaks in. 50 best players, i don’t think so. Love the kaveman’s game but I think this one is a stretch. I would love him on my team but I dont think he is in the top 50. Swagger does matter though.
Sep.11 at 11:38 am
Lang Whitaker says:
Thing is, Kaman’s a legit big man, which is so rare these days in the NBA and in my mind puts him over Boris.
Sep.11 at 11:41 am
scott says:
Kaman is a legit top 50 player in the nba. I still believe though that Diaw is a better player then Kaman and Diaw is more valuable to his respected team.
Sep.11 at 12:12 pm
Myung says:
Instead of re-typing things I wrote in the Darko entry, I just wanted to copy and paste it here. “1st of all, i don’t know why everyone’s taking this list so seriously. it’s just the SLAM staff, creating dialogue and conversation. as long as it doesn’t create statements like, “chinese people don’t have that brutal domination mentality” (which someone wrote in a past thread), everything else is fair game. forget top FIFTY’s…i bet if you asked everyone to name a top TEN, no one would agree, whether it was you, me, lang, or david stern making the list. but i admit i’m a little confused by the whole criteria. the intro says BOTH: “Basically, though, we tried to list the 50 guys we think have the most value to their teams, right now, at this moment” AND “over the next month or so we’ll run down the 50 guys that we think are the 50 best players, right here, right now.” that’s basically talking about 2 different things: value vs. overall skills/talent. if it were based on value to a team, i’d almost think you’d have at least one player per team on this list (that’s 30 players right there, meaning there’s room for just 20 more). even a bad team like my hawks have guys like joe johnson and josh smith. and then you take teams with multi stars like the suns (nash, marion, amare, that french pastry), the spurs (manu, duncan, parker), pistons…i can go on and on. i’m not going to make my own list like jackie D did…but i guarantee you that if you listed the top 50 based on skills and what not (put it this way: the top 50 guys you’d pick for your fantasy draft), i’m sure diaw wouldn’t make it but MIGHT sneak in…and darko wouldn’t even be near it. only if you go by the first part of the intro (based strictly on VALUE to the team) will guys like diaw and darko enter the picture. of course that’s just mad subjective. slam could justify it and say a cat like, let’s say, luke walton is valuable to the lakers because he’s a good TEAM guy…a good locker room guy…whatevers. it’s all subjective. i ain’t gonna sweat the list. whoever’s on it is on it. darko. kwame. christian laettner. skip. bassy. damon jones. ronnie fields. stephon. whoevers. i look forward the healthy dialogue between fellow hoop heads.” that being said (for the 2nd time…sorry for the repeat post…i just didn’t want to re-type everything)…judging by the first 3 guys on slamonline’s list, i’m sure we’ll have guys like bogut, marvin, adam morrison, and channing frye on the list…and guys like rashard lewis, zach randolph, baron davis, and kenyon martin won’t be. possibly the more important questions than “how is darko on this list?” would be “how long did you guys stay at outback in order to compile this list?” and “how many drinks did you have in order to justify putting darko on this list?”
Sep.11 at 1:04 pm
Lucas says:
Seems to me that Diaw was much more valuable to the Suns defeating the Clips in the playoffs than Kaman was to his team. Diaw is a much better player, has much more upside, AND is more valuable. As for Darko, he is a shitty player on a shitty team with limited upside. Who cares that this guy is important to Orlando. They sucked before Darko and they still suck.
Sep.11 at 1:07 pm
Chris O'Leary says:
It’d be interesting to find out how many times drunk people have chosen Darko for something. People that come to mind include Chad Ford, Joe Dumars, the SLAM crew at Outback and probably some Pistons groupies who lost out on Sheed, Ben Wallace, Rip, Chancey, Bill Laimbeer, etc. That’s a long sentence. One other thing: when making a list of the top 50 players today, whether it’s based on team value or overall skill, is there anyone out there that jumps into your head at 48? No. You make your top ten, push it out to 25 pretty easy, and so on. The last five to pick for this thing were probably as hard as the top five. Was there any discussion on who’s number 51?
