The 30 Greatest Players of All Time (UPDATED)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ค. 2024
- My revised list of the 30 greatest players in Basketball history.
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The game of Basketball has been my passion since I was 5 years old. I grew up as a kid watching my dad's recorded VHS tapes of playoff games through the 70s and 80s, and collected all the Basketball cards. Something about the game and what it represents just hooked me from a very young age.
My love for the game only continues to grow as time goes on. I love studying and analyzing the game, with an unbiased perspective. Feel free to subscribe, follow me on social media, and celebrate this amazing game and it's rich history with me!
I post videos every week on NBA history, predictions, hypothetical scenarios and current NBA topics.
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#nba #basketball #greatest - กีฬา
Which player on the list is too high or too low??
KG is far too low. And Jokic, if current trends continue, will be top 10, top 5, or even top 3 player.
D Wade is way too high
Lebron definitely is too high a guy who has lost more than any all time great and has won less and a stat padding player. Lebron is simply very overrated tbh. Some stats are just inflated bro to make todays players look better than the ones in the past
Kevin Durant too low
Elgin Baylor too high
"He was drafted higher than Jordan, but no one in Houston even regrets it." awesome quote
i have heard that exact thing almost every time someone brings up hakeem
It’s almost always the top comment on any Hakeem video
Hakeem might be one player Michael didn't take it "personally"
One of the best truly
Ya that's hilarious.. they're like you didn't pick Jordan at #1?!?!? We picked Hakeem.. oh ok that's a good pick.. who did you guys pick at 2? Good pick as well? Blazers : shut up!!
Turnovers wasn’t Karl Maloney only nasty habit
💀
And choking under pressure, harden style.
Guess who's #1 in turnovers by far? LeBron James! What is the ding minus for that?
@@seanmolloy2172 bro he’s done way worse than that
@@choward5430 LeBron is a primary ballhandler in the zone defense era, Karl Malone got that many turnovers because he's a butterfingers.
Damn. That Karl Malone vs MJ comparison puts things into perspective. It's not weak competition so much as complete and utter dominance to the point where the competition looks weak. Bananas.
28:15 there's another video Jonny has a what-if Jordan never played in the NBA.. he said the Jazz would beat the Heat in 97 but would lose to the offensive-option-stacked Pacers in 98, so Karl would have 1 ring, not two
Are we forgetting that Karl Malone had a child with a 13 year old girl. lol 😂 he should not be on this list.
@@dcameron336you can separate the art from the artists or in this case, seperate the pedo from the basketball skill
i do take that point HOWEVER when i question the quality/level of Jordan's competition its not Jordan v Malone but Bulls v Jazz. I could be completely wrong but it always felt to me like the Bulls rivals never had the depth of a Pippen, Rodman, Kerr, Kucic. Like who was 3rd best player of Reggie's team or Ewing?
3:14 Kevin McHale was incredible. He was the perfect second option and great dual threat alongside Larry Bird in 80s Celtics.
Fr. Wasn't he also a pretty decent passer for a big? Or am I thinking of someone else
@@bostinobaddog2040 Probably thinking about Bill Walton.
@@bostinobaddog2040They called McHale the Black Hole because if you passed to him, you weren’t getting the ball back. But why? Because he’d make the basket. That’s why.
He wasn't even the second option until they got sad and couldn't win no more which was after 6 years that team was only good for 6 years 81 to 87
Agreed. But top 30?? His efficiency was in large part was based on Larry. Same w his record. I can't see him Top 30 w guys like Harden on the outside.
th-cam.com/video/AxBqjiLvkQA/w-d-xo.html
My only issue with with ranking Bill Russel so high is that you penalized guys like Curry and Magic for lacking on the defensive end, which is fair, but you don’t penalize a guy who never averaged above 20PPG and shot 45% as a center. He also never played with less than 3 other HOF’ers and at one point he had 7 HOF teammates. So the context of those rings is important. Not to take away from how impressive 11 rings is though.
Also Wilt was a known stat padder who didn’t win until he started playing team basketball. He also has less FMVP’s, MVP’s and rings than Kareem, not to mention that Kareem was the all time leading scorer(after passing Wilt) until a few months ago
This. I fully agree. I think Context helps to nullify some of the impressiveness of what those two have done. You can still have them top 10 but they are too high. Plus Wilt only one two chips and he played with jerry west and other HOF while kareem won 6. He did have Big O and Magic. But it still is important to note that in the Kareem vs wilt discussion.
to be fair if you’re talking about context, half the hofers you talking about are only there due to the rings, just cause they’re in the hof doesn’t mean they were all time greats
possible reason why those guys are hof's is because of how good bill is as a player on both sides.
he isnt a versatile big but he brings so much to the table, a guard would play more confidently knowing they have center who can outrebound anyone on any given day. he made his teammates better in his own way, while steph didnt really blossom to a champ caliber player when kerr arrived, that kerr system brought the best out of them three
Bill Russell dominated 1960s NBA with Wilt for one another's counterpart, and That's Final. Just it got to be between Magic & Bird by the NBA 1980's. It didn't matter for Russell not to been a big scorer, long as he was great so many other ways for a force, mainly on the defensive front. Russell also made, what were his supporting cast way much better than it seemed, for the cornerstone starting the Celtics run for a storied franchise. Not everyone of those were a star in their own right, often misconstrued just because it's the Celtics at a big market like Boston.
No matter who's ranked where, it's always a joy for me to watch these compilations of pure greatness.
