NBA: Top-50 players of all-time
1. Michael Jordan (6 Rings, 5 League MVPs, 30.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, 6.2 RPG): Jordan was simply and plainly the most dominant player of all-time. He was able to score in every way imaginable. His ability to shoot from the outside, as well as glide through the air and make unbelievably difficult shots puts him above all else. His aggressive defense, countless clutch shots, and killer instinct was just icing on the cake. There has never been a player that had it all, except Jordan. And his statistics back up just how great of a player he was. In the top-10, he ranks tied-for-second in rings (6), second in MVP awards (5), tied-for-first in points per game (30.1), and sixth in assists per game (5.3). There is very little argument as to who is the greatest of all-time.
2. Magic Johnson (5 Rings, 3 League MVPs, 19.5 PPG, 11.2 APG, 7.2 RPG): Johnson was able to rack up the statistics, and the wins. His five championships are more than five other players in the top-10, and his three MVP awards put him tied with Larry Bird and ahead of Oscar Robertson, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal. At 19.5 points per game, he was not the best pure scorer but he is the best passer in NBA history. His 11.2 assists per game is higher than anyone elses on this list, including John Stockton who comes in at 10.5 a game. He was also able to rebound extremely well for a point guard, grabbing more than seven per game. Johnson paved the way for players like Jason Kidd, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and others.
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6 Rings, 6 League MVPs, 24.6 PPG, 3.6 APG, 11.2 RPG): Abdul-Jabbar is not only one of the best NBA players of all-time but is also one of the best collegiate players of all-time. No matter where he was playing, he was nearly unstoppable. Abdul-Jabbar's go-to move was the skyhook, which became what he is well known for. The ability to shot over anyone with such consistency is why he was a great player. His technique led him to six championships, his points per game (24.6) is eighth in the top-25, while his rebounds per game (11.2) is third in the top-10 behind only Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Plus he has the most career points in NBA history, which is a big reason for him being ranked No. 3 overall.
4. Bill Russell (11 Rings, 5 League MVPs, 16.2 PPG, 5.7 APG, 25.9 RPG): Russell is so high on this list because he was able to win for such a long period of time. The NBA that he played in was dominated by big men, or more specifically it was dominated by him and Wilt Chamberlain (who you will hear about shortly). They had a great rivalry that was dominated on the stat sheet by Chamberlain but dominated on the scoreboard by Russell. In a game that values winning and rings above everything else, the Celtics legend did just that. His 16.2 points and 25.9 boards a game are not too shabby either. His rebounds per game is three more on average than any other player and he was also good at passing the ball for a big man.
5. LeBron James (2 Rings, 4 League MVPs, 27.2 PPG, 6.9 APG, 7.1 RPG): James can do it all. He is tied for fourth in MVP awards (4) in the top-10, is second among small forwards in points per game (27.2), and is first in assists (6.9) in the top-25 for small forwards. Going beyond his statistics, James is one of the most physically dominant players in NBA history. We have never seen someone who is 6'8 and 260 pounds, and is able to do the things he does. He is one of the fastest players for his size, his jumping ability is like no other, he is just simply an amazing athlete. It seems like James still has unfinished business to take care of. We could see him challenge Michael Jordan someday if he's able to add a ring with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
6. Kobe Bryant (5 Rings, 1 League MVP, 25.1 PPG, 4.7 APG, 5.3 RPG): Bryant scored 81 points in 42 minutes. It is still unbelievable to hear that. His best game is one of the most impressive performances in NBA history. And he is one of the best scorers of all time, and has the NBA championships to boost his resume. He also scored 50+ points in four straight games in 2007, and has 133 games of 40+ points. His career high of 81 points is 12 points higher than his mentor Michael Jordan, the person who he modeled his game after. Bryant has been apart of two dominant stretches with the Lakers, winning three straight rings and going to four NBA Finals in five years from 2000-2004, and then winning two straight in 2009-2010, after losing in 2008.
