This is a requested topic for a future podcast episode. I do have a giant spreadsheet with a bunch of stats and stuff in it to help figure this out, but I'm doing this off the top of my head.
My Top 10My Top 10
- Jordan: 6 titles, 6 Finals MVPs, 5 MVPs, 1 DPOY, and tops by my eye test
- Lebron: 4 titles, 4 Finals MVPs, 4 MVPs, 20 All-NBAs, holds virtually all the career playoff stats
- Kareem: 6 titles, 2 Finals MVPs, 6 MVPs, 15 All-NBAs, also the greatest HS and college player ever
- Wilt: 2 titles, 1 Finals MVP, 4 MVPs, 10 All-NBAs, holds virtually all single game and single season records
- Magic: 5 titles, 3 Finals MVPs, 3 MVPs, 10 All-NBAs, greatest passer of all time and played every position
- Bird: 3 titles, 2 Finals MVPs, 3 MVPs, 10 All-NBAs, most well-rounded player ever
- Russell: 11 titles, 5 MVPs, 11 All-NBAs, greatest winner in the history of professional sports
- Duncan: 5 titles, 3 Finals MVPs, 2 MVPs, 15 All-NBAs, most underrated player in NBA history
- Kobe: 5 titles, 2 Finals MVPs, 1 MVP, 15 All-NBAs, 12 All-Defense teams, more All-Star MVPs than anyone
- Steph: 4 titles, 1 Finals MVP, 2 MVPs, 10 All-NBA, greatest shooter ever
Honorable mentions: Shaq and Jokic
Shaq and Steph are a toss-up to me. I came down on the side of positional balance. You could think of this as an All-time 1st and 2nd team, rather than purely a top 10.
I expect Jokic to make it, but he's right in the middle of his prime and hasn't yet matched the career achievements of these guys.
Let the arguments begin!
I'm not too familiar with the older generation players, as I only started watching NBA in the mid 90's, during Jordan's second 3-peat. But the numbers, accolades, and accomplishments for the likes of Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, and Bird are undeniable. I'll probably out Shaq in there instead of Curry. Yes, Curry is the greatest shooter of all time, but you can't not include the most dominant big man of all time in the top 10.
One of my pet peeves is guys not staying in shape and Shaq probably left more meat on the bone than any other player in NBA history. He'd be in my top five peaks, but for career greatness I'm giving the edge to someone who anchored a contender for almost the entire past decade.
All that said, I don't even think it's wrong to have Shaq over Steph. Would you pick Shaq over Steph, though? I know that's a different exercise and Steph can be the more special player without being the better one.
That's fair. Shaq did leave plenty of meat on the bone by being lazy; probably one of the reasons that caused him and Kobe's fall out.
I will still take Shaq over Steph, because he was unstoppable, and also because I love to watch 5's dominating the paint.
That's interesting. Part of our difference probably is due to how much I hated watching Shaq. I appreciate him more now, but at the time I thought he was making the game so ugly.
I actually think Shaq and Steph are very similar in an abstract way. More than anyone else I've seen, they warped the geometry of the court and dictated what kind of personnel the other team can play.
Yes, one is unstoppable in the paint; the other is unstoppable beyond the arc (although his off ball game, ball handling, and driving ability are all top notch).
The off-ball dominance of Steph is so hard to quantify. I've seen some Thinking Basketball videos breaking down how often he creates baskets for teammates without ever touching the ball, just because the defense is so distorted trying to contain him.
All these deserve to on here. My favorites are Kobe and Allen Iverson for their style.
My favorite playoff run was that Iverson Finals run.
Yea that was a good one.
Happy to see that the Lakers are the greatest basketball team of all time
I LOVE LA!
You'd think they'd have the most titles with such a talent advantage.