Facts 💯
Agree
Agree❤
I think Kawhi deserves to be on this list, somewhere between Kevin McHale and Giannis. Man has 2FMVPs, yeah he didn't won a regular season MVP, but he was very close in 2016 and 2017 (finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, in 2017 fully deserved it), has two DPOYs, several all-defensive teams obviously, add 3 first all-nba and 2 second all-nba teams - all that accolades look very solid. He literally puts up a top 10 player stats in play-offs since 2016, averaging 28.4+8+4 on 56% eFG and 2 steals for 70 play-off games in these last 8 years. Man is overlooked, suprised nobody even mentioned him in the comments
I love watching Jonny being objective and appreciating greatness rather than tearing any great down. I adore the recognition of nuances and small details in the ranking as much as I like seeing unappreciated legends such as Moses getting rewarded. Once again, I also like not having to discredit LeBron in the GOAT debate, since you just value higher Jordan's strength rather than LeBron's in the debate. You also admitted that LeBron is better at certain aspects while Jordan is at others, which is the truth. I personally respect and agree with the opinion that Jordan is the GOAT even though LeBron is starting to become a kinda popular and respected answer in the GOAT debate which can be supported. Finally, love the respect to older players and including context in the way you ranked them, especially Wilt, Bill and Baylor. Great job man😊
Man these lists become so hard for me I find it almost impossible not to separate players pre and post 3pt line
Yep. For many years, i would break my list up pre/post NBA/ABA merger, but the 3pt space and pace positionless revolution has changed things so much that stats just aren't comparable to even 20 years ago. I been asking myself if i need to split into 3 lists now and the 3pt line being created isn't enough because it just wasn't weaponized for another 40+ years.
Offense more impressive pre and defense more impressive post
@@HailKingCeezer thats kind of why i despise lists even being created lol theyre only around for us fans and for sports commentators to have something to argue about. and especially now with all the current crazy ass per and ts% and all that shit lmao. to me, i look at it as what was done, during each respective era, and how it impacted the game of basketball. im only at 7mins in to this video, at giannis...im sure george mikan is in here. but how the fuck do you compare george mikan to anyone? he won a bunch of championships and was arguably the first dominant big man. but during an era that could be considered the weakest. not his fault. does that take away from his greatness and what he contributed to the game of basketball? jerry west was the greatest loser in nba history hahaha im sure hes on here. and hes the logo.
i will admit; with my disdain for lists, jordan is the goat. numbers and all that shit aside, its what he did for basketball and at the time he did it; the 90s. the dream team, jordan shoes, space jam, 6 championships in 6 finals appearances, the flu game, the 6 3s against portland in the finals when being compared to clyde drexler... i think its best to just name the greatest players to play the game and the way they influenced the game of basketball, in no particular order. guys like david thompson, charles barkley, dr j, kareem, bird, magic, wilt, cousy, pistol pete, bill russell, shaq, kobe, walton, moses, duncan, olajuwon, rodman, zeke, frazier, reed, wade, lebron, kobe, shaq, iverson, dirk, nique, curry, rick barry, cowens...etc etc. how can you even rank someone that played in the 50s compared to someone playing in the 2020s
@@HailKingCeezer exactly. Larry Bird ATTEMPTED less than TWO 3pt shots a game. Bro would average 50 in todays NBA 😂😂😂
@@HailKingCeezer when was the 3pt line weaponised? 3pt usage goes up year on year except the 2nd year it was introduced.
after the opening i was ready to hear " number 30, Lebum James" lmao
Lmao! it aint like that. Maaaaaan, I should have teased that as a troll though
Lmaoo
Haha that's great
🤣🤣🤣Nice JOKE jorbum CAN'T even PASS 1st Round Playoffs without PIPPEN in PLUMBER'S/TALENTLESS Era with UNSTRICT Rules #FACT #LeGOAT 👑🐐💯🏀
🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for the laugh
Great listen/watch. Tons of thought were put into this upload. Thx for sharing your rankins
Good solid list, with great description. I like it, would have a few adjustments on my own list, but as u said it's your list. Great list!
My only real issue with this list is having Barkley so far above Dirk. They both struggled defensively, but I think Dirk's offensive strengths as a shooter and his legendary championship run should put him above Barkley
Barkley brung way more to the table then Dirk, Dirk only did one thing well.
@@gang9427and he still couldn’t win a ring
@@MK-dh4em not a lot of greats won during mjs era
@@omgodogdeath9932 he had plenty of chances, not to mention choking a 3-1 lead in the playoffs
@@MK-dh4em if we doing tht than dirk against the warriors has to be mentioned. losing in the finals to jordan while Charles Barkley averaged 27.3 points, 13.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists cant be held against him
I’d like more explanation on the take “Jokic’s defense leaves much to be desired” the placement makes sense and it’s cool if we’re splitting hairs since this is an all time great players list, but this finals should be enough evidence that he can play excellent defense using his quick hands, positioning, height, and bball iq.
It wasn’t just the finals, he was great on defense all playoffs and was pretty damn good in the regular season too, idk what it is but I think it’s more a narrative/reputation thing or maybe more of a counting stats thing (although jokics counting stats aren’t that bad) defense can be hard to judge and it’s way more of a reputation thing, like once players are called one thing on defense they stay that thing for the rest of their careers, I still hear people calling kawaii and Klay Thompson top defenders which is just not true anymore, another example is James Harden, he is not nearly as bad on defense as a lot of people say he is
Bro don’t act like jokic is a top tier defensive player 😂
@@tylerjudd1574 don’t act like Jokic is a bad defensive player
@@tylerjudd1574 he’s not top tier but he’s not a liability
Dont worry, when all its said and done and he retires, the Joker is going to be top 10. As said in the video he is 28 y/o and just got his first chip, like Mike did at that same age. We all know he is gonna add a few more rings, the only real question is how many more.
