Our editors here at the Hardwood Houdini recently asked us if we would be so kind as to compile a list of the 25 greatest players to have ever graced the NBA with the power and beauty of their play.  “Yes,” we said, and then with a suggestively-arched eyebrow and a dusky cloaking to our tone: “we’ll see what we can do.”

As our colleague Andrew Silva says in the introduction to his list, “Sports always seems to have a compulsion to order things, declare a clear cut number one. It’s not good enough to just let it be, because we must quantify greatness.”

“Compulsion” is a good word.  As we learned from High Fidelity, the act of sorting and ranking ephemera into top-whatever lists is a decidedly male trait, an act motivated by a quietly desperate need to maintain some illusion of control over the chaos of modern life, and to assert dominion over competing males through possession of the best opinions and the deepest pools of knowledge.  It’s cost-free, safer than picking bar fights, and allows for less risk of rejection and humiliation than the deployment of Scotch-propped, cologne-stank pickup lines.

Sports, being as masculine a field as there is this side of iron-smithing, provide an excellent outlet for this compulsion.  As such, the sports media landscape is littered with these sorts of lists.  There are whole TV series devoted to the pastime; entire books written in service to it.  Bleacher Report seems to exist purely for the sake of listing, relisting, and listing again Top 10s, 25s, and 50s along as many lines of segmentation as can be conceived: Best Ever, Best Now, Most Winningest, Best Youngest, Richest, Dirtiest, Ugliest, and on into forever.

A Google search for “25 greatest nba players” returns 17,300 results.  A search for “50 greatest nba players” sends back 101,000.  How might we contribute amidst the din?

After some deliberation, we decided that we were less interested in our own opinion on the 25 greatest than in finding some way toward an objective approach.  After all, we’ve never actually watched 10 of the 25 who we ultimately included, you know, play basketball, apart from in bursts of a few seconds in grainy highlight film.  Without the time or resources to build our knowledge base up through the hard graft of film and print immersion, any opinion-based ranking that we could come up with would be inherently dishonest and a little hacky.

So we decided to let the numbers tell our tale.  Though this was the ideal approach given our circumstances, it would not be without complications.  While they don’t actually lie, the numbers have been known to mislead.  Wilt’s famous single-season average of 50 points per game, Oscar’s triple-double season average, Russell’s career average of 22 rebounds per: these numbers are simply not attainable in today’s NBA.  They likely wouldn’t have been attainable even 10 years after they had been established.

Furthermore, the NBA’s stat tracking was something of a work in progress through the first 30 years or so of its existence.  Rebounds weren’t counted at all until 1951; minutes played weren’t tallied until 1952.  More than 20 years later, the league decided to start separating the rebounds into offensive and defensive, and also keep track of steals and blocks while they were at it.  Turnovers followed in 1978, and then, two years later, the three-point line was instituted, which fundamentally altered the way the game was played.

Beyond the incomplete nature of the league’s historical records is the problem of value.  What do the traditional per-game averages that have been tracked from the dawn through today actually mean?  How might one stack Scottie Pippen’s 16.1 PPG/6.4 RPG/5.2 APG career against John Stockton’s 13.1 PPG/2.7 RPG/10.5 APG and say which is better than the other?  Are rebounds more important than assists?  If so, by how much?  What does a difference of 3 points per game really amount to in the grand scheme of things, especially when looked at absent the context of what these players’ teammates were doing around them?

Complications aside, we were convinced an answer could be found here.  So, we picked up our graphing calculator, slipped into our pristine, white lab coat, and set off in search of…a formula.

It’s important to note that we are not mathematicians.  Our only qualifications for attempting this sort of thing are a good, working knowledge of the Basketball-Reference Play Index and Microsoft Excel, and an ability to count, add, subtract, multiply, and divide at a high school level.  Finding our formula involved a fair amount of semi-blind flailing and stumbling about in a trial-and-error quest for the right combination of numbers.  We’d call it mad science, but even Victor Frankenstein knew a thing or two about anatomy.

We did have an end in mind, though, and that’s usually enough to get one started.  Our goal was to develop a scoring system that would combine the things that most people judge a player’s career by (production, titles, and accolades) into one number which, when ranked high to low, would sort the players in a way that, at the very least, made sense.  Also, it couldn’t tell us that Wilt was the greatest player of all time, which is difficult to make happen when using per game numbers for a guy who averaged 30.1 points and 22.9 rebounds as a base.

