Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary

The NBA is celebrating its 75th Anniversary season this year. Some have quibbled whether that should be the right number, as it was technically called the “BAA” or Basketball Association of America for three seasons, but that’s the accounting the NBA has gone with as part of their much-marketed 75th Anniversary.

As part of the festivities, the NBA is planning to unveil its list of the 75 greatest players in NBA history. They did the same thing at the 50th anniversary, with a “50 at 50” team, and will roll out a larger list during the first week of the regular season.

The NBA is unveiling its list of the 75 best players in NBA history for its 75th anniversary. We go one step forward and rank all 75.

The NBA has been loaded with star talent, from George Mikan to Zion Williamson. Picking out the 75 best players is a difficult task, but certainly an interesting one. Who are the 75 best players in NBA history? What criteria do you use?

As an amateur NBA historian, I am going to jump in and write my own list. The NBA didn’t rank their Top-50 list and presumably won’t rank this list either, but I decided to go one step further and rank my Top 75. Let’s look into the criteria I used before starting the list!

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: The Methodology

Everyone around the NBA world that has been putting these lists together has had to have some sort of methodology for doing so. Some have advanced statistics they have developed or prefer, and others view player accolades and achievement as most important as a comparison of stars against their peers. Career longevity and standing on all-time leaderboards are often mixed in.

A select few have covered the game long enough to remember all of these players and provide the “eye test” piece of the analysis. Others don’t really even pay attention now and just picked players they had heard of before. Many media sites, and the NBA themselves, seek to rise above the variance of each individual’s rankings and put together a composite list.

I have no such team to work with, so these are my personal rankings. I tried to lean on as many inputs as possible to make the list, but at the end of the day any such list is of course very subjective. Because of that reality, my list is continually changing as I consider new inputs; what you see below is today’s version, but it changed frequently during the process. Unless you prefer to simply pick a metric to rate players by, there is no “perfect” list, and that’s ok. Anyone who puts in the time and seriously puts together a ranking has made a legitimate list.

I looked at players’ career averages, career total ranks and advanced statistics like win shares, box plus-minus (Basketball Reference’s and Ben Taylor’s) and FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR. I weighed fairly heavily career accolades like MVPs, All-NBAs and titles won, while trying to scale those for era and role on title teams (Gary Payton gets a whole lot less credit for his title than Dirk Nowitzki gets for his). Did they lead the league in a certain statistic? Were they on an All-Defense team?

I paid attention to who made the NBA’s “50 at 50” list, but it didn’t have an impact on my rankings. Likewise, I did not count college accomplishments, international play or post-basketball impact (coaching, management, etc). I also tried not to weigh too heavily popular players, nor more modern players; while I do believe that the level of play is much higher today, the achievements of players in their era and in advancing the game matter as well. While some of these lists may not include ABA accomplishments I tried to fold them in, just as the NBA has folded them in post-merger as well.

There is a subjective component layered on top of everything that injects some randomness, but I felt it was necessary. The purpose of this list is to tell the story of the NBA, so I asked the question for each player: How much did they matter to the story of the NBA? That bumped a player like Kobe Bryant up a few spots and titleless scorers down.

Special thanks to a number of authors whose writings on the decades of basketball before my birth were invaluable in making this list. Bill Simmons, Jackie MacMullan, Harvey Araton, Terry Pluto, Jack McCallum and others: thank you.

In the end, I created a highly subjective, ever-changing list of the 75 greatest players in the history of the NBA. The NBA is only going to provide their 75 names, but I decided to rank mine from first to 75th. I tried to provide a brief overview of their career, including any interesting anecdotes I came across in my research. I tried to stick to those stats tracked consistently over time by the NBA; advanced numbers fed into my research, but because they’re so different and often fraught with baggage I’ll refrain from referencing them in my descriptions.

We start with a decision that is incredibly difficult, but that most of you will view as a no-brainer one way or the other: MJ vs. LeBron. [Note: the length of each entry will decrease significantly after the first two].

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 1 – LeBron James

Career: 2003 – present

Achievements: Four-time champion; MVP (4x); All-NBA (17x); All-Star (17x); All-Defense (6x); Finals MVP (4x); 3rd in career points, 8th in career assists, 13th in career 3-pointers, 14th in career steals

LeBron James has been the defining player of the last 15 years in the NBA, a dominant force on the court from the moment he stepped on the court straight out of high school. He carried a mediocre Cleveland Cavaliers team to the NBA Finals in 2007, then won four MVPs in five seasons. He defined the player movement era by going to the Miami Heat in 2010, then continued it with a return to Cleveland and later a change to Los Angeles. He won titles in all three stops.

He also made the NBA Finals for eight straight seasons, and nine of ten. No player in NBA history has won Finals MVP for three different franchises, and only a tiny few have won titles for as many. He has been the face of the league since he took the torch from Kobe Bryant around a decade ago.

This list isn’t the best place to fully hash out the “LeBron vs. Jordan” debate, but at this point, LeBron’s longevity — not simply of his career but of his peak — pushes him ahead of Jordan. James has been right at the top of the league for much longer than Jordan was, without time off in the middle. Yes, Jordan was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals, but the fact that LeBron didn’t lose prior to the Finals as much as Jordan matters just as much, if not more. His 10 trips are more meaningful than his 4-6 record.

James is closing in on the record for most career points, and he ranks top-15 in three other major categories. He is an unstoppable scoring force, one of the best passers in NBA history, and even so his most memorable highlight is a defensive play, illustrating how many different ways he has impacted the game of basketball. Even more so he is still in his prime even at 36 and in the title picture again, with more of his story left to write.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 2 – Michael Jordan

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1984 – 2003

Achievements: Six-time champion; five-time MVP; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (14x); All-Defense (9x); Defensive Player of the Year; Final MVP (6x); led league in scoring (10x); 5th in career scoring; 3rd in career steals.

Many of us react viscerally to the idea of Michael Jordan anywhere but first on this list; it was difficult for me to not have him at the top. I grew up believing that MJ was not only the greatest player ever, but that he always had to be. No one could match his winning and his cultural impact.

Jordan was inevitable during the 1990s, destroying whatever team stood in his way. He was an unstoppable scorer, leading the league in scoring 10 times, but also was such a terrorizing defender that he won a Defensive Player of the Year award. He found the motivation to shred whichever poor player tried to either guard him or take up the mantle of outscoring him. From Clyde Drexler to Isiah Thomas he always found that extra gear.

No one will likely ever match Jordan’s 6-for-6 mark in the NBA Finals. Few players even get there six times, let alone win every time. An entire generation grew up idolizing Jordan, as he blew open the ceiling of the cultural impact of basketball players. Magic Johnson made them fun; Michael Jordan made them cool.

What holds Jordan back ever-so-slightly in the face of James’ accomplishments and longevity are two things. The first is that he couldn’t hold up under the grind of contending year after year; he retired from the game twice only to return again. That isn’t meant to delve into or minimize some of the emotional reasons presented for why he did, but simply to state that it’s harder to maintain that level of play and contention for as long as LeBron did than to take time off as Jordan did.

The second is how hard it was to be around Jordan. He chewed up and spit out his teammates; only Scottie Pippen could hang around for the second three-peat, and even he almost didn’t make it. Jordan’s pursuit of winning at all costs broke down those around him. LeBron’s teammates love playing with him to the point that they come back to compete with him again, and he has friends across the league; he has found the top tier of success without sacrificing the concept of treating people with respect. He has his own frustrating passive-aggressive style that can be grating, but he lifts up those around him instead of burning through them.

There is no wrong answer here; any of four players can make a claim to the top spot, and Jordan will appear here on most lists. He was an incredible basketball player, the face of the league for years and years, and his impact on the international game is likely underappreciated.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 3 – Bill Russell

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1956 – 1969

Achievements: 11-time champion; five-time MVP; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (12x); All-Defense (1x*)

*All-Defense teams first instituted in 1969, the final season of his career

Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics of the 1950s and ’60s did something that no team has replicated across any sport at any time, winning 11 titles in 13 seasons. They absolutely dominated the league for over a decade, with a smothering defense and the game’s most relentless competitor in Russell.

In an era where many of the best players were high-scoring centers, his calling card was defense, and he shut down each of those prolific centers in turn. He is hurt by the lack of defensive accolades during his career: steals and blocks weren’t recorded until he had retired, and neither was Defensive Player of the Year awarded until 1982-83. The ceiling on how many “DPOY” awards he would have won is sky-high.

Even playing in an era where numbers are elevated due to pace of play and shooting inaccuracy, the fact that Russell averaged 24.9 rebounds per game in the playoffs is insane: he fought for every rebound on every possession across 165 playoff games. He was generally fighting for those rebounds with other Hall of Fame players such as Wilt Chamberlain or Bob Pettit, but he still won the battle inside.

Despite never having elite scoring numbers he won MVP five times, as all of his contemporaries understood his impact on the game and on winning. Again: 11 titles in 13 seasons. The lack of a Finals MVP award (it was first awarded in 1969, his final season) again undercuts his accomplishments. Jordan currently has the record with six; would Russell have blown through that number? Bill Russell has a claim to being the best defender in the history of the game, and no one can match his championship success. That’s why they named the Finals MVP for him after all.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 4 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1969 – 1989

Achievements: Six-time champion; six-time MVP; All-NBA (15x); All-Star (19x); All-Defense (11x); Finals MVP (2x); career leader in points; fourth in career rebounds; third in career blocks

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entered the league in 1969 after a dominant career at UCLA, and it was like nothing changed. He averaged 28.8 points per game as a rookie, then in his second season won MVP and the first championship in Milwaukee Bucks history. He then went on to play a total of 20 seasons, averaging as many as 34.8 points per game and at least 21.5 every season until he was 39 years old; he put up 10.1 points per game in 1988-89 as a 41-year-old.

No one could stop Kareem’s patented skyhook, and his touch around the basket was legendary. He scored 38,387 points all without the help of the 3-point line; he hit one in his entire career. He won a title and nearly a second in Milwaukee and then toiled alone in Los Angeles until Magic Johnson came along and the pair won five titles in the 1980s together.

It’s impossible to communicate how inevitable Kareem was. NBA coaches spent hours and days and weeks and years trying to figure out how to slow him down, and it was basically impossible. In a decade when the star power waned as the ABA took some of the cultural zeitgeist, Abdul-Jabbar was the league’s one constant, its biggest star for an entire decade or more, before Magic and Larry arrived to take the torch.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 5 – Tim Duncan

Career: 1997 – 2016

Achievements: Five-time champion; two-time MVP; All-NBA (15x); All-Star (15x); All-Defense (15x); Finals MVP (3x); Sixth in career blocks; seventh in career rebounds; 18th in career scoring.

If Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was inevitable as a scorer for two decades, Tim Duncan matched him on the defensive end from day one. It’s essentially unheard of for a player to be good enough offensively to make 15 All-NBA teams but match that with 15 All-Defense nods. How Duncan never won a Defensive Player of the Year award is baffling.

He was one of the league’s all-time leaders, quiet except when he needed to be, keeping drama out of his locker rooms and putting in the work to not only get better but set the example for his teammates. The level of success he sustained with the Spurs is historic; they won titles 15 seasons apart, and five in total, maintaining contention for his entire career.

