The 100 Greatest Basketball Players of All-Time

Every ranking update ever (Last basketball update: 6/23/25 Next update: July ’26)

The making of the list.

The Rules

If you disagree with the placement of an athlete whose prime occurred before 1975, please read The ChatGPT Cautionary Tale before commenting.

RankPlayerPositionYears
1LeBron JamesWhy?Pick one2003-active
2Michael JordanSG1984-2003
3Kareem Abdul-JabbarC1969-1989
4Shaquille O’Neal🔵Why?C1992-2011
5Tim DuncanPF1997-2016
6Steph CurryPG2009-active
7Magic JohnsonPG1979-1996
8Kobe BryantSG1996-2016
9Kevin DurantSF2007-active
10Nikola JokicC2015-active
11Larry BirdSF1979-1992
12Karl MalonePF1985-2004
13Giannis AntetokounmpoPF2013-active
14Hakeem OlajuwonC1984-2002
15David Robinson🔵Why?C1989-2003
16James Harden🔵Why?SG2009-active
17Wilt ChamberlainWhy?C1959-1973
18Kevin GarnettPF1995-2016
19Dirk NowitzkiPF1998-2019
20Moses MaloneC1974-1995
21Kawhi LeonardSF2011-active
22Bill RussellWhy?C1956-1969
23Charles BarkleyPF1984-2000
24Jerry WestSG1960-1974
25Julius ErvingSF1971-1987
26Dwyane WadeSG2003-2019
27Chris PaulPG2005-active
28Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderPG2018-active
29Oscar RobertsonPG1960-1974
30Rick BarrySF1965-1980
31John StocktonPG1984-2003
32Anthony DavisPF2012-active
33Russell WestbrookPG2008-active
34Steve NashPG1996-2014
35George GervinSG1972-1986
36Joel EmbiidC2016-active
37Dwight HowardC2004-2022
38Patrick EwingC1985-2002
39Gary PaytonPG1990-2007
40Scottie PippenSF1987-2004
41Luka DoncicPG2018-active
42Adrian Dantley🔵Why?SF1976-1991
43Jimmy ButlerSF2011-active
44Tony Parker🔵Why?PG2001-2019
45Jason KiddPG1994-2013
46Pau Gasol🔵Why?C2001-2019
47Damian LillardPG2012-active
48Clyde DrexlerSG1983-1998
49Walt FrazierPG1967-1980
50John HavlicekSF1962-1978
51Reggie MillerSG1987-2005
52Paul PierceSF1998-2017
53Ray AllenSG1996-2014
54Allen IversonSG1996-2010
55Isiah ThomasPG1981-1994
56Tracy McGradySG1997-2012
57Jayson TatumSF2017-active
58Kyrie IrvingPG2011-active
59Dominique WilkinsSF1982-1999
60Manu Ginobili🔵SG2002-2018
61Bob McAdooC1972-1986
62Willis ReedC1964-1974
63Dave CowensC1970-1983
64Chauncey BillupsPG1997-2014
65Chris WebberPF1993-2008
66Rudy GobertC2013-active
67Dikembe MutomboC1991-2009
68Alonzo MourningC1992-2008
69Kevin McHalePF1980-1993
70James WorthySF1982-1994
71Alex EnglishSF1976-1991
72Bernard KingSF1977-1993
73Carmelo AnthonySF2003-2022
74Devin BookerSG2015-active
75Paul GeorgeSF2010-active
76Donovan MitchellSG2017-active
77Karl-Anthony TownsC2015-active
78Domantas SabonisC2016-active
79Jaylen BrownSG2016-active
80Larry Nance🔵Why?PF1981-1994
81Dennis RodmanPF1986-2000
82Elgin BaylorSF1958-1972
83Ben WallaceC1996-2012
84Elvin HayesPF1968-1984
85George MikanWhy?C1948-1956
86Bob PettitPF1954-1965
87Joe DumarsSG1985-1999
88Wes UnseldPF1968-1981
89Artis GilmoreC1971-1988
90Anthony EdwardsSG2020-active
91LaMarcus AldridgePF2006-2021
92Amar’e StoudemirePF2002-2016
93Chris BoshC2003-2016
94Bob CousyPG1950-1963
95Vince CarterSG1998-2020
96Chris MullinSF1985-2001
97Dennis JohnsonPG1976-1990
98Bradley BealSG2012-active
99Mitch RichmondSG1988-2002
100Tim HardawayPG1989-2003

The rest of the best basketball players of all time.