All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

[Jmb4life]

Whatsup guys. I'm very interested to see some all time NBA player list. The beauty of OS is the diversity in its members. Very seldom is there a consensus here. Here's mine in order:
1 - MJ
2 - Magic
3 - Kareem
4 - Tim Duncan
5 - Bird
6 - Shaq
7 - Kobe
8 - LBJ
9 - Hakeem
10 - Wilt
11 - D. Wade
12 - Dr. J
13 - Charles Barkley
14 - Isiah Thomas
15 - KG
16 - Oscar
17 - Pistol
18 - Iverson
19 - Bill Russell
20 - Nash

Players who can make it eventually:
KD, Westbrook, D. Rose, Tony Parker, Rondo, Anthony Davis,
My darkhorse - Oladipo. Idk why lol

As I wrote my list out, I noticed the lack of old school players from the NBA's infancy. I just have problems putting guys like Cousy, Petit, Elgin Baylor etc on the list. Heck man, I even had problems putting Bill Russell on the list. Understand that I am a student of the game so I am aware of the people I may have left off. Thats my list of the NBA's top 20 of all time though. Whats yours? Its not as easy as some may think to put one together, in order.

[ojandpizza]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

We've done this so many times here. You could have probably done a search and found 10+ threads with peoples "top whatever" lists.

[Jmb4life]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

Oooh. My bad. I'm hardly ever on here as much as I used to be.

[JazzMan]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

I'm bored, so why not.

1. MJ
2. Kareem
3. Bird
4. Magic
5. Duncan
6. Shaq
7. Wilt
8. Hakeem
9. Malone
10. LeBron
11. Stockton
12. Nash
13. Oscar
14. Kobe
15. KG
16. Pippen
17. Pistol Pete
18. Dr. J
19. Barkley
20. Isaiah

When his career is over, I think LeBron could go up to top 5. Same as KD, barring a career-altering injury.

[Jeffx]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

1-Wilt
2-Oscar
3-Jordan
4-Kareem
5-Russell
6-Hakeem
7-Magic
8-Bird
9-West
10-Duncan
11-Shaq
12-Moses Malone
13-Dr. J
14-Baylor
15-Kobe
16-Havlicek
17-Isaiah
18-Elvin Hayes
19-Rick Barry
20-Bob Petit

[jjsmity]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

1 bird,magic,jordan,russel,kareem,wilt.
2
3
4
5
6

first 6 can go anywere

going on first thought not looking very in depth

7 Shaquille O'Neal
8 Tim Duncan
9 LeBron James
10 Moses Malone
11 Hakeem Olajuwon
12 oscar robertson
13 Julius Erving
14 George Mikan
15 Bob Pettit
15 Jerry west
16 bob cousy
17 Scottie pippen
18 Charles Barkley
19 Kobe bryant
20 David robinson

[Vni]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?



Chocolate is tasty.

[turty11]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

1. lebron
2. MJ
3. kareem
4. magic
5. bird
6. russell
7. shaq
8. hakeem
9. duncan
10. oscar
11. kobe
12. KG
13. stockton
14. barkly
15. dr j
16. dirk
17. KD
18. zeke
19. moses
20. jeeeeze...jason kidd?

[ojandpizza]

All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

There is just so many different ways to rank players that it's hard to just post an "all time" list for me..

For example how much does career accolades play in judging, how much emphasis is put on championships, how much emphasis is given to stats, how much to longevity, etc. etc..

Also I have to take in the fact that I haven't actually saw every player play, other than rerun games, clips, highlights, etc.. So it's hard for me to say "Shaq is better than Wilt" without seeing all of Wilt's career. Or that Wilt is better than Shaq.

Also, the different eras cause a problem. I believe any great player could play in any era.. But I hate saying "well this player could have learned over the years, and had modern technology", and so forth.. And the opposite by sending someone back in time.. Because at that point you are no longer comparing them for who are they, it's "who they could have been" which isn't fair to them or the other player you're comparing..

So for example: Jerry West admittedly said after he retired that he could not dribble well with his left hand. So I feel he strongly benefitted from the era he played in and would not transition into more modern eras as well as he did in his own, and I feel lots of players are like that.. But that doesn't mean I can take away what he did accomplish in his own era, or lower his spot amongst the greats just because he's an older generation. Same with any of those guys, West was just an easy example. Nor will I take anything away from guys like LeBron, Kobe, Duncan just because they missed the 90's which most people just automatically claim the absolute "golden era" beloved years of basketball.

It also depends on what you consider qualifies someone to be an "all time" player. Is it just how good they are individually, or do other aspects factor?