The only players with more career playoff win shares are LeBron James and Michael Jordan; Duncan propelled his teams to the postseason and then upped his game while there. He entered the league later than many of his contemporaries after four full seasons at Wake Forest but still put in a 19-year career with 17 high-level seasons. For his impact on championships, for his ability to lead an all-time team for so long, and for his two-way play and accomplishments, he jumps to 5 ahead of some players who captured pop culture a bit more than this quiet general.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 6 – Shaquille O’Neal

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1992 – 2011

Achievements: Four-time champion; 1-time MVP; All-NBA (14x); All-Star (15x); All-Defense (3x); Finals MVP (3x); 9th in career blocks; 10th in career points; 16th in career rebounds

Shaquille O’Neal probably deserves to be in the Top 10 based on nicknames alone, many of them self-administered. Diesel. The Big Aristotle. Superman. Say the word “Shaq” and anyone, basketball fan or no, instantly knows who you are talking about. He became a household name through the combination of an endearing personality and absolutely dominant play.

He was a full-speed freight train in the paint, a gigantic athletic marvel who could shoulder his way right by you when he was younger, and who simply knocked you over later in his career. He was so dominant right from the start of his career that he made the NBA’s “50 at 50” list after just four seasons, a prediction that he would be an all-time player (one that clearly came true).

O’Neal began his career with the Orlando Magic and made the NBA Finals, then left for the Los Angeles Lakers where he became his generation’s premier center. He won three titles with a young Kobe Bryant, then when that relationship broke up he went to the Miami Heat and won with a young Dwyane Wade.

He places sixth on this list because of how truly dominant he was in a league geared to stop him. He could score inside against double-teams, and he was underrated in his ability to pass out to open teammates when the paint was truly packed against him. Kobe often gets equal credit for those three titles and that’s not fair to how good Shaq was. Those were his titles, and Kobe was an excellent co-star.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 7 – Hakeem Olajuwon

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1984 – 2002

Achievements: Two-time champion; One-time MVP; All-NBA (12x); All-Star (12x); All-Defense (9x); Defensive Player of the Year (2x); Finals MVP; first in career blocks; 10th in career steals; 14th in career scoring; 15th in career rebounds

Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon came into the league with Michael Jordan, and his career in a sense closely follows Jordan’s. He was excellent on both ends, his team’s best offensive and defensive player at the same time. When Jordan was off the board in the middle of the 1990s, Hakeem pounced and won back-to-back titles.

Olajuwon had one of the most iconic moves in league history, his patented “Dream Shake” that left would-be defenders standing in concrete while he lofted the ball softly into the basket. His elite post-scoring allowed the Rockets to build one of the first true 4-out systems with four shooters spaced around him; Houston rode that to a pair of titles.

Defensively he covered a ton of space, swatting shots and deterring countless more. He not only is the career leader in total blocks but likewise third in blocks per game. He ranks 10th in career steals, and every player ahead of him is a perimeter player. He was a truly special defensive force, and the fact that he was also an offensive powerhouse is why he ranks seventh all-time.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 8 – Magic Johnson

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1979 – 1996

Achievements: Five-time champion, three-time MVP, All-NBA (10x), All-Star (12x), Finals MVP (3x); sixth in career assists; goes by “Magic”

The 1980s are when the NBA went from attracting basketball fans to demanding national attention, and the reasons why are “Bird and Magic”. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (next on our list) are inextricably linked in history, from a college national championship showdown to three head-to-head meetings in the NBA Finals. 11 straight NBA Finals featured one of the two players from 1980 to 1991, and together they accounted for eight of the decade’s ten titles and six of its MVP awards.

Johnson was a marvel in the open court, creating the “Showtime” Lakers by running the fast break and always making the right pass for a teammate to score. A 6’9″ point guard, Johnson was something the league had never seen before, setting the archetype for players like LeBron James and Ben Simmons to come. His court vision was sublime, and he ranks first in career assists per game.

Early in his career Magic was the co-star for the Lakers along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but by the middle of the decade these were Magic’s teams and he led them to four of the five titles. The Lakers went to the Finals nine times in 12 seasons, a truly remarkable feat. Johnson was the face of the league, and from his HIV diagnosis to his transition passes, everything about him was memorable.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 9 – Larry Bird

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1979 – 1992

Achievements: Three-time champion; Three-time MVP; All-NBA (10x); All-Star (12x); All-Defense (3x); Finals MVP (2x)

Larry Bird was the other half of the “Bird and Magic” duo, the farmboy from French Lick, Indiana contrasting the flashy LA superstar. Bird had something of an “aww, shucks” demeanor to him off the court. On the court? He was a killer.

Bird could score from anywhere, even the nascent 3-point line. He sometimes would tell defenders ahead of time where he was going to shoot from, then embarrass them by doing just that. He never had the level of star power alongside him that Magic did, but he was right there in the Finals dueling him just the same. Magic won a pair of titles early while Kareem was still in his prime, but after that, they evened out, three titles apiece, and Bird won two of the three head-to-head matchups in the Finals.

Injuries to his back ended his career well shy of the other all-time greats, and one thinks about what could have been if modern medicine and injury management were around then. Even so, during his prime, there was no better scorer in the NBA, no more lethal assassin, and perhaps no better trash talker. Bird was incredible to watch, and together he and Magic turned basketball into something powerful.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 10 – Kobe Bryant

Career: 1996 – 2016

Achievements: Five-time champion; 2007-08 MVP; All-NBA (15x); All-Star (18x); All-Defense (12x); Finals MVP (2x); Scoring champion (2x); Fourth in career points; 17th in career steals

The late Kobe Bryant was pivotal for the sport of basketball. In the wake of Michael Jordan’s generation passing into retirement, the league needed marketable stars, and Kobe Bryant became exactly that. Children went from wanting to “be like Mike” to shouting “Kobe!” as they tossed nerf balls at tiny hoops (adults did the same tossing wads of paper at the trash can). He was proof of concept for drafting high school players, he was a cold-blooded killer, and playing for the league’s marquee franchise didn’t hurt either.

Bryant’s scoring ability was incredible from day one. He could break anyone down one-on-one, finding their weakness and then attacking it again and again. Defensive role players made a career for themselves by showing they could hang with Kobe for even a few possessions. He could get off his shot from anywhere, sometimes with a hand literally blocking his eyes, and hit a dagger in their face.

The impact Bryant had on the league, the respect he has from players, coaches and fans alike, the way he poured into the next generation — all of those things matter and are why he is ranked here at 10. He fought through injuries to maintain a level of scoring prowess throughout his 20-year career, and he ranks fourth in career scoring. Bryant will be missed, and his legacy will never be forgotten.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 11 – Kevin Garnett

Career: 1995 – 2016

Achievements: 2007-08 champion; 2003-04 MVP; All-NBA (9x); All-Star (15x); All-Defense (12x); Defensive Player of the Year; 10th in career rebounding; 20th in career blocks; 21st in career scoring

Another big man in the line of Tim Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Garnett was simultaneously an elite defender while also a dominant scorer, leading his team on both ends of the court. His place in history is often overlooked because he spent the first 12 years of his career playing on truly abysmal Minnesota teams, teams that he dragged to the postseason eight times.

The only All-Stars he played with in his prime were a 34-year-old Sam Cassell in 2003-04, and Wally Szczerbiak riding Garnett’s coattails in 2001-02. He never had a legitimate co-star, let alone a deep roster and bench to support him. He was legitimately a top-5 player in the league for a dozen years.

Garnett, an emotionally charged competitor who would headbutt the stanchion before games to let out his rage, finally got his career validation in Boston. He won a title in 2008 in his first season there, and after a season-ending injury in 2009 came back and led the Celtics to the Finals again in 2010. Garnett’s two-way impact was elite, and it places him as high as 11th all-time.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 12 – Wilt Chamberlain

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1959 – 1973

Achievements: Two-time champion; four-time MVP; All-NBA (10x); All-Star (13x); All-Defense (2x); Finals MVP; led league in scoring (7x), rebounds (11x), assists (1x); first in career rebounds; seventh in career scoring

Wilt Chamberlain was a physical outlier, a player so big and athletic that he could get to the rim over and around everyone, and get to every rebound before anyone else. No one could leap as high as him, or as quickly as him. Other big men couldn’t keep up with him loping down the court to score.

Chamberlain had his warts; he was not the consummate teammate, he passed for assists and not to elevate the play of those around him, and he wasn’t as efficient as you would think given his size and scoring numbers. Oh, but those scoring numbers were insane. Wilt averaged 30.1 points per game for his career, including one season where he averaged 50 points per game. He holds a presumably unbreakable record with 100 points in a single game.

What doesn’t get talked about enough with Chamberlain was his defense. Similarly to Russell, the lack of defensive awards, metrics or even counting stats makes it a mystery as to how much of an impact he had. Those who watched him play, or who have gone back and charter such things, identify him as a solid defender who truly deterred opponents inside.

Chamberlain is hurt by the presence of Bill Russell, and he lost again and again to Russell and the Celtics. He finally won a title late in his career with Jerry West and the Los Angeles Lakers, forestalling an ugly mark that would forever stick with him. Instead, he is best known for those incredible amounts of points and rebounds.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 13 – Stephen Curry

Career: 2009 – present

Achievements: Three-time champion; two-time MVP; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (7x); Scoring champion (2x); Second in career 3-pointers

Stephen Curry is our second active player on the list and the first with the chance to improve his standing. Just last season Curry led the league in scoring and finished 3rd in MVP voting, so he could absolutely continue to log accomplishments that push him up this list.

Curry is the greatest shooter in NBA history, and it’s not clear what argument could be made by anyone against that. This season he will pass Ray Allen for the most 3-pointers in NBA history, and in hundreds of fewer games. He was the best player on the 73-win Golden State Warriors team that set the record for most wins in a single season.

Injuries early in his career have Curry slightly behind the eight ball with other volume statistics, but his per-game numbers are phenomenal. Advanced metrics love him, as his combination of incendiary shooting and immense gravity propel his offenses into the stratosphere. There is a reasonable argument to be made that, given how his shooting warps and breaks opposing defenses, that he is the greatest offensive player in NBA history.

Even if you’re not wanting to go that far, he changed the sport of basketball forever with the sheer volume and audacity of his 3-point attempts. He has a very real chance of cracking the Top-10 by the end of his career.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 14 – Oscar Robertson

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1960 – 1974

Achievements: 1971 Champion; 1963-64 MVP; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (12x); led the league in assists (6x); averaged a triple-double for an entire season; seventh in career assists; 15th in career scoring

Before there was Magic Johnson and John Stockton, before Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, before Chris Paul and LeBron James, before Russell Westbrook and Luka Doncic, there was Oscar Robertson. The “Big O” combined scoring and passing in a way the league had not yet seen outside of Wilt’s bizarre year of assists. Robertson was a point guard, but he was also a player who put pressure on defenses in unique ways.

Robertson was stuck on subpar teams in Cincinnati, but he was clearly an all-time player even there, leading the league in assists six times and averaging 29.3 points per game across 10 seasons. He was also an early master at drawing fouls and getting to the line, averaging 10.5 attempts per game in Cincinnati. He was an All-Star each of his first 12 seasons in the league.

Then Robertson moved to Milwaukee and became a much lower usage star playing alongside Lew Alcindor (who would later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He won a title with the Bucks and helped cement his status as an all-timer. He was also a frontrunner for players’ rights and helped drive the league into a more modern approach.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 15 – Kevin Durant

Career: 2007 – present

Achievements: Two-time champion; 2013-14 MVP; All-NBA (9x); All-Star (11x); Finals MVP (2x); Scoring champion (4x); 31st in career scoring (total) and fifth in career scoring (per-game)

Another active player other than Stephen Curry with the best chance to make it into the Top 10 is Kevin Durant, Curry’s onetime teammate on the Golden State Warriors. After racking up individual accolades, including MVP, with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant went to the Warriors for three seasons to acquire the team accolades. Now he is in Brooklyn and poised to gather both at the same time.

