Top five greatest basketball players ever

[Millhouse]

Russell Blocked everyone's shot (Wilt),terrible at making shots Huh Pettite,Sharmon,Sam Jones,West,Oscar

players today shoot 17% better than players 60 years ago (6.5 percentage points) even though so many more of those shots are coming from 3 pt range

 

[4evaOrange]

My question is where does dirk rank obv not top 5 and more than likely, not top ten, so where is he ranked mid to high teens?

 

[Alsacs]

The only players with multiple regular season MVPs and Finals MVPs
Michael Jordan won 5 regular season MVPs(Karl Malone stole his 6th) and 6 Finals MVPs
Kareem won 6 regular season MVPs and 2 Finals MVP(14 years apart as well 1971 and 1985)
Lebron James won 4 regular season MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs
Magic Johnson won 3 regular season MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs
Larry Bird won 3 regular season MVPs and 2 Finals MVPs
Tim Duncan won 2 regular season MVPs and 3 Finals MVPs

I would add Steve Nash 2 regular season MVPs which were jokes deprived Shaq and Kobe from making this list. Nash shouldn't have beaten Shaq in 2005 or Kobe in 2006.

Bill Russell had 5 regular season MVPs and Wilt Chamberlain had 4 regular season MVPs. Thwre was no Finals MVPs in their Era.

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Sorry, I thought I was making it clear I was sarcastic.

My bad.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Wilt Chamberlain
Earl Manigault (Ask Kareem)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
(Had Micheal Ray Richardson not flamed out, I believe he would be on a top 20 list or higher, FWIW)

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Wilt Chamberlain
Earl Manigault (Ask Kareem)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Michael Jordan
LeBron James
(Had Micheal Ray Richardson not flamed out, I believe he would be on a top 20 list or higher, FWIW)

Major, major kudos for having Richardson's first name spelled right (and thank you for being one of the few posters on here who spell LeBron's name right, too).

 

[Alsacs]

Lebron vs. Bird is a lot closer than people think. Bird played 4 years of college and missed a 5th year transferring from Indiana to Indiana State.

Lebron went from HS to the NBA.

 

[br801]

Lebron vs. Bird is a lot closer than people think. Bird played 4 years of college and missed a 5th year transferring from Indiana to Indiana State.

Lebron went from HS to the NBA.

FWIW, that graphic has shown up on this board before and it's misleading. Those stats are for their 30-year-old seasons only, not their career stats through their 30-year-old seasons. It cherrypicks one of Bird's best statistical seasons and compares it to one of James' weaker ones.

 

[sufandu]

MJ
Wilt
Oscar Robertson
LeBron
Magic

 

[PoppyHart]

Alaa Abdelnaby
Zaid Abdul-Aziz
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
Tariq Abdul-Wahad

I prefer alphabetical order.

 

[jordville]

PG - Magic
SG - Jordan
SF - LeBron
PF - Duncan
C - Shaq
6th man - Kobe

* Took a different approach to the top 5 rankings.

 

[Shark58]

MJ
Wilt
Russell
LeBron
Sonny Spera

 

[jordville]

But to keep it Orange...
PG - Pearl/ Sherm
SG - G-Mac/ Moten
SF - Melo/ Billy O
PF - DC/ Wallace
C - Rony/ Etan

So many greats left out
Go Cuse!!

 

[Briancuse]

Mj
Wilt
Oscar Robertson
West
Lebron

 

[OrangeDW]

That I have seen enough to have an opinion on(I only remember old Kareem)...

Jordan
Magic
Lebron
Bird
Shaq - it was shorter but he's the only other guy besides Jordan that Ive seen who had a "his team is winning no matter what" run. Puts him above Duncan, Kobe, and Hakeem to me.

Based on what Ive seen and taking into account the accomplishments of those I didnt...(which I feel less good about, how the frig can I know if Oscar was better than West when I never saw either??)...nah. Not gonna do it. Based on what I know, I do think Kareem has gotta be WAY up there though. Accomplishments both team and personal are off the charts.

 

[Toga]

Let's look at it another way. If you were selecting a roster, who would be your first pick among anybody who has ever played in the NBA?

I have to go with the only member of the 100 / 10,000 club.