At the end of several days of tinkering (our first attempts routinely had Steve Nash at #25; there was a lot of work that needed to be done), we came up with something that, apart from one or two entries, actually does a fairly good job of making sense.  Before we get to the list, here’s a little peek behind the curtain at our process:

The Formula

We started by setting a baseline for player inclusion based on production, role, and time served.  Using Basketball-Reference’s handy Play Index, we generated a list of players who had recorded a career PER of 17.5 or above, while averaging a minimum of 25.0 minutes per game over the course of 410 (five full seasons) or more games played.  Our starter list was 162 players long, with Kareem on the top and Micheal “’A’ Before ‘E’ Except When It’s Me” Williams on the bottom.  We were on our way.

Next, we set about calculating what we call the Simmons Number (SIM).  This is an idea that we ripped straight from a column written by Bill Simmons during the 2006 playoffs, in which he sought a way to quantify postseason performance in a way that would be as uncomplicated as it would be meaningful.  Per the author (relevant text bolded):

We get carried away with basketball statistics nowadays, as evidenced by the new book that rated Allen Iverson as the 90th best player in the league during his MVP season.  Why make it so complicated?  Just add up the point, rebound and assist averages for franchise guys during the playoffs: If the number tops 42, you’re probably talking about a pantheon guy.  You could even call it the 42 Club, just as exclusive as the Five-Timer Club on SNL, only without the NBA equivalent of Elliott Gould.

This seemed as good a place as any to set about finding the single-number solution to our problem.  For each player on our list, we added together their career regular season per-game averages in points, rebounds, and assists, then did the same for their playoff equivalents.

It might be helpful to use actual player statistics to illustrate what we’re doing.  We’ll take Glenn “The Big Dog” Robinson, a house favorite at Kuts HQ.  He put up career regular season per-game averages of 20.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists.  In the playoffs, those numbers were 13.8, 4.7, and 2.0.  Simple arithmetic gives us SIMs of 29.5 (regular season) and 20.5 (playoffs).

In the grand scheme of things, big individual numbers don’t amount to much unless they translate to team wins, so our next step was to find a way to spike the SIM based on how much winning the player had done in his career and, more to the point, how much of a role he had played in said winning.

To do this, we took a look at each player’s Win Shares total.  Win Shares attempt to quantify how much of an impact a player had on his team’s success by crediting him with X number of the team’s wins (you can read a detailed description of how Win Shares are calculated here).

Using Win Shares is preferable to simple win-loss record because it acknowledges that, say, Magic Johnson (37.1 SIM, 36.1 MPG, 77 games played, 12.7 WS) might have had a bit more to do with the 1984-’85 Lakers’ 62 regular season wins than Bob McAdoo (16 SIM, 19.0 MPG, 66 games played, 2.9 WS).

To spike the SIM, we calculated the average Win Shares for our 162 players (96.0 for the regular season, 9.0 for the playoffs) then calculated the percent over or under the average that each player’s total represented.  The Big Dog produced 39.8 WS during the regular season, 58.55% below our average.  For the playoffs, those numbers were 1.3 WS and -85.56%.

We applied these percentages to each of our players’ raw SIMs, using them as a factor by which to calculate percent increases or decreases.  Harebrained?  Probably.  Effective?  You’ll just have to wait and see.  For Glenn, 29.5 RS SIM + (29.5 RS SIM * -.5855) gives us a weighted regular season SIM of 12.227.  20.5 PO SIM + (20.5 PO SIM * -.8556) gives us a weighted playoff SIM of 2.960.

The next step was simple: add the two SIMs together.  However, there was still some more spiking to do before we arrived at our final score.  We wanted also to give extra credit to players whose numbers improved during the playoffs, and ding those whose numbers fell off.  This was done by simply calculating the percent difference between the two SIMs.  Big Dog’s postseason SIM was 18 percent lower than his regular season SIM.  Thus, we took the sum of his regular season and playoffs SIMs (15.187) and dropped it by 18 percent (12.453).

With the players’ on-court stats and impact on team success taken care of, we next needed to account for the last two pieces of our puzzle: titles and accolades.  This we did fairly simply through more number-spiking.  We gathered the MVP shares (you can read a brief description here) that each player had accrued over the course of his career.  To us, MVP shares are preferable to actual MVP awards because they credit players for receiving votes for second-place, third-place, and so on.  We then added up all of the MVP shares that had ever been awarded (120.941), then calculated the percentage of those that each player owned, using the resultant number to spike the SIM sum once more.  Big Dog is the proud owner of 0.001 MVP shares, which account for slightly more than 0.00% of the total MVP shares awarded, and amount to next to no impact on his SIM sum.

We used a similar method to credit the players for the championships they had won.  We crudely estimated that 780 championship rings had been given out over the course of NBA history (65 championship teams, 12 players per team).  We tallied up how many titles each player on our list had won, then calculated the percentage of the total rings that they owned.  As Big Dog was on the ’05 Spurs’ title team, he owns a 0.13% championship share.  We used this number to give his SIM sum one last spike, punching it up to 12.469.