Durant is one of the purest scorers in the history of the league. He has the height of a center and the handle of a guard, and his pull-up jumper is so high it’s virtually unblockable. He is a dynamic shooter from anywhere on the court, but get too close and he will blow by for a thundering dunk down the lane. Defensively he is no pushover, with his length and instincts eliminating passing lanes.

A couple of injuries, including an Achilles tear that took out an entire season, might hold him back from catching Kareem and LeBron on the all-time points leaderboard, but at just 33 he still has plenty of years left to climb the ranks. If he wins another MVP and a title while in Brooklyn he will likely push his way into the Top 10.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 16 – David Robinson

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1989 – 2003

Achievements: Two-time champion; 1995 MVP; All-NBA (10x); All-Star (10x); All-Defense (8x); Defensive Player of the Year; led the league one-time each in points, rebounds and blocks; seventh in career blocks

No modern player has seen the start to their career delayed as long as David Robinson. Players like Kevin Garnett and LeBron James came into the league straight out of high school. Robinson spent four years in college and then spent two years fulfilling his military service with the U.S. Navy. “The Admiral” did not make his NBA debut until he was 24 years old.

Then it was off to the races up the historic ranks, as Robinson was a monster from the start. He is one of the league’s best shot-blockers all-time, ranking fourth in blocks per game and seventh in career blocks. When he and Tim Duncan teamed up on the Spurs late in Robinson’s career, the results were all-time defenses and two titles.

Robinson was never able to break through a competitive Western Conference to reach the NBA Finals without Duncan, but he kept the Spurs in the mix for years without a true co-star. Robinson memorably topped O’Neal in a neck-and-neck scoring title race where he put up 71 points on the final night, a Spurs franchise record, to just inch out O’Neal.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 17 – Jerry West

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1960 – 1974

Achievements: 1972 Champion; All-NBA (12x); All-Star (14x); All-Defense (5x); Finals MVP (1969); 26th in career scoring (total) and fourth in career scoring (per-game)

Jerry West lived most of his career in the age of Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics, which is why one of the all-time greats only has one title. He also never won an MVP award, which is one of NBA history’s greatest crimes. He finished Top-5 eight times and was the runner-up in four different seasons. He’s the only player in my Top 20 without one.

West was a smooth scorer, gliding to the rim or pulling up for short jumpers. He averaged a whopping 27 points per game over his career, fourth all-time, but did that all while running the offense and keeping his teammates involved. He had an excellent co-star in Elgin Baylor, but Baylor’s defensive weaknesses meant that West had to shoulder the perimeter defensive load as well.

West’s crowning achievement was becoming the first player to win Finals MVP, and he did so as a member of the losing team. He averaged 30.9 points and 7.5 assists against Russell and the Celtics. West’s popularity around the league and his excellent play not only elevated his standing in league history, but they also led to his selection as “The Logo” for the league, a distinction that he still holds to this day.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 18 – Julius Erving

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1976 – 1987

Achievements: 1983 NBA champion; two-time ABA champion; four-time MVP (ABA 3x, NBA 1x); All-NBA/ABA (12x); All-Star (16x); All-Defense (1x); eighth in career scoring; eighth in career steals

Julius Erving is the first of our ABA (American Basketball Association) players, those who spent part of their career in the NBA’s 1970s competitor. “Dr. J” dominated the ABA before he was sent to the NBA for a few pennies. Once on the Philadelphia 76ers, he continued to put up huge stats and helped the franchise win the 1983 title, sneaking between the crazy run of titles by the Lakers and Celtics in the 1980s.

Erving’s tomahawk slam dunk was iconic, both because of his display in the Dunk Contest but also when he unleashed it on defenders during live games. He was one of the best athletes of all time, and he could positively hang in the air before scoring on you.

16 times Erving was an All-Star in either the ABA or the NBA, out of…16 seasons in the league. He was a major driving force in the ABA becoming successful enough to force a merger, winning three MVPs and two titles in five seasons in the ABA.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 19 – Karl Monroe

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Career: 1985 – 2004

Achievements: Two-time MVP; All-NBA (14x); All-Star (14x); All-Defense (4x); second in career scoring; eighth in career rebounds; 12th in career steals

Karl Malone comes in at No. 19 on our list, the highest-ranked player never to win a title. Malone was nicknamed “The Mailman” because he always delivered; he was the most consistent superstar in league history. In terms of championships, Malone was the ultimate “floor-raiser” but didn’t lift the ceiling quite enough to bring home a title, although the team around him in 1998 was elite and the Jazz came close to knocking off Michael Jordan.

Malone’s availability was one of his best characteristics. Across a 19-year career, he played 80 or more games 17 times, missing just five games total over his first 13 seasons. He averaged at least 25 points and 9.8 rebounds for 11 straight seasons, and at least 21 and 8 for 16. Paired with John Stockton until his final, ring-chasing season with the Lakers, Malone was the ultimate example of consistent excellence.

Stockton and Malone will go down as two of the best never to win a title, but they dominate the record books as a point guard and his power forward who made sweet music for years and years. There’s something to be said for being great even if you don’t reach the mountaintop.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 20 – Dirk Nowitzki

Career: 1998 – 2019

Achievements: 2011 champion; 2007 MVP; All-NBA (12x); All-Star (14x); Finals MVP; sixth in career scoring; 12th in career 3-pointers made

We’ve talked already about the iconic shots of Hakeem and Kareem, and Dirk Nowitzki joins their hallowed club, even if his move doesn’t have a cool name. Nowitzki’s one-legged fadeaway jumper was a thing of beauty, and he unleashed it again and again en route to becoming one of the NBA’s greatest scorers of all time.

One of the last players to retire from the generation of stars who stuck with one team for their entire careers, Nowitzki is without question the greatest player in the history of the Dallas Mavericks. He finished as a top-10 scorer in the league 10 times and ranks sixth in total points scored for his career.

An all-time great international player, Nowitzki ushered in a new wave of players from outside of the United States. He is the greatest-shooting 7-footer in league history, a position-bending offensive flamethrower whose defense was underrated during his prime. The Western Conference was a bloodbath during his career, and all of the Dirk, Duncan and Steve Nash trio think they should have won more series. Nowitzki broke through twice, losing the first time to Shaq and Dwyane Wade but winning the Miami rematch against Wade and LeBron.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 21 – Scottie Pippen

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Career: 1987 – 2004

Achievements: Six-time champion; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (7x); All-Defense (10x); seventh in all-time steals

Perhaps the best supporting actor in league history, Scottie Pippen was the Pippen to Michael Jordan’s Jordan…oh wait, that’s right they invented that saying. He was the perfect #2 to Jordan, though, an elite defender who generated steals and could attack as a secondary creator.

It’s not often discussed how good of a passer Pippen was, a necessity on a team where the point guard was mainly relegated to spot-up shooting while Jordan and Pippen handled the ball. He averaged 5.3 assists per game with Chicago, facilitating the offense when Jordan sat or took a rare possession off.

When Pippen got the chance to run the show himself, during Jordan’s first retirement, he finished third in MVP voting and led the Bulls to the playoffs. Late in his career, he was more of an ensemble member on the Portland Trail Blazers team that nearly beat the first Shaq/Kobe Lakers title team. Both times he proved he was not simply a product of Jordan’s partnership but an elite player in his own right.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 22 – Dwyane Wade

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Career: 2003 – 2019

Achievements: Three-time champion; All-NBA (8x); All-Star (13x); All-Defense (3x); Finals MVP; Scoring leader (1x)

Michael Jordan is the best 2-guard in NBA history, and on this list, Jerry West is the clear #2. Dwyane Wade slots in as not only the third-best shooting guard in NBA history but the only possible choice to fill out the Top 3. He was an elite scorer during his prime, flashing to the rim and making defenders’ heads spin in circles keeping up with his handle.

Wade is an interesting foil to his fellow class of 2003 draftee Carmelo Anthony. Both were prolific scorers, but Melo is the one who has climbed into the Top 10 on the all-time points leaderboard. Wade sits at just 35th, but he has three titles, two as LeBron’s wingman (a luxury Melo was not afforded until this season) but one as the lead perimeter scorer. Melo can’t bring anything to the table like Wade’s 2006 Finals run.

Wade also does deserve credit for reinventing himself as a supporting star alongside James, committing to off-ball cutting and movement to help the offense work. Not every star can make that adjustment, but Wade did so and added four Finals appearances and two titles to his ledger.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 23 – Charles Barkley

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Career: 1984 – 2000

Achievements: 1993 MVP; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (11x); 20th in career rebounding

Charles Barkley sits on the Mt Rushmore of most entertaining personalities in NBA history, with his goofy grin and affable air. You wanted to be Barkley’s friend, to sit around and hear him tell jokes. That’s why it was also so jarring to watch him bowl his way through and around defenders as an all-time interior scorer and rebounder.

The “round mound of rebound” dominated the interior offensively despite standing at just 6’6″ tall. He had a host of post moves, was surprisingly fleet of foot and had the strength not to get knocked off his spot. He averaged a double-double every season of his career except his rookie one, leading the league in 1986-87 in rebounding at 14.6 per game.

Barkley never made it to the NBA Finals with the Philadelphia 76ers, but when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns he led a potent supporting cast there in 1993 before falling to the Jordan Bulls. The short and stout power forward was unique, in his time and across league history, and he maintains a spot inside the best 25 players of all time.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 24 – Steve Nash

Career: 1996 – 2014

Achievements: Two-time MVP; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (8x); Five-time assists leader; third all-time in assists

A handful of players throughout NBA history have revolutionized offensive basketball. Most recently Stephen Curry unlocked entire swaths of the court by shooting from 25 feet out or further. Before him, the league changed when Steve Nash ran the “8 seconds or less” offense with the Phoenix Suns.

The offense, constructed by Mike D’Antoni and executed by Nash, opened up the throttle and leaned into transition opportunities, which everyone knew were high value, but also semi-transition when there were still advantages to be found. They almost exclusively ran high pick-and-rolls, and Nash’s combination of passing and shooting surrounded by three floor-spacers and one vertical spacer in Amar’e Stoudemire created basketball perfection.

Nash was an excellent passer, but he is not praised enough for his accurate shooting and scoring touch inside. His shooting opened up his passing because teams had to make sure he didn’t pull up from outside. In 10 seasons with the Suns, he shot 43.5 percent from deep. The only real problem was that he didn’t shoot enough.

Nash led the league in assists five times ins evens seasons, including both of his MVP years. The Suns had a top-2 offense for six straight seasons with Nash at the helm, even if injuries, brawls and crazy opponent shots kept them out of the NBA Finals. He was an excellent player, and if he entered the league a decade later he would have averaged some insane numbers.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 25 – Chris Paul

Career: 2005 – present

Achievements: All-NBA (10x); All-Star (11x); All-Defense (9x); led the league in assists (4x) and steals (6x); fifth in career assists and career steals

Chris Paul is our third active player, and also the first to have neither a title or MVP award to his name. While he hasn’t hit the peak in either individual or team success, he has established himself as one of the all-time great point guards and deserves his top-25 spot for at least another year (before No. 26 passes him).

Paul’s career is a series of short periods where his game and team success look different. In New Orleans he was more active, leading the league in assists and steals combined in back-to-back seasons, which doubled as his two-best scoring seasons. He finished Top-5 in MVP voting both seasons.

