Bleacher Report Top 100, 2025

[f4p]

Very recency biased based.

Jokic and Giannis just haven't done enough to be that high but are rising. Never understood Curry so high, his longevity isn't special yet and elevated by his team talent.

one thing that doesn't get held against curry that would be against almost anybody else on a worse team is injuries. and this board pretty consistently doesn't show much sympathy for injuries because what happened is what happened. but after last year, curry has 7 healthy playoff runs. he missed basically all of the 2nd round last year and in 2016 and 2018 he missed 6 full games and parts of other games in 2016. most other all-time players are done at that point and can't have a "i'll meet you guys in the conference finals" approach to injury recovery. even someone like duncan on a dynasty and on the defending champions in 2000 couldn't miss a round without his team being knocked out.

without looking it up, i'm guessing 7 healthy playoff runs would be way below most of the top 20, probably half as many as most other guys. 17 or 18 for lebron depending if you think he was done this year, 13 for jordan, 12 for russell, etc. and it might even be the lowest by a decent margin. even Big O has 10 and I'm not sure who else would be particularly close but maybe i'm forgetting someone. was cp3 top 20? he got hurt a lot but also played forever.

but since curry's team carried him through in 2016 and 2018, he got an extra title and finals appearance in seasons where your season is usually over.

[f4p]

I petition to see migya's top 30 or 40 while I go get some popcorn. Pretty please.

Regarding the B/R list, it's much better than the hoopshype one but unfortunate they both have some similar mistakes like having Zeke/Dominique/Baylor too high, Mikan not in top 30 somehow, Carmelo/Bosh way too high, underrating Ginobili/Draymond/Gilmore

Nique being high is always a bit weird to me. i mean not really, he played in the golden age and dunked a lot and had one of the better nicknames in the sport's history. but it's not like it's an isiah situation where he was on actual dominant teams that were almost a phantom foul away from 3-peating and isiah was seen as the leader of that team. Nique won 3 playoff series. he never got out of the second round. and he lives on that showdown with bird in the 1988 playoffs (admittedly a great game) because his playoff stats show one of the largest drops ever. he's not in my spreadsheet but i think it's worse than malone, who is kind of in a class by himself for people who are in the spreadsheet.

so he fell apart in the playoffs and he won about as little as you can in the playoffs. and it's not like he racked up regular season accolades or the hawks were particularly memorable in themselves. so he's definitely benefited from nostalgia goggles about as much as anyone.

[Cavsfansince84]

Nique being high is always a bit weird to me. i mean not really, he played in the golden age and dunked a lot and had one of the better nicknames in the sport's history. but it's not like it's an isiah situation where he was on actual dominant teams that were almost a phantom foul away from 3-peating and isiah was seen as the leader of that team. Nique won 3 playoff series. he never got out of the second round. and he lives on that showdown with bird in the 1988 playoffs (admittedly a great game) because his playoff stats show one of the largest drops ever. he's not in my spreadsheet but i think it's worse than malone, who is kind of in a class by himself for people who are in the spreadsheet.

so he fell apart in the playoffs and he won about as little as you can in the playoffs. and it's not like he racked up regular season accolades or the hawks were particularly memorable in themselves. so he's definitely benefited from nostalgia goggles about as much as anyone.

Definitely agree that Nique gets overrated a lot. Has no argument whatsoever imo for top 50 though I think he deserves mention in the 65-80 range.

[falcolombardi]

Nique being high is always a bit weird to me. i mean not really, he played in the golden age and dunked a lot and had one of the better nicknames in the sport's history. but it's not like it's an isiah situation where he was on actual dominant teams that were almost a phantom foul away from 3-peating and isiah was seen as the leader of that team. Nique won 3 playoff series. he never got out of the second round. and he lives on that showdown with bird in the 1988 playoffs (admittedly a great game) because his playoff stats show one of the largest drops ever. he's not in my spreadsheet but i think it's worse than malone, who is kind of in a class by himself for people who are in the spreadsheet.

so he fell apart in the playoffs and he won about as little as you can in the playoffs. and it's not like he racked up regular season accolades or the hawks were particularly memorable in themselves. so he's definitely benefited from nostalgia goggles about as much as anyone.

Definitely agree that Nique gets overrated a lot. Has no argument whatsoever imo for top 50 though I think he deserves mention in the 65-80 range.