 

[NineOneSeven]

All-time probably

MJ
Kareem
Magic
Lebron
Bird

Who I remember seeing play (I'll go post 2000 and played at least 5 solid years)

1. Lebron
2. Duncan
3. Kobe
4. Shaq
5. Garnett
6. Wade
7. Dirk
8. Iverson
9. Kidd
10. Webber
11. Nash
12. Pierce
13. Durant
14. Paul
15. McGrady

 

[br801]

players today shoot 17% better than players 60 years ago (6.5 percentage points) even though so many more of those shots are coming from 3 pt range

But go back 50 years, when the NBA had been more fully integrated, and it's much closer. The stars of the 1960s would have been stars today.

 

[Briancuse]

Let's look at it another way. If you were selecting a roster, who would be your first pick among anybody who has ever played in the NBA?

I have to go with the only member of the 100 / 10,000 club.

Im taking Mj

 

[jncuse]

#1. Vincenzo Esposito
#2. Dwayne Schintzius' Mullet
#3. Josh Boone
#4. Michael Olowokandi
# 5. Oliver Miller

 

[br801]

part of the reason guys got so many rebounds back then is because everyone was so terrible at making shots (including russell actually)

hard thing to judge. it's all legends, if any of us actually watched a game from 1960 now we'd think they were just terrible

And part of the reason guys got so many rebounds back then was because the game was played at a greater pace and more shots were taken, thus making more rebounds available. Also, top players generally averaged more minutes per game in that era, which bumped up their numbers relative to players that came later.

 

[CusefanATL]

jordan
lebron
wilt
magic
bill russell
kareem
------------
oscar/bird/shaq/duncun/kobe/west

 

[orangenirvana]

I'm surprised John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

I'm a big analytics guy and tend to focus on PER and Win Shares.

Only 20 times in NBA history has a player posted a PER above 30 (doubling the efficiency rating of the average player) for a full season. Four players have accomplished that feat multiple times: MJ (4), Lebron (4), Wilt (3) and Shaq (3).

Here's the full list:

1. Wilt Chamberlain (1963) - 31.82
2. Wilt Chamberlain (1962) - 31.74
3. Michael Jordan (1988) - 31.71
4. Lebron James (2009) - 31.67
5. Michael Jordan (1991) - 31.63
5. Wilt Chamberlain (1964) - 31.63
7. Lebron James (2013) - 31.62
8. Stephen Curry (2016) - 31.5
9. Michael Jordan (1990) - 31.18
10. Michael Jordan (1989) - 31.14
11. Lebron James (2010) - 31.11
12. Anthony Davis (2015) - 30.8
13. Lebron James (2012) - 30.74
14. David Robinson (1994) - 30.66
15. Shaquille O'Neal (2000) - 30.65
16. Shaquille O'Neal (1999) - 30.55
17. Dwyane Wade (2009) - 30.36
18. Tracy McGrady (2003) - 30.27
19. Shaquille O'Neal (2001) - 30.23
20. Chris Paul (2009) - 30.0

Note that no one accomplished a PER over 30 between 1964 and 1988 until Jordan did it...and he did it four straight seasons.

Only five players in NBA history have accomplished a Win Share of 20 or more: Wilt (6), MJ (3), Kareem (3), Lebron (1) and David Robinson (1).

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) - 25.4
2. Wilt Chamberlain (1964) - 25.0
3. Wilt Chamberlain (1962) - 23.1
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971) - 22.3
5. Wilt Chamberlain (1967) - 21.9
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1973) - 21.9
7. Wilt Chamberlain (1966) - 21.4
8. Michael Jordan (1988) - 21.2
9. Wilt Chamberlain (1963) - 20.9
10. Wilt Chamberlain (1968) - 20.4
11. Michael Jordan (1996) - 20.4
12. Michael Jordan (1991) - 20.3
13. Lebron James (2009) - 20.3
14. David Robinson (1994) - 20.0

And only four players have had a season with a PER of 30+ and a Win Share of 20+.

Wilt Chamberlain (3)
Michael Jordan (2)
David Robinson (1)
Lebron James (1)

I'm not sure about my Top 5 but imo Jordan is the greatest ever, Wilt is likely second just based on his dominance over the inferior competition at the time he played (sort of like Babe Ruth) and Lebron has already accomplished enough in his career to warrant a spot in the Top 5 at least.

