Top 10 Ball Handlers of All Time

[mdonnelly1989]

#1. Kyrie Irving

#2. Allen Iverson
#3. CP3
#4. Jamaal Crawford
#5. Stephen Curry
#6. Isiah Thomas
#7. White Chocolate
#8. Tim Hardaway
#9. Rafer Alston
#10. Steve Francis

A lot of guys are interchangeable

[penbeast0]

Bob Davies, Bob Cousy, (Marques Haynes), Oscar, Kevin Porter, Nate Archibald, Muggsy Bogues, Magic, Stockton, Nash . . . All above any of the 10 mentioned as really standout ballhandlers compared to their peers except for possibly the top 1 or 2. I think you can only compare to peers and how much a player stands out because of different rules and standards in every era.

[tsherkin]

Bob Davies, Bob Cousy, (Marques Haynes), Oscar, Kevin Porter, Nate Archibald, Muggsy Bogues, Magic, Stockton, Nash . . . All above any of the 10 mentioned as really standout ballhandlers compared to their peers except for possibly the top 1 or 2. I think you can only compare to peers and how much a player stands out because of different rules and standards in every era.

Cousy was an interesting ball-handler for his era, and like Pete Maravich, deserves some respect for being well ahead of his time. Walt Frazier, as well. Can definitely see the value of comparing only to peers, because Cousy doesn't really strike me as matching up to the later ball-handlers. There are a lot of era differences to consider, though. The drift in how palming and carrying have been called has been happening since the 70s and Iverson basically normalized blatant cheating under the older NBA rules when he hit the league. Tim Hardaway's crossovers were at least nominally legal and we effectively owe modern ball-handling style to AI's popularity and the league bending the knee. It does make one wonder what someone like Cousy or some of the earlier ballers would look like if the officiating had opened that door for them.

[70sFan]

The list is extremely biased towards 21st century guys.

[capfan33]

Ball-handling is one of the biggest rule changes from the 60s to now, very difficult to compare between eras.

[penbeast0]

Bob Davies, Bob Cousy, (Marques Haynes), Oscar, Kevin Porter, Nate Archibald, Muggsy Bogues, Magic, Stockton, Nash . . . All above any of the 10 mentioned as really standout ballhandlers compared to their peers except for possibly the top 1 or 2. I think you can only compare to peers and how much a player stands out because of different rules and standards in every era.

Cousy was an interesting ball-handler for his era, and like Pete Maravich, deserves some respect for being well ahead of his time. Walt Frazier, as well. Can definitely see the value of comparing only to peers, because Cousy doesn't really strike me as matching up to the later ball-handlers. There are a lot of era differences to consider, though. The drift in how palming and carrying have been called has been happening since the 70s and Iverson basically normalized blatant cheating under the older NBA rules when he hit the league. Tim Hardaway's crossovers were at least nominally legal and we effectively owe modern ball-handling style to AI's popularity and the league bending the knee. It does make one wonder what someone like Cousy or some of the earlier ballers would look like if the officiating had opened that door for them.

Maravich's handles looked flashy but sloppy, it seemed to me he dribbled high (unlike Muggsy, lol) and was somewhat loose in his handles. Oscar impressed me more than Frazier, even though Frazier was the next generation.

[tsherkin]

Maravich's handles looked flashy but sloppy, it seemed to me he dribbled high (unlike Muggsy, lol) and was somewhat loose in his handles. Oscar impressed me more than Frazier, even though Frazier was the next generation.

Agreed, but he's still worth a mention. And I mentioned Frazier (and Monroe, too, for that matter) as an early example of people starting to bend the rules a little with their handles more than "oh wow, look at what they could do," you know what I mean?

[70sFan]

Bob Davies, Bob Cousy, (Marques Haynes), Oscar, Kevin Porter, Nate Archibald, Muggsy Bogues, Magic, Stockton, Nash . . . All above any of the 10 mentioned as really standout ballhandlers compared to their peers except for possibly the top 1 or 2. I think you can only compare to peers and how much a player stands out because of different rules and standards in every era.

Cousy was an interesting ball-handler for his era, and like Pete Maravich, deserves some respect for being well ahead of his time. Walt Frazier, as well. Can definitely see the value of comparing only to peers, because Cousy doesn't really strike me as matching up to the later ball-handlers. There are a lot of era differences to consider, though. The drift in how palming and carrying have been called has been happening since the 70s and Iverson basically normalized blatant cheating under the older NBA rules when he hit the league. Tim Hardaway's crossovers were at least nominally legal and we effectively owe modern ball-handling style to AI's popularity and the league bending the knee. It does make one wonder what someone like Cousy or some of the earlier ballers would look like if the officiating had opened that door for them.

Maravich's handles looked flashy but sloppy, it seemed to me he dribbled high (unlike Muggsy, lol) and was somewhat loose in his handles. Oscar impressed me more than Frazier, even though Frazier was the next generation.

I think Frazier was a better ball-handler than Oscar.

[Owly]

Think the criteria would want tightening for a more precise, focused discussion. One could be looking at effectiveness or flash/style or innovation or some combinations thereof and credit or demerit different things differently (what value Nash's ability to keep his dribble alive? what value creating the Shammgod? what cost to eating the clock or unforced turnovers?). Whilst the definition is loose there's a lot of wiggle room/range on where guys could reasonably go.

For me some of the names in OP are a little high on turnovers (even after granting some risk to creating penetration often out of iso) and some a little in love with the dance, crossing guys up (e.g. Francis) or some flash but not that effective (Williams). Much of this is taste though, and isn't to say OP is "wrong". Then if we're ranking in a consistent way, on NBA play, more off what I've read to get to a large enough sample, Alston was more sensible and solid rather than doing his Skip to my Lou streetball stuff, where on the whole I do think the list seems to lean towards flash.

