These arguments run on in every corner of NBA fandom, and our experts have done their best to settle them by rating the finest players in the league’s 74-year history. Thousands of head-to-head contests were decided on by ESPN’s NBA expert panel, which took into account both total career value and peak performance. Being considered one of the best players of all time is an elite club, no offense to those who just missed out on the top five.
The finest player of all time. After guiding the Bulls to six NBA wins, including six Finals MVP awards and five regular-season MVP awards, Michael Jordan became a global icon on and off the court. Jordan’s ability to play basketball on both sides of the floor defined a generation of players and set a new standard for others who came after him. For him, gaming was more than simply a pastime. LeBron James’ game is built on force, standing 6-9 and weighing north of 250 pounds with a 40-inch vertical, but his passing abilities may be his best feature. The four-time MVP and three-time champion, now 35 years old and in his 17th season, changed how an athlete’s prime should be viewed; he had the Lakers in the thick of a title race.
For the rest of his life, his chase-down block in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals, which helped cap a 3-1 comeback against a Warriors team that had won 73 games, will be remembered. The biggest criticism of Tim Duncan’s playing was that he was repetitive. For nearly two decades, he was known as “The Big Fundamental,” dominating on both ends of the court with textbook fundamentals like his midrange bank shot and flawless position defense. Duncan was a natural winner, guiding the Spurs to five championships and 1,001 regular-season victories, the most by any player with a single team in NBA history.
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