Then with the LA Clippers, he was at the helm of a high-flying attack that was a perennial playoff team but never made it out of the Second Round. Then came Act 3, where Paul became the veteran wingman to a variety of younger ball-handlers. Things went well in Houston until they didn’t, but since he put together back-to-back excellent seasons in Oklahoma City and Phoenix, finally making it to the NBA Finals this past season.

Paul has some eccentricities that fans don’t like, but it’s all done in a calculated way: the foul-drawing, the charge-taking, etc. His ability to completely take over an offense and make it his is evidence of his grandmaster abilities, and his premonitional ability to predict the court around him leads to high totals of assists and steals. He still has a chance to secure that elusive championship as his prime has extended into his late-30s.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 26 – Giannis Antetokounmpo

Career: 2013 – present

Achievements: 2021 NBA Champion; two-time MVP; All-NBA (5x); All-Star (5x); All-Defense (4x); Finals MVP; Defensive Player of the Year; Most Improved Player

At No. 26 we have our first up-and-comer, a player who still has a massive runway with which to move up this list. Still just 26 years old, Giannis Antetokounmpo has the trifecta of MVP, Finals MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. He joins Michael Jordan as the only other player to win multiple MVPs and a Defensive Player of the Year award. He is a lock to make the Hall of Fame even if he retired tomorrow.

What’s incredible about Antetokounmpo is that he wouldn’t retire tomorrow, and won’t until he absolutely has to. He both loves the game of basketball and is burning with an incredible competitive fire. The lanky kid from Greece has become a jacked rim-rattling point forward who can handle in transition, set screens and catch alley-oops, and overall destroy opposing defenses anywhere inside the arc. His transition Euro-step seems impossible given how much ground his huge strides cover.

Defensively he is every bit as special, with his Mr. Fantastic arms swallowing up passing lanes and snatching shots out of the air. He is far from a perfect player, but he looks like the modern version of the dominant centers of yesteryear, be that Shaq or Garnett or Wilt. Given his current trajectory, Antetokounmpo could join them near the top of this list by the end of his career.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 27 – Moses Malone

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Career: 1976 – 1995

Achievements: 1983 NBA Champion; Three-time MVP; All-NBA (8x); All-Star (13x); All-Defense (2x); Finals MVP; All-Time ABA Team; led the league in rebounding six times; third in career rebounds; ninth in career points.

Two decades before Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant began the prep-to-pro generation in earnest, Moses Malone became the first prominent player to make the leap. He went straight from high school into the ABA, and two seasons later joined the NBA. He relatedly had a somewhat slow start to his career, but once he caught his stride he was a two-way force for well over a decade.

Malone’s endurance was incredible, and he routinely averaged more than 40 minutes per game in a season. His rebounding totals look like they are from the 1960s; as late as 1982-83 he led the league in rebounding with 15.3 per game. In 1978-79 he averaged 7.2 offensive rebounds alone. Malone’s ability to locate and secure the rebound was special.

He was exceptionally prolific while with the Houston Rockets for over six seasons, including a trip to the NBA Finals in 1980-81. After losing to the Boston Celtics he found his way back in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers, avoiding the Celtics completely and sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers. Malone was the counterpoint to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a better rebounder but less polished scorer, and his three MVP awards stand testament to how dominant a player he was.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 28 – John Havlicek

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Career: 1962 – 1978

Achievements: Eight-time champion; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (13x); All-Defense (8 times)

John Havlicek is something of a basketball version of Aaron Rodgers, a player who was stuck behind an all-timer before being handed the reigns and winning at the highest level. Drafted in 1962 he was a role player at first on a loaded Celtics team, but he forced his way into the lineup and soon was unstoppable as a key player on eight title teams, two of them without the safety net of his elite Russell-era teammates.

The football comps go deeper, as Havlicek was a three-sport athlete at Ohio State that was drafted by the Cleveland Browns and almost made the team. When he didn’t he joined the Celtics and went on to become one of the best players of his generation.

As Bill Russell and the other stars of that dynasty aged, he took the mantle and became one of the leading scorers for the last few title teams (maybe he is sort of like Kawhi, then?). Then a few years later he and Dave Cowens brought another two titles to Beantown. He was a dynamite scorer with a huge motor and a big smile and he had a major impact on basketball in the ’60s and ’70s.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 29 – Rick Barry

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Career: 1965 – 1980

Achievements: 1975 NBA champion; All-NBA/ABA (10x); All-Star (12x); Finals MVP; All-time ABA team; 24 in career scoring

Rick Barry took one of the more unusual routes to a Hall of Fame career that you will see. He started his career on the San Francisco Warriors, including dropping an insane 35.6 points per game in 1966-67 in his second season. Then he flipped over to the ABA for four seasons, averaging over 30 points per game for two franchises.

Then he was back with the now “Golden State” Warriors and ripped off six straight All-Star seasons. Barry was one of the league’s best shooters, with a smooth shot and lethal accuracy from the free-throw line. He led the league in free-throw accuracy seven times, and for his career shot 90 percent from the line in the NBA.

In the 1974-75 seasons things came together for Barry and the Warriors, and he averaged 28.2 points per game in the playoffs as they won the NBA Finals, sweeping the Washington Bullets in the process. Barry was an elite offensive player who took advantage of competing leagues to make the best of both worlds throughout his career.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 30 – Reggie Miller

Career: 1987 – 2005

Achievements: All-NBA (3x); All-Star (5x); 24th in career scoring; third in career 3-pointers

It’s easy to downplay Reggie Miller’s career, dismissing him for his low All-Star totals and his lack of dominant alpha scoring. Miller never won MVP, never overcame Jordan, never lifted the trophy. Yet the reality is Miller’s impact was in areas less easily tracked, and he was truly one of the best players to ever lace up his sneakers.

In an era when superstars ignored the 3-point line, Miller thrived behind it. From the 1989-90 season to the 1999-00 season, Miller’s 1,708 3-pointers were 355 more than the next guy. By comparison, second-place Glen Rice was closer to 16th than to Miller in first. That shooting ability warped defenses, opening up space even more than it does now. That allowed a middling cast of characters around him to gain notoriety because Miller’s offensive gravity, scoring and playmaking elevated his teammates.

Miller was mostly seen as a foil throughout his career, the guy who wasn’t on the Knicks, the shooter trying to take on the Bulls, the old sniper taking one last shot at the Lakers. His defining moment is the famous “eight points in nine seconds” when the Pacers were down six points with 18.7 seconds remaining in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Miller hit a 3-pointer, stole the inbounds and hit another 3 to tie the game. After two missed free throws by the Knicks Miller came back and drained two free throws to complete the comeback and give the Pacers the win.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 31 – Bob Pettit

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Career: 1954 – 1965

Achievements: 1958 NBA Champion; two-time MVP; All-NBA (11x); All-Star (11x); two-time rebounding title; 19th in career rebounds

When Bill Russel came onto the scene the Boston Celtics won their first title in 1957, the first of a run of 11 titles in 13 seasons. While the Los Angeles Lakers with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West are the well-known foil for Russell’s Celtics, they only met once in the Finals before 1962 — and they never beat the Celtics in seven meetings. Before that, it was the St. Louis Hawks, led by Bob Pettit, who played the Celtics in four of the first five seasons of their Finals runs — including beating them in 1958.

Pettit was the NBA’s premier star in the 1950s, taking the torch from Goerge Mikan and dominating the league for his entire career. He played 11 years in the league and made an All-NBA team in all 11, averaging as many as 29.2 points per game in 1958-59. He did this despite below-average athleticism, even for that era: his repertoire was a collection of jumpers, turnarounds and bankers from every angle.

With Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan as his supporting cast, Pettit led the Hawks to the NBA Finals four times in five seasons. Russell’s first title came through blood, sweat and tears in a tight seven-game series over the Hawks in 1957. The next year those two teams faced off again, and this time it was Pettit dropping 50 points in the clinching Game 6 to bring home the title. Boston would go on to win eight straight titles, but Pettit and the Hawks will always have their victory.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 32 – John Stockton

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Career: 1984 – 2003

Achievements: All-NBA (11x); All-Star (10x); All-Defense (5x); Nine-time leader in assists; two-time leader in steals; first in career assists and career steals

One way to look at John Stockton’s career is by volume, and along those lines, he is too far down this list. He not only is the career assists leader but by an unfathomable amount, 3,715 more than second-place Jason Kidd. He is likewise first in career steals, the consummate point guard racking up classic point guard stats to a staggering degree.

The reason Stockton amassed so many assists and steals is by never missing time throughout his career. He played every available game in a whopping 17 seasons, missing 22 games total over his entire career. He led the league in assists per game in nine straight seasons from 1988 to 1996. He was like clockwork, the inevitable point guard running a well-oiled offense to perfection.

Stockton’s partner for nearly his entire career was, of course, Karl Malone. The two played together for 18 seasons, forming one of the most beautiful pairings in basketball history. Together with head coach Jerry Sloan, they never led the Jazz to a title, but they came very close in 1997 and 1998. Stockton and Malone could never quite find that extra gear, the way to rise above their standard excellence to become something more, something good enough to beat the greats in the postseason. That’s what holds back their historical resume, and holds Stockton back to No. 32 on our list.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 33 – Walt “Clyde” Frazier

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Career: 1967 – 1980

Achievements: Two-time champion; All-NBA (6x); All-Star (7x); All-Defense (7x)

Walt “Clyde” Frazier was one of the league’s earliest personalities, with a broad smile and a game ready to dazzle in New York. He wasn’t quite as gregarious as he is now as a broadcaster, but he has plenty of personality to handle the platform of playing in The Big Apple, and plenty of character to handle the pressures of competing at the highest levels.

Willis Reed got the lion’s share of the credit for the Knicks’ two titles in the 1970s, and he was obviously a key factor in their victories, but it was Frazier who drove their offense to the necessary heights. He averaged 20.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists for his playoff career, and when the Knicks needed a bucket it was Frazier creating it himself, either to score or set up a teammate.

In addition to his offensive impact, Frazier was an all-league defender. He made seven All-Defense teams for his ability to pick up any perimeter player, and if steals were tracked his entire career he would likely be high on those leaderboards as well. Frazier was a dynamic two-way player who was the best player on two titles teams, landing him at No. 33 on the list.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 34 – Patrick Ewing

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Career: 1985 – 2002

Achievements: All-NBA (7x); All-Star (11x); All-Defense (3x); eighth in career blocks

Patrick Ewing’s career is hard to properly evaluate. Drafted one year after Michael Jordan, he lived his career in the Eastern Conference in the shadow of the Chicago Bulls. Ewing’s Knicks were never good enough to beat the Bulls, who knocked them off five times during Ewing’s career. When the Bulls weren’t present in 1994 the Knicks fought all the way to the NBA Finals before losing to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.

Ewing was a force inside, a brick wall for anyone trying to score inside. He made only three All-Defense teams simply because he played in an era with defensive centers like Olajuwon, David Robinson and Dikembe Mutombo, but he was a perfect fit for the bruising interior game of his era.

Chronic knee injuries began sapping Ewing’s athleticism early in his career, and it limited his offensive ceiling. Even so, he averaged 21 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for his career, and he ranks eighth in career blocks.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 35 – Kawhi Leonard

Career: 2011 – present

Achievements: Two-time champion; All-NBA (5x); All-Star (5x); All-Defense (7x); Finals MVP (2x); Defensive Player of the Year (2x); led the league in steals (1x)

Very few players in league history have won a Finals MVP award with two different franchises. Leonard was drafted to be the bridge for Tim Duncan’s Spurs dynasty, and he filled that role admirably, stepping up as first a wing stopper and then a wing scorer to secure one last title for the Spurs. Then years later he forced a trade out of San Antonio and landed with the Toronto Raptors, winning a title immediately before walking in free agency.

