SI's 50 greatest players in NBA history

[Filthy Dangles]

Another problem with player rankings is that they are heavily dependent/contingent on team accomplishments and rings.

To me, The Dream is the GOAT big man but he's always behind Duncan/Shaq/KAJ because....rings.

My NBA Rushmore would be

MaJ
MJ
LBJ
The Dream
KAJ

 

[Voight]

If you ignore the order/rankings, 1-30 is okay, but after that the list just gets silly. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are not top 50, but a guy with 3 good seasons is.

As great as Pierce has been he was never the best SF in the league, has a all-NBA second team and three third teams. Allen has less but at least he's got the most three pointers of all time record. So its not a huge travesty, I'd take Nash over either of them any day of the week.

Another problem with player rankings is that they are heavily dependent/contingent on team accomplishments and rings.

Why Russell is usually rated so high, when in reality I don't have him in the top 10.

The difference between KG's defense and Kobe's defense was bigger than the difference between Kobe's offense and KG's offense, so I put KG ahead of him.

They are actually equal in All-Defence teams, KG just has a DPOY over him. (Not denying he's the better defensive player, but the gap isn;t as big as your making it out to be) His career scoring average is also 8 points below Kobe's, also significantly behind him in scoring. So I don't buy that.

 

[K Fleur]

And another list where Bill Walton gets placed way higher than he belongs(if he belongs at all).


Patrick Ewing was overrated during his career(mostly due to the city he played in), but he has been consistently under appreciated after his career ended.

 

[Voight]

Patrick Ewing was overrated during his career(mostly due to the city he played in), but he has been consistently under appreciated after his career ended.

Ewing is still overrated IMO. He was always overshadowed by Olajuwon and Robinson, and later Shaq.

 

[K Fleur]

Ewing is still overrated IMO. He was always overshadowed by Olajuwon and Robinson, and later Shaq.

Well yeah those 3 players were definitely better than Ewing(especially Olajuwon).

Ewing certainly had a better career/actually contributed to his teams success more often than Bill Walton.

 

[Deficient Mode]

They are actually equal in All-Defence teams, KG just has a DPOY over him. (Not denying he's the better defensive player, but the gap isn;t as big as your making it out to be) His career scoring average is also 8 points below Kobe's, also significantly behind him in scoring. So I don't buy that.

Number of all-defense teams is an awful way of measuring defensive impact. First of all, you're assuming the media vote has validity. Media aren't good at recognizing defensive impact. Secondly - and a far bigger deal - you're assuming the best defensive guard can have comparable defensive impact as the best defensive big man, which is extremely wrong. The top 10 defensive players of all time are certainly all big men. Same reason guards can more easily have a big offensive impact in this era (unless the big man is Shaq) because the ball starts in their hands and stays in their hands the most. Kobe could be a very good one-on-one defender when he was motivated, but he couldn't direct an all-time great team defense like KG did in Boston, nor did he put the effort in as consistently on that end.

 

[Morozov]

You'll never get a consensus on a list like this, and there's always going to be plenty of differing opinions. But I find it very hard to believe that Nash can't crack the top 50.

 

[JackSlater]

Best player every year on a team that won 11 rings in 13 years. He outplayed Wilt (who's #3 on the list) in the playoffs consistently. Is Wilt over rated being in the top 10?

Russell did not outplay Chamberlain in the playoffs consistently. Russell's team consistently outplayed Chamberlain's team. Russell did better against Chamberlain than anyone else did, but he was still outplayed regularly.

Good to see Kobe outside the top ten as well. Garnett a little low among current players. Durant as well, though that may be a little premature. Erving higher than I like.

 

[BostonBob]

Best player every year on a team that won 11 rings in 13 years. He outplayed Wilt (who's #3 on the list) in the playoffs consistently. Is Wilt over rated being in the top 10?

Russell did not outplay Chamberlain in the playoffs consistently. Russell's team consistently outplayed Chamberlain's team.

And do you know why Russell's team consistently outplayed Chamberlain's team in the Playoffs ???? It was mainly because of Bill Russell.

