Who do you think the top 15 players of all time are?

i know this all opinion, but no way is ewing above Hakeem. Not possible. Hakeem was the mvp, could have won it twice. He also won 2 titles inlcuding one over pat. And just watching them in their prime, hakeem was flat out better.

Here is my list:

1-Michael Jordan
2-Kobe Bryant
3-Wilt Chamberlain
4-Kareem Abdul Jabbar
5-LeBron James(yes, already)
6-Magic Johnson
7-Larry Bird
8-Bill Russell
9-Hakeem Olajuwon
10-Shaquille O’Neal
11-Karl Malone
12-Tim Duncan
13-Oscar Robertson
14-Dwyane Wade
15-Jerry West
16-Charles Barkley
17-John Stockton
18-Isiah Thomas
19-Moses Malone
20-Bob Petit

List is actually ok, I would drop LBJ 10, but I love how Dwyane Wade’s including lol :]

It is hard to compare players from different eras. They didn’t have a 3 point line before ’79, and in the ’80s players rarely used it, and players nowadays shoot way better and more consistent. I mean Larry Bird is famous for winning the 3 point contest, but in games he didn’t shoot many threes until he was older and couldn’t go inside and post up. He only averaged 1 made 3 pointer per game for his career and he shot a lot of them at the end of his career, but not many at the beginning.
My point is that the game is so much different nowadays you can only compare players against other players they have played against in the same era, not those from the past.

This is hard is it going off greatness or talent? Please hear me out,the reason is talent wise alot of these people can’t hold Lebron James jock strap, but they have had careers that are far greater than anything Lebron has done so far. So this is my Greatness list, my talent list would be a whole lot different .

1-Michael Jordan
2-Oscar Robertson
3-Kareem Abdul Jabbar
4-Magic Johnson
5-Bill Russell
6-Wilt Chamberlain
7-Kobe Bryant
8-Shaquille O’Neal
9-Larry Bird
10-Tim Duncan
11-Karl Malone
12-Isiah Thomas
13-Charles Barkley
14-Jerry West
15-Hakeem Olajuwon

Kobe and Lebron are not top 5 right now.
Also how is Barkley better than Hakeem he lost to him twice in the playoffs both in there prime.
I pretty much agree with dgrizzly’s list for the most part

1. MJ
2. Wilt
3. Kareem
4. Magic
5. Bird
6. Oscar
7. Bill Russel
8. Olajuwon
9. Duncan
10. Shaq
11. Moses Malone
12. Kobe
13. Karl Malone
14. Stockton
15. Jerry West

Once you have Lebron in the top 5….I gotta shake my head.

1. Micheal Jordan
2. Magic Johnson
3. Bill Russell
4. Wilt Chamberlian
5. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
6. Oscar Robinson
7. Tim Duncan
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Shaquille O’ Neal
10. Hakeem The Dream

Disclaimer: The Next 5 are somewhat based on Opinion and are very interchangeable

11. Julius Erving
12. Isaish Thomas
13. Moses Malone
14. Dave Cowens
15. Karl Malone

Once you have Lebron in the top 5….I gotta shake my head.

1. Micheal Jordan
2. Magic Johnson
3. Bill Russell
4. Wilt Chamberlian
5. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
6. Oscar Robinson
7. Tim Duncan
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Elgin Baylor
10. Hakeem The Dream

Disclaimer: The Next 5 are somewhat based on Opinion and are very interchangeable

11. Shaquille O’ Neal
12. Julius Erving
13. Isaish Thomas
14. Moses Malone
15. Karl Malone

1. MJ
2. Kareem AJ
3. Magic Johnson
4. Wilt Chamberlain
5. Larry Bird
6. Tim Duncan
7. Oscar Robertson
8. Bill Russell
9. Shaq
10. Kobe Bryant
11. Hakeem Olajuwon
12. Jerry West
13. Julius Erving
14. Moses Malone
15. David Robinson

16. Charles Barkley
17. Patrick Ewing
18. Elgin Baylor
19. Karl Malone
20. John Stockton
21. John Havlicek
22. Isiah Thomas
23. Kevin Garnett
24. Rick Barry
25. George Mikan
26. Dwyane Wade
27. Dirk Nowitski
28. LeBron James
29. Scottie Pippen
30. Jason Kidd