Good, well done videos.
Lots of "with that being said", which is just a minute critique.
Keep up the very good videos!
Your content production is hard to fathom, but I am happy to consume it as fast as possible. 👍
I wasn’t mad at any placement u had. That says a lot because I have watched a lot of basketball in my life, and ur arguments were solid and definitely valid. Good video.
1:44 - #30
2:50 - #29
3:53 - #28
4:55 - #27
5:42 - #26
6:36 - #25
7:24 - #24
8:13 - #23
9:05 - #22
9:47 - #21
10:33 - #20
11:25 - #19
12:17 - #18
12:53 - #17
13:45 - #16
14:47 - #15
15:34 - #14
16:19 - #13
17:20 - #12
18:23 - #11
19:13 - #10
20:10 - #9
20:50 - #8
21:55 - #7
22:52 - #6
23:50 - #5
24:50 - #4
25:40 - #3
26:36 - #2
27:38 - #1
Doing lords work
Or just watch the video?
Your karma is beautiful
Made watching the video as easy as your mom
@@zayalopez90 😂what bro just watch the vid its yt
The ABA was a fascinating and wonderful professional basketball league.
It's a shame that so many teams that used to belong to the ABA are gone now.
Julius Erving's ABA performances are still impressive.
I always like and respect your takes. I don't always agree 100% with you, but you are as unbiased as one can be.
Great video! You should turn this into a series by ranking your Top 10 players at every position, PG through Center.
Just a video/series idea
Jordan’s effect on the legacy of other greats is one of better GOAT takes I’ve heard in awhile. Honestly wild to think of a hater’s club of players who didn’t get their rings bc of MJ haha
How Many Rings jordan have without BULLS SUPER DUPER TEAM PHIL And PIPPEN?
@@chrismendez1770 you can ask that same question for other greats as well
@@chrismendez1770 MJ had 1 all star player in all 6 of his titles that was Pippen who only made a all star team in 4 of there runs meaning he has zero all star players for 2 titles what super team??
Because of the bulls as a whole* if it were just because of MJ, then the bulls wouldve won chips throughout his entire career. Nope. Bulls started winning once their roster was strengthened all around
@@davis2k1234 LMAO
After watching the whole video, I gotta give you props for a pretty good list. The arguments you have for each selection were pretty spot on. Love your content!
Actually an excellent list. You are the only one I've encountered that has the same top 3. Respecting Wilt like he deserves 👏🏼
Also got Wilt top 3
th-cam.com/video/yANhxBFDGHs/w-d-xo.html
Haven’t watched yet but already happy to see this means Kobe isn’t top 3. I have zero respect for anyone that thinks Kobe is top 3. It always tells me you didn’t watch him regularly. I am a Lakers fan so I watched him daily and he was great but super flawed with his shot selection and desire to play hero ball.
Great analysis. Making these lists can always be so controversial, but you did so without discrediting any of these great players. Bob Petit was the only player in my top 30 absent from yours and I didn't have McHale ranked as high as you did. Dr. J was my all time favorite player and he gets a raw deal with much of his prime and stats not included since he was in the ABA.
Watched a video that told an amazing story about Bill Russell -- the owner or GM of the Lakers had publicly guaranteed that the Lakers would win the NBA championship the first season Wilt joined them. The newspaper at the time called them a superteam (first time that term was used for an NBA team). In game 7 of the NBA Finals he had balloons in the ceiling to celebrate the Lakers victory. Bill Russell said to him something like "Those balloons are staying up!" and led his team to win that game and the series.
Bill was a true competitor and big time performer.
Only real miss I see here is Bob Pettit, who lifetime averaged 26.4 ppg and 16.2 rebounds, but his performance in the decisive game of the NBA finals scoring 50 and hauling in 19 rebounds, while score 19 of their last 21 points to bring the Hawks their only NBA championship brings him into the top 30, actually I would have him top 25. He was way more athletic than given credit for and was a physical beast once he got up to 245 lbs of muscle. This one was a miss.
Bob Pettit was a great player and could play in any era and be great!
I'd happily replace McHale with petit on this list. I'd just like to point out that Bill Russell missed 2.5 games and came back still pretty hurt for that final game against Petit in the finals
@@anonuniversal364what’s funny is his top 30 is almost exactly mine except I have Petit instead of McHale. Our order is different but we have almost the same players in our top 30. I guess that’s not very surprising… they are all time greats.
@@anonuniversal364 Agreed. Petitt over McHale. 👍
segregation hoopers aren’t welcome
I think Tim Duncan deserves a higher spot as he is so easy and uncomplicated to build around, he never cries abt touches or discourageous teammates which sets him apart from players that had "harder surcomstances" like kobe or KG
whoaaaa we have IDENTICAL top 10 lists except flip Wilt & Kareem but yea splitting hairs I think on that one. Incredible lol I love it!
The fact that Russell is that high without an offensive game, just tells you how incredible he was
no it tells you how overrated he was. bigman, in the 60s where it was far less compo, on a team full of HOFers, while playing near the basket as a bigman, averaging 40% from the field is horrendous. No difference between him and Ben Wallace.
he wasn't a scorer but he was a winner
@@dominicharris5489except bill Russell probably averaged double digit blocks and we know he averaged 20 rebounds and around 5 assists and he won 5 MVPs never averaging over 20 points that’s how great he was defensively
@@MJGOAT O V E R R A T E D
@Jordan goat
Going against...
