10. Gary Payton
Gary Payton was a one of a kind point guard. He talked a ton of trash, was one of the best defensive players ever, and had an underrated offensive game. Not to mention, one of the coolest nicknames in the history of the NBA, The Glove. Gary Payton was awesome. Check out the highlights. His resume is pretty nice, he finished in the top 10 for MVP voting eight times, two time 1st and 3rd team All-NBA, five time 2nd team All-NBA, nine time 1st team All-NBA Defensive, and the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year. Payton could play. He did so many things to make an impact on the game. He punished guards on the low block and punished them defensively. Some of those Seattle teams with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were pretty good. It's amazing that they only made it to the Finals once. Gary Payton would be an interesting player in today's league. I think he might lead the league in technical fouls because of the trash talk, but he would find a way to be effective. Payton does not always get his due, but he is one of the best point guards ever.
9. John Stockton
John Stockton was probably the most consistent point guard on this list. You knew what you were going to get each and every night from John Stockton. He looks like the most clean cut guy on the planet, but the stories suggest that he was one of the dirtiest players ever. He has got into it with everyone from Steve Kerr and Michael Jordan to David Robinson. Stockton played to win. He never took more than 12 shots per game in his career and consistently dished out more than 10 assists per game. He is career leader in assists and I am not sure it will ever be topped. Stockton was a great three point shooter and if he was in today's game, I think he would hold his own with the best. Despite not being the greatest athlete in the world, Stockton was a good defender and is the all time leader in steals. Stockton was in the top 10 MVP voting three times, made All-NBA 1st team two times, 2nd team six times, 3rd team three times, and a five time All-NBA Defensive 2nd team selection. Stockton was consistently one of the best point guards in the league for a long time. There were guys that were better than him, but they did not play as well for as long as he did.
8. Oscar Robertson
This was a difficult player to place for me. The majority of Oscar Robertson's career took place in the 60's and I am not sure what to make of guys from that era. We all know Robertson's claim to fame is he was the only guy to ever average a triple double in a season until last season when Russell Westbrook did everything in his power to get a triple double every game including only passing for assists and stealing rebounds from his teammates, but I digress. Robertson was a great player in the league and his resume speaks for itself. He was in the top 10 for MVP Voting nine times, winning the MVP once, nine time 1st team All-NBA, and two times 2nd team All-NBA. The knock on Robertson was that he never made his teammates better, but I would say that due to the lack of teams and some giants like Russell's Celtics and Wilt's Sixers, it was difficult for his teams to compete. Robertson goes down as one of the greatest players ever, but for my purposes he only makes it to number 8 on the point guard list.
7. Walt Frazier
Frazier gets the nod over Oscar for me because he was on two championship Knicks teams that everyone swears were the most selfless teams ever and he was a monster when it mattered most including a 36 point, 19 assist, and 7 rebound game 7 performance in the 1970 NBA Finals, leading the Knicks to the championship without their center Willis Reed. Frazier finished in the top 10 for MVP voting three times, made the All-NBA 1st team four times, 2nd team two times, and was on the All-NBA Defensive 1st team seven times. Frazier goes down as one of the best point guards to play for his ability to play well when it mattered most and his style. Frazier was a big guard that played great defense and could score in a multitude of ways. He is beloved in New York for his time with the Knicks and that is good enough for me to include him at number 7.
6. Jerry West
Jerry West was a great player for the Lakers in the 60's and early 70's and was given the nickname Mr. Clutch even though he had a hard time winning championships with Bill Russell and the Celtics around. West always delivered on his end as a scoring threat that averaged over 30 points per game in the playoffs seven times. He is the only player in history to win Finals MVP that did not win the championship. Jerry West was quite good and he dominated the All-NBA teams of his time making 1st team All-NBA ten times and the 2nd team twice. He finished in the top 10 in MVP voting nine times and made the All-NBA Defensive team five times for good measure. West could do it all on the court and won a championship towards the end of his career. There's a reason that Jerry West was the basis for the NBA logo, he was one of the best players/point guards to ever play.