By our measurement (known from here on out as the K. Score), Glenn Robinson ranks as the 156^th greatest player in NBA history, sandwiched between Billy Knight (12.638) and Paul Millsap (12.250).

While our system is not without it’s flaws (see players #14 and #8), we’re actually quite pleased with the results.  At least Wilt didn’t come in at #1.

The List

The following lists our 25 Greatest Players in NBA History by K. Score (to view our colleagues’ lists, click here, here, here, and here.  For a look at the top 25 of today, click here).  Each listing shows the player’s K. Score, points, steals, and assists per game, Simmons Number, Win Shares, MVP Shares, and titles won.  For comparison’s sake, it also shows where they ranked in the 2009 first edition of Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketball, and SLAM magazine’s 2011 Top 500 list.  We also threw in a couple of fun facts to break up the monotony.  Enjoy!

#25. Bob Pettit – Forward/Center, St. Louis Hawks, 1955-’65.
K. Score: 119.68
Regular Season: 26.4 PPG, 16.4 RPG, 3.0 APG (45.6 SIM), 136.0 WS
Playoffs: 25.5 PPG, 14.8 RPG, 2.7 APG (43.0 SIM), 11.7 WS
MVP Shares: 2.682 (2 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank: 17^th
Slam Rank: 14^th

Nickname: “Dutch”
Fun Fact: First player to surpass the 20,000 point mark; shares a birthday with Frank Sinatra, Shelly from Twin Peaks, and Edvard Munch; pioneered an early version of the faux-hawk.

 #24. John Havlicek – Forward/Guard, Boston Celtics, 1963-’78.
K. Score: 120.62
Regular Season: 20.8 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.8 APG (31.9 SIM), 131.7 WS
Playoffs: 22.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.8 APG (33.7 SIM), 19.3 WS
MVP Shares: 0.217 (0 Awarded)
Championships: 8

Simmons Rank: 13^th
Slam Rank: 17^th

Nickname: “Hondo”
Fun Fact: Drafted as a wide receiver by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 1962 NFL Draft.

#23. David Robinson – Center, San Antonio Spurs, 1990-2003.
K. Score: 121.18
Regular Season: 21.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.5 APG (34.2 SIM), 178.7 WS
Playoffs: 18.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.3 APG (31.0 SIM), 17.5 WS
MVP Shares: 3.123 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 2

Simmons Rank: 28^th
Slam Rank: 25^th

Nickname: “The Admiral”
Fun Fact: In 1993-’94, became the fourth player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double (2/17/94 vs. Detroit; 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 blocks) and the fourth player in NBA history to score 70 points or more (4/24/93 at the Clippers, 71 points on the last day of the season).

#22. Scottie Pippen – Forward, Chicago Bulls/Houston Rockets/Portland Trail Blazers, 1988-2004.
K. Score: 121.40
Regular Season: 16.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 5.2 APG (27.7 SIM), 125.1 WS
Playoffs: 17.5 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 5.0 APG (30.1 SIM), 23.6 WS
MVP Shares: 0.716 (0 Awarded)
Championships: 6

Simmons Rank: 24^th
Slam Rank: 27^th

Nickname: “Pip”
Signature Highlight: The Ewing Dunk

#21. John Stockton – Guard, Utah Jazz, 1985-2003.
K. Score: 121.89
Regular Season: 13.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 10.5 APG (26.3 SIM), 207.7 WS
Playoffs: 13.4 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 10.1 APG (26.8 SIM), 21.4 WS
MVP Shares: 0.161 (0 Awarded)
Championships: 0

Simmons Rank: 25^th
Slam Rank: 22^nd

Middle name: Houston
Celebrity Lookalike: David Duchovny

#20. George Mikan – Center, Minneapolis Lakers, 1949-‘56.
K. Score: 122.20
Regular Season: 23.1 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 2.8 APG (39.3 SIM), 108.7 WS
Playoffs: 24.0 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 2.2 APG (40.1 SIM), 17.0 WS
MVP Shares: N/A
Championships: 5

Simmons Rank: 36^th
Slam Rank: 29^th

Nickname: “Mr. Basketball”
Celebrity Lookalike: Harold Lloyd

#19. Elgin Baylor – Forward, Los Angeles Lakers, 1959-‘72.
K. Score: 124.01
Regular Season: 27.4 PPG, 13.5 RPG, 4.3 APG (45.2 SIM), 104.2 WS
Playoffs: 27.0 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 4.0 APG (43.9 SIM), 15.4 WS
MVP Shares: 1.659 (0 Awarded)
Championships: 0

Simmons Rank: 14^th
Slam Rank: 12^th

Nickname: “Mr. Inside”
Fun Fact: Holds the record for most points in an NBA Finals game with 61 (Game 5, 1962); also holds the record for career rebounds per game (13.5) for players standing 6’6” or shorter.

