MY top five nba players of all time
Number Five
The top five players is the most elite group of NBA players, well the top ten is also but the top five is on a whole new level. To start off the top five is Earving “Magic” Johnson, Mr. Showtime himself, one of the two saviors of a drug infested NBA. Magic Johnson is easily the greatest point guard to ever play the game. We call point guards like him Point Gods because they do everything that a point guard needs to do and more, and that’s what Magic did.
Magic Johnson was drafted in 1979 to the Los Angeles Lakers with another top 5 player of all time Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Magic Johnson came into the league averaging an impressive stat line of 18 points, 7.5 assists, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. Even with that impressive stat line Magic still didn’t win the Rookie of the Year award, Larry Bird did but Magic and Kareem lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the veteran Philadelphia 76ers. With the Lakers up 3-2 in a best of 7 series Kareem had to sit out of the elimination game which meant Magic had to step up. As a point guard Magic had to start at Center and had the best game of his young career, finishing with 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and most importantly a win and an NBA championship. Magic won his first of 5 NBA championships and his first of 3 finals MVP awards. This game showed the NBA and everybody how great he would end up being. Magic Johnson for his career averaged 20 points per game, 7.5 rebounds and an impressive 11.2 assists.
Sadly we had to see his great career come to an end way too soon with him retiring at the age of 31 but he did play 32 games in the 1996 NBA season, 4 years after retiring. If he wasn’t forced to retire he could potentially be the greatest player of all time.
The top five players is the most elite group of NBA players, well the top ten is also but the top five is on a whole new level. To start off the top five is Earving “Magic” Johnson, Mr. Showtime himself, one of the two saviors of a drug infested NBA. Magic Johnson is easily the greatest point guard to ever play the game. We call point guards like him Point Gods because they do everything that a point guard needs to do and more, and that’s what Magic did.
Magic Johnson was drafted in 1979 to the Los Angeles Lakers with another top 5 player of all time Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Magic Johnson came into the league averaging an impressive stat line of 18 points, 7.5 assists, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. Even with that impressive stat line Magic still didn’t win the Rookie of the Year award, Larry Bird did but Magic and Kareem lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals against the veteran Philadelphia 76ers. With the Lakers up 3-2 in a best of 7 series Kareem had to sit out of the elimination game which meant Magic had to step up. As a point guard Magic had to start at Center and had the best game of his young career, finishing with 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and most importantly a win and an NBA championship. Magic won his first of 5 NBA championships and his first of 3 finals MVP awards. This game showed the NBA and everybody how great he would end up being. Magic Johnson for his career averaged 20 points per game, 7.5 rebounds and an impressive 11.2 assists.
Sadly we had to see his great career come to an end way too soon with him retiring at the age of 31 but he did play 32 games in the 1996 NBA season, 4 years after retiring. If he wasn’t forced to retire he could potentially be the greatest player of all time.
Number Four
Now Wilt Chamberlain, potentially the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball. Then why is he at number four then? Well simply because he was in an era that averaged to shoot 35 times more per game, an era where he was the most athletic strongest and tallest, and era where it was simply easier to dominate. Wilt Chamberlain had the best scoring, well best season ever averaging a beastly 50.4 points per game, 25.7 rebounds per game, and played on average 48.5 minutes per game. The most impressive part about those stats are actually how many minutes he averaged, the reason is because there only 48 minutes in an NBA game. That means that he played all game. Every game. That is mind boggling that someone has enough stamina to do that in 80 of the 82 NBA regular season games.
Wilt Chamberlain averaged at least 30.1 points per game for his first eight years of his career and at least 22.3 rebounds during those years also before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have been winning trades for superstars forever like the Pau Gasol trade in 2008 which made them championship contenders, the Wilt Chamberlain trade, the Kobe Bryant draft day trade, and the Shaq trade. Anyways, Wilt was traded to an already star studded team with Jerry West, top five shooting guard to ever play, and Elgin Baylor one of the top 10 small forwards to ever play. He was pretty much blessed with an amazing team and one to contend for a championship until the three retired, or so it seemed. This amazing team only won one championship to add on to Wilt first one with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wilt Chamberlain is said to have over 50 NBA records to this date. He also averaged 30.1 points for his career, 22.9 rebounds per game, 4.4 assists, and sadly they did not keep track of blocked shots when he played but I did watch this video about Wilt saying in the 112 games they have footage of, he averaged 8.8 blocks per game. Simply incredible.