Sep.11 at 1:10 pm
Vitor says:
I gotta go with Lang on this one. Just imagine: do you think the clippers would trade kaman for diaw? the answer would be a resounding NO.
Sep.11 at 1:22 pm
winston and the telescreen says:
kaman is much more valuable to the clippers than diaw would be
and diaw is much more valuable to the suns then kaman would be
so whatever
watching people become disgusted is fun though
cant wait till we get to the top 5
then people are REALLY going to be pissed off
(and if starbury cracks the top 10 count me in as one of the disgruntled people)
Sep.11 at 1:38 pm
Myung says:
by the time we get to the top 5, i’m sure we’ll know who the top 5 will be. all that’s going to be left is the order in which they’re ranked. it’d be different if the list went from 1 to 50. but since it’s going from 50 to 1, we’ll pretty much know who’s left.
Sep.11 at 2:41 pm
G and D says:
love the caveman’s highly efficient, no frills game and agree that phoenix (my favorite team) might have been in trouble if tall, pale and scary hadn’t clipped his wing darko? i didn’t realize that there were that many people who had actually seen him play real minutes more than once or twice. under those constraints, it’s pretty tough to form an opinion either way (but congrats to slam for creating some controversy and drawing interest in the new feature, if that was the purpose) i am curious about the above photo, though: when was that taken? an xbox promo event? does this mean k and k are actually friends? or were they just hanging out?
Sep.11 at 3:20 pm
niQ says:
kaman does do alot for the team.. but i still think diaw deserved a mcuh higher status.. he’s jason kidd but taller..lol
Sep.11 at 3:25 pm
nolan fraver says:
Kaman is a legit big man and a player that should be respected in the NBA. But, after watching Diaw’s performance in last year’s western conference playoffs, there is no way Kaman is more of an impact player than Diaw is at this point. Against Dallas, Diaw at points became the suns go-to scorer. He is a player that can hurt you from inside and out, and is a far more polished offensive threat than Kaman. Kaman might be a better rebounder or dirty-work type player, but Diaw has the ability to take over a game, an ability that Kris Kaman will never have. Both are good players now but Diaw is the only one who has the chance to be great.
Sep.11 at 3:33 pm
O'Nell says:
Word. Dude needs to cut his hair though.
Sep.11 at 3:37 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
I have no idea when that photo was taken, and there was no drinking involved in the creation of these rankings. Guys like Diaw with the versatile game are the future of the league, but I prefer Kaman’s whole package of ruggedness and craziness. Call them intangibles if you want.
Sep.11 at 4:04 pm
Chris Clarke says:
It’s hard to get people to agree on anything, but when you say that 3 of the best players in the NBA are Darko, Diaw and Kaman, you’re asking for trouble. I said it on my blog - it’s hard to agree on the best players in the NBA beyond the top players on each team, so beyond top 30, it’s going to get heated.
Sep.11 at 4:06 pm
Bruno says:
I think that Myung has a point, the intro for this list is what is causing all this discussion … one thing is value to their teams and a different thing is the 50 best players right now
I have no problem with Diaw and Kaman, but Darko? I hope I’m wrong and slam is right though, I’ll have to wait until this season starts
Sep.11 at 4:11 pm
Paniscus says:
Look, if people would just sing the guitar part to Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song every time Kaman takes the court then dude would catapult to the top 5. Easily.
Sep.11 at 4:39 pm
rgeezy says:
Im feelin this pick…remember when I said it in September, if Chris Kaman could average double-doubleish numbers the Clippers would make the playoffs. Even before his great year last year I said he would be the most important player for the Clippers. Can I put the Clippers season preview on reserve for this year?
Sep.11 at 5:24 pm
Lucas says:
Kaman averages double doubles cause he gets 5 of his own rebounds trying to make one layup.
Sep.11 at 5:42 pm
Myung says:
hate hate hate hate hate…
Sep.11 at 6:05 pm
Hype says:
Kaman knows where his balls is going to land,(*cough*) what’s why he’s good on the boards.