Is interesting he gets more remembered than bernard king who had a shorter but arguably higher peak/accomplishment career

[Cavsfansince84]

Is interesting he gets more remembered than bernard king who had a shorter but arguably higher peak/accomplishment career

That makes sense to me though because King's career sort of came to a screeching halt and then Nique gets well remembered for the slam dunk contests and came into his prime just as the nba as a whole was getting a big push. I agree though that King in 84-85 was way better.

[migya]

Where would you put Stephen curry personally?

At the moment not in the top 20 but just outside. Curry is the best shooter ever but isn't great or better than other top 20 players at anything else. CP may have had a better career

Not top 20?? What is your criteria to evaluate a player? What is a the most important aspect of the game a player need to have to be rank higher than his Pier in your estimation.

The real evaluation is their career performance. Curry has played just over 1000 games, pretty good length, nothing major, not much for sixteen years. His prime is from 2013-2025 with one missed season in there, so twelve seasons, not more than average for a top 20 type player. His defense is average to slightly above average in all and his distributing is slightly above average for a PG, which he really isn't but more of a SG, and the other PGs that are top 20 type are all better playmakers than him. Scoring is his only strength and it isn't better than most top 20 type players. He has benefitted from his team environment, more than most that are around top 20-30.

In comparison; CP, Erving and Nowitzki; CP and DrJ are better defenders, Dirk perhaps same as Curry. Erving and Dirk as good a scorers in prime, maybe slightly better. CP better distributor and as good offensively overall. All had considerably more burden than Curry as had less talent around them. Have longer careers overall.

I haven't taken into account titles and accolades as that is really subjective and team oriented to a large extent.

[migya]

I petition to see migya's top 30 or 40 while I go get some popcorn. Pretty please.

Regarding the B/R list, it's much better than the hoopshype one but unfortunate they both have some similar mistakes like having Zeke/Dominique/Baylor too high, Mikan not in top 30 somehow, Carmelo/Bosh way too high, underrating Ginobili/Draymond/Gilmore

You should bake some cheesecake...........

[penbeast0]

I petition to see migya's top 30 or 40 while I go get some popcorn. Pretty please.

Regarding the B/R list, it's much better than the hoopshype one but unfortunate they both have some similar mistakes like having Zeke/Dominique/Baylor too high, Mikan not in top 30 somehow, Carmelo/Bosh way too high, underrating Ginobili/Draymond/Gilmore

Nique being high is always a bit weird to me. i mean not really, he played in the golden age and dunked a lot and had one of the better nicknames in the sport's history. but it's not like it's an isiah situation where he was on actual dominant teams that were almost a phantom foul away from 3-peating and isiah was seen as the leader of that team. Nique won 3 playoff series. he never got out of the second round. and he lives on that showdown with bird in the 1988 playoffs (admittedly a great game) because his playoff stats show one of the largest drops ever. he's not in my spreadsheet but i think it's worse than malone, who is kind of in a class by himself for people who are in the spreadsheet.

so he fell apart in the playoffs and he won about as little as you can in the playoffs. and it's not like he racked up regular season accolades or the hawks were particularly memorable in themselves. so he's definitely benefited from nostalgia goggles about as much as anyone.

Nique played a long time, was a really classy guy, and scored a lot of points plus he had arguably the coolest nickname in NBA history. That said, of his immediate peers, I'd take Bird, Dantley, English over him clearly and Mark Aquirre and Bernard king were better in their shorter primes. Worthy has some degree of an argument as well.

[An Unbiased Fan]

B/R makes up their criteria for each choice. Horrible list

[homecourtloss]

Nique being high is always a bit weird to me. i mean not really, he played in the golden age and dunked a lot and had one of the better nicknames in the sport's history. but it's not like it's an isiah situation where he was on actual dominant teams that were almost a phantom foul away from 3-peating and isiah was seen as the leader of that team. Nique won 3 playoff series. he never got out of the second round. and he lives on that showdown with bird in the 1988 playoffs (admittedly a great game) because his playoff stats show one of the largest drops ever. he's not in my spreadsheet but i think it's worse than malone, who is kind of in a class by himself for people who are in the spreadsheet.

so he fell apart in the playoffs and he won about as little as you can in the playoffs. and it's not like he racked up regular season accolades or the hawks were particularly memorable in themselves. so he's definitely benefited from nostalgia goggles about as much as anyone.

