Tim Duncan, Popularly Known As The Fundamentalist (Source: NBA.com). Magic Johnson Played 13 Seasons In The NBA (Source: NBA.com). | Privacy Settings He had to get famous. Lots of players can specialize in one area and make one of the categories on this list. Did the people at ESPN who voted on the list ever watch a basketball game before the year 2000? Snowboard- . He is on track to become at least 10th all time. Considering I know hardly any NBA history, 67-100, I'll take that. LeBron James Is A Four Times NBA Champion (Source: Instagram). All you really need to know is that Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest center and its not even a debate. He is probably the best player in the NBA, and his legacy backs the facts. Gretzky won 10 NHL scoring championships from 1981 to 1994, and never had fewer than 130 points in those heralded seasons.. With his latest title, he finally knocked off Finals MVPoff his checklist after a dominant performance against the Boston Celtics. Magic and Shaq crowned Kobe as the greatest Laker everafter he retired. Just think about how incredible it is that in his first season in the league, Magic started Game 6of the NBA Finals at center and dropped 42 points. But only 1 player appears in all 3. To this day that is still one of the most amazing individual performances on a basketball court that Ive ever seen. Here's a greatest ever quiz without any opinion, based solely on career win-shares: http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/103225/top-50-nba-players, this quiz is an outrage how is LeBron so damn high he is a bum he is basically the smartest kid on the shortbus. Sadly, on October 12, 1999, basketball legend died at 63 due to congestive heart failure. Its still bewildering to watch old highlights and see how smooth Olajuwon, atrue dominant force on both sides of the ball, was able to move in the paint for a player his size. Contact Us His dunking skills were insane, or rather "Vinesane . Kobe ranks fourth among all-time NBA leading scorers with 33,643 career points. He nailed a 21-foot shot late against the Oklahoma City Thunder by beating Kareem Abdul-Jabbars 39-year record of 38,387 points on February 8, 2023. After his flourishing NBA career, Shaq, in 2023, is busy with his podcast, The Big Podcast With Shaq.. Hes 2 rings away from #1 all-time. Hes top 10 in rebounds, blocks, win shares, and defensive win shares. Due to HIV, Magic prematurely retired at 32 in 1991. do you want him to be first or he should not be first or second. Had a hard time with the blockers the ones I got happened to be rebounders (bigger names). Small update needed when you get a chance. got 31 yeah, stockton and malone alone gave me 4. at no point in his entire life has Manu Ginobili been "the best player in the world." He returned in the 1992 Olympics to form the most outstanding basketball team, The Dream Team.. Learn how your comment data is processed. over 4 years laterapparently I still feel the same way. I know that this list isn't your choice but we need a complete change. Of course Michael Jordan is No. Jordans jersey from his opening game of the 1998 NBA Finals was sold as the most expensive memorabilia in history for $10.1 million in September 2022. Even more impressive for the context of Olajuwonscareer is that he did all of this while big men ran the NBA (outside of Michael Jordan). Duncan led them to 5 NBA titles and 1,001 wins in the regular season, most by the player with one single team in NBA. yikes. I can only imagine how that shit looked back in those days. First, Carmelo Anthony is now ahead of Olajuwon in points. Top 15 players in NBA history: CBS Sports ranks the greatest of all time, from West and Steph to LeBron and MJ LeBron James and Stephen Curry are the only two active NBA players to. Quiz by MitchellOakes Rate: Nominate Last updated: November 3, 2012 You have not attempted this quiz yet. Since he wasnt flashy, often was called dirty, wore those short shorts, wasnt an athletic outlier,and benefited immensely from playing his entire career with Karl Malone, his brilliance is easily forgotten. AI is unquestionably a top 30 NBA player ever. That is the best 100 NBA performances quiz. AC, Way more than just a sidekick to you know who, Scottie Pippens greatness is sadly taken for granted by many, including those who saw it with their own two eyes along with the ones basing their assessments solely on what they saw in The Last Dance. Thediscourse never diesand were here for it. ZF, While we can argue all day and night about the value of the triple-double in todays position-less game, when Oscar Robertson became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double over a season it was nothing short of monumental. This was just the start for Magic, who at his size, completely changed the way the basketball world looked at guards. The Mound Round of Rebound was a beast on the boards, averaging 11.7 for his career even withhis down years in Houston. Theres a reason why theFinals MVP awardis named after him. Mookie Blaylock was, by far, a better defender than Larry Bird -- without question. Shaq, obviously a member of the NBA 75 team,is one of the most skilled bigs ever to touch a basketball and weve all seen the video of him cooking MJ in a one-on-one before the All-Star Game. Kobe Congratulates LeBron On The Court Together (Source: Pinterest). He also played a huge role in the NBA instituting free agency when he brought a lawsuit against the league in 1970 that challenged the legality of the leagues proposed merger with the ABA, the merits of the draft, and the reserve clause that prevented players from pursuing contracts with any team they wished. Six times Malone, nicknamed the Chairman of the