Hoopshype ranks the top 77 NBA players of all-time (spoiler: Kevin Garnett is not #9)

[DC_Melo]

Top 10-15 or so aren’t bad, after that it kinda falls off. Did Bill Walton really not make the cut?

[hauntedcomputer]

Mikan at 46 when he's a top 10 all timer.

Crapping on Schayes and Pettit, who blow away the likes of Garnett and Nowitzki. In what universe is Isaiah more accomplished than Cousy? Maravich and Carmelo over Sam Jones and Bill Sharman? Dwight Howard over Artis Gilmore?

Typical recency-bias ChatGPT nonsense. These lists have been circulating on the web for so long that we've lost our ability to reason with them because they become de facto "generally accepted."

"Think about how dumb the average person is, and then realize half of them are even dumber than that."- George Carlin

[hardenASG13]

I loved AI. One of the most influential NBA players ever. Fun as hell to watch. He's also not one of the 100 best ever, much less #30. That's insane.

And then you see George Mikan as one of the most dominant players ever going 46th. That list has some serious flaws.

I think AI is about right. One of the best scorers to ever play, maybe the best pound for pound player the league has seen in terms of talent. He just had a shorter prime and was on teams that had poor rosters during it. He was that good though.

[DimesandKnicks]

It's an ok list. The first thing that jumped out to me was Duncan being too low, the same with Dirk, Giannis, and Jokic.

Dirk isn’t too 20 or better than Giannis, Robinson, Barkley, or Jokic. Nash higher than Kidd and GP is a no for me. Kobe isn’t top 10.

[DimesandKnicks]

Mikan at 46 when he's a top 10 all timer.

Crapping on Schayes and Pettit, who blow away the likes of Garnett and Nowitzki. In what universe is Isaiah more accomplished than Cousy? Maravich and Carmelo over Sam Jones and Bill Sharman? Dwight Howard over Artis Gilmore?

Typical recency-bias ChatGPT nonsense. These lists have been circulating on the web for so long that we've lost our ability to reason with them because they become de facto "generally accepted."

"Think about how dumb the average person is, and then realize half of them are even dumber than that."- George Carlin

I’m actually tired of much more talented players being overlooked because of these pre 65’s players making these list. They literally played pre-Civil rights act were as efficient as terrible point guards.

[Wolveswin]

Here's the list: (small changes)
+Mikan needs to be added somewhere top 25, but I am not renumbering whole thing.
+Jokic and Giannis have a good chance to jump up list and maybe significantly with more chips.
+Durant and Curry could raise on list with another chip.

1. Michael Jordan
2. LeBron James
3. Wilt Chamberlain
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5. Bill Russell
6. Magic Johnson
7. Larry Bird
8. Kobe Bryant
9. Shaquille O'Neal
10. Tim Duncan

11. Hakeem Olajuwon
12. Stephen Curry
13. Oscar Robertson
14. Dirk Nowitzki
15. Moses Malone
16. Kevin Durant
17. Kevin Garnett
18. Jerry West
19. Karl Malone
20. Julius Erving

21. Nikola Jokic
22. Giannis Antetokounmpo
23. Elgin Baylor
24. Dwyane Wade
25. David Robinson
26. Charles Barkley
27. Isiah Thomas
28. Scottie Pippen
29. John Stockton
30. John Havlicek

31. Bob Pettit
32. Chris Paul
33. Kawhi Leonard
34. Steve Nash
35. Patrick Ewing
36. Rick Barry
37. Bob Cousy
38. Jason Kidd
39. James Harden
40. Elvin Hayes

41. Allen Iverson
42. Gary Payton
43. Dominique Wilkins
44. George Gervin
45. Clyde Drexler
46. George Mikan
47. Anthony Davis
48. Russell Westbrook
49. James Worthy
50. Carmelo Anthony

51. Paul Pierce
52. Bob McAdoo
53. Damian Lillard
54. Reggie Miller
55. Wes Unseld
56. Kevin McHale
57. Ray Allen
58. Pau Gasol
59. Walt Frazier
60. Robert Parish

61. Willis Reed
62. Dwight Howard
63. Dolph Schayes
64. Bill Walton
65. Dennis Rodman
66. Nate Archibald
67. Pete Maravich
68. Dave Cowens
69. Tony Parker
70. Vince Carter

71. Alex English
72. Paul Arizin
73. Earl Monroe
74. Bernard King
75. Tracy McGrady
76. Kyrie Irving
77. Hal Greer

[hauntedcomputer]

Mikan at 46 when he's a top 10 all timer.

Crapping on Schayes and Pettit, who blow away the likes of Garnett and Nowitzki. In what universe is Isaiah more accomplished than Cousy? Maravich and Carmelo over Sam Jones and Bill Sharman? Dwight Howard over Artis Gilmore?

Typical recency-bias ChatGPT nonsense. These lists have been circulating on the web for so long that we've lost our ability to reason with them because they become de facto "generally accepted."

"Think about how dumb the average person is, and then realize half of them are even dumber than that."- George Carlin

I’m actually tired of much more talented players being overlooked because of these pre 65’s players making these list. They literally played pre-Civil rights act were as efficient as terrible point guards.

