It all depends how you define it. I don't believe Andrew Bogut is the greatest player we have ever produced - he does, however have among the very best NBA resumes for an Aussie.

Number 1 draft pick, a few All NBA defensive teams, Naismith Trophy winner etc. Add a ring to that, and it is a tidy resume on paper - Longley however has 3 of them.

Andrew Bogut has had the longest, and personal best NBA resume. Gaze has by far the best international Boomers resume. I dare say Patty Mills is a more exciting talent than both however is an NBA role player. Andrew Gaze was born 25 years too early, and I believe he would have had a solid career in the NBA if he were in his 20's right now.

If you are going on talent and impact - gaze. If you are going on skill - Gaze/Mills. If you are going on NBA resume Bogut by a hair over Longley. I believe our GAOAT remains Andrew Gaze.

LJ would have a pretty big case to be in consideration if your factored in the women.

If you factored in women, Lauren Jackson beats out Gaze, Longley, Bogut and Mills on her own.

Gaze currently but his spot is under threat. Patty wants the GAOAT and is gunning for it. Several more stellar seasons could get him there especially if he continues his beastly performances like the championship winning performance in the finals last year. Delly will bounce back that's for sure. But I think he just wants to be on the Mount Rushmore of GAOATs. He will get that podium spot though. Bogut is getting there, but his lack of boomer performances sets him back.

I think Gaze is most worried about Ben Simmons taking the GAOAT title. This kid can flat out ball and could be a future hall of famer and olympic medalist. But it's difficult to speculate on future. Let's be realistic and say Gaze followed closely by Patty Beast Mode Mills and Bogut.

I think you have to base it on the worth of the players to each team. Longley wasn't exactly the xfactor to that Bulls team but is Bogut either? Patty carried the Spurs in Game 6 finals 2014 but then Delly carried the Cavs through the East playoffs 2015. Gaze wasn't really a factor in the NBA but he was the man in NBL. I am going to have to say Patty because he has destroyed NBL, Olympics, College and NBA.

1. Patty
Gaze
Bogut
Delly

(Mt Rushmore of GAOAT)

LJ for GWAOAT

Depends on what your personal criteria are, but there's no doubt in my mind that Bogut's best was a level about Longley's best, and only injuries have prevented him from making him the undisputed greatest.
He has surpassed Luc in terms of games played, games started, and career averages. It's really only the 3 rings that Luc is ahead on, and those are a far bigger reflection on their respective teammates than their own individual greatness.

* that should have said a level "above", not a level "about"

Lauren Jackson. By miles.

Gaze was a great player in his own right though. Let's not totally write him off based only on lack of NBA success. I will always believe that he could have been a valuable player in the right situation.
Exum has already done more in the NBA than Gaze ever did but I doubt many would call Exum better than Gaze if his career ended today. Ditto Heal or Anstey.

Anon #529, the tail end of Gaze's NBL career was definitely characterised as much by his gamesmanship and favourable ref treatment as by his ability, but in his prime he really was an awesome player. On the shitty Tigers teams of the late 80's opponents could focus on him without much risk of being burned by his mediocre teammates, but he still averaged phenomenal scoring numbers at a very respectable efficiency.

I'm not going in to bat for him as being greater than Bogut, Longley & Co, but the man could play.

I think Gaze would be more highly regarded in the NBA in this era. tbh... I think the standard just isn't the same as the 1990's & early 2000s.

Until this finals series, I would serious believe that Heal is a far superior player to Delly.

I think Bogut was right to make his assessment as being superior to Longley when he was drafted. But, sadly, Bogut has had some extremely rough breaks. I think he is amazing to still be walking, let alone playing ball. So, his championship is some good luck (being traded to a contender), and a whole heap of positive thinking, great medical staff and hard work. Bogut is great, and will be remembered as such.

But, I still think that to be considered the greatest Aussie ever, he needs to be compared to what other Aussies did at International Level & the current guys just haven't done that yet.

I remember having a lot of hope for the 2000 Olympic team achieving a medal. Maybe I'm jaded, but I just can't see them achieving a medal either, despite how many have NBA contracts are on the team.

If you're a GM of an Nba team would you trade Bogut for Mills? Or would the bulls have been better with Bogut or Longley? Before the bulls Longley was a bust and afterwards was an overpaid bust.
If Gaze played Nba in his prime I think best case a Kyle Korver.
So Imo Bogut the best nba but Gaze the best not to play Nba.

Yes, I think Gaze could have been a bit like Korver, but taller and probably a better overall scorer. I think if the NBA played internationals back then as they do now, Gaze would have the better resume than Bogut.

Bogut would be better than Longley on the Bulls. Longley often use to frustrate Jordan by dropping passes, and was often called a 'styrofoam' centre. I think Bogut is an upgrade in every way to Longley but plays a similar role.

Korver and Gaze are the same height...