Definitely agree that Nique gets overrated a lot. Has no argument whatsoever imo for top 50 though I think he deserves mention in the 65-80 range.

He has a place in basketball lore due to era/nickname/dunking+dunk contest/series vs. Celtics, but if we're talking about impact on winning, he doesn’t belong in the top 100 other than maybe at the very tail end if being very generous.

[Hair Jordan]

Your thoughts? https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25223594-brs-top-100-nba-players-all-time-ranked

1. Michael Jordan
2. LeBron James
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4. Magic Johnson
5. Bill Russell
6. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Tim Duncan
8. Larry Bird
9. Wilt Chamberlain
10. Stephen Curry
11. Kobe Bryant
12. Hakeem Olajuwon
13. Kevin Durant
14. Oscar Robertson
15. Jerry West
16. Kevin Garnett
17. Nikola Jokić
18. Dirk Nowitzki
19. David Robinson
20. Julius Erving
21. Moses Malone
22. Karl Malone
23. Dwyane Wade
24. Giannis Antetokounmpo
25. Charles Barkley
26. Elgin Baylor
27. Isiah Thomas
28. Scottie Pippen
29. John Stockton
30. Chris Paul
31. John Havlicek
32. Kawhi Leonard
33. Jason Kidd
34. James Harden
35. Steve Nash
36. Allen Iverson
37. Bob Cousy
38. Bob Pettit
39. Clyde Drexler
40. Patrick Ewing
41. Rick Barry
42. George Gervin
43. Walt Frazier
44. George Mikan
45. Anthony Davis
46. Kevin McHale
47. Elvin Hayes
48. Russell Westbrook
49. Paul Pierce
50. Dominique Wilkins
51. Ray Allen
52. Dwight Howard
53. Gary Payton
54. Reggie Miller
55. Bill Walton
56. Dolph Schayes
57. Luka Dončić
58. Willis Reed
59. Tracy McGrady
60. Carmelo Anthony
61. Bob McAdoo
62. Pau Gasol
63. James Worthy
64. Damian Lillard
65. Vince Carter
66. Joel Embiid
67. Dennis Rodman
68. Robert Parish
69. Kyrie Irving
70. Wes Unseld
71. Chris Bosh
72. Paul Arizin
73. Hal Greer
74. Dave Cowens
75. Manu Ginóbili
76. Alex English
77. Pete Maravich
78. Paul George
79. Grant Hill
80. Nate “Tiny” Archibald
81. Dikembe Mutombo
82. Bob Lanier
83. Jimmy Butler
84. Adrian Dantley
85. Sam Jones
86. Tony Parker
87. Alonzo Mourning
88. Draymond Green
89. Earl Monroe
90. Chris Webber
91. Chauncey Billups
92. Lenny Wilkens
93. Jayson Tatum
94. Bill Sharman
95. Dave DeBusschere
96. Joe Dumars
97. Bernard King
98. Klay Thompson
99. Dave Bing
100. Artis Gilmore

Kevin Durant almost in the top 10 (#11) is a joke. Without Golden State, he’s nothing more than a rich man’s George Gervin (#42). KG (#16) ahead of Jokic (#17) is ridiculous. Jokic won a title as the main man without leaving his team to do it whereas KG had to join forces with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to win not to mention Jokic’s raw and advanced stats crush KG. Also, KG is not better than Dirk, David Robinson, Erving, Moses, Karl or Barkley. Anthony Davis isn’t even top 75 let alone (#45). Chris Bosh (#71) isn’t top 100. Draymond Green, Chauncey Billips, Jason Tatum, Dave DeBusschere and Dave Bing are not top 100.

[Hair Jordan]

Lebron is overrated as usual. He belongs somewhere near Wilt Chamberlain on the list. Wilt won 2 titles and lost 4. Lebron won 4 titles and lost 6. Wilt won 3 consecutive MVP’s. Lebron won 4 in 5 years. Lebron led the league in scoring once and assists once. Wilt led the league in scoring 7X, rebounding 11X, FG% 7X and assists 1X. If they recorded blocked shots in his time, he would’ve led the league 10X. Wilt should be ranked above Lebron. The only reason he’s ranked lower is due to recency bias.