Is it a talent list or is the best performers, though?
Talent is as common as dirt. Doing it on the court is a lot harder.

Let's look at two players, Garnett ranked 17 and Pettit ranked 31.

Pettit shot 4 percent better than his peers over his career, Garnett less than 2 percent better. Pettit 26/16/3 over 11 seasons, Garnett 18/10/4 over 21 seasons.

Pettit Garnett
MVPS: 2 1
Rings: 1 1
All-NBA 1st team: 10 4
All-stars: 11 15
AllD first team: NA 9
Scoring title: 2 0
Rebound title: 0 4
ROY: 1 0

Pettit was no slouch on defense, in fact has half the DWS as Garnett in a much shorter career, and all-defense awards didn't exist back then. Pettit was a great rebounder but even giving Garnett defense and rebounding over Pettit, Pettit clearly had the far superior career.

Garnett had more talent, certainly. He just wasn't as good of an NBA basketball player on the court as Pettit relative to his era and career, and the only counterargument is "plumbers and accountants" and longevity.

[dirkforpres]

Garnett above Dirk is nonsense. Same with Durant over Curry. Jokic at 41 is absurd as well. Not a bad list, but theres some glaring errors.

[MavsDirk41]

I think Duncan, Dirk, Barkley, and the Joker are ranked too low. I would also rank Curry ahead of Durant, who is ranked a little too high.

[the_other_guy]

Kobe - 11th, Duncan 8th.
KD is to high.
Dirk to low.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Kobe Bryant seems to have gotten a lift from dying far too young.

Older era players seem to be getting dismissed a bit... which makes sense because there will be fewer complaints about them. Few actually saw them play.

[DoctorX]

Duncan at 10 is a joke. This ranking is more about basically about factoring in the popularity of a player and then achievements. Hence Shaq, Kobe ranked higher than Duncan due to being more popular than Duncan but having less accolades.

[DoctorX]

Kobe Bryant seems to have gotten a lift from dying far too young.

Older era players seem to be getting dismissed a bit... which makes sense because there will be fewer complaints about them. Few actually saw them play.

Kobe has become basketball Tupac.

[ballzboyee]

Dr. J is way too low. I get it that he was a crossover athlete from ABA to NBA, but he dominated in both leagues and won 4 MVP's. I wouldn't put Elgin Baylor or David Robinson ahead of Charles Barkley. Baylors stats are a product of his era and efficiency numbers from that time are just disqualifying for some of the counting stats. Robinson did not have consistent career and a very short peak. Basically, about six or seven years of dominance only.

I really don't think either Dirk or KG were better than Barkley either, but I can see why they are slightly higher. The reality is that they both managed to win rings after being in the league for 13 years and then padded their stats while doing nothing for a decade afterward. They are both still behind or just on parity with Barkley in some major counting stats which shows Barkley's overall production on the court. For example, Dirk is way behind Barkley in rebounds, assists, and steals despite playing almost 12,000 more career minutes. Advanced numbers also favor Barkley by a country mile, but it is all about rangz, I guess.

[zero rings]

I loved AI. One of the most influential NBA players ever. Fun as hell to watch. He's also not one of the 100 best ever, much less #30. That's insane.

And then you see George Mikan as one of the most dominant players ever going 46th. That list has some serious flaws.

I think AI is about right. One of the best scorers to ever play, maybe the best pound for pound player the league has seen in terms of talent. He just had a shorter prime and was on teams that had poor rosters during it. He was that good though.

I’ll never understand this “pound for pound” argument we make for Iverson. Did his shots count for more points because he was smaller than everyone else? Basketball is a game where being big and tall is an advantage, there are no weight classes

It’s like saying I’m the best pound for pound sumo wrestler.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Jokic is way to low. If his career ended today his peak is too high to leave him off top 30. 3 MVPs and FMVP is rare air even if you dont have the counting stats.

Giannis is slowing down after being 24 on the 75 list. Part of that is competition is stiffer as you get higher but also he didn't do much the past 2 years. Passed David Robinson and Wade last year but stayed the same this year. If he has a repeat of this year maybe he passes Baylor/Dr. J (NBA only). His floor is #17 (not factoring in Jokic passing him) if he just keeps longevity stats. Ceiling is probably #14 at this point.

[hardenASG13]

And then you see George Mikan as one of the most dominant players ever going 46th. That list has some serious flaws.

I think AI is about right. One of the best scorers to ever play, maybe the best pound for pound player the league has seen in terms of talent. He just had a shorter prime and was on teams that had poor rosters during it. He was that good though.

I’ll never understand this “pound for pound” argument we make for Iverson. Did his shots count for more points because he was smaller than everyone else? Basketball is a game where being big and tall is an advantage, there are no weight classes

It’s like saying I’m the best pound for pound sumo wrestler.

It means his skill level was insane. His shots didn't count for more, but he won 4 scoring titles at his size which speaks to that skill level. Being big and tall is an advantage, which he didn't have, yet still was able to do what he did on his talent. Nobody his size was remotely close to him as a scorer in NBA history.

[hundreth]

I think Melo is a bit overrated on this list, and I'm a Knicks fan.

[naabzor]

I don't understand how Durant is before Curry.

[Bornstellar]

Duncan below Kobe and Shaq is laughable honestly