Top ten greatest NBA players of all-time

[Biden his time]

It's often said that the NBA has fourteen top ten-caliber players, and this is true, but ranking them and trying to discern who's in front of the other, the gray areas, is where the interesting discussion happens. What do you all think?


Poll runs for 365 days

[GeorgiaModerate]

Of the 14 you listed, it's pretty easy for me to pick a top 9: Kareem, Wilt, Curry, Lebron, Magic, Jordan, Shaq, Robertson, and Russell.  10th is a tough choice between Bird and Kobe.

Related question: who's the best you ever saw play in person?  For me it would probably be Julius "Dr. J" Erving.

[OSR stands with Israel]

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. LeBron
4. Russell
5. Magic
6. Shaq(Peak Shaq is top 2 ever)
7. Duncan
8. Kobe
9. Bird (Peak Bird is arguably top 5 ever though)
10. I’m torn between Curry and Hakeem but go Curry since he changed the game more
11. Hakeem
12. Wilt(After reading Simmons book and seeing how much his playoff numbers fall of from regular season he isn’t Top 10 imo )
13. Oscar
14. Durant
15. Malone

[Pink Panther]

1. MJ
2. Kareem
3. LeBron
4. Magic
5. Bird
6. Wilt
7. Shaq
8. Russell
9. Kobe
10. Hakeem

[YE]

MJ
Kareem
LeBron

Russell
Bird
Wilt
Kobe
Shaq
Duncan

Hakeem and Curry barely miss the cut. KD and the Big O aren’t even close.

[Illiniwek]

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. LeBron
4. Russell
5. Magic
6. Shaq(Peak Shaq is top 2 ever)
7. Duncan
8. Kobe
9. Bird (Peak Bird is arguably top 5 ever though)
10. I’m torn between Curry and Hakeem but go Curry since he changed the game more
11. Hakeem
12. Wilt(After reading Simmons book and seeing how much his playoff numbers fall of from regular season he isn’t Top 10 imo )
13. Oscar
14. Durant
15. Malone

I pretty much agree with this, but I would swap Kobe to 7, Curry to 8, and Duncan to 10.

[OSR stands with Israel]

1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. LeBron
4. Russell
5. Magic
6. Shaq(Peak Shaq is top 2 ever)
7. Duncan
8. Kobe
9. Bird (Peak Bird is arguably top 5 ever though)
10. I’m torn between Curry and Hakeem but go Curry since he changed the game more
11. Hakeem
12. Wilt(After reading Simmons book and seeing how much his playoff numbers fall of from regular season he isn’t Top 10 imo )
13. Oscar
14. Durant
15. Malone

I pretty much agree with this, but I would swap Kobe to 7, Curry to 8, and Duncan to 10.

Duncan has more finals MVP's than Kobe/Curry and his 2003 season is more impressive than any of Kobe's or Curry's imo.

[Хahar 🤔]

I will simply point out that anyone who would put Kobe Bryant above Tim Duncan is a moron. There is no argument to be made whatsoever.

Related question: who's the best you ever saw play in person?  For me it would probably be Julius "Dr. J" Erving.

After not having been to a Warriors game since 2009, I got to see the Warriors three times this year: the game in New York where Stephen Curry broke the career three-point record, the home game against Boston where he was injured (leading to his missing the rest of the regular season), and the first game of the conference finals against Dallas. The first and last game were great experiences; we don't need to talk about the middle game.

Obviously my answer to this question is Stephen Curry, but watching him in person isn't really all that different than watching him on TV. You can see what makes him special on the screen. By contrast, Draymond Green is so different to watch when you're peering down from the upper deck, because you can see just how much ground he covers and how much he does. I already thought the world of him but I still came away impressed.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Kevin Durant isn't a top ten he can't win a title without Curry he went to Nets without Curry and Lost with Kyrie you forgot Scottie Pippen not Hakeem Olajawan

[Klobmentum Mutilated Herself]

Of those listed

1. Jordan
2. Wilt
3. Kareem

4. Russell
5. LeBron
6. Bird
7. Magic

8. Shaq
9. Hakeem
10. Oscar

Had Dr. J, Barkley, or Karl Malone been options, they might have snuck in 8-10. Kobe or Duncan could have as well. If I wanted to be an uber-homer, I could maybe argue Pippen for #10.