31. Bob Pettit
32. Chris Webber
33. Bob Cousy
34. Kevin McHale
35. Walt Frazier
36. Earl Monroe
37. George Gervin
38. Elvin Hayes
39. Paul Pierce
40. Clyde Drexler
41. Nate Archibald
42. Dominque Wilkens
43. Robert Parish
44. Hal Grear
45.James Worthy

This was hard… Its so difficult to compare these players — each era the style is so different; the game’s values change so much. After the first 24 the list gets dicey….
Most importantly i think Tim Duncan is in the top 6 players of all time.

Kobe can eventually pass Duncan if he wins another championship and finishes this season as strong as he started it, but as of now Kobe is still behind Shaq. Let’s not forget how insane Shaq was.

Wade might seem high on the list but I think “basketball” wise he is as good as anyone else on this list. He is a 6’5 Allen Iverson who likes to pass and can jump like Jordan. And his finals performance was the ALLTIME best finals performance EVER.

Lebron is behind Dirk for now. Yes Lebron is an insane athlete and posts some amazing numbers but like Dirk he is only a freak of nature in a big mans body–but Dirk has more unnatural talent for his size so the nod goes to Dirk– they both have made it to the finals and lost. Both have one MVP award and they are both insane talents and will most likely move up the list in time.

It’s crazy to think there are 30 (and maybe even more) better basketball players than Jason Kidd. To me I think Kidd is in the class of Magic as the smartest, most teammate friendly, and most influential game-tempo conductor there ever was. In his prime Kidd could create a fastbreak from a rebound as the last man down the court then the next possession make the exact right defense play. And he is 30th?

Its insanely hard to judge these players linearly–they impact the game uniquely and its a disservice to put them in line and place them.

Wade isn’t better than Lebron don’t go by one Finals.
Duncan 6th wow thats a lil high.
Cwebb 32 are you serious he wasn’t that great.
Why is Malone not ahead of David Robinson or Barkley he played longer & did more in the playoffs just never got past Jordan.

For being such a long list I actually like it, I think I would only make a few adjustments myself, switch Oscar and Duncan, switch Kevin Garnett and Rick Barry, drop Paul Pierce from the list in favor of Pete Maravich, and maybe lower Webber just a little bit.

But I agree with your last statement about how hard it is to compare these players.

Wade is better at the moment. Lebron is a better specimen but Wade knows that he doesn’t have to exhaust himself. Lebron works sooooo hard for a bucket sometimes–and just cause he can dunk it hard doesn’t change that it’s still 2 points. Basketball players can play with flow and timing or be intense and even though Lebron is an amazing player he still hasn’t learned that there are easy buckets to be made. He could play till he was 45 if he figures this out soon enough.

Duncan is definitely 6th! He has taken his teams to 4 finals and has 4 rings to boot. I don’t know of another player who did EVERYTHING so well for his size. Also his best teammates were a very old David Robinson and Tony Parker. For Tony Parker to be the second best player on a playoff team you need a Tim Duncan– I love Parker but he wouldn’t suffice as a suitable second option with anyone other than Duncan and/or MJ.

Chris Webber was insane! He is one of the top 3 best passing big men ever and his Kings were on the verge of being one of the best teams ever–the only problem was they were in the same conference as the Lakers. If Chris Webber and his King’s teammates were in the east we would have a different understanding of his greatness.

Barkley could be ahead of Robinson. I can see that. Barkley was special but Robinson was also rather a unique player. He was 7’2 and faster and more athletic than some guards. He was really the first of his kind and I cant think of a player that large and athletic in my life… Dwight Howard is the closes thing…Young Shaq of course too. Robinson was not as explosive as those two but he could also shoot and dribble–but the most important thing about Robinson has nothing to do with scoring, playoffs, and anything else that is typically measured–it has to do with the fact that Robinson might be THE top defensive big man EVER. Defense is important. I would take Robinsons D over Barkley–also Barkley slowed the game down and the offense revolved around him–which wasn’t always effective.

btw–I forgot about Nash… I could take Pierce down a few notches and put Nash in the low 40s with him.

also, a buddy of mine just mentioned how Bill Walton and Iverson should be in the top 40…

well, he was injured most his career so its pretty hard to tell. If Bill Walton is in the top 40 then Grant Hill is too. And the fact is, Grant Hill was as amazing as Lebron is now; and Lebron is in about the same stage of his career as Grant Hill was for when Hill sustained his ankle injury. This is important to consider– What if Lebron gets hurt like Hill did?

