The top 77 NBA players of all time: Part 1 77–51
Two years since I publish my last list and I made some changes to my system. The biggest is giving one hundred points to the best player in the championship, forty more than in 2021. That change and others have created my most accurate list yet well at least imo. Of course, ranking players across eras is impossible and subjective, but this year’s list is as close as I’ve come to doing it right. If you want to learn more about how I came up with this list you can see that here.
77. Rudy Gobert Points 144 (2011-Present)
3x all Star, 1x 2nd Team, 3x DPOY, 6x 1st team defense, 1x rebounding leader, 1x blocks leader
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: N/A
I am sure people will be mad that Rudy Gobert made the list, so let me tell you who just missed out so you can get even angrier Draymond Green, Spencer Haywood, and Reggie Miller. Rudy edges them out because his heights on the defensive end are historic. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner ties him with Dwight Howard for third on the all-time list. Only Ben Wallace and Mutombo have more. The excellent news for haters is that this is as high as he ever gets.
76. Dominique Wilkins Points 144 (1982–99)
9x allstar, 1x 1st team, 4x 2nd team, 1x scoring champ
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 63
So I have a system for this list, as stated above, but I decided this year to break ties because I hate ties. ‘Nique falls from sixty-three on my 2021 list mainly because I am giving the best player on a champion more points this time around. Wilkins never got out of the second round in an extremely tough 1980s Eastern conference. Still, he was one of the most exciting players ever to play basketball, and sorry, Trae Young is still the best Atlanta Hawk ever.
75. Robert Parrish Points 146 (1976-97)
9x allstar, 1x 2nd team, 4x NBA Champion (1981,84,86,97)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 61
I was a little snotty about Parrish on the last list when he was at sixty-one, which was too high. While his consistency was incredible, changes I made giving more points to the second-best player on a champion and best player on a finals team rightly put “the Chief” a little further down the list.
74. James Worthy Points 147 (1982–94)
7x allstar, 1x Finals MVP (1998), 3x NBA Champion (1985,87,88)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: NA
Wilkins and Parrish fell down the list because of the changes I made to the list this year. Worthy jumps onto the list mainly because he was the second-best player on the last two 80s Showtime Lakers championships.
73. Dennis Rodman Points 154 (1986–2006)
2x allstar, 2x DPOY (1990,91) 7x 1st defensive team, 1x 2nd defensive team, 7x rebounding leader, 5x NBA Champion 1980-90,96–98)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 65
The Worm is an excellent example of how my rating system differs slightly from others. He does not make a lot of people’s top seventy-five. He makes mine because while I may agree that defense is not as important as offense, I don’t think it shouldn’t be rated at all.
72. Pau Gasol Points 158 (1998–2021)
6x allstar, 2x 2nd team, 2x NBA Champion (2009–10)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 69
Gasol is such an interesting player, the classic good enough number one to take a team to the playoffs and perfect number two for a championship team. He was the best player in the deciding seventh game of the 2010 finals that the Lakers won against the Celtics.
71. Joel Emiid Points 159 (2014-Present)
6x allstar, 1x 1st team, 4x 2nd team, 3x 2nd team all defense, 2x scoring champion MVP (2023)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: NA
The reigning MVP makes his first appearance on one of my lists. Since we are still mid-career, he has a strong possibility of being a top-fifty player by the end, even if all he does is stay healthy. If he can win a championship, Embiid will be way higher than that.
70. Kevin McHale Points 159 (1980–93)
7x allstar, 1x 1st team, 3x 1st defensive team, 3x 2nd defensive team, 3x NBA Champion (1981, 84, 86)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 74
McHale was a great second banana for the 80s Celtics team, but he had a short prime. So McHale being in the top fifty on some folk’s list has more to do with the team he played for than his career — still one of the three or five greatest post players ever.
69. Bob McAdoo Points 163 (1972–92)
5x allstar, 1x 1st team, 1x 2nd team, 3x scoring champion, MVP (1975)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 65
Even though McAdoo won an MVP in 1975, he is lower on the list because of his short career prime. McAdoo was a 6'9 scoring center who both went to the basket and shot jumpers. You gotta feel in the modern game, with more three-pointers at the more natural power forward position, McAdoo might have had an even better career.
68. Joe Dumars Points 165 (1985–99)
6x allstar, 1x 2nd team, 4x 1st team defense, 1x 2nd team defense, Finals MVP (1989), 2x NBA Champion (1989–90)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: NA
The Pistons Bad Boys were the first championship team I remember. Joe Dumars was their quiet assassin in a team full of huge personalities. Dumars was also the real enforcer of the Piston’s legendary defense.
67. Anthony Davis Points 167 (2012-Present)
8x allstar, 4x 1st team, 2x 1st team defense, 2x 2nd team defense, 3x blocks champion, NBA Champion (2020)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: NA
AD, like Embiid, is making his debut on the list; he has played a few more years than the 76ers star, but what pushes him a little further up this list is the bubble Championship, where he and LeBron led the Lakers to their 18th Championship.
66. Wes Unseld Points 173 (1968–81)
5x allstar, 1x 1st team, 1x rebounding leader, MVP (1969), Finals MVP (1978), NBA Champion (1978)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 75
Unseld would be in the top three if this were a list of the best outlet pass ever. Unseld and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players to win the MVP in their rookie season. I can’t imagine that will ever happen again.
65. Paul Pierce Points 179 (1998–2017)
10x all star, 1x 2nd team, Finals MVP (2008), NBA Champion (2008)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 57
I should count how many Celtics are on this list. They’re a ton. Pierce is widely regarded as the second-best player on the 2008 Celtics championship team, not the first, and that keeps the 10x Allstar just outside the top sixty.