Injuries have limited Leonard in a number of postseason runs, preventing his solid career accolades from reaching any higher. He is one of the few modern perimeter players to win Defensive Player of the Year, and he did it twice. His huge hands and lightning reflexes lead to steals where he effectively just rips the ball away from helpless ball-handlers.

Leonard’s career is still being written, although he is currently recovering from an ACL tear that will potentially cost him another full season of his prime. If Leonard can win another title with a third team in the LA Clippers, and win the likely Finals MVP, he will join LeBron James as the only player in history to do so with three separate franchises. Leonard may be an incredibly quiet superstar, but that resume would speak for itself.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 36 – Jason Kidd

Career: 1994 – 2013

Achievements: 2011 champion; All-NBA (6x); All-Star (10x); All-Defense (9x); five-time assists leader; second in career steals and assists; 11th in career 3-pointers

Jason Kidd took the mantle of a classic point guard from John Stockton and made it his own, leading the league in assists five times as he effectively ran multiple teams the same way, pushing int transition and manipulating defenses in the half-court to set up teammates. Until the twilight of his career he never averaged fewer than 7.7 assists per game, and ten times he averaged at least nine.

What is remarkable about Kidd’s career is how he reinvented himself halfway through it. He never had a true co-star who could help him elevate a team to a title, even though he dragged the Nets to the NBA Finals twice in 2002 and 2003; they were overmatched by Western Conference juggernauts both times. Then he joined the Dallas Mavericks to pair with Dirk Nowitzki, becoming more of an off-ball threat, adding a 3-point shot that simply didn’t exist earlier in his career.

This new Jason Kidd helped the Mavericks win the title in 2011, with Kidd in a lower usage role while Nowitzki carried the offense. Kidd still set up teammates, shot from outside and played his usual brand of tough defense, and finally found the team success he was searching for.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 37 – Kevin McHale

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Career: 1980 – 1993

Achievements: Three-time champion; All-NBA (1x); All-Star (7x); All-Defense (6x); Sixth Man of the Year (2x)

When Kevin McHale was first drafted by the Boston Celtics, they had a glut of talent in the frontcourt. He grew into his own as a bench player, becoming so good that he won the Sixth Man of the Year award twice before the Celtics were absolutely forced to start him.

He then formed what may have been the best frontcourt in NBA history, with Larry Bird at the 3 and Robert Parish at center. While all three were healthy they ripped off four straight trips to the NBA Finals, with McHale the team’s second star. When the Celtics won the title in 1986 he averaged 24.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in that postseason run.

McHale was an absolute savant in the post, with an array of post moves that dazzled fans and confused defenders. Play tight and he went up-and-under; give him space and he had a turnaround jump hook. The 1980s had a lot of talented players, but McHale’s combination of offense and defense was special and a big reason why many call the 1986 Celtics the greatest team of all time. Without a doubt, they are in that conversation.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 38 – Isiah Thomas

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Career: 1981 – 1994

Achievements: Two-time champion; All-NBA (5x); All-Star (12x); Finals MVP; ninth in career assists; 18th in career steals

Isiah Thomas is both underrated and overrated as an all-time great, which seems like an impossible paradox to work out. The facts are that he won two titles with the Detroit Pistons, the “Bad Boys” who fought their way past Larry Bird’s Celtics and Magic’s Lakers and fought off Michael Jordan’s Bulls to win two titles before Jordan became inevitable. He made 12 All-Star teals in 13 seasons in the league.

Thomas is underrated because of how remarkable it was for a team without a transcendent star (read those names from the last paragraph) to win two titles. Those Detroit teams were tough, defensive units who fought and clawed and gave no ground. Thomas’ impact is also downplayed because of how much his peers simply did not like him, including how he was frozen out of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

At the same time, Thomas is often overrated by casual fans of the game. He is a well-known face of this era of basketball and he won two titles, so he is looked at as a star in the same conversation as his contemporaries. The truth is that Thomas was an inefficient point guard who was a sieve on defense, and his teams often played better when he was off the court. The Pistons won their two titles not when Thomas found another gear, but when he ceded some of the load to Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman came into his own as a truly special and dominant defensive force.

Thomas was a very good player; not elite, not a superstar, but he earned a place on this list and was the face of a team in the Bad Boys that played a key role in the story of the NBA.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 39 – Elgin Baylor

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Career: 1958 – 1972

Achievements: All-NBA (10x); All-Star (11x); 36 in career points

Elgin Baylor entered an NBA that was played below the rim, with set shots and layups and simple movements. Baylor absolutely destroyed that conception of basketball, redefining offense as the league’s first true black offensive star, using his athleticism to finish above the rim with an array of moves.

Baylor was a special scorer, averaging 24.9 points per game as a rookie for the Minneapolis Lakers and as many as 38.3 points per game in 1961-62. He paired with Jerry West for much of his career, and together they went to the NBA Finals seven times. Baylor went once before West was drafted and lost to a young Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics; West went once after Baylor retired and won the title they could never get together.

In fact, that 1971-72 season is illustrative of the true impact of Baylor. Without a doubt a natural scorer, he wasn’t a very efficient one, and he was unable to change his game to allow his teammates to shine and elevate the team overall. When it became clear his aging body couldn’t allow him to be the same player, and he wasn’t willing to accept being something less, he retired early in the 1971-72 season, allowing the Lakers to come together and rip off a 33-game winning streak en route to the title.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 40 – James Harden

Career: 2009 – present

Achievements: 2018 MVP; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (9x); Sixth Man of the Year; three-time scoring leader; fifth in career 3-pointers; 38th in career scoring

James Harden was drafted as the third offensive star on the Oklahoma City Thunder, and for a few years paired with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant to develop into a true contender, making it to the NBA Finals in 2012. Then the Thunder broke things up, shipping Harden to Houston. There he developed into one of the most prolific and heliocentric stars in basketball history.

Harden’s combination of scoring and passing put him at the center of the universe for the Rockets’ offense, especially once Mike D’Antoni arrived and helped the offense sing around him. Few players set up open shooters or lob threats as well as Harden, and his combination of herky-jerky dribble moves often get him enough space to score inside despite a lack of elite athleticism. His patented stepback 3-pointer is so unguardable it forced defenses to contort into knots trying to stop it.

The problem for Harden is that his game has regularly fallen off in the postseason, whether due to a reduction in foul calls or something internal, a playoff gear Harden can’t tap into. Still just 32 years old despite his career accolades, he has paired again with Kevin Durant on the Brooklyn Nets and could finally add a title to his resume.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 41 – Ray Allen

Career: 1996 – 2014

Achievements: Two-time champion; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (10x); first in career 3-pointers

Many younger NBA fans know of Ray Allen as the sharpshooting third banana on the Boston Celtics, or perhaps just as that old gunner who hit an insane 3-pointer in the 2013 NBA Finals. Let’s stop now and bask in the glory of that shot, perhaps the greatest in NBA Finals history:

Allen absolutely was those things, the most prolific 3-point shooter of his generation and still, for at least a couple more months at the time of writing, the career leader in 3-pointers made until Stephen Curry overtakes him. When he retired he was light years ahead of the active field.

What is often forgotten is that before Allen was a tireless shooter and gritty defender winning titles on the East Coast, he was a bona fide all-around offensive star for the Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle SuperSonics. In Seattle specifically, he was a dynamic two-way force, averaging 24.6 points per game across five seasons and expanding his 3-point volume to previously unheard-of heights. Baron Davis was perhaps the only other “star” to approach his perimeter volume of that era, a volume that is now common but then was unique, a breaking of the court NBA defenses thought they knew how to defend.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 42 – Clyde Drexler

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Career: 1983 – 1998

Achievements: 1995 champion; All-NBA (5x); All-Star (10x); ninth in career steals

Clyde “the Glide” Drexler entered the league in 1983 as a talented shooting guard, and in an alternate timeline, he may have established himself as an all-time great at the position. Unfortunately for him, he became inextricably linked to another shooting guard the following season, when the Portland Trail Blazers passed on one Michael Jordan because they already had Drexler, drafting Sam Bowie instead.

Drexler had to play the rest of his career in Jordan’s shadow, the 2-guard who was good, but never quite as good. He has some genuinely great career accomplishments, leading the Blazers to the NBA Finals twice during the era of other dominant Western Conference teams. Yet in the middle of his prime when he arrived in the Finals in 1993 it was to face Jordan, and when the media painted the picture of Drexler being Jordan’s worthy foil it was all the motivation Jordan needed to absolutely destroy Drexler.

Never giving up, Drexler found his way to the Houston Rockets and won a title with former college teammate Hakeem Olajuwon in 1995, thankfully spared from having to face Jordan once again. In another lifetime, the extremely talented Drexler may have written a different story. As it is, he still deserves credit for what he did accomplish in the shadow of greatness.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 43 – Paul Pierce

Career: 1998 – 2017

Achievements: 2008 champion; All-NBA (4x); All-Star (10x); Finals MVP; 19th in career scoring

Paul Pierce becomes the third player on this list from the 2008 Boston Celtics title team, an illustration of just how talented that team was, and how disappointing it is that they never won more than one title. Pierce was a classic scoring wing, with a lack of athleticism never a hindrance to his ability to get to his shot and hit shots no matter the defense.

Seriously, Pierce had a couple of spots on the court that he loved to pull up and shoot from. Defenses knew that — it showed up clearly on tape, they could have circled them on the court in Sharpie. Yet defenders couldn’t stop him from getting there and creating just enough space to drain the shot in their face.

Pierce toiled as the solo star of the Celtics for years before gaining Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen as teammates in 2007-08. His consistent scoring helped him climb the career-scoring leaderboard. Later in his career, after his prime, he became a big-shot taker for other playoff teams, proving again and again his fearlessness to take the shots that are needed, just as he did in bringing Boston its only title since 1986.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 44 – Allen Iverson

Career: 1996 – 2010

Achievements: 2001 MVP; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (11x); four-time scoring leader; three-time steals leader; 15th in career steals; 30th in career points (total); seventh in career points (per game)

Many reading this list will be shocked to find Allen Iverson this far down. He won an MVP, led the league in scoring four different times and was the face of a cultural revolution where basketball fans began to explore new ways to express themselves in both manner and dress.

Iverson’s impact on society and on basketball culture is undeniable, and there is no question he was a truly gifted scorer. Iverson’s ability to create a shot out of nothing allowed the Philadelphia 76ers to surround him with elite defenders who didn’t provide much on offense. They handed AI the keys and he drove them all the way to the NBA Finals.

The problem is that when you peel back the layers of his actual statistics you see how inefficient he truly was. Iverson scored as much as he did because of his insane volume, both in field goal attempts and minutes played. He averaged at least 40 minutes per game 11 times, leading the league in that number seven times. Since Iverson came into the league no player has done so more than five times. He ranks fourth in NBA history in minutes per game at 41.1 for his career.

Iverson’s career field goal percentage is just 42.5 percent, and he didn’t do as much to make his offenses better as you would think. He was the ultimate floor raiser, but his inability to raise a team’s offensive ceiling, or scale into a more efficient role, hindered his teams from being great.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 45 – Bob Cousy

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Career: 1950 – 1970

Achievements: Six-time champion; 1957 MVP; All-NBA (12x); All-Star (13x); eight-time assists leader; 20th in career assists

The league’s first great point guard, Bob Cousy entered the league and immediately began slinging the ball around, leading the league in assists per game eight different times. When the Boston Celtics first began winning at a high level the credit was initially portioned out to Cousy, a while player who handled the ball: that was who those following the league could understand. It won Cousy the MVP in 1957 when a rookie Bill Russell instantly changed the complexion of that team.