We act like he was going against 30 other teams who had an array of talent around them. He was almost always on the most talented team, was on a team that had the highest payroll by a mile for the majority of his career, and only had 3 other real teams to compete with every year. When folks say he was Ben Wallace before Ben Wallace, they ain't making that up.
If you look at those teams and if I really had to compare what it would be like today, it's impossible since the league is so much more talented, but if I were to try, it would be like taking the 2017 Warriors team, taking out Zsa Zsa, and putting in a prime Ben Wallace, while also taking out the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th best player of every team. It really wasn't a fair fight
Good info! I’ve undervalued Havlicek, Nowitzki, Garnett, Thomas, Malone. Appreciate that you gave more respect for Wade, Barkley, Baylor, Erving, West, Wilt, James.
I like your list and you make it make sense …respect
This was another good list and breakdown. ❤❤❤❤
Mikan is basically McHale with 20 extra pounds of muscle, wider torso like Unseld for setting screens and boxing out, and top-tier passing.
You can say he played in a weaker era, but by the same token it's much easier to follow or add to a blueprint than it is to **be** the blueprint. and Mikan was the blueprint, he influenced the game more than any player in history, while dominating his era more than anyone in any sport ever has. If that's not "greatness" what is?
McHale way better post but mikan played like joker. Great touch too. Probs best touch of all the non 3 point shooters!!! WTF lol. Goated
That same Mikan Lakers team lost twice to the Harlem Globetrotters. Overrated.
Mikan is known for the "Mikan drill".
.which is literally a layup right under the basket lol.
Stop mikan was not that guy dawg was trash
segregation hoopers aren’t welcome
segregation hoopers aren’t welcome
Greatest list ever. I'll keep getting back over and over again, as I did with the past list. Thanks Jonny! outstanding content, as always.
I know how much content you have done of MJ, but I never get tired of it. New and/or updated content about the GOAT will be very much appreciated. Cheers from Mexico.
I was mad at every ranking on the list, keep it up
Great video - I almost agree with everything. :) I think Joker and KG should be higher, but it hard to keep perspective of the players that we didn't see play back in the day ...
jonny, i know we’re locked in like twins cause we share a name, but also you made this video right when i’m starting a lil personal project to rank my top 30 hoopers of all time. your list will have an influence for sure, and i can’t get over the timing. keep up the great work brother, one of the best channels on youtube for sure 💯
Great video Johnny. Like seeing Isaiah getting some love. Today he’s so underrated.
Hi, Jonny! Sorry my comments are a little late, but I just now saw your list. I think it's a great list, and I'm most happy that you included John Havlicek in your top 30. Hondo is my favorite all-time player and is one of the most underrated players in the history of the NBA. Your top seven features the same players as mine, and I agree that Jordan is the GOAT. However, I find it impossible to rank numbers 2-7 in order. Anything else I say would be nitpicking, although I would certainly rank Oscar higher than 17. And even though I'm a Celtics fan, I would probably put Rick Barry at number 29 in place of Kevin McHale. I think you make very good points as to why you list Bird over Magic and Olajuwon over O'Neal, although I wouldn't argue much with people who see it differently. I recently rewatched game seven of the 1984 finals and was reminded of how great Kareem still was at age 37, and I also remember that Kareem (not Magic) at age 38 was the main reason L.A. beat Boston in the '85 finals. So, Lebron isn't the only player who was still great at that age. And finally, people who talk about Russell's lack of an offensive game either don't realize or forget that he was a very good distributor, especially with the outlet pass to start the fast break. Again, great jobwith your list. And, yes, I did just subscribe.
Solid list johnny
Nothing but respect for you Jonny! You keep things true to yourself and it makes your videos worth watching and enjoyable!
Agreed. But I still think Wilt has the best case for #1
th-cam.com/video/yANhxBFDGHs/w-d-xo.html
I actually have Charles Barkley in my top 15. Alot of people nowadays forget how good he was in his heyday.
I don’t think it’s because people forget how good he was but it’s just that the lower half of a top 20 is still pretty stacked. For example you have guys like Kobe, Shaq, Hakeem, or Duncan who can fall out of the top 10 because one of the others took their spot, then you have KD, Curry, Oscar Robinson, and (depending on who you ask), Jerry West, and finally Barkley is in the interchangeable top 5 PF (not named Tim Duncan) situation. So even those 5 spots are still hard to argue
@@skeletoncrew6500 nah no kd tbh
@@RZ6787 I’d personally have CP3 and Isiah Thomas over Curry but the majority of people would have Curry or KD within their top 20
@@skeletoncrew6500 dude said cp3 his career nice but curry career is wayyy more goated
How high do you rank him defensively? He may well have been a top 15 offensive player. With your logic though, Jokic must be considered a GOAT candidate.
Note 2 Self: Great ranking Jonny! I appreciate the explanations of your rankings. #TheNote2SelfGuy
Not to name the various vectors that I would use to determine greatest and some of it is beyond the numbers but that rookie performance by Magic is just one of the reasons I could defend why I rank him as the greatest not best but greatest . Great breakdown btw that some serious analysis . Lastly asking Magic to be a stout defender would 've been like asking Brady to play special teams he had the most high powered offense to run plus he was a solid defensive rebounder .
Great list, and great video as always.
