The Top 11 Greatest NBA Players of All Time
The saying “you never know what you have till it’s gone” is certainly ringing true right now for all NBA fans. We were so used to having games on every night to watch, comment on and think about. This global pandemic has reaffirmed my belief that being more grateful for what we have is very important.
When the NBA eventually comes back, whether it’s some residual of the current 2019/20 campaign or a whole new season altogether, I will never again take for granted games that I wouldn’t have followed before. I used to not care about games between two bad games unless they had a star player like Trae Young.
Never again.
With all this spare time I’ve been thinking about my top NBA players of all time because it’s always good to talk about the best players who played our beloved game. Watching their highlights is a joy to behold as they do things even other NBA players could only dream about.
Obviously, LeBron James is very high up on my list given what he’s achieved, but I can’t think of someone playing right now besides maybe Luka Doncic that has the potential to end their career as a top 10/15 player of all time. You could argue that Kevin Durant is a top 15 player of all time, but the fact that he joined the Warriors when he did still really hurts his legacy in my opinion.
When talking about the best of the best, it isn’t just about the stats. A player’s NBA story is extremely important because it helps tell the impact that the player made during their career. It’s no good just scoring a lot of points. When you scored them and in what manner is vital if you want to be considered on the Mount Rushmore of NBA players.
With all that being said, here are my top 11 NBA players of all time.
11. Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon
When Michael Jordan picks you at Center in her all-time starting five you know you were a great player. The Dream was both a top 10 offensive and defensive player of all time. There’s no question he was the greatest post-player in NBA history. His ‘Dreamshake’ is legendary, nobody since has been able to replicate his foot-work and finishing ability on the low-block.
Hakeem is not only the all-time leader in blocked shots at 3,830, but he’s 10th all-time in steals as well. He averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds for his career, shot 51.2% from the field and 71.2% from the foul line, was the 2nd best player in the 90s behind Michael Jordan and is the only player in NBA history to win the Regular Season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, the NBA title and the Finals MVP all in one season.
10. Kobe Bryant
I know that a lot of people out there rank Kobe really high on their all-time lists and that his tragic demise is still very much with us, but I cannot in good conscience rank him higher than 10th on this list.
Yes, he has 5 NBA titles and is one of the best scorers to have ever played, but when measured against other players he isn’t as good. That is to take anything away from Bryant though. Nobody in NBA history worked harder than the Black Mamba and the world of sports misses him dearly.
9. Bill Russell
Bill Russell was overrated…I’m sorry to all the Boston fans out there, but he just was. Every other player on my list had at least one season where they scored more than 20 points a game, Russell has never done that. Russell was an amazing rebounder, defender and leader (which is why he has an unmatched 11 rings) but if you’re not a good scorer then you can’t be considered a top 5 player.
I don’t like justifying why players aren’t higher instead of saying why they belong on this list, but sometimes it needs to be said. Russell is still an all-time great player and to this day I still don’t understand how he managed to grab so many rebounds for a guy his size.
8. Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan was the most boring superstar in NBA history, but he ended his career with 5 titles, 2 MVPs, 3 Finals MVPs and was the centerpiece of the Spurs dynasty that lasted nearly 2 decades.
Duncan was so consistently excellent that we just got bored of him putting up 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks a game. He anchored the formidable Spurs defense for so many years, and when he started to slow down, he was pivotal for the beautiful Spurs offense where the ball moved at lightning speed between players to find the perfect shot. He will always be remembered as the quiet giant that softly led the Spurs to become the best team in Sports in the past 2 decades.
7. Wilt Chamberlain
He is something I discovered the other day about the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. A lot of the time people look at their rebounding stats and think that because it was in the 60s then it doesn’t really count because the NBA was a lot different than it was today. Someone averaging 13 rebounds a game in today’s NBA is more highly regarded than someone averaging 13 rebounds a game in 1965.
In 1972, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 16.6 rebounds a game at 24 years old. That same year, a 35-year-old Wilt Chamberlain averaged 19.2 rebounds a game. Kareem’s rebounding record isn’t viewed in the same way Wilt’s is. Kareem’s rebounding totals aren’t dismissed due to era-bias like Wilt’s are.