#18. Kevin Garnett – Forward, Minnesota Timberwolves/Boston Celtics, 1996-present.
K. Score: 124.24
Regular Season: 19.3 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 4.0 APG (33.9 SIM), 181.6 WS
Playoffs: 19.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 3.5 APG (34.0 SIM), 15.1 WS
MVP Shares: 2.752 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank: 22^nd
Slam Rank: 30^th

Nickname: “The Big Ticket”
Top 5 Playoff Games: Read about ‘em here.

#17. Moses Malone – Center/Forward, Utah Stars/Spirits of St. Louis/Buffalo Braves/Houston Rockets/Philadelphia 76ers/Washington Bullets/Atlanta Hawks/Milwaukee Bucks/San Antonio Spurs, 1975-‘95.
K. Score: 125.33
Regular Season: 20.3 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 1.3 APG (34.2 SIM), 167.1 WS
Playoffs: 22.1 PPG, 14.0 RPG, 1.5 APG (37.6 SIM), 13.7 WS
MVP Shares: 2.873 (3 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank: 12^th
Slam Rank: 15^th

Middle name: Eugene
Fun Fact: Holds record for most consecutive games without fouling out (1,212).

#16. Oscar Robertson – Guard/Forward, Cincinnati Royals/Milwaukee Bucks, 1961-‘74.
K. Score: 135.53
Regular Season: 25.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.5 APG (42.7 SIM), 189.2 WS
Playoffs: 22.2 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 8.9 APG (37.8 SIM), 13.6 WS
MVP Shares: 2.479 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank: 9^th
Slam Rank: 5^th

Nickname: “The Big O, Donut”
Fun Fact: If he wanted to open a coffee shop in Texas, he could call it Bronco Roasters, which is an anagram derived from his name.

#15. Charles Barkley –Forward, Philadelphia 76ers/Phoenix Suns/Houston Rockets, 1985-2000.
K. Score: 163.22
Regular Season: 22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG (37.7 SIM), 177.2 WS
Playoffs: 23.0 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 3.9 APG (39.8 SIM), 19.5 WS
MVP Shares: 2.438 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 0

Simmons Rank: 19^th
Slam Rank: 20^th

Nickname: “The Round Mound of Rebound”
Favorite Food: Pizza

#14. Dirk Nowitzki –Forward, Dallas Mavericks, 1999-present.
K. Score: 169.91
Regular Season: 22.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 2.6 APG (33.8 SIM), 168.9 WS
Playoffs: 25.9 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 2.6 APG (38.8 SIM), 22.5 WS
MVP Shares: 1.804 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank: 37^th
Slam Rank: 55^th

Commentary: You know what?  Deal with it.

#13. Hakeem Olajuwon –Center, Houston Rockets/Toronto Raptors, 1985-2002.
K. Score: 175.77
Regular Season: 21.8 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 2.5 APG (35.4 SIM), 162.8 WS
Playoffs: 25.9 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.2 APG (40.3 SIM), 22.6 WS
MVP Shares: 2.611 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 2

Simmons Rank: 10^th
Slam Rank: 13^th

Nickname: “The Dream”
Signature Game: Eviscerates David Robinson in Game 2 of the 1995 Western Conference Finals (41 points, 16 rebounds), a 106-96 victory in a series that Houston would eventually win 4-2.  Runner up: his quadruple-double (18 points, 16 rebounds, 11 blocks, 10 assists) against the Milwaukee Bucks on March 29, 1990.

#12. Kobe Bryant – Guard, Los Angeles Lakers, 1997-present.
K. Score: 178.02
Regular Season: 25.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.7 APG (35.4 SIM), 162.4 WS
Playoffs: 25.6 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 4.7 APG (35.4 SIM), 28.3 WS
MVP Shares: 4.054 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 5

Simmons Rank: 15^th
Slam Rank: 10^th

Middle name: Bean
Opponent’s Take: “He just pisses me off on the court.  You stress him out and he might speak some Spanish to you and you’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’  I know you’re from Italy or somewhere, but his charisma and just the way he’s so poised, it just gets under my skin.” –Glen “Big Baby” Davis

#11. Larry Bird – Forward, Boston Celtics, 1980-1992.
K. Score: 182.35
Regular Season: 24.3 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 6.3 APG (40.6 SIM), 145.8 WS
Playoffs: 23.8 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 6.5 APG (40.6 SIM), 24.8 WS
MVP Shares: 5.693 (3 Awarded)
Championships: 3