That isn’t meant to completely explain away Cousy’s contributions. He led the league in postseason scoring three times before Russell arrived, doing his part to try and propel the Celtics to that upper echelon. He was dynamic in the open court and loved to make the defense believe he was shooting, only to hit a teammate for a now-open shot. He was probably the first NBA player who made playing the game look fun, and he drew in a generation of fans because of it.

Cousy played 13 seasons and made All-NBA in 12 of them. That’s partially a product of a smaller league and partially a product of their Russell-driven team success, but Cousy produced consistently for a long time. In a fascinating coda to his career, seven years after retiring, injuries to the Cincinnati team he was coaching led Cousy to suit back up for seven games at the age of 41, a return that did not go well as he scored a total of one basket.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 46 – George Mikan

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Career: 1948 – 1956

Achievements: Five-time champion; All-NBA (6x); All-Star (4x); three-time points leader

We now go way back, nearly to the first of our 75 years of NBA history, to when George Mikan became the league’s first star. He debuted for the Minneapolis Lakers in 1948 in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) that would change its name the following season after merging with the National Basketball League (NBL).

Mikan was completely a product of his era, a lanky guy in goggles who forced the fledgling league to think through its rules. In essence, his impact on the game of basketball was in helping them to determine how to keep games fair and competitive. His size and scoring ability near the basket forced rule changes like widening the lane and making it illegal to stand under the hoop for too long.

Mikan played just 439 games across seven years, but he was an All-NBA player all six years that was a possibility. He led the league in scoring three times, rebounding twice, and won five rings in his first six seasons. The defenses of the time had no answer to stop him. He was not very athletic and not very creative in his offensive attack, and of course, suffers when compared to the players who came after, but his role in defining the league and in winning so many of its early titles secures him his place on the list.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 47 – Elvin Hayes

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Career: 1968 – 1984

Achievements: 1978 champion; All-NBA (6x); All-Star (12x); All-Defense (2x); two-time rebounding leader; one-time scoring leader; 13th in career points; sixth in career rebounds

The Washington Bullets of the 1970s were built like many teams of that decade, from the inside out. Their two stars, Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, were post players banging around inside. The combination led the Bullets to the NBA Finals three times, and they lifted the trophy in 1978.

Hayes was a rebounder extraordinaire, leading the league in the number twice and averaging at least 11 rebounds per game in each of his first 12 seasons. He was no offensive slouch either, leading the league in scoring as a rookie and averaging 21 points per game for his career. He was a tough player inside, and together he and Unseld formed a strong defensive wall inside.

The problem for Hayes was that his high-energy pounding styles worked less well in the postseason, especially against faster power forwards. He wilted in all three series, even when the Bullets won in 1978; it was Wes Unseld who won Finals MVP. Without that ring and its blanket validation, his standing in history might be vastly different.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 48 – Gary Payton

Career: 1990 – 2007

Achievements: 2006 champion; All-NBA (9x); All-Star (9x); All-Defense (9x); Defensive Player of the Year; led the league in steals (1x); 10th in career assists; fourth in career steals

Gary Payton was the premier defensive guard of the 1990s and early 2000s, a standing that earned him the ultimate nickname of “The Glove” for how closely he played opposing guards. He is the only point guard in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year, and he totaled nine All-Defense selections.

No offensive slouch, Payton loved to take smaller guards into the post and score over them. He was a solid passer and was at the helm for multiple top offenses. His calling card was still his defense, and he ranks fourth in career steals as one of the ultimate swipemen.

Payton’s confidence was limitless, and his ego big enough to fill the room. He has one son named Gary Payton Jr., and another son named Gary Payton II. One of his career accomplishments was checking his ego at the door and buying in on the 2006 Miami Heat, where he finally secured a title.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 49 – Artis Gilmore

Career: 1976 – 1988

Achievements: 1975 ABA Champion; 1972 ABA MVP; All-ABA (5x); All-Star (11x); All-Defense (5x); All-Time ABA Team; fifth in career rebounds; fourth in career blocks; 27th in career scoring

For some inexplicable reason, Artis Gilmore finds himself left off of many lists looking at the best players of all time. It may have something to do with many of his best accomplishments coming in the ABA, but those accomplishments were so prolific that they should carry with them some respect.

Gilmore was a 7’2″ center who measured 7’8″ when you included his signature afro. He played five seasons in the ABA and absolutely dominated that league, winning MVP and making the All-ABA team all five years. In 1975 he led the Kentucky Colonels to the championship, averaging 24.1 points, 17.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game that postseason.

Then he transitioned to the NBA where he starred for the Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. Gilmore was a monster near the rim, finishing above and through opponents. He led the league in field goal percentage four times, and always on a significant number of attempts. Gilmore was one of the league’s best two-way centers during his era, in two different leagues.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 50 – George Gervin

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Career: 1976 – 1986

Achievements: All-NBA/ABA (9x); All-Star (12x); All-Time ABA Team; four-time scoring champion; 17th in all-time scoring

One of the smoothest scorers in NBA history, George Gervin was called “The Iceman” for how cool the blood running through his veins was. He joined the San Antonio Spurs in the ABA and stuck with them as they merged into the NBA, playing 12 seasons for the franchise and making the All-Star team in all 12.

Gervin could score on anyone, hitting shots from every angle. He loved to uncork his bank shot to embarrass defenders, and if they shaded towards the baseline to prevent that he leaped to the rim for his patented finger roll. Four times he led the league in scoring, and despite playing just over a thousand games he ranks 17th all-time in career points.

The Spurs were a perennial playoff team with Gervin as their leading scorer, but in a league dominated by the Lakers and Rockets during his prime he never broke through to the NBA Finals. He was a truly special scorer, and along with players like Julius Erving and David Thompson paved the way for a new generation of offensive players like Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 51 – Dominique Wilkins

Career: 1982 – 1999

Achievements: All-NBA (7x); All-Star (9x); led the league in scoring (1x); 16th in career scoring

Dominique Wilkins was a player who had to be seen to be believed. One of the premier athletes in a generation where athleticism was exploding leaguewide, he could leap out of the gym as he blitzed to the rim for one of his deep back of dunks. He and Michael Jordan were not only incredible in-game dunkers, but they memorably faced off in the Slam Dunk Contest as well.

Wilkins’ explosion and relentless approach on offense led to impressive individual statistics, and he even led the league in scoring in 1985-86. He averaged 24.8 points per game for his career, including 10 seasons with at least 26 points per game.

The problem for Wilkins was that he was all alone in Atlanta trying to push through an absolutely deadly Eastern Conference. Only once did he have an All-NBA teammate, when in 1989 Moses Malone got a third-team nod near the end of his career. Jordan and Pippen, Bird and McHale, the Bad Boys – without help he couldn’t break through, never making the Conference Finals. Replaying his career again with a legitimate co-star could have meant a very different narrative for “The Human Highlight Reel” and his career.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 52 – Dolph Schayes

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Career: 1949 – 1964

Achievements: 1955 NBA Champion; All-NBA (12x); All-Star (12x); led the league in rebounding (1x)

The early years of the NBA were ripe for the most talented players to absolutely dominate, and that’s exactly what Dolph Schayes did. After he went fourth overall in the 1948 BAA Draft, Schayes played 15 years in the league and made 12 All-NBA teams.

Schayes played his entire career for the Syracuse Nationals, who in 1963 moved to Philadelphia and became the 76ers. He was a crafty scorer at the power forward position, leading the league in rebounding in 1951 and averaging 18.5 points per game for his career. His best season came in 1957-58 when he averaged a career-best 24.9 points per game and finished as the MVP runner-up.

Syracuse saw its greatest team success from 1954 to 1955, making back-to-back NBA Finals and winning the title in 1955. There was no NBA Finals award at that time, but if there were Schayes would likely have brought home the hardware. One crazy fact is that Schayes in 1952 played the entire season with his right arm in a cast, shooting with his left arm for the season. This meant that moving forward he was even more dangerous as he was something of a “switch shooter” launching with either arm.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 53 – Robert Parish

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Career: 1976 – 1997

Achievements: Four-time champion; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (9x); ninth in career rebounds; 11th in career blocks; first in career games played

Some players make this list because of excellence in a short period of time. The careers of players like Bill Walton were cut short due to injury, and another Celtics legend Larry Bird was limited due to chronic back injuries. On the other end of the spectrum, Robert Parish is the banner-holding leader of the group that makes this list in large part due to spectacular longevity.

Parish, known as “The Chief” in Boston, was certainly not just a role player. He made two All-NBA teams in his career and made nine All-Star games. He was a gifted interior scorer and strong rebounder, and a stout interior presence for the Celtics throughout the 1980s.

Yet the longevity is what sets him apart. Parish played in 1,611 career regular-season games, 51 more than Kareem and 301 more than LeBron, the closest active player in 20th place on the all-time list. That helped Parish claim a high standing on a number of career leaderboards, including ninth in career rebounds and 11th in career blocks. He won three titles with the Celtics and then made his way to the Chicago Bulls in 1997 for one last ring in his swan song.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 54 – Dwight Howard

Career: 2004 – present

Achievements: 2020 NBA Champion; All-NBA (8x); All-Star (8x); All-Defense (5x); Defensive Player of the Year (3x); five-time rebounding leader; two-time blocks leader; 12th in career rebounds; 15th in career blocks

Dwight Howard has been hurt by the public perception of him over the last few seasons, as his inability to mature as a person and teammates saw him run out of multiple teams, and he bounced around the league while still firmly in his prime. You don’t see that out of all-time players, and that’s a big reason why Howard drops to 54th on this list.

The resume is stellar, though, once you remove the human element. Howard made eight All-NBA teams as one of the league’s best centers, and five of them were first-place finishes as he dominated the position. He is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, one of only four players to win that many times. He was a top-5 MVP finisher in four different seasons.

The best run of Howard’s career in Orlando was when head coach Stan Van Gundy surrounded him with shooters, a la the 1990s Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon. Howard was no Hakeem, but his defensive presence inside ignited a run all the way to the NBA Finals where the Magic lost to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Howard has redeemed himself from a character standpoint by winning a title as a role player with the Lakers and that should help bump him onto the NBA’s list as well.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 55 – Wes Unseld

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Career: 1968 – 1981

Achievements: 1978 NBA Champion; 1969 MVP; All-NBA (1x); All-Star (5x); Finals MVP; 14th in career rebounds

Only two players have ever won the league’s MVP award as rookies. Wilt Chamberlain did in 1959-60 and backed it up with a Hall of Fame career that saw him rank 12th on this list. The other is Wes Unseld, who won the MVP due to the Baltimore Bullets taking a huge leap forward as he joined the team.

That award didn’t age as well as with Wilt, with Unseld putting together a solid but unspectacular career. With centers like Kareem, Wilt, Dave Cowens and Willis Reed all around he didn’t make a single All-NBA team after his rookie year, in part due to a significant knee injury that limited his impact later in his career.

Unseld was a tough rebounder and competed hard, and he was a key part of three Eastern Conference champion teams and one title squad in 1978, for which he won Finals MVP. His outlet passes were legendary for setting up teammates and sparking the offense in transition, a must for a team starting two interior players like Unseld and Elvin Hayes.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 56 – Damian Lillard

Career: 2012 – present

Achievements: All-NBA (6x); All-Star (6x); 10th in career 3-pointers

Damian Lillard is the Dominique Wilkins of the modern era, a truly gifted scorer with a unique, elite skill who never got the help he needed to make any real noise in the postseason. Where for ‘Nique it was his dunking, for Lillard it is his insane ability to hit shots in big moments from anywhere on the court.