Underrated players who I don't think get enough mentions in 'All-Time' discussions like these: Shaq, Oscar Robertson, David Robinson, Karl Malone, and Dirk Nowitzki.

Overrated: Bill Russell

 

[br801]

The original question posed in this thread is impossible to answer, but here goes...

Chamberlain
James
Jordan
Johnson
West

Wilt, LeBron and Magic were all versatile, adaptable basketball freaks who changed the way the game was played. Jordan was the ultimate competitor. West was the consummate basketball player and gets my last spot, but I could easily substitute Oscar in his place.

 

[721Comstock]

I'm surprised John Hollinger's Player Efficiency Rating hasn't been mentioned in this thread.

I'm a big analytics guy and tend to focus on PER and Win Shares.

Only 20 times in NBA history has a player posted a PER above 30 (doubling the efficiency rating of the average player) for a full season. Four players have accomplished that feat multiple times: MJ (4), Lebron (4), Wilt (3) and Shaq (3).

Here's the full list:

1. Wilt Chamberlain (1963) - 31.82
2. Wilt Chamberlain (1962) - 31.74
3. Michael Jordan (1988) - 31.71
4. Lebron James (2009) - 31.67
5. Michael Jordan (1991) - 31.63
5. Wilt Chamberlain (1964) - 31.63
7. Lebron James (2013) - 31.62
8. Stephen Curry (2016) - 31.5
9. Michael Jordan (1990) - 31.18
10. Michael Jordan (1989) - 31.14
11. Lebron James (2010) - 31.11
12. Anthony Davis (2015) - 30.8
13. Lebron James (2012) - 30.74
14. David Robinson (1994) - 30.66
15. Shaquille O'Neal (2000) - 30.65
16. Shaquille O'Neal (1999) - 30.55
17. Dwyane Wade (2009) - 30.36
18. Tracy McGrady (2003) - 30.27
19. Shaquille O'Neal (2001) - 30.23
20. Chris Paul (2009) - 30.0

Note that no one accomplished a PER over 30 between 1964 and 1988 until Jordan did it...and he did it four straight seasons.

Only five players in NBA history have accomplished a Win Share of 20 or more: Wilt (6), MJ (3), Kareem (3), Lebron (1) and David Robinson (1).

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1972) - 25.4
2. Wilt Chamberlain (1964) - 25.0
3. Wilt Chamberlain (1962) - 23.1
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971) - 22.3
5. Wilt Chamberlain (1967) - 21.9
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1973) - 21.9
7. Wilt Chamberlain (1966) - 21.4
8. Michael Jordan (1988) - 21.2
9. Wilt Chamberlain (1963) - 20.9
10. Wilt Chamberlain (1968) - 20.4
11. Michael Jordan (1996) - 20.4
12. Michael Jordan (1991) - 20.3
13. Lebron James (2009) - 20.3
14. David Robinson (1994) - 20.0

And only four players have had a season with a PER of 30+ and a Win Share of 20+.

Wilt Chamberlain (3)
Michael Jordan (2)
David Robinson (1)
Lebron James (1)

I'm not sure about my Top 5 but imo Jordan is the greatest ever, Wilt is likely second just based on his dominance over the inferior competition at the time he played (sort of like Babe Ruth) and Lebron has already accomplished enough in his career to warrant a spot in the Top 5 at least.

Underrated players who I don't think get enough mentions in 'All-Time' discussions like these: Shaq, Oscar Robertson, David Robinson, Karl Malone, and Dirk Nowitzki.

Overrated: Bill Russell

Yeah, but - dem rings.

Shaq's 'problem' is that C has 3 other all-timers who generally get listed ahead of him:
Wilt, Russell, Kareem.
Ditto Robinson - only now he's behind Shaq too.

Nowitski and Mailman get dinged for lack of rings - 1 & 0.
Ditto Barkley.

Notice a name that's missing from almost everybody's lists?
Kobe.

 

[Eric15]

The original question posed in this thread is impossible to answer, but here goes...

You my friend just accomplished the impossible. You offered your opinion on a lighthearted sports topic.