Few discussions in sports are more polarizing than the greatest player of all time (GOAT) discussions that surround the NBA. Everyone has a top-10 list that can be picked apart by another NBA fan, making the GOAT discussion far more subjective than any other sport.
Virtually all baseball fans have Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays in their top 10, but not every NBA fan has Larry Bird, Bill Russell, or, dare I say, Kobe Bryant in theirs. However, NBA fans are in luck. Player Efficiency Rating (PER) was created by John Hollinger back in 2007 as an all-in-one stat to easily determine which players are bad, which are average, and which are great.
The 75 greatest players in NBA history, ranked by player efficiency rating (PER)
In fact, a PER of 15 is considered to be a league-average player, 20 is all-star level and 25 and above is MVP level. The stats do indeed help make determining which players are good much easier, but it isn't without criticism.
The main one is that it is skewed more toward big men who can put up strong numbers by scoring efficiently, rebounding, and blocking shots, helping to inflate their PER even if they aren't technically good players. We'll keep that in mind as we delve into the 75 greatest NBA players of all time based on PER and determine whether it is accurate when compared to the general consensus. Let's get started!
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