It is also right to note as others have that differing rules make it hard to make a fair comparison across eras (maybe era internal lists would be fairer?) and related that the top ten probably weren't all drafted between 1981 and 2011 (five between '96 and 2000).

[Jaivl]

José Calderón has better handles than half that list lol this ain't AND1, you actually have to play basketball.

[henshao]

I feel like Jerry West had an amazing ability to keep his dribble and go wherever he wanted without getting called by the 60s refs

[LukaTheGOAT]

I think players today can create more separation from their peers in terms of ball-handling ability because the rules are looser and allow for more elite hand-eye coordination to shine through.

Still think guys like Rod Strickland and Darius Garland should be ahead of Rafer Alston.

[MyUniBroDavis]

#1. Kyrie Irving

#2. Allen Iverson
#3. CP3
#4. Jamaal Crawford
#5. Stephen Curry
#6. Isiah Thomas
#7. White Chocolate
#8. Tim Hardaway
#9. Rafer Alston
#10. Steve Francis

A lot of guys are interchangeable

Harden should be top 10 for me for sure, he does/did the exact same thing every damn time but it was so crazy effective, you could argue him higher than everyone except kyrie

Currys probably has more of a bag but I’d rather have hardens handles

[HeartBreakKid]

Steph Curry is the most overrated ball handler of all time. He has always been highly turnover prone...

Curry is the ultimate test to see if people judge ball handling by how many times people do behind the back dribbles for no reason.

[falcolombardi]

Steph Curry is the most overrated ball handler of all time. He has always been highly turnover prone...

Curry is the ultimate test to see if people judge ball handling by how many times people do behind the back dribbles for no reason.

I think most of his turnovers are sloppy/careless passes tbh

Although i agree his handles, while good, are a bit overated at times. They are flashy but not nearly as quick and safe as those of a chris paul or kyrie. I think he wouldnt adapt as well to a era with tighter carrying rules as them although he would remain solid

[falcolombardi]

#1. Kyrie Irving

#2. Allen Iverson
#3. CP3
#4. Jamaal Crawford
#5. Stephen Curry
#6. Isiah Thomas
#7. White Chocolate
#8. Tim Hardaway
#9. Rafer Alston
#10. Steve Francis

A lot of guys are interchangeable

Harden should be top 10 for me for sure, he does/did the exact same thing every damn time but it was so crazy effective, you could argue him higher than everyone except kyrie

Currys probably has more of a bag but I’d rather have hardens handles

Harden is a 6'5 Dude with the handle tightness of a 5'11 guard but the lenght/strenght of a 6'8 wing lol

Is actually kinda wild how great his body and athletism is for basketball for a guy who looks a bit chubby and doesnt have slam dunk contest hoops

[Samurai]

For me, the best handles of the 60's and early 70's (when dribbling rules were much stricter than today), belonged to Earl Monroe, also known as Black Jesus. He is generally acknowledged as the first to use the spin move, extremely tough to do under those rules, which is still widely used today. In high school, his teammates nicknamed him Thomas Edison because he would invent so many moves on the court. Monroe himself stated that many times he himself didn't know what he was going to do with the ball, but if he didn't know himself, then he was pretty sure the guy guarding him didn't know either!

[MyUniBroDavis]

#1. Kyrie Irving

#2. Allen Iverson
#3. CP3
#4. Jamaal Crawford
#5. Stephen Curry
#6. Isiah Thomas
#7. White Chocolate
#8. Tim Hardaway
#9. Rafer Alston
#10. Steve Francis

A lot of guys are interchangeable

Harden should be top 10 for me for sure, he does/did the exact same thing every damn time but it was so crazy effective, you could argue him higher than everyone except kyrie

Currys probably has more of a bag but I’d rather have hardens handles

Harden is a 6'5 Dude with the handle tightness of a 5'11 guard but the lenght/strenght of a 6'8 wing lol

Is actually kinda wild how great his body and athletism is for basketball for a guy who looks a bit chubby and doesnt have slam dunk contest hoops

His handles are basically 100% his size up package but because he’s soooo good stepping back from three or driving in with that much space he’s basically one of the best guys at breaking someone off the dribble ever by far

Tbf his max very is 37 inches, and his three quarter sprint was nothing crazy for a SG but better than you’d expect, quite good

[MyUniBroDavis]

Steph Curry is the most overrated ball handler of all time. He has always been highly turnover prone...

Curry is the ultimate test to see if people judge ball handling by how many times people do behind the back dribbles for no reason.

I think most of his turnovers are sloppy/careless passes tbh

Although i agree his handles, while good, are a bit overated at times. They are flashy but not nearly as quick and safe as those of a chris paul or kyrie. I think he wouldnt adapt as well to a era with tighter carrying rules as them although he would remain solid

Yeah Curry doesn’t lose the ball or get it stolen as much as he does some stupid pass cuz he’s trying to flex

The thing with Curry is his handles are really reliant on him selling he’s gonna pull up vs selling the drive or selling he’s going one way, so they look different from guys like Kyrie or harden where the first threat is to drive (and even harden people play for the step back).

If Curry was a guy whose first option was to drive he probably gets a looser handle and gets his shoulder lower on his sells

I don’t agree that he doesn’t translate well ball handling wise if you put him back to times with carrying rules, his handles are tighter so he’s not gonna be as limited outside of the Curry slide, but in any case ball handlers today are so much better than ball handlers when palming was super enforced for the most part that it’s not really a comparison

[KobesScarf]

Penny