[scutosaurus]

1. Dominique Wilkins
2. Trae Young
3. Pete Maravich
4. Dikembe Mutombo
5. Michael Jordan
6. Lou Hudson
7. Steve Smith
8. Joe Johnson
9. Bill Russell
10. Al Horford

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Jordan went to Washington Bullets and didn't have Rodman or Scottie Pippen and sux to me as a native Chicago Scottie Pippen whom won 6 titles not Olajawan is a top 10 player

Kobe 5
Jordan 6
Curry 4
Pippen 6
Shaq. 5
Bird 3
Chamberlain
Magic 5
LeBron 4
Duncan 5

[Biden his time]

I will simply point out that anyone who would put Kobe Bryant above Tim Duncan is a moron. There is no argument to be made whatsoever.

I respectfully disagree
I love Duncan, but Kobe had a mamba mentality and lit up the court.

While Tim Duncan might have been good, people don't scream his name on the court


Also most lists have Kobe above Duncan, IDK why he isn't getting good recognition on this forum
Possibly the only group of people you can talk to and find most people saying Kobe isn't top ten


My list:

1. Michael Jordan
2. LeBron James (though potentially will be the GOAT when he retires)
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4. Magic Johnson
5. Kobe Bryant
6. Larry Bird
7. Stephen Curry (Last finals he cemented himself here and he fundamentally changed NBA)
8. Shaquille O'Neal
9. Bill Russell
10. Tim Duncan

11. Hakeem Olajuwon
12. Oscar Robertson
13 (tie). Kevin Durant
13 (tie). Wilt Chamberlain (Overrated, played in Mickey Mouse league and still lost big!)

[NewYorkExpress]

1. Michael Jordan
2. Larry Bird
3. LeBron James
4. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
5. Magic Johnson
6. Hakeem Olajuwon
7. Wilt Chamberlain
8. Tim Duncan
9. Kobe Bryant
10. Patrick Ewing (I'm a Knicks fan, don't judge me)

[OSR stands with Israel]

I will simply point out that anyone who would put Kobe Bryant above Tim Duncan is a moron. There is no argument to be made whatsoever.

I respectfully disagree
I love Duncan, but Kobe had a mamba mentality and lit up the court.

While Tim Duncan might have been good, people don't scream his name on the court


Also most lists have Kobe above Duncan, IDK why he isn't getting good recognition on this forum
Possibly the only group of people you can talk to and find most people saying Kobe isn't top ten

Kobe is more iconic than Duncan but if you are going by who would be most helpful for a team in winning a championship I would have to go with Tim Duncan. Keep in mind Duncan has more finals MVP's(3 vs 2 and if they gave playoff mvps he would have 4 while Kobe would only have 2), More MVP's and I would the gap between them defensively was bigger than the gap between them offensively.

Also his 2003 season is definitely more impressive than any season Kobe has had as keep in mind in the 2002-03 season he was playing on a team with no other all stars(Parker and Manu werent stars yet and Robinson was just a role player by then) and he took that Spurs team to 60 wins and ended the Lakers hope at a 4 Peat too.

Just watch this video of his:

[Хahar 🤔]

I will simply point out that anyone who would put Kobe Bryant above Tim Duncan is a moron. There is no argument to be made whatsoever.

I respectfully disagree
I love Duncan, but Kobe had a mamba mentality and lit up the court.

While Tim Duncan might have been good, people don't scream his name on the court

I made the (perhaps foolish) assumption that we were discussing players based on how good they were at winning their team basketball games, not how much mamba mentality they had. Do you have any metrics or achievements or records to justify your claim?

[Biden his time]

I will simply point out that anyone who would put Kobe Bryant above Tim Duncan is a moron. There is no argument to be made whatsoever.

I respectfully disagree
I love Duncan, but Kobe had a mamba mentality and lit up the court.

While Tim Duncan might have been good, people don't scream his name on the court

I made the (perhaps foolish) assumption that we were discussing players based on how good they were at winning their team basketball games, not how much mamba mentality they had. Do you have any metrics or achievements or records to justify your claim?

Dawg/36


Seriously though there are a bunch of stats that Kobe was just as good at as Duncan.