64. Patrick Ewing Points 180 (1985–2002)
11x allstar, 1x 1st team, 6x 2nd team
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 52
Ewing was a number-one pick with almost every accolade you can have in a professional basket except the top two. He was never an MVP or NBA champion.
63. Tony Parker Points 181
6x allstar, 3x 2nd team, NBA Finals MVP (2007), 4x NBA Champions (2003,05,07,14)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 60
My man was the second or third-best player on four championship teams. He was a Finals MVP and lost about three all-star appearances playing in the West: that he wasn’t on the NBA top 75 list is a crime.
62. Paul Azirin Points 187 (1950–65)
10x allstar, 3x 1st team, 1x 2nd team, 2x Scoring Champion, NBA Champion (1956)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 64
Hey, the NBA has been around for seventy-seven years. You can’t avoid 10x Allstars from the fifties, known for their line drive jump shots.
61. Dikembe Mutombo Points 195 (1991–2009)
8x allstar, 1x Team, 3x 1st team defense, 3x 2nd team defense, 2x rebounding champion, 3x blocking champion, 4x defense player of the year (1995,97–98,2001)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 51
If you start counting defense at all, Mutombo ranks very high. So when folks say that he and Ben Wallace should not be in the Hall of Fame, it’s unbelievable to me.
60. Roger Brown Points 197 (1967–76)
4x ABA allstar, 1x ABA lst team, 2x ABA 2nd team, ABA Playoff MVP (1970), 3x ABA Champion (1970,72–73)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: NA
The third star of the Indiana Pacers ABA dynasty pulls into the list at sixty. Reggie Miller said Brown is the greatest Pacer of all time. He is a little lower on the list than his teammates on those championship teams because he never played in the NBA, partially due to a gambling scandal.
59. Ben Wallace Points 200 (1996–2012)
4x allstar, 3x 2nd team, 1x defensive 1st team, 2x rebounding champion, 1x blocks champion, 4x Defensive Player of the Year (2002–3,05–06), 1x NBA Champion (2004)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 52
The debate between Ben Wallace and Chauncy Billups on who was the best player on the 2004 champion Pistons is the closest in the history of the NBA. I picked Chauncy, but it does not take away that Big Ben was one of the greatest defenders in the history of the NBA.
58. Dan Issel Points 218
7x ABA/NBA allstar, 1x ABA 1st team, 4x ABA 2nd team, 1x scoring champion, 1x ABA Champion (1975)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 59
This is the year of the Denver Nuggets, so it seems only fitting that their second-best player ever would be on this list. But Issel’s exploits go beyond Denver; the year before he got traded to the Nuggets, he and Artis Gilmore led the Kentucky Colonels to the ABA championship.
57. George Gervin Points 219 (1972–1990)
12x ABA/NBA Allstar, 5x 1st teams, 4x ABA/NBA 2nd team, 4x time scoring champion
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 49
George Gervin had about as good a career as possible without winning a championship, MVP, or conference finals. He should be higher, but a few things hurt him. First, Gervin played the early part of his career in the ABA. He also played in the seventies, a universally weak era. Finally, I cap the points you can get in stats to a hundred, so Gervin’s scoring titles have more limited influence.
56. Connie Hawkins Points 222 (1967–76)
5x ABA/NBA allstar, 3x ABA/NBA 1st team ABA Playoffs MVP, MVP and Champion (1968)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 71
The Hawk is a legend who was held out of the NBA for years on some gambling BS. So it’s nice that even with a shortened career, he is still on the list — one of the twenty most essential players in basketball history.
55. Chauncey Billups Points 223 (1997–2014)
5x allstar, 1x 2nd team, NBA Champion and Finals MVP (2004)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 52
Chauncey Billups is on this list because I decided he was the best player on the 2004 Detroit Pistons. I agonized between Billups and Ben Wallace for weeks. I finally decided on Billups because of his Finals MVP and offensive production.
54. Clyde Drexler Points 227 (1983–1998)
10x allstar, 1x 1st team, 2x Second Team, NBA Champion (1995)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 50
Fun fact: Clyde dribbles with his head down like he was playing basketball for the first time. Can you imagine being so good at basketball you could dribble with your head down and still be in the NBA? That is like being to be paid to sing with no tongue.
53. Allen Iverson Points 235 (1996–2010)
11x Allstar, 3x 1st team, 3x 2nd team, MVP (2001), 4x scoring champion (1999,2001–2,2005), 3x steals leader (2001–03)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 47
AI has fallen out of the top fifty in my system, primarily due to me counting the best player in the championship at a hundred points instead of eighty, like Connie Hawkins. If I were listing the most essential Basketball players of all time and not the ones with the best careers, Iverson would be much higher.
52. John Stockton Points 245 (1984 to 2003)
10x Allstar, 2x 1st team, 6x 2nd team, 9x assists leaders, 2x steals leaders
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 37
John Stockton is the second-highest second banana not to win a title on the list. Stockton was a steady, innovative, and dirty player for those who never saw him. It’s hard to imagine him getting away with some of the hand-checking now he did in the 80s and 90s. But Stockton’s natural gift was passing, and he would still be an elite passer today.
51. Bill Walton Points 246
2x Allstar, 1x 1st team, 1x 2nd team, 2x 1st defensive team, 1x rebounding leader, 1x blocks leader, 1x finals MVP (1977), MVP (1978), 2x NBA Champion (1977,86)
My 2021 Top 75 List Ranking: 62
Yes, Bill Walton was the best player in the NBA for a year and a half. But he only had six seasons where he played more than fifty games, and three of those were as a six-man. As high as his peak was, I can’t see how someone could put him higher than this. He also looked like a giant lumberjack when he played.