If Longley was a 'styrofoam' centre they wouldn't have kept him for three straight Championships. Clearly he fitted into the chemistry and played his role or the Bulls would have just traded for any random 7 footer.

The NBA did take internationals in the 90s, guys like Divac, Kukoc and Petrovic were great. The Aussies at the time just weren't good enough to get a regular spot, aside from Longley.

If you're talking ranking according to individual NBA stats/recognition aside from Championships it's
Bogut
Mills
Longley
Dellavedova

Ingles and Exum have only played one season though. Delly has had two decent seasons including significant playoff games this season. Overtime others may overtake him, just calling it as it stands right now.

Fair call on Anstey, he did play three seasons and 155 games. Didn't have the starting roles other guys mentioned in this thread have had, but worth including in the discussion.

Bogut defintely, but isnt as well liked as others at seems to cloud peoples judgement.

I take the Olympics and World Champs as more important than the NBA, and Gaze wins there. Sure, playing NBA year after year against the world's best athletes rates, but so do the games against the best in the world.

Oscar Schmidt WAS the best in the world outside the NBA for many years, and he would have been huge in the NBA if he'd wanted to go there, but he chose not to (from memory).

Patty is an excitement machine but he would never have had 100 NBL games of 40+ points against some very strong imports and locals, Luc wasn't just a bit player on the Bulls, and Delly deserves kudos for working his butt off.

However, in terms of world basketball, my GAOAT is LJ, followed by Bogut, Gaze, Mills, Luc and then possibly Sandy Brondello.

Whoops -got to put Penny Taylor ahead of Sandy!

Any discussion involving woman players has to involve Michelle Timms. While no LJ, at her time of playing for the Mercury she had the highest selling player Jersey in Pheonix, yes even above the Men in the NBA. That alone should include her as a possible GOAT discussion point.

Amazing how there are so many Australians that underrate bogut

You can't compare men and women together when debating like this.

Everyone knows men's teams would demolish women's teams if they played each other. So the argument then is on the basis of how well Jackson has done relative to her competition. But isn't women's basketball for the most part "semi-professional"?

If you're including females then LJ wins and Penny Taylor is a clear second. 3 WNBA rings in which she played crucial roles, multiple All Star, World Championship winner with the Opals in which she was MVP of the tournament. A criminally underrated player, and achievements all over the globe far exceeding any of our men.

Is Kyrie Irving in the discussion?

Dunkin, can you give us a list of the people who underrate Penny? It will be pretty short.

#531602

No need to get all touchy. It was just a question.

HO, just in this thread alone, which is full of hoops fans, plenty of people mentioned LJ and only one mentioned Penny. That's a common theme. Lauren is very well known and rightly so for her achievements. Penny, not so much.

Fair enough Dan. I know no one in the game who underrates or dismisses Penny. But its easy not to mention her against LJ in this discussion. They are contemporaries and LJ stands above her. Timms is mentioned as a great player but her best was when she was not a contemporary of either of those.

Hard to fully gauge Timms because she was on the back end of her career when the WNBA started and much of her prime years were in Europe, but personally I'd have her somewhere close to Penny.
Being an All Star starter alongside Cooper, Swoopes, Thompson & Leslie - all of whom are hall of fame level - tells you what kind of esteem she was held in.

... and of course her Opals achievement are pretty legendary. The Opals rise to regular medals level began before LJ. It began when Timmsy was leading the way.

Dunkin.

The Opals first international medal was 1996, a bronze.

The next was 1998, also bronze - the first time Jackson played in a championship event with the team. Their regular medal appearances have coincided with the Jackson era.

That was my point. That our rise started pre-LJ. Its first big leap was at Atlanta 1996 when we were pretty competitive with the USA, and Timms was our leader and best player at that time.

Was that Steve Kerr talking about luc during a press conference just now on sports center saying he was one of his alltime favorite team mates....but it is early for a public holiday so I may have heard wrong ;)

top 5
1. Lauren Jackson
2. Penny Taylor
3. Andrew Gaze
4. Michelle Timms
5. Luc Longley

"Its like calling oscar schmidt the best Brazilian of all time ahead of Nene or Barbosa."

Oscar Schmidt is by far the greatest Brazilian player of all time. The others don't even come close.

As for Aussies, assuming we are talking the best player in open competitions, not restricted ones, then it has to be Gaze because Longley and Bogut haven't produced anything close to what he did at the game's pinnacle, the Olympics.

If we're talking about the greatest NBA Aussie it's Longley with three rings, clearly, because we haven't had a standout individual performer (hopefully that will change soon though).

If we're including restricted competitions, then Lauren Jackson would be able to challenge Gaze for first spot.

Luc was actually a very good passing centre and that is why he was a good fit in Chicago's triangle offence and why they obtained him from the Timberwolves. The big body, smarts and passing he offered complimented Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc, Harper, Kerr etc.