Craziest part of this list (at 1st glance) is the fact that you had 3 top 20 players of all time all on the same team and they didn’t win a championship together (Barkley, Moses, Dr. J). It would have been amazing to see all of them playing together at their peaks.
That would have been scary.
Malone, Shaq, Kobe, even higher ranked, didn't win as well.
@@rankaratAnd Gary Payton
Barkley also played with Hakeem, pippen, and drexler. Honestly has a case for playing with the most top 50 players ever. Didn’t get any of them at their best, but he sure as hell played with some names
Lebron, Bosch, D Wade
Great job on the list. This is my mount Rushmore. Jordan, Wilt, Russell, Kareem and Magic.
Great video overall despite a couple of quibbles. I can not argue with your top five.
Love seeing Dwade and KG get the respect they deserve, among many other names I like seeing within the context of this list. Great video.
Agreed
When did Wade get disrespected? He was fairly rated by most people all this time you know.
@@s_ame1135people tend to forget about wade for some reason
Wade over kg and dirk is crazy. Dude is Barely top 30
@@mike04574it’s not crazy Wade is the 3rd best shooting guard of all time and willed an alright team over Dirk’s Mavs. Around 2008-10 there were literally debates on if he Lebron Dwight or Kobe were the best players in the league… you can look that up
Great list. It’s tough for me not to include Pippen on that list, above another #2 like McHale
Naw, McHale was almost as good defensively and better offensively.
Nah, he’s an NBA legend but not top 30
Pippen??? 😂😂😂
Pippen lucky to be top 75 by the time these new players retire he’ll be lucky be top 100
Pippen didn't even averaged 25ppg all his career. He's nothing but a Middleton to Giannis or Draymond to Curry bloated to success because of MJ.
My top 5 most skilled players:
Pistol Pete: There are things that he did on the court with the ball that players today still can’t do. His ball handling, passing, and shooting was absolutely phenomenal and he dedicated his entire life to the game and did it all without a three point line. Averaged over 30 points for the hawks and still has the scoring record for college which will literally never be beat🔥🔫
Larry Bird: This guy could barely jump an inch off the ground and he still averaged 10 rebounds a game for his entire career. Won three 3 point contests and one of the most underrated passers and facilitators of all time. Only player ever to average 24/10/6. Hit a game winner over MJ and Scottie with a hurt back! This man was COLD 🥶 🦅
MJ: This man shows the difference between talented and skilled. He always had talent but had to develop his skillset overtime because he kept losing to the Celtics, pistons, and rockets. Once he mastered his craft and became the most skillful player in the game people feared him and he ended up three peating twice. The greatest two way player of all time. Showed off his skills multiple different ways by winning multiple different titles and people were generally afraid of being on the court with him. Averaged 30 points a game his entire career and would of been on 50% shooting if he didn’t join the wizards. Mid range was flawless and unstoppable 👌
Kobe: Nobody mirrored MJ the way Kobe did. He could score from anywhere on the court and his handles and passing skills were incredibly remarkable. Go look earlier in his career and you will see all kinds of no look passes, through the legs, 360 dunks, fake outs, ankle breakers, etc… Kobe had it all and almost three peated twice just like Jordan if it wasn’t for the 2008 loss to the Celtics. Mamba was feared for a reason 🐍
Kareem: The Sky Hook is the most skillful shot in the history of basketball and Kareem was the only one to master it fully. Nobody can stop it. He could do it with both hands from both sides of the key and even 20 feet out. Had the leading scoring record for nearly 40 years and he mainly used one single shot to make it happen. When people know what you are going to do and still can’t do anything to stop it that’s when you know you are skilled 🥽 🏀
Well said.. and pistol Pete was awesome
MJ #1 black mamba #2 the rest is to difficult to decide?Lebron somewhere in the top 5
What about kevin durant
Deadass saw the same comment on a different video I think it was a top 20 greatest players of all time video someone stole yo shit
@@richardtrevino5516 I don't have LeBron on my Top 10.
I loved this list. At first I thought you were going to leave wilt off when you got to 5 and he wasn't there but I 100% believe he deserves that 3 spot. People have no idea how good he was, ty for doing him right.
My current top list is (somewhat) close to consensus, but I’ll put it in anyways.
1.) MJ
2.) Lebron
3.) Kareem
4.) Wilt
5.) Bird
6.) Magic
7.) Russell
8.) Duncan
9.) Shaq
10.) Kobe
11.) Hakeem
12.) Steph
13.) Moses
14.) Oscar
15.) West
16.) K. Malone
17.) Nowitzki
18.) Durant
19.) Garnett
20.) Erving (no ABA)
21.) Giannis
22.) Jokić
23.) Robinson
24.) Barkley
I think those 24 are pretty clearly my top group, with honorable mentions to Wade, Pippen, Havlicek, Pettit, Paul, etc.
Thanks for keeping it real with Chuck!!!! He was a BEAST!!!!
Very respectable list
I started watching the nba in 1981 this is a list i can get behind and respect.
I feel like there should be a Pre/Post 1974 GOAT list. The exclusion of DEF stats really cripples the Golden Era players.
Great list and narrative.
You should do a retroactive defensive player award and other awards. Great video as always. All these guys are so great it’s always so difficult to rank them.
Jonny did his homework. I respect his list!
I agree with this list 100% when it comes to career/legacy except I’d have to look deeper into where I’d have Shaq, I think a problem with the goat debate is sometimes ppl are debating different things like for me the goat is more about who was the best player at their peak and I take career into consideration after that so my list with those standards would be a lot different but if career is emphasized first this list makes a lot of sense
Kudos for Bill Russell. He elevated his teammates like only the greatest players have.