Just some examples:
Out of every player I've watched, prime for prime, I honestly believe peak Jordan and peak LeBron are 1a and 1b.. But Jordan's accolades, championships, and his impact on the game of basketball propel him to a much higher ranking if I were to just list off players..

Likewise I think LeBron is, by a quite comfy margin, the best player to play in the league since Jordan retired.. But Duncan is the player of the decade to me, he has the rings, the pedigree, etc.. At this point in time I could not rank LeBron ahead of Duncan even though I consider him a better player. Though LeBron will have a nice resume to compare once his career is over, right now it's just too premature to me.

Also, I think Duncan has had one of the best careers ever. I think he's at least met the standards of Magic and Bird, if not passed them.. But at the same time I feel like Magic and Bird at their peak were just better than Duncan, and I think the impact their rivalry left on the league was more important to basketball than Duncan. So therefor I could not put him ahead of those guys, though his career warrants it.

I believe when we ranked players last time around I had Magic and Bird at 3 and 4, behind Jordan and Kareem.. However I don't think those two at their peak are the 3rd and 4th best players to ever play in the NBA.. But their championship pedigree, their rivalry, and being the face of the NBA during their era is what helps moves them so high up on my list..

So again, there are just far too many variables when you compare players like this. Is it really saying "which player was better" or is it "who's had the better career" is there other factors, etc.. I try to use a combination of it all, but even then it's really hard to just make a definitive list.. I had one typed out but I stopped after like 15 or so guys because it just gets to the point where it's hard to label one guy over another. Most of these great players had areas that made them better or made them worse than other guys, especially without me seeing every single players career in it's entirety, and the fact that some of these guys will never play each other, it just becomes hard to rank.

It would be easier to rank "top 20 best careers" or "top 20 best players" than it would be to make an all-time list.

[OkayC]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

Meh, im bored, plus the forum has been slow. Im gonna inevitably leave players off who should be on here, so fair warning. Plus im taking what the players have accomplished with the talent and coaching avaiable to them.

1 - MJ
2 - wilt
3 - lebron
4 - kareem
5 - shaq
6 - duncan
7 - magic
8 - durant(if he continues to get better like usual, then i have him here. If he gets a ring, he'll go higher, though right now im tempted to put bird above durant)
9 - bird
10 - hakeem
11 - kobe
12 - wade
13 - Charles Barkley
14 - Isiah Thomas
15 - KG
16 - Oscar
17 - Pistol
18 - Iverson
19 - Bill Russell
20 - cp3(though his spot here could be in jeopardy if he doesn't make it to the finals in the next couple of years)

Some of these guys are out of order(mainly anyone after 10 or 11) and i left out some guys, but whatever. None of these lists are ever gonna be perfect anyway.

[ojandpizza]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

Durant passes Magic by winning one ring? Why?

[OkayC]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

Durant passes Magic by winning one ring? Why?

IDK dude, i guess based on potential. Tbh most of my guys are out of order anyway. I wanted to place durant lower, but didn't wanna put him to low, cuz then id have certain guys above him who shouldn't be. This crap is hard, and i said going in that many guys will be out of position. durant is one of those guys cuz i really can't say where i'd place him. So i just gave him the benefit of the doubt, why not, none of these lists are perfect anyway. Its not so much that i have him above magic, as it is that i don't wanna put some players higher on the list than they should be, and have others lower than they should be. Cuz if you move one player, then another player gets moved and the whole list gets screwed up moreso than it already is. I said anyone after 10-11 is out of order, but more realistically its anyone after 3-4.

[turty11]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

ill be honest...after 5 i just started going in order i could think of names.. the 5-50 range is just packed with so many players near/on the same level you cant go wrong either way

[ojandpizza]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

IDK dude, i guess based on potential. Tbh most of my guys are out of order anyway. I wanted to place durant lower, but didn't wanna put him to low, cuz then id have certain guys above him who shouldn't be. This crap is hard, and i said going in that many guys will be out of position. durant is one of those guys cuz i really can't say where i'd place him. So i just gave him the benefit of the doubt, why not, none of these lists are perfect anyway. Its not so much that i have him above magic, as it is that i don't wanna put some players higher on the list than they should be, and have others lower than they should be. Cuz if you move one player, then another player gets moved and the whole list gets screwed up moreso than it already is. I said anyone after 10-11 is out of order, but more realistically its anyone after 3-4.

I was just curious is all

[redsrule]

Re: All Time Top 20 NBA Players IN ORDER. Who You Got?

I have no idea who all I'd put on my top 20 but I think 20 years from now Kevin Durant, LeBron (if he's not already there) and Anthony Davis will all be there.

Also, is this who do you think is the most talented or had the best careers? That's a big difference imo.