Lillard would be seen as the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA if it weren’t for the Splash Brothers, and even so, he is a beloved NBA star known for his shotmaking. He has two walk-off series-winning shots, one of which came as a pull-up 3-pointer from the logo in the face of a former All-Defense guard. He is fearless, and he never met a shot he didn’t love.

Lillard has done well to elevate the teams he has played with, providing an involved and encouraging leadership style where he leads by example. Unfortunately, he has not received more help and only made it to the Conference Finals once before being clobbered by the Golden State Warriors. Lillard will have a great shot to finish third in career 3-pointers by the end of his career, behind Stephen Curry and James Harden.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 57 – Willis Reed

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Career: 1965 – 1974

Achievements: Two-time champion; 1970 MVP; All-NBA (5x); All-Star (7x); All-Defense (1x); Finals MVP (2x)

The heart and soul of the New York Knicks in the 1960s and ’70s, Willis Reed was a hard-working center from Louisiana who came one of the most beloved Knicks of all time. He played through multiple injuries throughout his career to bring the Knicks two titles, in 1970 and 1973.

The premier moment for Reed’s career was Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. After Reed suffered a leg injury in Game 5, he returned in Game 7 to start and hit the Knicks’ first two shots. They were his only points of the game, but Reed locked in defending Wilt Chamberlain of the Lakers, and when he had to finally exit the game the Knicks had a 24 points lead, Wilt had made just two shots of his own and the Knicks were on their way to a title.

Reed was blessed with some great teammates, from Dave DeBusschere and Walt Frazier to Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe and Jerry Lucas. Those Knicks teams are legendary, and Reed was at the center of their iconic run. He made five All-NBA teams despite the tough competition at the center position, and he won Finals MVP in both of their championship runs.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 58 – Anthony Davis

Career: 2012 – present

Achievements: 2020 NBA Champion; All-NBA (4x); All-Star (8x); All-Defense (4x); three-time blocks leader

Anthony Davis came into the league as the most heralded first overall pick since LeBron James, and he has not disappointed. Defensively he is the epitome of a modern big man, with elite shot-blocking prowess (he led the league in blocks three times) and the speed and agility to defend out to the perimeter.

Offensively he is more of a dependent talent than a true top option, which limited the ceiling of his teams in New Orleans. That changed when he joined the Los Angeles Lakers and could be the co-star to LeBron James, and in his first season there the Lakers brought home the title.

Davis is a perennial All-Defense candidate and should continue to add to his career accolades over the next few seasons as a prominent star on a title contender on the league’s most popular team. If he stays healthy over the next decade he could skyrocket up this list, especially if the Lakers win another title over the next few seasons.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 59 – Russell Westbrook

Career: 2008 – present

Achievements: 2017 MVP; All-NBA (9x); All-Star (9x); two-time scoring leader; three-time assists leader; 12th in career assists

Russell Westbrook is one of the most polarizing players in modern NBA history, and perhaps throughout all 75 years as well. He is an athletic marvel with an incredible work ethic and a strong competitive fire. Why is he so polarizing?

His supporters point to absolutely historic numbers of points, rebounds and assists. He has racked up 184 career triple-doubles, the most in NBA history. After a player averaged a triple-double for a season just one time in 70 years, Westbrook has done it three times in the last four seasons. He has led the league in scoring twice and assists three times, and his nine All-NBA selections speak for themselves.

On the other hand, Westbrook is something of a stat-hog, pounding the ball and taking copious amounts of shots. He hunts rebounds to the point of stealing them from teammates, and he is famous (or infamous) for waiting to pass the ball until he is confident his teammate will get him an assist. He is a terrible off-ball player and is wildly inconsistent on defense.

Wherever you come down on Westbrook, the sheer statistical volume of his per-game numbers demands a place somewhere on this list.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 60 – Manu Ginobili

Career: 2002 – 2018

Achievements: Four-time champion; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (2x); Sixth Man of the Year

One of the greatest international guards in NBA history, Manu Ginobili found an NBA team that allowed him to maximize his team success but at the cost of individual statistics. He embraced that, coming off the bench for the San Antonio Spurs for most of his career.

That means his per-game numbers or career statistics aren’t necessarily special. He did make two All-NBA teams, credit to the league for recognizing his impact, but he lags behind other candidates for the back part of this list in many areas.

Yet Ginobili’s impact on an all-time Spurs dynasty was clear, and every sort of advanced metric tends to scream of his value. He brought the Euro Step to the NBA as a fashionable move, he played hard on every possession and he brought a certain energy to the league that drew fans in. Everyone loved Ginobili, and he deserves a place on this list, so he gets one.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 61 – Paul Arizin

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Career: 1950 – 1962

Achievements: 1956 NBA Champion; All-NBA (4x); All-Star (10x); two-time scoring champion

In the early days of the NBA players shot by holding the ball in both hands, planting their feet on the court and flinging the ball towards the hoop. Paul Arizin was one of the first players to introduce the concept of jump-shooting into the league, and his wild success at the move made it mainstream throughout the league.

Arizin was a member of the Philadelphia Warriors for his entire career, a career interrupted for two seasons by military service. He came back and didn’t miss a beat, continuing a streak of averaging at least 20 points per game in nine straight seasons. Twice he led the league in scoring, and his ability to get to the line as a small forward was elite for his time.

In 10 years in the league, he made 10 All-Star teams, and he led the Warriors to the playoffs eight times. The pinnacle of their postseason success came in 1956 when he and Neil Johnston led the Warriors to the title.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 62 – Hal Greer

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Career: 1958 – 1973

Achievements: 1967 NBA Champion; All-NBA (7x); All-Star (10x)

In the years before Jerry West entered the league, Hal Greer was the league’s premier shooting guard. The 6’2″ guard was a dynamite scorer, helped by his generation’s adoption of the jumpshot as he molded it into a reliable and beautiful shot. In an era where most of his guard contemporaries were shooting under 40 percent, he averaged 45.2 percent from the field for his career.

Greer put together a long and prolific career, 15 seasons in all for the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers. When Greer retired he was the career leader in games played. He made 10 straight All-Star selections and was a seven-time All-NBA player, all the more impressive given he was battling with Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Jerry West and Oscar Robertson.

1966-67 was the 76ers’ best season, as they won 68 games and eventually the title. Greer and Wilt Chamberlain were a deadly combination, and those 68 wins were an NBA record at the time. During that postseason run, Greer averaged 27.7 points per game to help secure his only career title.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 63 – Chauncey Billups

Career: 1997 – 2014

Achievements: 2004 NBA Champion; All-NBA (3x); All-Star (5x); All-Defense (2x); Finals MVP; 17th in career 3-pointers

Chauncey Billups was a talented player who managed to find his way to the right team at the right time to elevate his career standing and, almost certainly, a spot on this list. He and the Detroit Pistons made it to the Eastern Conference Finals for six straight seasons from 2003 to 2008, and Billups was the offensive leader for that squad.

Those Detroit teams were known for not having a true “star” on the roster, but that wasn’t really true. Billups made three All-NBA teams in his career and five All-Star teams, and his place at the tip of the Pistons’ defensive spear earned him a pair of All-Defense nods as well.

Billups was not afraid to take the big shot, often a necessity on a team made up of lower-usage ensemble players. He quietly racked up a number of career 3-pointers, ranking Top 10 when he retired and currently 17th.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 64 – Pau Gasol

Career: 2001 – 2019

Achievements: Two-time champion; All-NBA (4x); All-Star (6x); 23rd in career blocks

Kobe Bryant won three titles as the Robin to Shaq’s Batman, but after the pair broke up in 2005 he struggled to find a replacement. Bryant as “the guy” won an MVP and dropped 81 points in a single game, but he needed a wingman to get back into title contention.

That player turned out to be Pau Gasol, who made an All-Star team in Memphis before the Lakers traded for him to supplement their star power. He and Bryant clicked right away, and together they went to three straight NBA Finals and won two titles, the second against a stacked Boston Celtics team.

Gasol’s offensive versatility allowed him to toggle between power forward and center, freeing the Lakers up to start him alongside Andrew Bynum or to have him man the middle to get more spacing on the court. Later in his career, Gasol joined the Bulls and Spurs to extend his career, and he just recently retired from basketball to end a solid career.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 65 – Sam Jones

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Career: 1957 – 1969

Achievements: 10-time champion; All-NBA (3x); All-Star (5x)

On the all-time great teams, teams that were perennial contenders and won multiple titles, it is sometimes hard to parse out which players were truly transcendent and which were simply in the right roles but ultimately dependent on their superstar teammates. Especially for players who never changed teams, those questions are largely unable to be answered with complete certainty.

Even so, I had to do my best, and so Sam Jones makes this list, while his teammate Bill Sharman does not. Jones played behind Sharman for years before finally breaking into the closing lineup in the 1961 playoffs and never looking back.

He was a perfect fit for the Bill Russell Celtics, a good-enough defender and confident shooter. He famously would taunt big men by hitting jumpers, then driving by them when they rumbled out to contest his shot. He won ten of the 11 titles the Celtics won during that dynasty, and Jones was the second-best player on more than one of those title teams.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 66 – Dennis Rodman

Career: 1986 – 2000

Achievements: Five-time champion; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (8x); All-Defense (8x); Defensive Player of the Year (2x); led the league in rebounds (7x); 24th in career rebounds

Where do you rank one of the 10 greatest defensive players of all time if he provided basically nothing on offense? It’s a fascinating question, and it came up for a number of players — none quite as elite in either defense or rebounding as Dennis Rodman, which is why he checks in as the highest-ranked of the group.

Rodman led the league in rebounding seven times, which is even crazier when you realize that he is just 6’7″ and never played center. He was relentless in his pursuit of every board, just as he was in preventing you from scoring on defense. He was not just an elite defender at power forward, but his ability to defend multiple positions unlocked the Bad Boys; title run and kept the Chicago Bulls’ window wide open.

Rodman played 14 seasons in the NBA, and his teams (five different franchises) made the playoffs in all but one of those years. He made the Conference Finals 10 times in those 14 years and won five titles with the Pistons and Bulls. He may have stressed out coaches with his lifestyle and loud personality, but he also came through when it mattered to delivering wins and titles.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 67 – Carmelo Anthony

Career: 2003 – present

Achievements: All-NBA (6x); All-Star (10x); scoring leader (1x); 12th in career points

Carmelo Anthony is the first player on this list who was considered to be cut. In other words, the Top 66 players on this list seemed like locks or something close to it, while these final nine players were chosen from a larger group of “maybes” under consideration. In 6 months if I sat down and did this exercise again, it’s possible all nine of these players could change out with others – the NBA has had a lot of excellent players in its history.

Carmelo Anthony makes the list as an all-time scorer, currently 12th in career points with an outside shot to move into the Top 10 this season, passing Dan Issel (our one and only Dan Issel mention) and possibly Shaq. Through changes in teams and teammates he consistently scored at a high clip throughout his prime, and now has reinvented himself as a microwave scorer off the bench.

Drafted in the same class as Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Anthony has managed to extend his career by being excellent at one thing: scoring. It’s true that Anthony has never had a true star to play with, as James and Wade did (with each other) or other elite scorers like Kevin Durant or Stephen Curry have. That being said, he made that bed himself to an extent, demanding a trade to New York and hindering their ability to build around him due to giving up the farm to get him. If he wins a title this year with LeBron in Los Angeles it will mean a fascinating addendum to his career.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 68 – Grant Hill

Career: 1994 – 2013

Achievements: All-NBA (5x); All-Star (7x)

Injuries will define the next two players on our list, two players with the talent to be much higher on this list but who never got to reach their true potential. Grant Hill became a household name starring at Duke, and he entered the league as one of its rising stars. He was an All-Star out of the gate as a rookie and averaged 19.9 points per game or more each of his first six seasons.