Simmons Rank:5^th
Slam Rank: 9^th

Nickname: “The Legend”
Coolest merch: The 1996 Hallmark Larry Bird Keepsake Ornament

#10. LeBron James – Forward, Cleveland Cavaliers/Miami Heat, 2004-present.
K. Score: 187.72
Regular Season: 27.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 6.9 APG (41.7 SIM), 133.3 WS
Playoffs: 28.5 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 6.7 APG (43.9 SIM), 24.3 WS
MVP Shares: 4.389 (3 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank: 20^th
Slam Rank: 31^st

Nickname: “King James”
Effect on Post-Foul Exasperation Rating Scale (P-FERS): Catastrophic.

#9. Jerry West – Guard, Los Angeles Lakers, 1961-1974.
K. Score: 195.56
Regular Season: 27.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 6.7 APG (39.5 SIM), 162.6 WS
Playoffs: 29.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 6.3 APG (41.0 SIM), 26.7 WS
MVP Shares: 2.090 (0 Awarded)
Championships: 1

Simmons Rank:8^th
Slam Rank: 11^th

Nickname: “Mr. Clutch”
Fun fact: Played under the most German-sounding succession of coaches in NBA history: Fred Schaus and Butch Van Breda Kolff.

#8. Karl Malone – Forward, Utah Jazz/Los Angeles Lakers, 1986-2004.
K. Score: 199.77
Regular Season: 25.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 3.6 APG (38.7 SIM), 234.6 WS
Playoffs: 24.7 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3.2 APG (38.6 SIM), 23.0 WS
MVP Shares: 4.296 (2 Awarded)
Championships: 0

Simmons Rank:18^th
Slam Rank: 18^th

Nickname: “The Mailman”
Relevant Seinfeld quote: “You know he’s a postman, don’t you?” -Jerry Seinfeld

#7. Tim Duncan – Forward/Center, San Antonio Spurs, 1998-present.
K. Score: 208.28
Regular Season: 20.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 3.1 APG (34.7 SIM), 175.9 WS
Playoffs: 22.3 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 3.4 APG (37.8 SIM), 30.6 WS
MVP Shares: 4.207 (2 Awarded)
Championships: 4

Simmons Rank:7^th
Slam Rank: 8^th

Nickname: “Merlin”
Best commercial: This one.

#6. Shaquille O’Neal – Center, Orlando Magic/Los Angeles Lakers/Miami Heat/Phoenix Suns/Cleveland Cavaliers/Boston Celtics, 1993-2011.
K. Score: 216.20
Regular Season: 23.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 2.5 APG (37.1 SIM), 181.7 WS
Playoffs: 24.3 PPG, 11.6 RPG, 2.7 APG (38.6 SIM), 31.1 WS
MVP Shares: 4.380 (1 Awarded)
Championships: 4

Simmons Rank: 11^th
Slam Rank: 4^th

Best movie: Blue Chips
Best song: “No Hook”

#5. Magic Johnson – Guard/Forward, Los Angeles Lakers, 1980-’91, 1996.
K. Score: 219.06
Regular Season: 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG (37.9 SIM), 155.8 WS
Playoffs: 19.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 12.3 APG (39.5 SIM), 32.6 WS
MVP Shares: 5.129 (3 Awarded)
Championships: 5

Simmons Rank:4^th
Slam Rank: 6^th

Nickname: Uh, “Magic”
Fun fact: Hails from Lansing, Michigan, home of John Smoltz, Al Capone, and Burt Reynolds.

#4. Bill Russell – Center, Boston Celtics, 1957-’69.
K. Score: 234.36
Regular Season: 15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG, 4.3 APG (41.9 SIM), 163.5 WS
Playoffs: 16.2 PPG, 24.9 RPG, 4.7 APG (45.8 SIM), 27.8 WS
MVP Shares: 4.827 (5 Awarded)
Championships: 11

Simmons Rank:2^nd
Slam Rank: 3^rd

Middle name: Felton
Gives you the chills when: The past and present come together.

#3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Center, Milwaukee Bucks/Los Angeles Lakers, 1970-’89.
K. Score: 273.00
Regular Season: 24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG (39.4 SIM), 273.4 WS
Playoffs: 24.3 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.2 APG (38.0 SIM), 35.6 WS
MVP Shares: 6.203 (6 Awarded)
Championships: 6

Simmons Rank:3^rd
Slam Rank: 7^th

On-court Fashions: Incredible.
Off-court Fashions: Even better.