 

[JackSlater]

And do you know why Russell's team consistently outplayed Chamberlain's team in the Playoffs ???? It was mainly because of Bill Russell.

Not really. That's the narrative that many adopted though.

 

[Voight]

Best player every year on a team that won 11 rings in 13 years. He outplayed Wilt (who's #3 on the list) in the playoffs consistently. Is Wilt over rated being in the top 10?


A player who entered the league in 85 was always over shadowed by players who entered the league in 89 and 92? Ewing started on the Dream Team in 92 over Robinson. Laettner was selected for the team over Shaq.

Some fun facts

- No 3 point line when all of those titles were one
- He played with 16 unique Hall of Fame players for an aggregate of 83 individual seasons. That’s an average of six Hall of Fame teammates per season, He never had fewer than three Hall of Fame teammates in a season, and in 1962-63 he had seven teammates who would go on to be so honored.
- Eight teams on average during the C's run, and basically all the talent was either on Boston, Warriors or the Lakers

For one, Olajuwon entered the league a year before Ewing. 1992 was just at the end of Ewings peak, and Robinson had only played three seasons at that point & had just entered his prime so he was the easy choice.

 

[ShootIt]

I think LBJ at 5 is fine.

Still has a handful of years left to creep into the top 3.

Shaq at 15 is sitting with me weird. Feel like he should be in the top 10, but the names ahead of him are also worthy.

 

[Porn*]

Ouch holy haters on ewing.

 

[Neutrinos]

No Grant Hill or Tracy McGrady?

 

[Neutrinos]

No Gary Payton!?!?!? That's ridiculous!

 

[Halladay]

Shaq at 15 is too low.

 

[koyvoo]

Sports Illustrated has been a joke for over 25 years now.

 

[Neutrinos]

Gary Payton
9x All-Star
9x All-NBA
9x All-Defensive team
'96 Defensive Player Of The Year

 

[Say Hey Kid]

"4. Magic Johnson
3. Wilt Chamberlain
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1. Michael Jordan"

The first 4 are great. LeBron gave up in a Finals game and lost 2 Finals with Wade and Bosh to a relatively weak 2011 Dallas team and a relatively weak 2014 Spurs team where Duncan was too old and Kawhi was too young. He has a tendency to choke in the last 2 minutes. He's obviously not a top 5 player all time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This isn't LeBron's fault, but except for Kobe, LeBron's whole generation lost to a 2004 Argentina Olympic team that only had Ginobli. Really sad.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

No Grant Hill or Tracy McGrady?

Yep and its pretty easy no on them

Neither is a top 50 player in NBA history especially not Hill

 

[Neutrinos]

Yep and its pretty easy no on them

Neither is a top 50 player in NBA history especially not Hill

It depends on your criteria

If you're basing it on the top 50 careers of all-time, than probably not

If you're basing it on the 50 best players ever, Hill is absolutely among them. Without question!

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

nonsense. He arguably just had the greatest season in NBA history as the games best offensive player en route to a GOAT regular season from his team.

These things don't happen when your starting point guard 'doesn't read the game well'.

His handles and rim finishing ability are only second to Kyrie Irving IMO.

He's an elite facilitator as well.

And no ones mentioned him off the ball. He's the best off the ball player in the league.

not even close

you realize that from 96 to 98 Jordan won 3 MVP, 3 rings, 3 Finals MVP, 3 1st team all defense, 3 scoring titles

 

[NJDevs26]

Walton is way too high. For example, Dave Cowens had a better career was arguably the better player.

Walton's tough to fairly rank, he's the basketball version of Gale Sayers/Terrell Davis, unquestionably great for a short period of time but then cut down by injury. Even just winning the second title with Portland would have made a bit of perception difference if he didn't go down right when they were 50-10 and looked like they would repeat.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Walton won 5 rings in college (3 in 3 seasons) and the pros, Bird credits him for their title, and he's the best passing big man ever.

 

[Il Mediano]

Walton was a great player , at his peak , there haven't been many better.

Peak>resume