Hill was not just a scorer, he was an all-around player who dominated the game in every way. He averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game over those six seasons, making the All-NBA teams five straight years.

Then disaster struck in the form of injuries, and he was limited to just 57 games over the next four seasons. When he came back he had to reinvent himself as a supporting player, without the athleticism or do-it-all ability. Yet he did just that, eventually becoming a solid starter for some successful Phoenix Suns teams. Hill’s peak gets him onto the latter part of this list, with a whisper of what could have been.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 69 – Tracy McGrady

Career: 1997 – 2012

Achievements: All-NBA (7x); All-Star (7x); Most Improved Player; two-time scoring champion

The start to Tracy McGrady’s career was about as good as it gets. He began slowly, averaging just 11.1 points across his first three seasons in Toronto. Then he found his way to the Orlando Magic and he took off, making seven straight All-NBA teams and averaging 28.1 points per game in four seasons in Orlando, and 22.7 points per game across six seasons in Houston.

McGrady was a natural scorer, the kind of player who could get his shot off from anywhere. His athleticism let him play above the rim with dunks and clever finishes, and his shooting touch let him hit jumpers out towards the 3-point line, if never quite very efficiently from behind it. He twice led the league in scoring, including a thunderous 32.1 points per game in 2002-03, the fifth-highest total since 2000.

It was in Houston playing alongside Yao Ming that McGrady’s career took a turn for the worst. Back, shoulder and knee injuries began to add up, before they steamrolled into chronic issues that completely derailed his career. He was never the same after that, putting a sudden stop to a career that was heading towards the top.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 70 – Dikembe Mutombo

Career: 1991 – 2009

Achievements: All-NBA (3x); All-Star (8x); All-Defense (6x); Defensive Player of the Year (4x); led the league in rebounds (3x) and blocks (3x); 21st in career rebounding; second all-time in blocks

We come to the next step in our parsing down of the league’s best defenders. At this point, Dikembe Mutombo wins a spot on the list, which will push another similar player, Ben Wallace, just off of the list. Mutombo’s combination of elite impact and sustained success win out, although both were among the best defenders this league has ever seen.

Mutombo was a shot-blocking machine from the moment he joined the league as a 25-year old. He averaged 3.0 blocks as a rookie and two years later led the league with a whopping 4.1 per game, and was the league’s leading shot-blocker for the next three seasons. He has three of the seven highest per-game blocks averages of the last 30 years, mixed in with names like David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Mutombo altered the very field of play with his long reach and shot anticipation, and his signature finger-wag is iconic. Whatever team he was on instantly became a top defensive unit, and he twice made it to the NBA Finals in 2001 and 2003. He won four Defensive Player of the Year awards, tied with Ben Wallace for the most all-time. What is interesting is that he is the only player to win that award on multiple teams, and he did it defending the paint for three different teams: the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks (2x), and Philadelphia 76ers. Add in three All-NBA selections and eight All-Star appearances and his resume speaks for itself.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 71 – Dave Cowens

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1970 – 1983

Achievements: Two-time champion; 1973 MVP; All-NBA (3x); All-Star (8x); All-Defense (3x)

With the retirement of such icons as Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Willis Reed, the center landscape in the NBA was suddenly wide open in the 1970s. That created an opening for Dave Cowens to step in and find his way not only to an MVP award but a pair of titles alongside John Havlicek as well.

Cowens averaged 20.5 points and 16.2 rebounds in his MVP season, inching out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (likely helped some by voter fatigue after Kareem won the two previous seasons). Cowens backed up that selection by bringing home Boston’s first post-Russell title in 1974, and against as the playoff’s leading rebounder in 1976.

Overall Cowens was never an elite scorer, but even so, he averaged 18.2 points per game across 10 seasons with the Celtics. For a franchise defined by titans, he was never that, and his personality often grated on his teammates and Boston fans alike. Even so, he helped sustain the excellence of the franchise as the bridge between Russell and Bird.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 72 – Bill Walton

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1974 – 1987

Achievements: Two-time champion; 1978 MVP; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (2x); All-Defense (2x); Finals MVP; Sixth Man of the Year; led the league in rebounds (1x) and blocks (1x)

Bill Walton was one of the hardest players to evaluate against his peers. He won a title in 1977 and the MVP award in 1978. His MVP was not the result of a fluke season but the deserved recognition of a longtime star. Walton was one of the best big man passers in league history, a defensive wall and an elite rebounder.

Then injuries that had plagued him from the start hit in earnest, and he missed three of the four seasons after his MVP year completely, playing in just 14 in 1979-80. He never got fully healthy, and only in one future season did he play something close to a full campaign. That year was 1985-86 when he was the Sixth Man of the Year on the title-winning Boston Celtics, a key part of their team culture and efficiency backup center in limited minutes.

It’s that final run that gets him onto the list because otherwise, his resume has too many injury-riddled holes. Players like Derrick Rose and Chris Bosh miss out because of injury-shortened careers, so Walton will have to stand as representative for them all, the best of the injured rest.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 73 – Nikola Jokic

Career: 2015 – 2021

Achievements: 2021 MVP; All-NBA (3x); All-Star (3x)

On the NBA’s 50 at 50 list, they included a young center named Shaquille O’Neal. He had finished second in MVP voting in 1994-95, He was top-3 in scoring three different times in his first three seasons. The league wanted to honor an up-and-comer, and O’Neal validated their faith in him.

I think the NBA does the same again, and if they do (as I am choosing to do) they should pick Nikola Jokic. The reigning MVP has been incredible to start his career, already the greatest passing big man in NBA history and one of the most talented scorers. He can score efficiently from anywhere on the court, with post-moves, the league’s best floater and a variety of push-shots, bankers and even a strong 3-point stroke that especially comes alive in the playoffs.

Jokic has made the playoffs three times and won at least a series in each of them. He raises the offensive floor and ceiling of his team and is one of the most scalable offensive centers in league history. His per-minute and advanced numbers are off the charts. He is going to get better, he will continue to be among the league’s elite, and he is a worthy candidate for the last couple of spots on this list.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 74 – Draymond Green

Career: 2012 – present

Achievements: Three-time champion; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (3x); All-Defense (6x); Defensive Player of the Year; led the league in steals (1x)

Draymond Green, like Bill Walton, Dikembe Mutombo and Nikola Jokic, is somewhat representative of a player archetype in making this list. How do we evaluate dependent players who excelled on defense and helped teams to championship success, but were not the first, second or third option offensively? Green gets the nod here, and players like Bobby Jones, Robert Horry and Shawn Marion all got some amount of consideration.

The reality is that Green’s brand of basketball is special, in a way that is not just better than those players he passed to make the list, ut wholly unique in NBA history. Green is an undersized power forward who unlocked the greatest lineup in NBA history by playing small-ball center. He is one of the league’s best defenders and simultaneously one of its better passers, but never developed as a scorer. His per-minute and advanced numbers are elite, but how much of that is playing almost exclusively with Stephen Curry?

In the end, there are a lot of players whose impact was tied to all-time teammates, and Green’s elite skillset is meaningful enough to earn him a spot here. He has had moments of scoring output when needed, but mainly he works to spring his teammates, especially Wardell Stephen Curry, for open looks. Defensively he is a rim protector who can switch onto any perimeter player. He is simultaneously the best option for guarding a team’s wings and bigs.

The Warriors went to five straight NBA Finals, winning three titles and putting together the greatest regular season in the history of the league. Green was at the heart of it all, and his fiery personality drove him to become one of the best “role players” in the 75 years of this league.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 75 – James Worthy

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1982 – 1994

Achievements: Three-time champion; All-NBA (2x); All-Star (7x); Finals MVP

The final spot on the list goes to James Worthy, a well-known name you may have been surprised didn’t show up on this list earlier. Tony Parker and Sidney Moncrief were the two names to fall below the final cutline, each bringing something unique to the table and each with strong cases for inclusion.

Worthy makes the cut because of his impact on multiple championships, the “story of the league” tiebreaker. He won three titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, going from role player to offensive leader by the end of their run as Kareem faded. Worthy won Finals MVP in 1988 by posting a monstrous triple-double in Game 7 over the Detroit Pistons, with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists — the only triple-double of his career.

That one game might just be the reason he is on this list – the final title of the Showtime Lakers, the best game of his career coming when it mattered most. “Big Game James” stepped up with one of the greatest performances in NBA Finals history.

This list, and 75 years of NBA basketball, are ultimately all about the Finals, about winning a championship. That’s what basketball is: it’s beautiful, it’s awe-inspiring, it’s exciting, it’s dunks and huge shots and blocks and the final seconds of a close game. It’s players reaching their best and pushing past it when it matters most. It’s about becoming more than yourself as part of a team, working towards a common goal, and for a lucky and dedicated few hoisting the trophy at the end. These 75 players best personify excellence in pursuit of that goal, and I hope you enjoyed the journey. See you at 100.

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: Complete List

1. LeBron James
2. Michael Jordan
3. Bill Russell
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5. Tim Duncan
6. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Hakeem Olajuwon
8. Magic Johnson
9. Larry Bird
10. Kobe Bryant
11. Kevin Garnett
12. Wilt Chamberlain
13. Stephen Curry
14. Oscar Robertson
15. Kevin Durant
16. David Robinson
17. Jerry West
18. Julius Erving
19. Karl Malone
20. Dirk Nowitzki
21. Scottie Pippen
22. Dwyane Wade
23. Charles Barkley
24. Steve Nash
25. Chris Paul
26. Giannis Antetokounmpo
27. Moses Malone
28. John Havlicek
29. Rick Barry
30. Reggie Miller
31. Bob Pettit
32. John Stockton
33. Walt Frazier
34. Patrick Ewing
35. Kawhi Leonard
36. Jason Kidd
37. Kevin McHale
38. Isiah Thomas
39. Elgin Baylor
40. James Harden
41. Ray Allen
42. Clyde Drexler
43. Paul Pierce
44. Allen Iverson
45. Bob Cousy
46. George Mikan
47. Elvin Hayes
48. Gary Payton
49. Artis Gilmore
50. George Gervin
51. Dominique Wilkins
52. Dolph Schayes
53. Robert Parish
54. Dwight Howard
55. Wes Unseld
56. Damian Lillard
57. Willis Reed
58. Anthony Davis
59. Russell Westbrook
60. Manu Ginobili
61. Paul Arizin
62. Hal Greer
63. Chauncey Billups
64. Pau Gasol
65. Sam Jones
66. Dennis Rodman
67. Carmelo Anthony
68. Grant Hill
69. Tracy McGrady
70. Dikembe Mutombo
71. Dave Cowens
72. Bill Walton
73. Nikola Jokic
74. Draymond Green
75. James Worthy

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): Ben Wallace, Tony Parker, Sidney Moncrief, Klay Thompson, Chris Mullin, Ed Macauley, Chris Bosh, Alex English, Bob McAdoo, Maurice Cheeks, Terry Porter, Bobby Jones, Bob Lanier, Shawn Marion, Alonzo Mourning, Bernand King, Nate Archibald, Nate Thurmond, Vince Carter, Horace Grant, Larry Nance, Yao Ming, Pete Maravich, Earl Monroe, Bill Sharman, Walt Bellamy, Billy Cunnigham, Dave DeBusschere, Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Bailey Howell