Number 3
Some people already consider Lebron James as the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball, and I think that is just completely crazy and idiotic, but he does have the potential if he does these few things. He will be the greatest player of all time if he breaks the career scoring record set by Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and wins two or three more NBA championships.
Lebron James has a chance to break a record we all thought was the unbreakable record set by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Kareems infamous scoring record is set high at 38,387 points for his career, and Lebron is at eight all time with 27,762 career points at just 32 years old. Now if Lebron continues to play at least 75 games in a season for the next 6-7 years of his career while scoring 25 points per game for the next 5 years he will add 9,375 points, and if he plays 75 games for the last two while averaging 20 points that will give him 11,375 points in the last 7 years of his career. He will then have 39,137 points breaking the all time scoring record. That is just absolutely crazy and he has a very good chance at doing this.
Lebron James has been to an impressive seven NBA finals in a row and eight in his career, while winning three of them (two with Miami Heat and now one with the Cavs) and he dominated in all but two of his NBA which were his first two times. His most impressive finals performance was two years ago, his first year back with the Cavs when his two all-star teammates were injured and out of the finals. In this he managed to lead the Cavs to six games against the Warriors when everyone thought they would go to five games max. In these six games Lebron Averaged 46 minutes, 36 points, 13 rebounds, and almost 9 assists a game. Even though he didn’t lead the Cavs to an NBA championship he showed his greatness and people were considering him to be Finals MVP even though they didn’t win, only Jerry West has done that.
Lebron for his career averages a staggering 27.1 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, and 7 assists so far for his career.
Now Wilt Chamberlain, potentially the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball. Then why is he at number four then? Well simply because he was in an era that averaged to shoot 35 times more per game, an era where he was the most athletic strongest and tallest, and era where it was simply easier to dominate. Wilt Chamberlain had the best scoring, well best season ever averaging a beastly 50.4 points per game, 25.7 rebounds per game, and played on average 48.5 minutes per game. The most impressive part about those stats are actually how many minutes he averaged, the reason is because there only 48 minutes in an NBA game. That means that he played all game. Every game. That is mind boggling that someone has enough stamina to do that in 80 of the 82 NBA regular season games.
Wilt Chamberlain averaged at least 30.1 points per game for his first eight years of his career and at least 22.3 rebounds during those years also before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers have been winning trades for superstars forever like the Pau Gasol trade in 2008 which made them championship contenders, the Wilt Chamberlain trade, the Kobe Bryant draft day trade, and the Shaq trade. Anyways, Wilt was traded to an already star studded team with Jerry West, top five shooting guard to ever play, and Elgin Baylor one of the top 10 small forwards to ever play. He was pretty much blessed with an amazing team and one to contend for a championship until the three retired, or so it seemed. This amazing team only won one championship to add on to Wilt first one with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wilt Chamberlain is said to have over 50 NBA records to this date. He also averaged 30.1 points for his career, 22.9 rebounds per game, 4.4 assists, and sadly they did not keep track of blocked shots when he played but I did watch this video about Wilt saying in the 112 games they have footage of, he averaged 8.8 blocks per game. Simply incredible.
Number 3
Some people already consider Lebron James as the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball, and I think that is just completely crazy and idiotic, but he does have the potential if he does these few things. He will be the greatest player of all time if he breaks the career scoring record set by Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and wins two or three more NBA championships.
Lebron James has a chance to break a record we all thought was the unbreakable record set by Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Kareems infamous scoring record is set high at 38,387 points for his career, and Lebron is at eight all time with 27,762 career points at just 32 years old. Now if Lebron continues to play at least 75 games in a season for the next 6-7 years of his career while scoring 25 points per game for the next 5 years he will add 9,375 points, and if he plays 75 games for the last two while averaging 20 points that will give him 11,375 points in the last 7 years of his career. He will then have 39,137 points breaking the all time scoring record. That is just absolutely crazy and he has a very good chance at doing this.
Lebron James has been to an impressive seven NBA finals in a row and eight in his career, while winning three of them (two with Miami Heat and now one with the Cavs) and he dominated in all but two of his NBA which were his first two times. His most impressive finals performance was two years ago, his first year back with the Cavs when his two all-star teammates were injured and out of the finals. In this he managed to lead the Cavs to six games against the Warriors when everyone thought they would go to five games max. In these six games Lebron Averaged 46 minutes, 36 points, 13 rebounds, and almost 9 assists a game. Even though he didn’t lead the Cavs to an NBA championship he showed his greatness and people were considering him to be Finals MVP even though they didn’t win, only Jerry West has done that.