Boards, led the NBA in rebounds and for 14 straight seasons, he averaged double-digits cleaning up the glass. very debatable IMO. SLAM 500 Greatest NBA Players of All Time Bill Simmons Hall of Fame Pyramid ABA All-Time Team NBA & ABA All-Star Game All-Star Game Selections by Player All-NBA and All-NBA Team Selections by Player All-Defensive Team Selections by Player NBA Referee Awards Greg Willard Spirit Award NCAA Season Awards AP Player of the Year Award People could argue it but its pretty fair and pretty much on point in order of ranking with arguably some exceptions. The only guy to even come close to that was Chamberlain, and he also shows up on the above list. Kemp got destroyed by injuries man, Ben Wallace maybe but steve kerr is a role player, I'm sorry but Allen Iverson should be way higher. Or Charles Barkley. Clearly a lot of subjectivity with this list, not a lot of science or math involved. Guess who? Defenses have to stay up on him full-court, which his handles and elusiveness make impossible to do. Atlanta Hawks Career Leaders. Thats a league MVP award, but I dont think we should knock him for that if thats missing from his rsum when he ultimately retires. Warriors fans booed then-new owner Joe Lacob on Chris Mullin Night because he gave the team to Steph after trading fan favorite Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut. But now that hes earned his first championship, Antetokounmpos entered rarified air. Besides his playing style, Bird dominated opposition players with his confidence and swagger. NBA 75 honoree, five-time champion, three-timeFinals MVP, two-time regular-season MVP, 15-time All-Star,15-time All-NBA and All-Defensive team selection later, Duncan played all 19 seasons inSan Antonio and consistently put up numbers like he was a robotwith the personality, as portrayed by the media,to match. Hesone of the best big men ever. ZO, The Shaq of point guards. Jordan never took a game off, he was a maniac for better or worse. But only Westbrook has put up the seasonal averages (three times) to match Robertsons brilliance and Russ isnt anywhere near the offensive juggernaut Robertson was. The same thing bothered me with counting Schmidt when we typed in Smith on baseball quizzes, but at least there, it's not *not* counting some other Schmidt. Makes me kind of happy that LeBron isn't in any of these! All-Time #NBArank: The 10 greatest point guards in NBA history ; TrueHoop TV: Steph Curry the fourth-best PG of all time? I wasnt sure if he was paying attentionfinally I realize he understood everything I was saying. And though Wade played for the Bulls and Cavs later in his career, hell always be rememberedas a member of theHeat. AD, Call it an overreaction if you foolishly insist, but with all the accolades and the company he now keeps after that epic run through the 2021 NBA Finals, Greek Freak absolutely belongs on thislist. Career laurels: 11 NBA champion (1957, 1959-1966, 1968, 1969); 5 NBA Most Valuable Player (1958, 1961-1963, 1965); 12 NBA All-Star (1958-1969); NBA All-Star Game MVP (1963); 3. SMH. But just because Baylor technically never won a title in his 14 years with the Lakers, two of which he spent in Minneapolis, dont let that cloud how incredible of an offensive force he was and GOAT candidate during the leagues early days. STOP IT!! Compared to most of the guys on this list, though, Curry was a slow starter. they're both deserved to be here. His rivalry with Larry Bird took NBA to the height where it is now. LeBron not only matched the hype, but he exceeded it. If he gets drafted by the Spurs, KG would have hadmore than just one ring to his name. Hes still in the top five in assists (he averaged 13.9 apg in 85) and still gets under MJs skin. More quiz info >> Start Quiz Comments (13) Players dont choose the era they play in, all we can do is look at who dominated it. Besides that, he won 4 MVPs. The way every player gets compared to Michael Jordan nowadays, thats how it was with West back in the 60s and 70s. Obviously, Leonards regular-season rsum isnt as strong as others on this list due to injuriesand being in that Spurs system, buthis playoffperformances smokes a lot of people on this list as well. It was probably like watching an alien. Onto the final 3, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks third on our list of best NBA players of all time. The Big O was a nightmare matchup because he scored in ways few were able to figure out. Barkley couldnt be stopped offensively either, beating out Jordan for the 93 MVP and taking his new team the Suns to the Finals where he lost to Jordans Bulls in six. He was a two-time NBA MVP, appeared in 14 All-Star games,made firstteam All-NBA an insane 11 times, and is a member of the 75th anniversary team. .. ZF, If youre wondering why we have the diminutive point guard who played all 19 seasons of his storied career with the Jazz on this list, I have to seriously question your basketball IQ. Lebron should not be in the top 10. Later, in 2010 as a Dream Team member, he was seated again in the Hall of Fame. He was the first player to achieve 20 RPGs in his 10 out of 13 seasons. but that's an absurd level of hyperbole you brought to this discussion with that comment. 1 on theirbest NBA players list, this is an easy one to write. The most avid NBA fans among you should take my. Curry doesnt deserve to be on this list aleast toward the top maybe around 60 And add Kyrie Irving. He is also a 17-time All-Star and 3-time NBA All-Star MVP. | Privacy Settings He helped revolutionize the power forward position even more so than Tim Duncan did (hes a center! Unpopular Opinion: Kobe is better than Tim Duncan for one reason. 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