This just shows that no, Wilt having a career average of 22.9 rebounds wasn’t just because he played in the 60s. Yes, I have no doubt that if Wilt played today he would average fewer rebounds than he did in the 60s and early 70s, but not by much. I think he would have averaged 20 rebounds a game for his career which is an astounding number. It is a great shame that blocks weren’t recorded as a stat during Wilt’s career, but we do have some idea thanks to someone recording Wilt’s games in the latter part of his career. Apparently Wilt was blocking on average 8.8 shots a game….in his mid-30s.
Again if Wilt had played today rather than in the 60s, his BPG would be lower, maybe only around 6 shots a game….
6. Shaquille O’Neal
As strong as Wilt Chamberlain was, even he wouldn’t have been able to deal with the overpowering force of Shaquille O’Neal in his prime. In the 3 straight titles Shaq won with the Lakers he averaged an astounding 35.8 points per game in the Finals. He was simply unstoppable. Nobody in NBA history was as strong as Shaq at 7’ 1” and 325lbs.
When Shaq got the ball on the low-block, there was nothing you could do to stop him from backing you down and dunking the ball on your face. If he had taken his career more seriously then he would probably be 2nd on this list, he was that good in his prime, but sadly he let himself get too heavy in his early 30s which took its toll.
5. Larry Bird
Larry Bird could do it all. He was a great scorer, a terrific rebounder, an amazing passer, and a solid defender. He won 3 straight MVPs in the mid-80s and led the Celtics to 3 titles. He won gold with US Olympic ‘Dream Team’ and led the league in FT% four times.
Bird was also insane in the clutch. He hit a huge number of clutch shots in his career because he had extreme confidence in his ability. His battles with Magic in the 80s were legendary and led to some of the greatest moments in NBA history.
Even in the late stages of his career when his back started to breakdown he was extremely effective. He was still able to average over 20 points a game in his last season at age 35.
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The all-time leader in career points, 6 NBA titles, 6 regular season MVPs, the most unstoppable move in NBA history. The career of Kareem was extraordinary, and yet he is often overlooked when it comes to the GOAT debate.
Kareem averaged 23.4 PPG at the age of 38 and played until he was 41 because he perfected his skyhook, and because he was 7’ 2” it couldn’t be blocked by anyone. If blocked shots had been counted before the 1973/74 season then he would have over 4,000, more than the current all-time leader Hakeem Olajuwon.
3. LeBron James
The King could end up high on this list if he wins a legitimate title with the Lakers, but the workload he has put forth already has him at 3rd all time. It baffles me that twice the Cleveland Cavaliers have failed to give LeBron the pieces he needs to be continually successful.
LeBron’s last season in 2010 before he left for Miami, Cleveland’s regular season record was 61-21. The following season without LeBron they went 19-63. LeBron’s last season with them again in 2018, they went 50-32. The next season, 19-63 again. The Cavs were nothing without LeBron. Time and time again he had to do everything, and because he was so good, the Cav’s front-office thought they could just get away with doing nothing.
His comeback in the 2016 Finals against the 73-9 Golden-State Warriors needs to be appreciated more for how good it was. It’s scary to think what else he would have achieved had he had better help.
2. Magic Johnson
For some reason I feel that Magic Johnson is highly underrated by a lot of NBA commentators and fans. Magic was the ultimate team player and the best passer we’ve ever seen. At 6’ 9” he was easily the tallest point-guard in NBA history. Career averages of 19.5 pts, 11.2 assists, 7.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals all on 52% from the floor show how effective he was. The ‘Showtime’ Lakers were the best team in the 80s solely because Magic made sure everyone was involved.
Sadly Magic missed 4 whole seasons due to HIV, but if he had played those years then maybe people would put more respect on his name, but I will never not appreciate a truly sensational player.
1. Michael Jordan
This is not an opinion, it’s a self-evident truth; Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, no questions asked. 6 titles with 2 three-peats, 5 MVPs, 10 scoring titles, the highest career PPG in league history, the greatest defensive shooting-guard of all time and the greatest clutch performer of all time.
MJ is a big contender for the greatest athlete of all time and I would argue he’s a lock for that title as well.