Lebron for his career averages a staggering 27.1 points per game, 7.2 rebounds, and 7 assists so far for his career.
Number 2
The second greatest player of all time is somebody I have mentioned before Kareem Abdul Jabbar. I don’t even know where to start with him, well he is a six time NBA champion, 19 time all star, six time MVP, two time Finals MVP, 15 time All-NBA team, and 11 time All-Defensive team and the all time leading scorer. He is the definition of greatness, and he did it for 20 seasons.
For everyone I have had one career defining moment to show their greatness but Kareem isn’t over one playoff series or one game but Kareems is over four years of his career. Specifically the first four years of his career with his head to head battles with Wilt Chamberlain. There were times where Wilt dominated Kareem, I was researching their stats against each other and Wilts best game was 28 points, 23 rebounds, and 10 blocks. Kareems best game was when he had 50 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Wilt went out of way to try and show Kareem who the best center in the league was, but often Kareem dominated him.
Kareem for his career averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and shot 56 percent from the field for his career. His best season was when he averaged 28.4 points, 14.4 rebounds, and shot 58 percent from the field while playing 40.9 minutes per game and played all 82 games. Kareem never once averaged over 28.4 points but his consistent ability to average 20 points for 18 seasons is crazy, and a very few have that type of consistency.
Number 1
Michael Jordan is in my opinion, and practically everybody else thinks that he is the greatest player of all time. Again I have no idea where to even start with this freak athlete and arguably the greatest competitor in the history of men's sports. Michael Jordan is a six time NBA champion going 6-0 in NBA finals never going to game 7, six time Finals MVP, 5 time MVP, Defensive player of the year, 9 time All-Defensive team, 14 time All-Star, 11 time All-NBA selection, and a 3 time All-Star MVP.
Michael Jordan’s first career defining moment came in 1986 against the veteran Boston Celtic team with Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, and Robert Parrish when he scored 63 points 6 rebounds and 5 assists in his second year in the NBA and coming off a season long injury where he played 18 or 82 games. At the end of the game Larry Bird said “God was disguised as Michael Jordan.” The man was just simply unstoppable from when he first entered the league averaging 28 points per game to two seasons later, so his third season, averaging 37 points per game. For the rest of his Chicago Bulls career he never averaged anything less than 27 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game (except for his second season when he was injured).
In the 1993 NBA Finals, the Michael Jordan led Bulls faced off against the Phoenix Suns led by the NBA MVP Charles Barkley. During this series Michael Jordan was fulled with fire and energy by the fact that Charles Barkley stole MVP from him, and that he had a chance to win another NBA title. During these NBA Finals Michael Jordan was on a mission, that mission being to prove HE is the MVP and that he will lead the bulls to the promise land. Michael averaged a crazy 41 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and shot 51 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. This earning him Finals MVP and another NBA championship.
Once he retired and made a return for the Washington Wizards at the age of 38 he averaged 23 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists and he was the oldest player to score 50 points in a game. Then in his last season at 39 years old he averaged still an impressive 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists while playing in all 82 games. Him averaging this that old showed that even with age Michael Jordan could still change the game and dominate at any given time. Even though Bill Russell is the leader of most championships and is considered the ultimate champion, Michael Jordan in my opinion the ultimate champion. Michael Jordan never once has been to a game seven in the NBA Finals, and is 6-0 in the Finals. He was the ultimate competitor for more than just basketball. There is an NBA rumor that when he retired in the 1993 season that it wasn't because his dad died, it was because he was suspended by the league for gambling and the NBA never released this. The reason behind them not releasing this is because they wanted to keep his image clean, but there's a lot more details into this and this is a whole other story.
The second greatest player of all time is somebody I have mentioned before Kareem Abdul Jabbar. I don’t even know where to start with him, well he is a six time NBA champion, 19 time all star, six time MVP, two time Finals MVP, 15 time All-NBA team, and 11 time All-Defensive team and the all time leading scorer. He is the definition of greatness, and he did it for 20 seasons.
For everyone I have had one career defining moment to show their greatness but Kareem isn’t over one playoff series or one game but Kareems is over four years of his career. Specifically the first four years of his career with his head to head battles with Wilt Chamberlain. There were times where Wilt dominated Kareem, I was researching their stats against each other and Wilts best game was 28 points, 23 rebounds, and 10 blocks. Kareems best game was when he had 50 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Wilt went out of way to try and show Kareem who the best center in the league was, but often Kareem dominated him.