Bill russell is the biggest joke of all time when considering the best players of basketball. People having him top 50 blow my mind
@@yerik6034 casual
@@sinatra222 not a casual, just a realist. Keep ur head in the past I guess ?
@@yerik6034yeah 11 rings isnt enough
@@derktheerk man has more rings than teams he faced, *INCREDIBLE*
Jonny you should do most aesthetic players by decades. I just discovered Gus Johnson, connie Hawkins and some of the old guys with smooth fluid games
Great list
I always wonder how Arvydas Sabonis and Oscar Schmidt would do in their primes against these on the list.
Great video!
You have shaq outside of the top 10 because he didn’t sustain his excellence but your reasoning for Jordan being over Lebron is because “peak performance is what’s most important”… ight jonny
He probably expects you to understand that shaqs peak was over fairly quickly. Jordan’s peak was basically his whole bulls career.
Very different scenario. Shaq's peak was up there along with MJ, but after that, he fell off to a borderline superstar in Miami and then fell deeper to a role player in just 2 seasons. MJ at least didn't have that HUGE drop from his peak if it's going to be argued against LeBron's amazing longevity, since he's still able to win 3 more rings after his peak ended.
@@bosmith4560 this is the problem… people think shaqs peak was just those 3 years in LA when he 3-peated… as if he wasn’t putting up 29 and 12 for 7 years before he even won his first championship… there’s a reason he has 28k points his prime was a lot longer than ppl realize.
@@nickhynes1764 Shaq not top ten all time
I believe Jokic should be at least higher than David Robinson, because Robinson was never able to LEAD his team to a championship in his Prime, while the Jokier has a significantly better prime as a player and was able to be the leader and the best olayer of his championship team. Sure Robinson is a better defender, but Jokic certainly isn't a liability and the offensive gap between the two combined with the weight of their achievments is too much for me to put Joker below the Admiral.
I think when it's all said and done, Jokic will be higher than Robinson. But this list is based on what each player has done so far. Jokic is only 28. Would you say that Jokic's 7 year career and accolades is more accomplished than Robinson's 14 years? Robinson has twice as many accolades. Give Jokic another 2 to 3 years year and he will likely be closer to Shaq than Robinson.
Look at the big man David Robinson had to go through then look at the big man joker had to go through.
Agreed
Dont worry, the Joker is just getting starting. This was the appetizers (2 mvp, one chip, 1 final mvp, etc) at 28 y/o....as stated in the video, there was another player who also got his first ring at 28 and he went onto have a not to shabby career lol
Imo Jokic will surpass Robinson when he wins his second ring. Which could be as early as next year.
Amazing list
The only player on your list who went to Indiana State, as I did though much earlier, and who 'also played golf with my Dad, I think you have Larry Legend 'bout where he should be, good job! Also loved where you had Elgin Baylor who may have made more pts than anyone with his back to the basket!!
“Not all rings are created equal.”
Yes yes yes yes yes.
That should also apply to bill russel im not trying to take anything away from bill but those rings were very easy compared to some rings from recent memory or even from 20 yrs above bills era
@@joshuaesquivias2694they won 10 game 7s to get those rings. The margin of victory in 8 of the deciding games was 6 points or less.
That's why most of nba fans or analyst doesn't respect kd's ring. He should've won atleast one ring in brooklyn to prove that he can win without dynasty
LeBron won the statistically easiest ring of all NBA history and yet nobody holds it against him. And they shouldn't. A ring is a ring. Especially when you're the finals MVP. On a stacked team, you are the best player? You are the difference? People have no idea how hard that actually is. Respect every ring.
@@omarhasan03 firstly what Lebron ring are you talking about? Please tell me what “statistic” your talking about. 2nd no one respects KDs rings because of how he got them. Lebrons quote on quote “Superteam” was literally just Him and Wade. Chris Bosh even said himself he didn’t have to do much because of them. KD Literally joined a 73-9 team that just beat him. Like no, that’s not a respectable ring.
Great list! Your top ten was pretty solid! Love the points about Michael Jordan as the Greatest Player of All Time. If you take his career between the years of 1987-1988 through 1997-1998, which includes the season and 4/5ths that he was retired, he still has a resume that I would rather have than the entire career of any one else who has ever played the game. Those accomplishments during that period alone surpass the cumulative greatness of other NBA players. Bill Russell has more titles, but was not the all around force on both ends of the floor that Michael Jordan was.
It’s the highest Peak Ever. Period. He was the perfect player at the perfect time on the most dominant team ever. What’s to argue? There were no more guns in the valley. It’s a shame we didn’t get a Dream vs Jordan finals in the 90’s
@@shamonbest106 It’s somewhat odd that Dream’s two trips to the Finals did not coincide with the Bulls six year run. It is interesting that the Rockets did not make the Finals to defend their title against the Bulls during the 95-96 season to face the 72-10 Bulls. I’m not convinced that the Rockets could have beaten the Bulls in a series, but it would have been interesting and entertaining to watch!
@@shamonbest106 Excellent point.
I would have also like to see Hakeem and Clyde meet the Bulls in the Finals. Very intriguing outcome?
@@shamonbest106 Shaq's peak was the greatest ever of modern day basketball, it's actually not even close.