People have Lebron prematurely listed as a top 10 and top 5 basketball player of all time already… He very well could be eventually, but he also could get hurt and all the luster of his greatness will then be “unrealized” for he “could” have been the best ever–important words being “could” not “is”. As of now Lebron is just a fantasy. He still hasn’t materialized. I think he will, but so far he is only as good as Dirk or Grant Hill (if i redid the list).

Iverson is probably in the top 35 in reality but his antics lately and lack of winning really hurt his stock. At the moment I dont care for him because i can only remember the selfish, low shooting percentage, and defensive gambling version of AI. But honestly, the guy was SO OUT OF THIS WORLD in 99′ 00′ 01′. He is honestly the reason why I started watching basketball again. But yea, AI figure your shit out and dont pull a Marbury and you can get into the top 35 where you belong.

1) Michael Jordan
2) Wilt Chamberlain
3) Oscar Robertson
4) Bill Russell
5) Magic Johnson
6) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
7) Larry Bird
8) John Stockton
9) Kobe Bryant
10) Julius Erving
11) Jerry West
12) Hakeem Olajuwon
13) Tim Duncan
14) LeBron James
15) Karl Malone

Wilt
Jordan
Russell
James
Jabbar
Bird
Johnson
Kobe
Shaq
Iverson
Olajuwon
West
Wade
McGrady
Robertson

Note* No particular order……………………….also I really don’t judge a player by the # of rings they have.

McGrady in the top 15 is a disgrace to the guys you left off the list-Stockton, Havlicek, both Malones, Barkley, Baylor, just to name a few.

Seriously? There are players in the NBA right now who have had better careers than both of them, Duncan, Dirk, Garnett, Dwight Howard, just to name a few.

1.Jordan
2.Chamberlain
3.Russell
4.Kareem
5.Robertson
6.Magic
7.Bird
8.Dr. J
9.Shaq
10.Malone
11.Stockton
12.Barkley
13.Duncan
14.Kobe
15.Isaiah

lol…McGrady in the top 15?

Noone who played this era and did not win multiple championship are not in the top 15.

God……….I hate judging players by their # of championships……….I understand winning is the ultimate goal……but its a team game……..Also alot of luck plays part into your success.

God……….I hate judging players by their # of championships……….I understand winning is the ultimate goal……but its a team game……..Also alot of luck plays part into your success.

Come on Mike. I understand you like McGrady. But he’s not a top 15 all time player. There are probably 70 plus players who had better overall careers then McGrady.

There are probably 70 plus players who had better overall careers then McGrady.

Yeah, based on career accolades(championships, mvp’s, etc.)…..not basketball skills.

Lol. Really? All McGrady really dominated was scoring. That’s it.

Say what you want. At the end of the day, Championships- MVP’s- Awards help.

McGrady was never a top 15 player all time. He’s probably not a HOF and IMO, had no dent in the game. He will go down as a great player who got hurt. That’s all.

Kobe is not #2 all time and Lebron is not in the top 15

1) jordan
2) wilt
3) magic
4) bird
5) abdul jabar
6) shaq
7) duncan
8) russell
9) isiah
10) malone
11) stockton
12) robertson
13) olajuwon
14) kobe
15) barkley

1. Adonal Foyle
2. Anthony johnson
3. Mickael Pietrus
4. J.J. Redick
5. Marcin Gortat
6. Matt Barnes
7. Brandon Bass
8. Ryan Anderson
9. Jason Williams
10. Rashard Lewis
11. Jameer Nelson
12. Vince Carter
13.Dwight Howard
14.Pat Garrity
15 Andrew DeClercq

But seriously its almost impossible to make a alltime great list. BTW Kareem and Oscar Robertson dont get enough credit for wat they did in the nba.