Just when you thought the whole NBA 75 best players thing was done, the NBA all-star weekend brought it back.
The star-studded weekend saw approximately 50 of the living players fly into Cleveland to come together for some group photos, handshakes, hugging, smack-talk and smiles. When the NBA announced the list, they smartly decided to release the list without ranking the players.
With so many clicks and social media comments to be had, you know the media couldn’t leave the list unranked so The Athletic decided to take the NBA’s list, throw it away, and do their own rankings of the league’s best 75 players of all-time.
Here’s what they came up with:
| RANK | PLAYER |
|---|---|
| 1 | MICHAEL JORDAN |
| 2 | LEBRON JAMES |
| 3 | KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR |
| 4 | BILL RUSSELL |
| 5 | MAGIC JOHNSON |
| 6 | WILT CHAMBERLAIN |
| 7 | LARRY BIRD |
| 8 | SHAQUILLE O'NEAL |
| 9 | TIM DUNCAN |
| 10 | KOBE BRYANT |
| 11 | HAKEEM OLAJUWON |
| 12 | OSCAR ROBERTSON |
| 13 | KEVIN DURANT |
| 14 | JERRY WEST |
| 15 | STEPHEN CURRY |
| 16 | KARL MALONE |
| 17 | KEVIN GARNETT |
| 18 | MOSES MALONE |
| 19 | JULIUS ERVING |
| 20 | DAVID ROBINSON |
| 21 | DIRK NOWITZKI |
| 22 | CHARLES BARKLEY |
| 23 | ELGIN BAYLOR |
| 24 | GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO |
| 25 | JOHN STOCKTON |
| 26 | ISIAH THOMAS |
| 27 | RICK BARRY |
| 28 | DWYANE WADE |
| 29 | JOHN HAVLICEK |
| 30 | CHRIS PAUL |
| 31 | BOB PETTIT |
| 32 | SCOTTIE PIPPEN |
| 33 | JAMES HARDEN |
| 34 | KAWHI LEONARD |
| 35 | GEORGE MIKAN |
| 36 | JASON KIDD |
| 37 | PATRICK EWING |
| 38 | STEVE NASH |
| 39 | BOB COUSY |
| 40 | ALLEN IVERSON |
| 41 | ELVIN HAYES |
| 42 | GEORGE GERVIN |
| 43 | CLYDE DREXLER |
| 44 | WILLIS REED |
| 45 | WALT FRAZIER |
| 46 | RUSSELL WESTBROOK |
| 47 | REGGIE MILLER |
| 48 | GARY PAYTON |
| 49 | KEVIN MCHALE |
| 50 | PAUL PIERCE |
| 51 | DOMINIQUE WILKINS |
| 52 | RAY ALLEN |
| 53 | ANTHONY DAVIS |
| 54 | BOB MCADOO |
| 55 | TRACY MCGRADY |
| 56 | DWIGHT HOWARD |
| 57 | DAVE COWENS |
| 58 | EARL MONROE |
| 59 | JAMES WORTHY |
| 60 | WES UNSELD |
| 61 | DOLPH SCHAYES |
| 62 | DENNIS RODMAN |
| 63 | CARMELO ANTHONY |
| 64 | BILL WALTON |
| 65 | CHRIS WEBBER |
| 66 | BILLY CUNNINGHAM |
| 67 | TINY ARCHIBALD |
| 68 | DAMIAN LILLARD |
| 69 | ALONZO MOURNING |
| 70 | HAL GREER |
| 71 | ALEX ENGLISH |
| 72 | JERRY LUCAS |
| 73 | PETE MARAVICH |
| 74 | ROBERT PARISH |
| 75 | LENNY WILKENS |
The things about these lists that aren’t surprising and that have the best odds is that Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and LeBron James will definitely be in the top quarter of the list. The great things about these lists is that they include come of the more obvious omissions from the NBA’s official list; seeing players that were snubbed by the NBA’s list like Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady and Alonzo Mourning get their due.
Still, the list is not without its flaws. We still find it amazing to see these lists include players like Anthony Davis and Bill Walton. The former is a injury-prone player that wouldn’t likely even make the Hall of Fame if they were to retire today. And Bill Walton may have had a couple amazing seasons in Portland, but we would certainly have omitted him because of his lack of longevity. Did Walton have a better overall career than a player like Dikembe Mutomobo?
But that’s the point of these lists, aren’t they? The Athletic wasn’t happy with the NBA’s official NBA 75 list and they made their own. Interbasket isn’t happy with The Athletics list, so we write a story about how it’s lacking. If we were to make a list, there’s approximately a zero percent chance that everyone would agree with it.