Solid list my guy. Always tough to rank the old days players like Wilt and Bill, but you seem to have done your homework, I'll take your word for it. Only switch I'd make is Hakeem for Shaq. Hakeem is certainly deserving of the higher spot in terms of fundamentals, completeness and even talent, you mentioned Dirk's run to the ring, the Dream had one that's up there.
But.
Shaq is the most uncontrollable thing that ever happened on a basketball court. Just for that I feel he should be in the top 10.
I'd really like to see you do a video of your top ten players based on the players how they rank in negatively in each stat. What position are they due to missed shots, missed, free throws, turnovers, etc, for all-time, career average, and versus other players in their position.
PS - Thanks for those two great Dr. J dunks at the end. He's my favorite. So much grace and power. He really made the game exciting and beautiful.
I am really interested to see who you have. You usually have great takes.
Yeah, but my list pisses everybody off. I have tons of subs who are like "I love your videos, but your list sucks!" lmao
@@jonnyarnett you can't please everybody. It cool how you always stand by your opinion rather then going for generic lists
@@jonnyarnett a video on Dream Team 2 (94 FIBA Team)
Good list when you give explanation, Hakeem is a legend
sounds about right with a few minor gripes here and there. nicely done.
Barkley and Baylor were the same height but Baylor was in an era of lower shooting percentages and thus had more chances at the ball. Although still remarkable nevertheless, especially due to his height. I can only imagine how many boards someone like Barkley or Rodman would have grabbed.
Fun fact about Jokic’s championship. He would join hakeem as the only player to win a championship with no other all stars but De’andre Jordan who basically played 2 minutes all playoffs made one all star team in 2017.
Always love your videos and appreciate some of your takes. While I don agree with all of them and would definitely shuffle some around, I can’t say your logic is flawed. Particularly appreciate how you give Erving credit for his ABA days and is one of the reasons I often have Gervin and Barry higher than others do too.
My hottest take is usually having Kobe a lot lower and out of the top 10. He was just too inefficient for me and without a solid big man he was never really better than a first round elimination and that’s why I think a lot of his “peak stats” are inflated. But I also can’t argue with him being in a top ten.
TBF, Jamal Murray is an all star caliber player, but there are just too many great guards in the west.
murray proved himself to be an all star this playoffs
I watched your 50 last night so I'll watch your updated 30 now.
I like your list over all. I think you've made very good cases for all these players however I think most of these players could go from 30 to 10 and the list would still be as valid.
Overall I love the list…Wade and Durant possibly (possibly) a bit too high. Garnett (for me) is easily Top 20 and I personally have him within the Top 15. Julius Erving possibly a few spots too low and I actually had him at my #10 spot (higher than most) as I think he gets overlooked at times when considering his body of work and how good he was in his time. But…with those very few things said, amazing list!
Wade too high???? 😂😂😂😂
People don’t give doctor J his real credit .. if you combine both his Aba 😮and nba accolades ( Aba had the top talent at that time Gervinho , Moses, etc) he’s definitely a top 10 player and he was the face off the league .
Kd is way to low he easily a top 15 player
Agree that KG is to low.
Kd is 12 all time 😂
It's a good list.
I'd personally put Shaq way higher.
Also love your take on Charles
In Shaq's defense here, by the numbers his peak lasted about 9 years. Not a lot shorter than most of the great centers. Wilt's was between 8-10 years depending who you ask, Bill Russell was pretty consistent so there wasn't really a peak for him, for Kareem it was his first 8, Hakeem's was really just 4 years. I dunno whether or not one would count him as a center but Tim Duncan's was like 7 or 8, the admiral was an even 7. Yes he was lazy about his conditioning in LA the last year and his production suddenly dropped in '04 but he was back in shape the next season and it's not like he was back to averaging 28.
Scottie Pippen is an interesting omission IMO
… he only was 3rd in MVP voting and won a playoff series was 1 win away from the ECF without Jordan. Always guarded the other teams best player and led the bulls in everything but scoring.
Pretty insane he has more playoff wins without Jordan than Jordan does without Scottie. 🎤
@L L he did not always guard the other teams best player. Did you watch the games then? I did....and what I saw was pippen not being able to shoot jumpers or free throws. To this Day, Jordan has the most points....rebounds....and assist in Chicago bulls history. Stop the pippen nonsense. He's not on this list for a reason.
@@visionary515 How disingenuous of you to use MJ's overall stats with the Bulls, who played 2 full seasons more than Pippen.
In their 6 playoff & finals runs, Pippen led the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. While guarding the other teams best player.
Please enlighten everyone how many playoff series MJ won without Scottie. Scottie won atleast 1 playoff series without MJ, surely MJ won more right?
@PhillyPhan13 all this jordan never won without pippen is nothing more than lebron fan ammo. When pippen came into the league he averaged 7 ppg while jordan averaged 35. Stop making pippen out to be some savior because he wasnt. You act like pippen didn't lose to the Pistons too lol. Jordan leads the franchise is damn near every category period. I saw pippen's whole career.... did you? You couldn't have.
The basketball knowledge is immense, I love this channel because I learn about the greats with a non biased take and prospective
Solid list no doubt…I have just about all of the same players on my list just in different order. And the only player I would of added to the list is Allen Iverson.
Great list even though my raking after the top 2 would be different but great list overall
I like the Durant and IT takes but damn the Dirk rank is criminal
Having Giannis over Jokic is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. One is arguably the greatest offensive player of all time, the other can’t even shoot a jumper, hit his free throws or run a great offense against elite defense. Almost had to turn it off.