For example as you say "how good they were at winning their team basketball games", compare peak Kobe with average Duncan with the metric Win Shares / 48 Minutes, and you find they're similar. Duncan consistently was able to hit 0.2 while Kobe got there through grit and even was once able to reach 0.224. Of course Duncan was more consistent but he was naturally gifted.

Also Scoring and Three-Point Percentage were two strong points for Kobe as compared to Duncan, and Kobe also played more seasons and was in more all-star games, showing longevity.

And a lot of the advanced metrics and honors and awards come out very similar, such as NBA Champsionships, NBA All-Teams, Player Efficiency Rating, and VORP (and remember Kobe had to build his way up so he's actually a little stunted here)

The difference between Duncan and Kobe was that Kobe had to put the work in though, and slowly rose to the top whereas Duncan was good from his first season. This is part of the Kobe story though and actually adds to his legacy.


Also I think the intangibles should also come into play when discussing how great someone is, like their legacy and stuff.

Otherwise you end up with putting someone like Wilt Chamberlain above Bill Russell, even though Wilt was only there because of his athleticism and not because of his teamwork ability, and this showed when Russell won against Wilt repeatedly

This is what IMO tips the scale for Kobe, and also why most lists have him on top of Tim Duncan (who was nevertheless a top ten player).

[Dr. MB]

1. Larry Bird
2. Greg Oden
3. Christian Laettner
4. Michael Olowokandi
5. Robin Lopez
6. LeBron James
7. Damian Lillard
8. Karl Malone
9. Dennis Rodman
10. Chris Dudley

[OSR stands with Israel]

I will simply point out that anyone who would put Kobe Bryant above Tim Duncan is a moron. There is no argument to be made whatsoever.

I respectfully disagree
I love Duncan, but Kobe had a mamba mentality and lit up the court.

While Tim Duncan might have been good, people don't scream his name on the court

I made the (perhaps foolish) assumption that we were discussing players based on how good they were at winning their team basketball games, not how much mamba mentality they had. Do you have any metrics or achievements or records to justify your claim?

Dawg/36


Seriously though there are a bunch of stats that Kobe was just as good at as Duncan.

For example as you say "how good they were at winning their team basketball games", compare peak Kobe with average Duncan with the metric Win Shares / 48 Minutes, and you find they're similar. Duncan consistently was able to hit 0.2 while Kobe got there through grit and even was once able to reach 0.224. Of course Duncan was more consistent but he was naturally gifted.

Also Scoring and Three-Point Percentage were two strong points for Kobe as compared to Duncan, and Kobe also played more seasons and was in more all-star games, showing longevity.

And a lot of the advanced metrics and honors and awards come out very similar, such as NBA Champsionships, NBA All-Teams, Player Efficiency Rating, and VORP (and remember Kobe had to build his way up so he's actually a little stunted here)

The difference between Duncan and Kobe was that Kobe had to put the work in though, and slowly rose to the top whereas Duncan was good from his first season. This is part of the Kobe story though and actually adds to his legacy.


Also I think the intangibles should also come into play when discussing how great someone is, like their legacy and stuff.

Otherwise you end up with putting someone like Wilt Chamberlain above Bill Russell, even though Wilt was only there because of his athleticism and not because of his teamwork ability, and this showed when Russell won against Wilt repeatedly

This is what IMO tips the scale for Kobe, and also why most lists have him on top of Tim Duncan (who was nevertheless a top ten player).

It depends on what list you use cause ESPN has Duncan>Kobe and this forum isnt really new in this either. A sports forum I am on(Realgm) has many posters who rank Kobe outside the top 10 and a huge reason for that is his defensive +/- stat isnt really that impressive at all and Duncan's VORP rating(Value over replacement player) is well above Kobe as well.

At the end of the day though Duncan has more finals MVP's and MVPs than Kobe does and that is what puts Duncan clearly ahead of Kobe imo.

The Wilt vs Russell comparison isnt really a great one here as for the regular season only it can be arguable that Wilt>Russell but Wilt's level of play clearly dropped in the post season and Russell has more MVP's than him as well.

[sting in the rafters]

Tier One:
MJ, Bron, Magic

Tier Two:
Kareem, Shaq, Wilt, Russell. Russell should at least be in the same tier as Wilt if not higher as he regularly won the head to head.