Sep.11 at 6:07 pm
Delicious J. says:
“The glazed look of a neanderthal that’s about to club you over the head and drag you back to his cave for dinner.” HAHA.. Yeah. Kaveman style.
Sep.11 at 6:41 pm
myung says:
If this list were viewed by this local talk radio show in Atlanta (the 2 live stews), they would’ve brought up the race card by now.
Sep.11 at 6:53 pm
Jackie D says:
Maybe you guys should have begun at number one? At this rate you are going to end up with probably Antawn Jamison at number one, with no room for Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Shaq, Duncan, Dirk or any of the top players… Chris Kaman??!!
Sep.11 at 6:55 pm
Glen Denham says:
“you mean bears come up to these windows, and you just, club em over the head?”
Sep.11 at 6:58 pm
serbia23 says:
scott shut up
Sep.11 at 7:00 pm
Ang says:
kinda like a young camby. except kaman’s not injured all the time.
Sep.11 at 7:49 pm
tom says:
I’m just wondering, when U gonna put guys like brad miller, kenyon martin or even kurt thomas if darko is 49 and kamen 48??
Sep.11 at 7:50 pm
Baller319 says:
This is countdown is cr@p. If the writers are reading this please consider the players you pick. Kaman is a great player but there are at least 60 players in the NBA that are better. Thic countdown SUCKS. Milicic should be at 49 and he probably is better than Diaw, but if he is he hasn’t shown it so far. Maybe next year you can but him ahead of Diaw. THIS COUNTDOWN IS WORTHLESS
Sep.11 at 7:54 pm
Abed says:
Putting Kaman and Milicic ahead of Boris is just another example of how u guys hate on the Phoenix suns..
Sep.11 at 9:31 pm
Natalie says:
You gotta love this guy for the hair and the fact that he shoots a crossbow in his back yard in the middle of LA. I see this is going to be a long road ahead, seems like everyone is going to bitch about every single pick. Good luck Sam!
Sep.11 at 9:49 pm
acc all the way says:
MIKE JAMES
Sep.12 at 1:55 am
Paolo says:
This is a good pick. He’s ugly but he can ball.
Sep.12 at 2:24 am
Paolo says:
Myung, you said you don’t know why everyone is taking this list so seriously. But when you peruse through the comments, you have the longest comments and the most frequent blogger. Chill-out, man. You don’t have to post stuff just to post stuff. You don’t even make a point! Anyway, who’s 47?
Sep.12 at 3:52 am
Jackie D says:
47: Richard Jefferson
Sep.12 at 4:14 am
bja says:
Is the post abovie from THE Glen Denham? New Zealand basketball’s former captain and all time leader in games played? And general Otago favourite son? If so, what’s up GD?
Sep.12 at 7:35 am
myung says:
Paolo…yeah, I post a lot and write a lot. I DO offer my opinions on other posts. These “top 50″ ones, I don’t really see the point of arguing who’s better than who bc it’s all subjective. If you actually read my post, THAT was what I offered to THIS particular one. Im not exactly sure what there is to “chill out” about. You got some problem w me posting frequently or writing a lot? Then just say that. I personally don’t have anything to offer to these top 50 ones bc like I said, it’s all subjective. I’m sure YOU didn’t post YOUR comment just for the sake of calling me out for writing so much or so frequently. Instead, you offered some pretty good basketball insight about chris kaman too, as we can all see. Thanks. Right.
Sep.12 at 10:47 am
Aaron says:
Number 47: Robert Swift Keep with the tradition of big white guys that are higher than Boris Diaw based on potential.
Sep.12 at 12:22 pm
Deuce21 says:
Man, a lot of you guys are getting heated over this. Lists like this are “subjective” for a reason. It’s only one group of peoples opinion, that’s all. Do I agree with Kaman’s choice in the top 50? Well think of it this way, is Kaman a top 5 player in his position? Shaq, Yao, Amare, B. Miller, B Wallace, Z, Camby, Okur, then maybe Kaman. (Along with Curry, Bogut, Kristic, and Frye) That’s a lot of guys that can play. This difference maybe is, Kaman is still real young, he’s got good consistant numbers across the board and he’s getting better every season. Plus he’s a really good fit on the clips. Maybe that’s why he’s in the 50. He’s the difference for the Clips between 2nd round and (shock horror!) The finals.