I like your list as you give due credit to old timers and modern players. I would make one significant change as I would put Dr J well inside the top ten. Very few players in any sport change the way the game is played in any significant way but Dr J did just that when he brought street ball to the Pros. My dad was no basketball fan but he took my brother and I to see Dr J when he played for the New York Nets in the ABA because even he got caught up in the Doctor’s fever.
I think the old list was a lil better but i love the wilt ranking hes so underrated. Great list
Love your take on McHale
Kawhi should probably be in the 20-30 range. 2 xDPOY 2xFMVP
Why Allen Iverson isn’t brought up in this kind of arguments, I think he’s underrated
As always, they hate to give the man the credit he deserves
Very very nice list. Love the respect you give Jokic and the respect you give Moses Malone especially over Karl malone which so many don’t do, Hondo and even the respect you give Wilt despite how much more respect he still deserves. Elgin should be ranked far higher given how versatile he was offensively defensively and rebounding wise and how much he impacted winning as a man who was truly against the most hof comp ever his entire career but just didn’t impact winning as much as wilt. West is the same case and should never be ranked lower than a curry who doesn’t have to deal with as many hall of fame bigs challenging him at the rim, as much defense from all players at all, wrist carrying being illegal (blatant up and down violations in front of the ref against lebron in nba finals can be found easily if you don’t wanna search the man’s entire career just like everyone else in his era) has the benefit of flagrant fouls and a 3 point line that guys like west tiny oscar elgin Bing Pete cousy hagan twyman etc… would’ve benefited hugely from.
I’ll never understand how in 2023 so many people still think the goat debate is between MJ and lbj when neither have the most impressive hof odds competition to win in their finals wins, or in general haven’t won in the postseason their entire careers against the most impressive odds, and had so many luxuries some other goats didn’t have at all.
50 points and 25 rebounds is wilts least impressive feat. Man’s has more winshares than billrussell showing he impacted winning more than the greatest winner ever in history with 11 rings and against the most hof comp of all time of any player ever. Stack this on top of 100s of other things we all know wilt brung to the table is why he’s the clear cut goat
Def true for mj, Jokic barely got respect, 50/25 isnt as impressive as it sounds
Damn man you really know your stuff. Really respect your opinions and basketball knowledge.
@@jackirerioa4971 I’d say it’s definitely so impressive that it’s even more impressive as it sounds. It’s just we talking about Wilt Chamberlain here and so compared to so many other greater things he’s done, it’s actually one of his least impressive feats in comparison to things like 24,24,10,8 off 68%FG or 4 rules changed in addition to the referee separate set of rules made to make things harder for him and fair for everyone else etc…
@@beenizz5102 watch thinking basketballs video on wilt
nobody’s reading allat
Jihn havlicek was really great a beast..i watched him play for years.. a clutch big play guy
Very solid lost Jonny. I particularly like your inclusion of the superior Malone as well as his placement. I believe you massively overrate Wilt, but you also admit that this is a bit of an outlandish take so I can't knock you for it.
wilt is underrated in nba history. maybe the most disrespected top 5-10 player of all time. i feel as if too many people but into bad narratives about his career and the league he played in. sad to see
@@vodka4680If you look at his stats its not insane to say but just 2 chips is a bit meh
@@alexandermeiering5216 2 isn’t anything to sneeze at. also, he played most of his career against the greatest dynasty in nba history
@@vodka4680 I mean 2 is low when comparing him to the best players of all time
@@alexandermeiering5216both of those championship teams set the record for wins in a season. The 72 Lakers won a still record 33 consecutive games. The 67 sixers ended the Celtics streak of championships and then beat Nate Thurmond and Rick Barry in the Finals. If not all rings are created equally then these two rings are quite different.
This is a GOAT list. I'd quibble here and there, but that's what lists are about. One thing I like to say is that Bill Russell is a wizard: What we THINK we know about basketball, we don't, and he does.
If he had tried to explain it, we wouldn't understand. He had an extra dimension of hoop IQ that no other human has ever possessed. On a scale of 1-10, his intangibles were at an 11. He rebounded better than Rodman, led his team better than Magic, competed like Jordan, and shut down the entire front court. From one side to another. His wingspan and lateral movement look like a video game. His athleticism is insane.
And he got in your head before, during, and after the game. Russell won his last two championships as a player/head coach!! And his 13th ring came against the NBA's first super team: West/Chamberlain/Baylor.
He played in 21 "someone's going home tonight" playoff games, and is 21-0. He wore a black suit to those games because he said that he was The Undertaker. I could go on and on.
What a load of garbage. You are calling the Lakers the first NBA super team when Russell played with no less than 3 other HOFers year in and year out while in one year he played with 7 other HOFers.
Russell couldn't hold Wilt's jockstrap. He just had MUCH better teams.
@@phillyphan1346 It's the first NBA super team in the way that we think of it. Wilt joined Jerry West and Elgin Baylor the same way that LeBron joined Wade and Bosh. In the same way Durant joined Curry and Thompson. And since you started out mouthing off, you're garbage. And you just got dunked on, dummy.
@@phillyphan1346 Ignorant
Stop, please stop the nonsense. Bill Russell is the most overrated player in history. Everyone bases it around 11 rings, he played on a totally stacked Celtics team that had twice as much money to spend as all the other teams. He played with nine Hall of Famer‘s collectively in his career. He was an abysmal offensive player. Head to head wilt absolutely destroyed him to the tune of 30 and 28 in 93 meetings. He was such a bum offensively, he could spend all his energy playing defense and rebounding. He was absolutely a one way player.
I love seeing a fellow Wilt enthusiast