SI's 50 greatest players in NBA history

Maestro84

Registered User
May 3, 2018
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Toronto
With the recent retirements of Duncan and Bryant I was wondering about their place in history when I came across this updated ranking of the 50 greatest players in NBA history from Sports Illustrated back in February (feel free to merge or delete if this has already been posted, though I couldn't find it anywhere). Here is the link to the article SI's 50 greatest players in NBA history. The actual list is below (players who played this past season are in bold):

50. Paul Arizin
49. Kevin McHale
48. Dolph Schayes
47. Chris Paul
46. Bill Sharman
45. Allen Iverson
44. Jason Kidd
43. Kevin Durant
42. Dave Cowens
41. Hal Greer
40. Willis Reed
39. Patrick Ewing
38. Bob Cousy
37. Dirk Nowitzki
36. Dave Bing
35. Clyde Drexler
34. Kevin Garnett
33. Jerry Lucas
32. Bill Walton
31. Stephen Curry
30. John Stockton
29. Isiah Thomas
28. David Robinson
27. Rick Barry
26. George Gervin
25. Dwyane Wade
24. George Mikan
23. Scottie Pippen
22. John Havlicek
21. Walt Frazier
20. Charles Barkley
19. Elvin Hayes
18. Julius Erving
17. Karl Malone
16. Hakeem Olajuwon
15. Shaquille O’Neal
14. Moses Malone
13. Bob Pettit
12. Kobe Bryant
11. Elgin Baylor
10. Tim Duncan
9. Jerry West
8. Bill Russell
7. Larry Bird
6. Oscar Robertson
5. LeBron James
4. Magic Johnson
3. Wilt Chamberlain
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1. Michael Jordan
This was made over 2 years ago so things have obviously changed quite a bit. IMO, LeBron is a top 3 player of all time and Durant and Curry are now both top 20 players of all time. Also, players like Westbrook, Harden and Kawhi should crack this list as well.

I can think of a top 10 rankings but after that, the players would be too interchangeable. Anyways, my top 10 would be:
1. Jordan
2. Kareem
3. LeBron
4. Magic
5. Chamberlain
6. Duncan
7. Bird
8. Russell
9. Shaq
10. Kobe
 

Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
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Without knowing the criteria used for such a list, Scottie Pippen ahead of David Robinson seems pretty silly

Robinson was an absolute stud in his prime
 

Say Hey Kid

it's better to burn out than to fade awa
Dec 10, 2007
23,614
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ATL
Without knowing the criteria used for such a list, Scottie Pippen ahead of David Robinson seems pretty silly. Robinson was an absolute stud in his prime
The Admiral couldn't win a ring w/o Duncan and Pippen was the 2nd best player on teams that won 6 rings in 8 years.

Off topic. All of LeBron's finals came out of the weakest Conference in NBA history.
 
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Blackhawkswincup

RIP Fugu
Jun 24, 2007
186,838
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Without knowing the criteria used for such a list, Scottie Pippen ahead of David Robinson seems pretty silly

Robinson was an absolute stud in his prime

You must not have watched much Pippen

He had bigger impact on game in bigger moments then Robinson

People forget if not for phantom foul the Bulls were well on way to another NBA Finals appearance in 94 with Pippen carrying team
 

Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
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You must not have watched much Pippen

He had bigger impact on game in bigger moments then Robinson

People forget if not for phantom foul the Bulls were well on way to another NBA Finals appearance in 94 with Pippen carrying team

No, despite the fact that he was my favorite player back in the day, and that he played on a team that was always featured on national TV, I can't say I ever saw him play
 

Neutrinos

Registered User
Sep 23, 2016
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David Robinson is 4th all-time in career PER at 26.2

Pippen's career high is 23.2


Robinson was the '95 MVP, '94 scoring champ, '92 Defensive POTY, 10x All-NBA, 10x All-Star, 8x All-Defensive Team, '91 rebounding leader, '92 blocks leader

Pippen was 10x All-Defensive Team, 6x All-NBA, 7x All-Star, '95 steals leader


Simply put, nobody in their right mind would draft Pippen as their franchise player if Robinson were still on the board
 
Last edited:

Il Mediano

Registered User
Feb 24, 2018
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Pippen was an incredible player, as was Robinson.

They're both around the same level , imo.

Robinson had to carry a burden that Pippen didn't (outside of Jordan's sabbatical) , but he also was clearly incapable of winning titles until Timmy joined him.

Shaq and Hakeem were clearly superior C's in that era. What Hakeem did to Robinson in the '95 Playoffs after Robinson was awarded the MVP was downright disrespectful. It wasn't even close.



For an MVP to get destroyed that badly 1v1 in his peak speaks volumes.

 

Aladyyn

they praying for the death of a rockstar
Apr 6, 2015
18,090
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In a scenario where we're picking a franchise player, give me Pippen over Robinson any day. Centers just aren't as big of a deal as they used to be and Pippen is like putting everything you could ever want from a basketball player into one.
 

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