Tier Three:
Hakeem, Bird, TD, Steph, Kobe

Tier Four:
Oscar Robertson, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Sir Charles, K.G.
I went a little heavy on the front court but the game just favored big men so much for the majority of its existence.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

1a. Jordan
1b. James
3. Kobe
4. Kareem
5. Magic
6. Russell
7. Shaq
8. Bird
9. Durant
10. Curry

Slightly biased because I started watching basketball in the early 2000s, so I have a tendency to enjoy players from that era to the present.

Before this year's playoffs, I would not have put Steph in the top 10. But he is the best pure shooter I have ever seen. Maybe he isn't better than the likes of Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Tim Duncan, etc., but Steph's ability to shoot the lights out at times is unparalleled.

[MarkD]

Hank Aaron, Joe Namath, Arnold Palmer, Martina Navratilova, Wayne Gretsky, David Beckham, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis, Apolo Ohno, and Nadia Comaneci.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

No respect for Hakeem in this poll

[OSR stands with Israel]

No respect for Hakeem in this poll

My top 10 all time peak would probably be different and have Hakeem . My top 10 all time peak would be :

1. 1991 MJ
2. 2000 Shaq
3. 1971 Kareem
4. 2003 Duncan
5. 1965 Russell 
6. 1986 Bird
7. 1994 Hakeem
8. 1987 Magic
9. 2013 LeBron
10. 1967 Wilt


LeBron gets the highest bump in my opinion for being close to his 2013 for so long and for so many seasons

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

My list:
1) Jordan
2) James
3) Kareem
4) Magic
5) Bill Russell
6) Steph Curry
7) Tim Duncan
Bird
9) Hakeem
10) Wilt Chamberlain

Random thoughts:
2-8 could have gone in pretty much any order, so these mostly came down to cut feelings.
Lebron isn’t particularly close to the top spot in my mind. This is based on two principles; First that you have to compare players across eras by career accomplishments not raw skill and athleticism. If you do the latter the most recent player would virtually always win because we get progressively better at training, coaching, and playing as a whole as time marches forward. Secondly winnin in basketball is driven more by the individual player than any other major sport. Any player on the starting represents circa 20% of the team. Rings matter.
These explain some of my other picks too, like Bill Russell being so much higher than Wilt.
So for comparing Jordan and Lebron, OK the stats are close (but LBJ more assists but also more turn overs and not as much scoring), then look at the career. MJ lead the league in scoring 10 times, lead the league in steals 3 times, has 9 First Team All-Defense selections and DPotY, and you know lead two separate three-peats.  Compare that to James, who lead the league once in scoring, once in assists (with an asterisk because that was the COVID shortened 2020), never lead in a defensive stat (blocks, steals, rebounds), and has 5 first team All-Defense and no DPotY.
Or to put it this way, a 9 time scoring leader, 2 time champion, 3 time steals leader, and Defensive Player of the Year would be a first ballot Hall of Famer. That’s the difference in accolades between Jordan and LeBron. There isn’t much separating them statically, but on achieved allot more so he gets the nod easily.

That’s without getting into the fact that 3 of LBJ’s 4 rings are a bit tainted. 2 won with his hand picked dream team and one in that weird COVID bubble.

Why is Wilt Chamberlain so low? Because for all the gaudy stats he put up, he only won two championships and constantly quit on his teams.

Why is Bill Russel so high? He didn’t have the giant numbers but was the best player on 11 championship teams. Yeah, yeah, they were loaded, but when you do it that many damn times and we’re clearly the focal point on all those teams it still can’t be rushed off.

Steph Curry? I truely believe he is vastly underrated by statistical measures. The shear amount of space he creates for his team with his range mates makes everyone he plays with vastly better (Certainly more than raking up assists, which gets short handed as ‘helps team mates’ but can also mean that you’re taking so much time as the primary ball handler it’s actually stifling your team mates. Looking at you John Stockton.P and that doesn’t get counted on any measurement. If there is a guy in the modern NBA I’d want to build a team around it would be a Steph Curry clone.

Wait where’s Shaq? This might be personal bias because his ridiculous offense nullifies it, but the guy was a relatively poor rebounder and lazy defender. You can’t do half your job as a Center and make my GOAT list.

Wait where’s KD? Win something. The 2015 Warriors were arguably better than the versions that featured him. Plus I’m docking him for the dumpster fire he created playing shadow GM in Brooklyn.