50 Greatest Basketball Players By mathayus [39 more lists]

Time for some sporting lists.

"Greatest" is meant to be a little ambiguous so you can make up your own mind. But it is supposed to factor in peak level play and overall career success.

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Rank Name

1

Michael Jordan

Jordan had it all. He basically had everything you can expect to have in someone his size, plus off the charts competitiveness.

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2

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

When you look at Kareem's body of work, it becomes hard to rate anyone above him. Quite possibly the best high school and college player in history, more NBA MVPs than anyone else, 5 rings, ridiculous. But I can't completely get past that he got most of those rings following Magic's lead.

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3

Bill Russell

Many don't realize how amazing Russell was. It's common for people to say he only beat Wilt because of his teammates, but if you look at his later years, Wilt probably had superior teammates and still Russell's club came out on top more than half the time.

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4

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt is really the guy you have to compare everyone else to. His big weakness is his lack of focus. I don't think there's been a more talented player, and when he had it all working, such as in '67, I don't think a better player has ever existed. But the guys above him were better at maintaining that focus year in and year out.

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5

Magic Johnson

The greatest offensive player in history. People have often spoken of "the next Jordan", but "the next Magic" players are much more rare, and for good reason: The few players in history who have such top notch court vision tend to be able to excel in the league even if they're short and unathletic. That kind of brain, in a body like Magic's, amazing.

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6

Larry Bird

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7

Tim Duncan

I think many would be surprised to see Duncan so high, but very few have had the kind of career Duncan's had. With Duncan, the Spurs have been elite over a decade, winning titles with entirely different supporting casts.

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8

Julius Erving

Dr. J is another that gets underrated, but for different reasons. People forget or dismiss what he did in the ABA. If you analyze what he did in the last season of the ABA while looking at how the teams involved did following the merger, it's quite clear that there was no player in the world playing better.

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9

Shaquille O'Neal

Shaq, a tremendous player, who could have been higher on this list if he were more mature.

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10

Hakeem Olajuwon

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11

Kobe Bryant

Kobe keeps moving up the list, but ignore anyone who implies that there is a debate of who's better between Kobe and Jordan.

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12

Moses Malone

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13

Jerry West

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14

Karl Malone

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15

Bob Pettit

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16

Oscar Robertson

Oscar's gotten overrated as people have focused on him averaging a triple double. He did it in a time where the statistics were incredibly inflated, and his lack of team success cannot be simply chalked up to bad teammates because he did have some good teammates.

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17

Kevin Garnett

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18

Elgin Baylor

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19

John Havlicek

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20

Rick Barry

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21

David Robinson

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22

Charles Barkley

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23

Walt Frazier

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24

Scottie Pippen

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25

LeBron James

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26

Artis Gilmore

Gilmore has a great argument for being the most underrated player of all time, in terms of what history remembers now. The ABA in general gets underrated, so that's to be expected. But somehow his sidekick in the ABA (Dan Issel) is in the Hall of Fame, and Gilmore is not, despite the fact that Gilmore got more MVP recognition in both the ABA and NBA than Issel did.

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27

George Gervin

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28

Patrick Ewing

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29

Isiah Thomas

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30

George Mikan

Mikan was the original superstar. People always debate where to place him relative to other players. This is where I come down: I just can't see him being the equal of Ewing or Gilmore, but below them you've got players with either clear flaws in their game or severe injuries.

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31

Jason Kidd

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32

John Stockton

It's very hard to rate Stockton. People look at his stats now and rate him a lot higher than he was in his day. Some of this I think is warranted, this was a guy who took nothing off the table, and almost certainly sacrificed some personal recognition by playing with the greater star Karl Malone. On the other hand, it seems clear that his assist numbers are overrated even for their time based on the system Sloan has used, so I think it's unwise to dismiss too much his non-A-list status.

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33

Dirk Nowitzki

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34

Gary Payton

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35

Steve Nash

My personal favorite. I wish so much we could have seen what Nash could have accomplished if coaches had realized earlier that he was someone that you should build your team around, rather than just someone who can fit in on the team you already have.

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36

Clyde Drexler

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37

Dave Cowens

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38

Elvin Hayes

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39

Bob Cousy

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40

Dwyane Wade

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41

Bill Walton

One of my other great basketball wishes is to see what Walton would have done without the injuries. His impact on the Blazers leading them to a title was absolutely magical.

On the other hand, I can do without him as a broadcaster. Maybe we could do a trade where every year of his broadcasting career is replaced by a year of healthy ball.

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42

Willis Reed

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43

Bob McAdoo

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44

Arvydas Sabonis

So hard to rate Sabonis due to his not being in the NBA in his prime. I can certainly see him deserving to be much higher on this list, but on the other hand, many with hype don't live up to it. Toni Kukoc was supposed hyped as Magic Johnson, and he wasn't even an elite player. Sabonis was better than Kukoc, but I'm cautious with the hype.

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45

Billy Cunningham

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46

Sidney Moncrief

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47

Kevin McHale

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48

Wes Unseld

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49

Allen Iverson

Iverson keeps slipping on my list. I thought he was overrated back when he was in Philly, but his performances in Denver and Detroit have underwhelmed me further.

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50

Paul Pierce

Pierce just squeaks in here. Feels like a bit of a cheat because he really wasn't within striking distance a couple years back. But he's definitely moved up to the point where he's one of many players that seem about as qualified for this spot, so I'll give him the nod.

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