Perhaps more than any other team sport, basketball allows for excellent players to make themselves stand out from those who are merely good. A great basketball player can take over a game almost single-handedly. A truly special one can even lead a team to season-length greatness without needing a ton of help. We used a mix of traditional stats (like per-game averages) plus other marks of greatness (like championships and All-NBA honors) to put this list together.
Here are the top 10 greatest NBA players in history.
Career averages: | 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists |
MVP awards: | 5 |
All-NBA: | 10x First Team, 1x Second Team |
All-Star: | 14x |
Championships: | 6 |
2. LeBron James
Career averages: | 27.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists |
MVP awards: | 4 |
All-NBA: | 13x First Team, 2x Second Team, 1x Third Team |
All-Star: | 16x |
Championships: | 4 |
3. Wilt Chamberlain
Career averages: | 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists |
MVP awards: | 4 |
All-NBA: | 7x First Team, 3x Second Team |
All-Star: | 13x |
Championships: | 2 |
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Career averages: | 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists |
MVP awards: | 6 |
All-NBA: | 10x First Team, 5x Second Team |
All-Star: | 19x |
Championships: | 6 |
5. Bill Russell
Career averages: | 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists |
MVP awards: | 5 |
All-NBA: | 3x First Team, 8x Second Team |
All-Star: | 12x |
Championships: | 11 |
6. Magic Johnson
Career averages: | 19.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 11.2 assists |
MVP awards: | 3 |
All-NBA: | 9x First Team, 1x Second Team |
All-Star: | 12x |
Championships: | 5 |
7. Larry Bird
Career averages: | 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists |
MVP awards: | 3 |
All-NBA: | 9x First Team, 1x Second Team |
All-Star: | 12x |
Championships: | 3 |
8. Shaquille O'Neal
Career averages: | 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists |
MVP awards: | 1 |
All-NBA: | 8x First Team, 2x Second Team, 4x Third Team |
All-Star: | 15x |
Championships: | 4 |
9. Tim Duncan
Career averages: | 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists |
MVP awards: | 2 |
All-NBA: | 10x First Team, 3x Second Team, 2x Third Team |
All-Star: | 15x |
Championships: | 5 |
10. Kobe Bryant
Career averages: | 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists |
MVP awards: | 1 |
All-NBA: | 11x First Team, 2x Second Team, 2x Third Team |
All-Star: | 18x |
Championships: | 5 |