[One_and_Done]

Lebron is overrated as usual. He belongs somewhere near Wilt Chamberlain on the list. Wilt won 2 titles and lost 4. Lebron won 4 titles and lost 6. Wilt won 3 consecutive MVP’s. Lebron won 4 in 5 years. Lebron led the league in scoring once and assists once. Wilt led the league in scoring 7X, rebounding 11X, FG% 7X and assists 1X. If they recorded blocked shots in his time, he would’ve led the league 10X. Wilt should be ranked above Lebron. The only reason he’s ranked lower is due to recency bias.

Titles are a team accomplishment. Lebron is the best player of all-time by far, so the list actually underrated him.

[penbeast0]

...KG is not better than Dirk, ..., Erving, Moses, Karl or Barkley.

If you completely ignore defense, that's probably true.

[tone wone]

Chris Paul is going to be completely forgotten and I hate it.

[One_and_Done]

Chris Paul is going to be completely forgotten and I hate it.

He's probably a top 20 all-time guy, so it'll be unfortunate if he is.

[Hair Jordan]

Lebron is overrated as usual. He belongs somewhere near Wilt Chamberlain on the list. Wilt won 2 titles and lost 4. Lebron won 4 titles and lost 6. Wilt won 3 consecutive MVP’s. Lebron won 4 in 5 years. Lebron led the league in scoring once and assists once. Wilt led the league in scoring 7X, rebounding 11X, FG% 7X and assists 1X. If they recorded blocked shots in his time, he would’ve led the league 10X. Wilt should be ranked above Lebron. The only reason he’s ranked lower is due to recency bias.

Titles are a team accomplishment. Lebron is the best player of all-time by far, so the list actually underrated him.

Bronsexuals are the worst fan base in sports. They just parrot the talking points LeBron puts out on his self serving podcasts. Dude left Cleveland to ring chase for the last 15 years and once he realized he wouldn’t catch Jordan in rings - he tries to change the narrative and his dumb ass base falls for it

[Hair Jordan]

...KG is not better than Dirk, ..., Erving, Moses, Karl or Barkley.

If you completely ignore defense, that's probably true.

Dirk’s run in 2011 alone puts him over KG. Erving led his 76ers to the Finals in his FIRST season in the NBA and then did it again in his 4th, 6th and 7th seasons. He won MVP’s and titles in both the ABA and NBA. On the defensive end, he averaged more steals and blocks than KG did. Moses was a 3X MVP who led his Rockets to the Finals in ‘81 despite having a losing record. He was a better scorer and rebounder than KG and kicked Kareem’s ass in the ‘83 Finals - something KG couldn’t dream of doing. Karl Malone was closer to KG defensively than KG was to Karl offensively. Barkley was a better scorer than KG by like five atmospheric levels. He was a better rebounder too. KG’s career high in rebounding was 13.9 RPG. Barkley averaged 13.5 RPG in his first season in Houston when he was an old and fat Garnett won just 2 out of 12 playoff series in his Minnesota prime. In fact, he was eliminated in the 1st round for SEVEN CONSECUTIVE SEASONS! That’s absolutely pathetic. He wasn’t the floor raiser any of those guys was and is easily the most overrated player in history on RealGM. Give me a break

[penbeast0]

Bronsexuals are the worst fan base in sports. They just parrot the talking points LeBron puts out on his self serving podcasts. Dude left Cleveland to ring chase for the last 15 years and once he realized he wouldn’t catch Jordan in rings - he tries to change the narrative and his dumb ass base falls for it

This sort of stupidity and nastiness has no place on our board.

[One_and_Done]

Lebron is overrated as usual. He belongs somewhere near Wilt Chamberlain on the list. Wilt won 2 titles and lost 4. Lebron won 4 titles and lost 6. Wilt won 3 consecutive MVP’s. Lebron won 4 in 5 years. Lebron led the league in scoring once and assists once. Wilt led the league in scoring 7X, rebounding 11X, FG% 7X and assists 1X. If they recorded blocked shots in his time, he would’ve led the league 10X. Wilt should be ranked above Lebron. The only reason he’s ranked lower is due to recency bias.

Titles are a team accomplishment. Lebron is the best player of all-time by far, so the list actually underrated him.

Bronsexuals are the worst fan base in sports. They just parrot the talking points LeBron puts out on his self serving podcasts. Dude left Cleveland to ring chase for the last 15 years and once he realized he wouldn’t catch Jordan in rings - he tries to change the narrative and his dumb ass base falls for it

I'm not even a particular fan of Lebron, but you have to give credit where it is due.