A recent poll of ESPN's basketball writers released a list of the best game-changers in NBA history. Among them was LeBron James, who ranked a close second right after Michael Jordan, who led the race at No. 1.

Cracking the top-10 was Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, joining the Cleveland Cavaliers forward as the only two active players to make it into the top 10 spots of this ranking.

Falling just shy of the top-10 are two of the most prolific scorers in NBA history in Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson, ranked 11th and 12th, respectively — both members of a luminous 1996 NBA Draft class.

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James has built a career of carrying a team on his back and plowing through the opposition, regardless of the stakes at hand, with plenty of shining memories during the playoffs, whether it was the old Cavaliers forward who dropped 48 on the Detroit Pistons or the all-around superstar that led the Miami Heat to two championships in four seasons.

Today's King James was the same that led an unlikely Cavs team to a come-from-behind rally in 2016, besting the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals to bring Cleveland its first NBA championship.

Curry hasn't been short of antics himself, with several game-winners, buzzer-beaters, and half-court mirages in his personal highlight reel. A two-time champion coming off back-to-back MVP seasons in 2015 and 2016 — he's become one of the prime time talents to have the ball in his hands when the game is on the line, delivering plenty of shining performances, as he did leading the Warriors to a record-breaking 73-win season.