7. Larry Bird (3 Rings, 3 League MVPs, 24.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, 10.0 RPG): Bird was a slower version of LeBron James, which is no knock on his ability. He somehow got the same type of statistics, while doing it in a more fundamental way. He is one of the best shooters of all-time, but was not limited to just outside shooting. Bird was able to create his own shot in a variety of ways and was in range from most places on the court. That resulted in being the ninth best scorer (24.3) in the top-25. He was also one of the best rebounders at the small forward position in NBA history (10.0), coming in at number one in the top-25. Bird was the key piece on one of the best teams ever, the Celtics teams of the 1980's were dominant.
8. Wilt Chamberlain (2 Rings, 4 League MVPs, 30.1 PPG, 4.4 APG, 22.9 RPG): Chamberlain was one of the best scorers in NBA history. His 100 point game is very well-noted and he also broke a bunch of rebounding records as he averaged 22.9 per game. However there are two things that are holding Chamberlain back from being higher on this list: 1) His rival throughout his career was Bill Russell, and The Stilt was greatly outdone in rings and 2) As weird as it is to say, Wilt should have scored more. For a player that was 7'1 and primarily shot in the paint, he should have been able to put up higher numbers. Michael Jordan and Chamberlain finished their careers scoring 30.1 points per game, and yet M.J. was taking much more difficult shots at a further distance.
9. Shaquille O'Neal (4 Rings, 1 League MVP, 23.7 PPG, 2.5 APG, 10.9 RPG): O'Neal was unbelievably dominant throughout his career, but his eight year stretch with the Lakers was one of the best spans ever. In those eight seasons, he averaged more than 10.0 rebounds per game every season, averaged more than 2.0 blocks per game in seven seasons, and was top-four in scoring in six seasons. He was also First Team All-NBA in six of those years, and was selected to the Second and Third Team the other two years. O'Neal's four rings are the sixth most in the top-10, while his 10.9 boards per game ranks fourth. If he and Kobe could have co-existed for longer in L.A., then maybe they'd both be higher on this list. No. 9 is obviously still great, though.
10. Oscar Robertson (1 Ring, 1 League MVP, 25.7 PPG, 9.5 APG, 7.5 RPG): Robertson was not the biggest player or the fastest player of his time, but he was arguably the most skilled. The Big O could get wherever he wanted, whenever he pleased. He also had the best year of anyone in NBA history. His 1961-1962 year still stands as the only season that a player averaged a triple-double for the entire year. He totaled 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds. Then the next year, he had 9.5 assists per game or he could have done it again. And then the year after that, he had 9.9 rebounds per game. Robertson could have been a spot or two higher if he won more rings but he comes in at No. 10 because of his outstanding all-around game.
Rest of the Top-50 (Rings): 11. Tim Duncan (5) 12. Hakeem Olajuwon (2) 13. Jerry West (1) 14. Scottie Pippen (6)
15. Kevin Garnett (1) 16. Charles Barkley (0) 17. Patrick Ewing (0) 18. John Havlicek (8) 19. Isiah Thomas (2) 20. Steve Nash (0) 21. John Stockton (0) 22. Karl Malone (0)
23. Dirk Nowitzki (1)
24. Kevin Durant (0)
25. Pete Maravich (0)
26. George Mikan (5)
27. Moses Malone (1)
28. David Robinson (2)
29. Willis Reed (2)
30. Bob Cousy (6)
31. Stephen Curry (1)
32. Allen Iverson (0)
33. Bob Pettit (1)
34. Rick Barry (1)
35. Walt Frazier (2)
36. Clyde Drexler (1)
37. Dwyane Wade (3)
38. Julius Erving (1)
39. James Worthy (3)
40. Reggie Miller (0)
41. Dominique Wilkins (0)
42. Elgin Baylor (0)
43. Kevin McHale (3)
44. Earl Monroe (1)
45. Robert Parish (4)
46. Joe Dumars (2)
47. Bill Walton (2)
48. Ray Allen (2)
49. Paul Pierce (1)
50. Russell Westbrook (0)
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated.