Sep.12 at 4:30 pm
chrisonepointsix says:
Kaman is still young and improves every year. Also remember, he plays on a team where he is the 4th or 5th option at times. He does a hell of a job for the Clips, he is the perfect compliment to Elton Brand, they both feed off of each other. Kaman has put together stretches of 17 and 10 basketball when he gets enough touches. In a halfcourt game, if he gets going early he can have a big game. Kaman is money, especially when compared to the rest of the 7 foot stiffs out there.
Sep.12 at 5:46 pm
Brian says:
A few thoughts: 1 - To anyone in attendance at Game 7 of the Phoenix series this year I was the guy yelling such catchy phrases as I’M A KAMANIAK!!, HALF MAN, HALF KAMAZING!!, KAM-AND-1!!, KA-BOOM!! after Kaman went on a tear to start the 2nd half (okay it was only a few buckets but he was on a mini-tear). Nothing like seeing the Kamonater in person. 2 - Some people take this stuff entirely too serious…some real clowns posting here. 3 - Kaman has the makings of a all-star true center. A 7 footer with his talents are definitely to be valued higher than a Boris Diaw type player. Tends to fade a bit with his ADD but when he’s going and getting touches he’s a beast. 4 - Love the crazy hair…especially in ‘trendy’ LA. Blaze your own path my man.
Sep.13 at 12:33 am
donovan says:
Chris Kaman is a very rear type of player; he is very quick 265lb, 7” center good low post defender and a excellent rebounder. He has the ability to become a great inside scorer, but rite now only has a nice touch around the hoop an is a high percentage free through shooter. And I think has the potential to become as good as Tim Duncan because of his agility around the hoop. He will be a allstar player. And 48th suites him fine.
Sep.15 at 2:00 pm
PIMPN says:
I AGREE CAVEMAN IS LEGIT . LOOK OUT FOR THE CLIPSHOW NEXT YEAR
Sep.24 at 6:02 pm
Justin H says:
Kaman Is doin Alright. I’d Like to see what the Clips would be without him.
P.S. I’ll Wait for Corey Maggette.
Sep.27 at 2:46 am
DVLb0y613 says:
OMG! say it aint so……..
Oct.6 at 6:59 pm
John Bowen says:
Kaman has the classic big man tools, speed, strength, length and can actually shoot the ball with either hand. He can improve in not getting lost on defensive switches but Kaveman is a big reason why EB put up some big numbers in 05-06. Teams can’t leave either open or they will pay.
Oct.17 at 2:52 pm
» The $50 million Kaveman - SLAM Online says:
[…] Dikembe is a better person than YOUBy Sam Rubenstein This has been a long-time coming, andIsiah’s Back!by Lang Whitaker Remember last season? Everytime we heard anythingThe Ben Is Over?Put those ‘fros away! According to the Detroit Free Press,Breaking News: Al Harrington to Indiana?by Lang Whitaker When I’m not sitting here deleting German48. Chris KamanWith summer dragging on and on and on beforeSunday news flash…• The biggest news is in L.A., where ElginMariah, The Glove and Ginobili!by Lang Whitaker QUOTE OF THE DAY “It was the most ARCHIVES BY DATE […]
Jan.8 at 11:50 am
Jamie21 says:
he cut his hair…no more talent!!!
Jan.8 at 5:58 pm
Dave-ex-driver says:
how are you all today? good i hope but just let me tell you about chris kaman,he is a cheap no good low life that hire drivers for his kaman transportation (trucking company) andputs you to work for a few months and then never calls you back to work even thou you can run to ca and back to michigan in 5 days ,thats a pretty good job if you ask me,.
and to top it off he shorts your pay on the last run by 15 cents per mile insted of 40 you only get 25 cents ,thats crap.
hey thanks a million there chris for starving my family and haveing every thing taken away by not haveing a job that you promised i would have.
thanks for nothing and i hope you choke on your millions.