#2. Wilt Chamberlain – Center, Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors/Philadelphia 76ers/Los Angeles Lakers, 1960-’73.
K. Score: 320.08
Regular Season: 30.1 PPG, 22.9 RPG, 4.4 APG (57.4 SIM), 247.3 WS
Playoffs: 22.5 PPG, 24.5 RPG, 4.2 APG (51.2 SIM), 31.5 WS
MVP Shares: 4.269 (4 Awarded)
Championships: 2

Simmons Rank:6^th
Slam Rank: 2^nd

Middle name: Norman
“Big Three Club” motto: We fun. 

#1. Michael Jordan – Guard, Chicago Bulls/Washington Wizards, 1985-’93, 1995-’98, 2002-‘03.
K. Score: 330.20
Regular Season: 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG (41.6 SIM), 214.0 WS
Playoffs: 33.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 5.7 APG (45.5 SIM), 39.8 WS
MVP Shares: 8.138 (5 Awarded)
Championships: 6

Simmons Rank:1^st
Slam Rank: 1^st

The Near-Ultimate: The Up-and-Under Game.
The Ultimate: Even still.

Dec 1, 2011; Seattle, WA, USA; NBA former player Bill Russell watches the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

During the offseason, we thought we’d stir up some controversy with lists of our Top 25 NBA players of All-Time. So here is my installment.

#25 – Ray Allen

Kicking off my top 25, Ray Allen comes in as one of the purest shooters the NBA has ever seen. Allen is the All-Time leader in 3 point field goals made, which he currently has 2,718. In the 2010 NBA Finals, Ray set a record hitting 8 3 point shots in a game.

Allen finds himself at 25 mainly because of his great shooting. The only knock on Ray, is that unlike Reggie Miller, he is unable to create his own shots and has to rely on the point guard to set him up. Still, Ray is the greatest shooter of All-Time.

#24 – John Stockton

The point guard for the Utah Jazz, who met the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals twice in the 90′s comes in at 24. Stockton is the All-Time leader in assists with 15,806, but when you play with Karl Malone your whole career, your assists stats may be that high too.

Stockton was also a very accurate shooter with 51% from the field. Stockton was unable to win a championship thanks to the Chicago Bulls, but he still is one of the greatest point guards to ever play in the NBA.

#23 – Isaiah Thomas

Isaiah Thomas, an underrated point guard who played in the 80′s to early 90′s comes in at 23. Thomas is probably the most overlooked point guard, he was extremely talented player who averaged a double-double for 4 straight seasons.

Thomas won 2 championships with the Detroit Pistons. He leads the Pistons in scoring, assist, games played, and steals. He ranks 5th all-time in assists.

#22 – Reggie Miller

One of the best scorers in the 90′s and in the league, gets placed at number 22. Reggie Miller, the greatest 3 point shooter, now second to Ray Allen, was probably one of the best clutch performers in the NBA. If you needed a 3 point shot, he’d most likely make it. When you needed a bunch of points in a hurry, he was able to supply them.

Reggie Miller was never able to get a ring like so many others. He played when Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dominated the league, and later in his career, he made it to the Finals with the Pacers, but fell short.

#21 – Karl Malone

Undoubtably one of the top 5 players to play in the 90′s finds himself at number 21. Karl Malone, like many great players in the NBA, never won a championship, but his stats were impressive enough to make him one of the leagues best.

Malone averaged a double-double for 10 seasons in his career. He scored 36,928 points and grabbed 14,968 rebounds. He dominated his position in the time he played, and posted some great numbers.

#20 – Kevin McHale

Kevin McHale, one of the original Big 3 for the Boston Celtics, rounds out the top 20. McHale who is somewhat an underrated big man, was one of the best inside threats in the 1980′s. He had exceptional post moves in the paint, could knock down jump shots, and rebounded efficiently. He almost averaged a double-double 6 times throughout his career, and he averaged over 20 points for 5 seasons.

Being a teammate of Bird, McHale kind of gets lost behind his shadow, but without him, there is no way the Celtics win 3 championships in the 80′s.

#19 – George “Iceman” Gervin

Probably one of the most underrated players in NBA history, George Gervin, comes in at 19. Due to playing in the ABA and for the San Antonio Spurs in the 70′s to mid 80′s, his talents were never seen like they could have been today. Gervin was the Durant of his day, his length helped him dominate the small forward position.

In his career, he scored 26,595 points and grabbed 5,602 rebounds. Gervin was never able to win a ring, but being one of the toughest opponents and greatest scorers in the game, he has found himself at number 19 on my list.

#18 – Dominique Wilkins

One of the best scoring threats in the 1980′s checks in at number 18. Wilkins was a guy who could put points up quickly. I almost liken him to a Carmelo Anthony or Kevin Durant of his day. In 1988, Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins dueled off, showcasing one of the greatest back and forth 1 on 1 performances in NBA history. Wilkins finished with 47 points in a Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics.