Kareem for his career averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and shot 56 percent from the field for his career. His best season was when he averaged 28.4 points, 14.4 rebounds, and shot 58 percent from the field while playing 40.9 minutes per game and played all 82 games. Kareem never once averaged over 28.4 points but his consistent ability to average 20 points for 18 seasons is crazy, and a very few have that type of consistency.
Number 1
Michael Jordan is in my opinion, and practically everybody else thinks that he is the greatest player of all time. Again I have no idea where to even start with this freak athlete and arguably the greatest competitor in the history of men's sports. Michael Jordan is a six time NBA champion going 6-0 in NBA finals never going to game 7, six time Finals MVP, 5 time MVP, Defensive player of the year, 9 time All-Defensive team, 14 time All-Star, 11 time All-NBA selection, and a 3 time All-Star MVP.
Michael Jordan’s first career defining moment came in 1986 against the veteran Boston Celtic team with Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale, and Robert Parrish when he scored 63 points 6 rebounds and 5 assists in his second year in the NBA and coming off a season long injury where he played 18 or 82 games. At the end of the game Larry Bird said “God was disguised as Michael Jordan.” The man was just simply unstoppable from when he first entered the league averaging 28 points per game to two seasons later, so his third season, averaging 37 points per game. For the rest of his Chicago Bulls career he never averaged anything less than 27 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.7 steals per game (except for his second season when he was injured).
In the 1993 NBA Finals, the Michael Jordan led Bulls faced off against the Phoenix Suns led by the NBA MVP Charles Barkley. During this series Michael Jordan was fulled with fire and energy by the fact that Charles Barkley stole MVP from him, and that he had a chance to win another NBA title. During these NBA Finals Michael Jordan was on a mission, that mission being to prove HE is the MVP and that he will lead the bulls to the promise land. Michael averaged a crazy 41 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and shot 51 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. This earning him Finals MVP and another NBA championship.
Once he retired and made a return for the Washington Wizards at the age of 38 he averaged 23 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.2 assists and he was the oldest player to score 50 points in a game. Then in his last season at 39 years old he averaged still an impressive 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists while playing in all 82 games. Him averaging this that old showed that even with age Michael Jordan could still change the game and dominate at any given time. Even though Bill Russell is the leader of most championships and is considered the ultimate champion, Michael Jordan in my opinion the ultimate champion. Michael Jordan never once has been to a game seven in the NBA Finals, and is 6-0 in the Finals. He was the ultimate competitor for more than just basketball. There is an NBA rumor that when he retired in the 1993 season that it wasn't because his dad died, it was because he was suspended by the league for gambling and the NBA never released this. The reason behind them not releasing this is because they wanted to keep his image clean, but there's a lot more details into this and this is a whole other story.
Citations
All of Magic Johnson's Information
Hollinger, John. "Best Single-game Performances: No. 2." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 11 June 2010.
Web. 15 Jan. 2017. "Magic Johnson Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Wilt Chamberlain
"Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops." Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
"Wilt Chamberlain Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Lebron James
"LeBron James Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
McMenamin, Dave. "LeBron James Moves into 8th on NBA's All-time Scoring List." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 21 Dec. 2016. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Kareem Abdual-Jabbar
"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
"Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops." Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Michael Jordan
""God Disguised as Michael Jordan"" NBA.com: "God Disguised as Michael Jordan" Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
"Michael Jordan Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
All of Magic Johnson's Information
Hollinger, John. "Best Single-game Performances: No. 2." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 11 June 2010.
Web. 15 Jan. 2017. "Magic Johnson Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Wilt Chamberlain
"Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops." Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
"Wilt Chamberlain Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Lebron James
"LeBron James Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
McMenamin, Dave. "LeBron James Moves into 8th on NBA's All-time Scoring List." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 21 Dec. 2016. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Kareem Abdual-Jabbar
"Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
"Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops." Wilt Chamberlain vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Game by Game Stats - Message Board Basketball Forum - InsideHoops. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
Michael Jordan
""God Disguised as Michael Jordan"" NBA.com: "God Disguised as Michael Jordan" Web. 15 Jan. 2017.
"Michael Jordan Stats." Basketball-Reference.com. Web. 15 Jan. 2017.