Unfortunately, Wilkins was never able to win a championship, and stands as one of the greatest scorers to not win one.

#17 – LeBron James

The best player in the league as of 2012 finds himself at number 17. Being compared to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, LeBron doesn’t really get the credit he deserves. He is an amazing athlete, one who can play any position from point guard to power forward. In 9 seasons he’s already scored over 19,000 points, grabbed nearly 5,000 rebounds, and has dished out close to 5,000 assists.

For me, I have him at 17 because he could never lead his team by himself. He left the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat where he had to join a team who already had a leader with a ring. He’s an amazing player, but all the greats and legends in the NBA, never left their respective teams to join up and create a super team.

#16 – Tim Duncan

Tim Duncan, one of the greatest power forwards in the game today, comes in at 16. In his prime, he was another guy that you just couldn’t stop. He had post moves, could make the outside shot, rebounded, blocked shots, and played great defense overall.

Duncan led the Spurs to 3 championships, after being a part of the 1999 championship team when David Robinson was the leader. Duncan is a great player, and arguably could have gone higher, but the player at number 15, is very special to the NBA.

#15 – Kevin Garnett

At number 15, Kevin Garnett comes as one of the most unique players in NBA history. No matter what team you put him on, he becomes the heart and soul of that franchise. He sacrifices to make the team better, and even if he had to move over to a position that he absolutely hates.

KG’s intensity can not me matched, he’s probably one of the most talented players in the modern era. In his career he has scored 24,270 points and has grabbed 13,313 rebounds. He also has a championship ring to add on to his legacy.

#14-  John “Hondo” Havlicek

John Havlicek makes it to number 14 as one of the most top conditioned athletes to ever play the game. His tireless work ethic on both sides of the court helped him to become one of the greatest players in Celtics history.

In his career he scored 26,395 points while he was in Boston, which is still a franchise record. Havlicek is somewhat forgotten because of other Celtics greats like Larry Bird, Bill Russell, and a number of other players.

#13 – Jerry West

Jerry West, the player who the NBA logo is based off of, finds himself at number 13. West was probably one of the first real shooting guards of his day. Known as Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, West could shoot from anywhere on the court.

In his career he scored 25,192 points, and with his outside range he probably would have had more points if the 3 point line existed. Adding to his legendary career he won 1 title in 1972 with the Lakers.

#12 – Bob Cousy

Mr. Hardwood Houdini himself makes it at number 12 on my list. Bob Cousy was a talented point guard, not very athletic, but had tons of tricks up his sleeves, which is probably how he got his nickname. Cousy came to Boston at the beginning of the dynasty in the making, and when Bill Russell came, those two were the Rondo and KG of their day.

Cousy dished out 6,955 assists, but that was in an era when they didn’t count assists after the player who received the ball dribbled with it. Cousy could very well have had many more assists, but we’ll never know. During his time in Boston, Cousy won 6 rings. Personally, I believe he was one of the greatest point guards of all time, and his stats proved it.

#11 – Julius “Dr. J” Erving 

Coming in at number 11, is Julius Erving. Erving was one of the most talented and athletic players of his time. Erving helped make the ABA a legitimate league back in the early to mid 70′s. Erving had his share of changing the way basketball was played. With his ability to jump, he was one of the first players to introduce the slam dunk.

Besides being known for his dunks and spectacular athleticism, Erving was also a great scorer. In his career he had 30,026 points. He led the 76ers to a championship in 1983, and won 4 MVP’s in his career.

Without Dr. J, Michael Jordan probably wouldn’t have become the slam dunk specialist we all knew him to be.

#10 – Elgin Baylor

Elgin Baylor, the first real athletic player in the NBA, rounds out the top 10. Baylor was an amazing scorer who used his athleticism to score and was one of the first great jump shooters in the NBA. Surprisingly for a 6’5″ small forward, Baylor was a great rebounder. Throughout his career he grabbed 11,463 rebounds, and for someone at that height thats extremely impressive.

Baylor led the Lakers to the Finals 8 times, and was denied the chance of winning a title each time. He set an NBA record, scoring 61 points in the NBA Finals in 1962. Baylor was an overall great scorer, its too bad knee injuries hampered him later in his career.

#9 – Oscar Robertson

Oscar Robertson, the most underrated and unheralded NBA legend finds himself at number 9. Robertson was one of the greatest scorers the game has ever seen. 6 times he averaged over 30 points a season, but it was the smaller things that he did that made him even greater.

As a Celtics fan, I’m accustomed to seeing Rajon Rondo get a double-double a night, but Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double throughout the entire season of 1961-1962. His stats are just absolutely astonishing, and from what I’ve heard from old timers, Oscar Robertson probably could have played in any era.

#8 – Shaquille O’Neal

Shaq comes in at number 8 as one of the greatest big men of his era. His sheer size made it impossible to defend him, and to add on to his defenders headache, he could score and grab rebounds, 13,099 to be exact. He won 4 rings in his career, 3 with the Lakers and 1 with the Miami Heat.

Shaq was the first player of his size to actually use it to his advantage. Most of the time, when players with his weight and height came into the league, they usually ended in a bust. As a Celtics fan, it was too bad we weren’t able to see the dominant Shaq we all used to fear playing when the Lakers played the Celtics.

#7 – Kobe Bryant

The first player to make my list who is still currently playing is Kobe Bryant. Kobe is the greatest player since Michael Jordan, and has 5 rings to prove it. Kobe is another player with all heart, and if you’re not careful will rip yours out and show it to you. Kobe’s ability to just take over games is unbelievable, and even though he has declined a bit, he still remains a top player in the league.

In 2010, Kobe willed the Lakers to overcome the Boston Celtics in the Finals. As much as it hurt to watch, his performances throughout that series were Hall of Fame worthy. I’m still afraid of what he can do, even at the age of 33. When his career is all said and done, he may go higher on the top 25 chart, but for now he stays at number 7.

#6 – Ervin “Magic” Johnson

Magic Johnson is one of the greatest point guards to play in the NBA. What Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams do on a nightly basis came from Magic Johnson. Johnson was one of the first point guard to have a scoring reputation. Before him, point guards were known for assisting and bringing the ball up the court, but Magic changed that.

Magic one 5 rings, all with the Lakers. If he could have played longer, I wonder how much higher he would be on everyone’s lists?

#5 – Larry Bird

Coming in at number 5 is Larry Bird. What can I say, this guy was a jack of all trades and master of all of them. Bird could score, pass, rebound, hustle for every play, and did everything it took to win. During his entire career in Boston, he had great moments that are still talked about like they happened yesterday.

Bird led the Celtics to 3 championships in the 80′s: 1981, 1984, and 1986. The thing that stand outs to me was his will to win. He did everything that was necessary for his team to win. I would have loved to put him higher on the list, but Bird will round out the top 5.

#4 – Wilt Chamberlain

One of, if not the greatest scorer in the NBA comes in at number 4. Wilt Chamberlain was famous for his 100 point performance on March 2, 1962 against the New York Knicks, and amazingly, it was never captured on film. In an era where there was no 3 point line, Chamberlain’s ability to score at will is still something that I can’t wrap my mind around.

Chamberlain scored 31,419 points throughout his career, and again, he did that without a 3 point line. He won 2 championships, one with the Philadelphia 76ers and the other with the Los Angeles Lakers. Wilt Chamberlain was the Michael Jordan of his era and he probably could play in the league today. On my list, he is at number 4.

#3 – Kareem Abdul Jabbar

To round out the top 3, is one of the greatest centers to play the game. Kareem was known for his renowned sky hook shot, that was quite frankly unstoppable. He won 6 rings in his career, 1 with the Milwaukee Bucks, and 5 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kareem scored 38,387 points, recorded 3,189 blocks, and grabbed 17,440 rebounds. Kareem was great in his prime, his size along with his skills when he was in the paint were an unbeatable force. For this, he stands at number 3 on my list.

#2 – Michael Jordan

This was difficult for me, but Michael Jordan sits at number 2. MJ won 6 rings with the Chicago Bulls, scoring 32,292 points, dished out 5,633 assists, and had 6,672 rebounds in his entire career. Jordan is still the leader in points per game, scoring 33.4.

MJ revolutionized the game, he made the impossible possible, and the game as we watch it now, is all thanks to him. The reason why I don’t have him at number 1 is because while he did change the sport, he did that all by playing as an individual. He carried his team every year and yes he made his teammates better, but we can look back at his career as a player who was more individually minded than team oriented.

#1 – Bill Russell

Finally, number 1 is Bill Russell. An 11 time champion, who was part of the Celtics run of 11 championships in 13 seasons. In his career, Russell scored 14,522 points and grabbed 21,620 rebounds. Unfortunately, back in the 50′s and 60′s, the NBA didn’t record blocks, so we’ll never know where he ranked in the blocks category.

The argument can be made for Michael Jordan to be at number 1, but Bill Russell embodied everything that an NBA player should be. He was a great teammate, leader, had a desire to win, he put his team ahead of himself, and still to this day, he has been the greatest player to put on a Celtics uniform.