Check out the previous entries in ClutchPoints' 100 greatest NBA players of all time series based on Josh Eberley's E-Rank: 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11
At long last, the final 10. You know the names, there are no big surprises for shock value, it’s not that kind of list. The GOATS stay the GOATS.
Props to fan Judson Walden who did his own math and correctly guessed these 10 names.
E-Rank Insight: Every iteration and update of the formula had the same top two. They weren’t always in this order, but it was always those two. Bill Russell may have had the greatest range as he was as high as three and as low as 13 in the early days of tinkering and adjusting all the different weights.
A question for you the reader: What was the most surprising placement on the list?
Check out the gallery for players 10-1 on the list.
10. Larry Bird 899.6 (75th Anniversary Team)
Larry Bird falling to No. 10 shocked me some. I’ve always placed him in the top seven, but given the somewhat short career for a legend, it’s not hard to see why he slipped. E-Rank did not give any added bonus for concurrent dominance, but being the last player to win three MVP awards in a row is incredibly jarring. While LeBron James and Michael Jordan had to fight through moans of voter fatigue, Larry Legend got it done.
9. Wilt Chamberlain 922.75 (75th Anniversary Team)
Perhaps the most dominant individual force in the history of the league. The 100-point game, the 50 PPG season, the four MVP awards. Wilt Chamberlain was just an outrageous accumulator of records and accomplishments.
8. Shaquille O'Neal 1008.6 (75th Anniversary Team)
I think Shaquille O’Neal is the best NBA Finals performer who ever lived. In his first four runs to the Finals (95, 00, 01, 02), he averaged 34.2 points, 14.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 2.8 blocks, and shot 60% from the floor. He had a very evident Achilles' heel and teams knew it, but it didn’t matter. Shaq was a physical force that no game plan could prepare for. He had a go-to move with his drop-step on the block that no one had an answer for, and he was deceptively fast and athletic in his younger years. It didn’t need to be complicated for the job to get done in a dominant way.
7. Kobe Bryant 1034.52 (75th Anniversary Team)
A complicated legacy without a doubt. His fans would literally leave their family at Christmas, slip on the slides, and pursue a fight with a stranger from the internet and critics who will never forget shortcomings on and off the court. Kobe Bryant was a top-five player in the league for a ridiculously long time. He’s not this high on the list because he had one of the best statistical peaks ever, nor because he won the most. He’s here because he was an All-NBA player an astounding 15 times and named to the All-NBA First Team 11 times. In different framing, contemporary rivals Ray Allen, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and Paul Pierce combined only made the All-NBA First Team five times total. Bryant’s longevity was elite.
6. Magic Johnson 1056.93 (75th Anniversary Team)
Magic Johnson’s career, not unlike everyone else in the top 10, is storied and celebrated. Albeit, perhaps he isn’t celebrated to the extent he should be, because not nearly enough people watched the now-canceled Winning Time. Carrying your team to a title as a rookie and being awarded the Finals MVP after your team loses the regular-season MVP due to injury feels like an HBO storyline more than actual history and yet … that Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals is iconic.
5. Bill Russell 1086.75 (75th Anniversary Team)
The most successful player in the history of the league. It always remains baffling that Bill Russell's name is magically excluded when fans of Jordan or Bryant cite ring count as a reason to put their favorite player on the throne. An astute ambassador of the game who fought through endless adversity to assemble the greatest basketball resume that will ever exist. E-Rank awarded Finals MVP points to players who would’ve been given the award had it existed in their time, which felt extremely needed when the award named after Russell was never actually given to him.
4. Tim Duncan 1122.3 (75th Anniversary Team)
I have students who couldn’t tell you a thing about Tim Duncan. He has only been retired for a decade, but his quiet demeanor and overall disinterest in the spotlight have left him unironically underrated. However, it’s somewhat fitting that this is the case. Duncan’s game was not loud, he did not exude envy, he did not boast. He banked in shot after shot and anchored scheme after scheme. He sat when coach Gregg Popovich asked him to sit and stood when the San Antonio Spurs needed their superstar.
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1380.5 (75th Anniversary Team)
The only player in NBA history who started his career as the best player in the league on Day 1. A reflective and contemplative superstar who checked all the legacy boxes in two different decades. In the 1970s, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was an MVP, a Finals MVP, and a champion. In the 1980s, Abdul-Jabbar was an MVP, a Finals MVP, and a champion. 20 outstanding years in the Association, which resulted in him holding the all-time scoring record for just a touch shy of 40 years.
2. LeBron James 1512.17 (75th Anniversary Team)
LeBron James’ legacy is immense. It's weighty. It’s both obvious and obscure. The pieces are all there on display and we can examine them one by one, but the case for him to sit ahead of the ghost he spent his career chasing needs weaving. It needs context and expertise, and when those elements come together the finished product is a masterpiece. A teenager who came from nothing and was prophesied to wear the crown. No one could’ve genuinely blamed him if he failed … but he didn’t. He didn’t — despite many on and off court adversaries deeply hoping he would. When his franchise couldn’t support him with a winning supporting cast, he forged a winner himself. A Decision that only further enraged his detractors but also birthed and showcased a modern American entrepreneur who would forever change the business of basketball. In an era where fans felt like stars were sitting more and leaving early, he gave us the greatest extended edition to ever release in sports. He has four rings, four MVP awards, the all-time scoring record, and just came off an All-NBA season at 40. His story just keeps adding more pages, and it’s all but certain that the numbers will eventually hoist him to No. 1 on this list.
1. Michael Jordan 1546.21 (75th Anniversary Team)
We could debate Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James until blue in the face. In fact, we, as a collective and global basketball community, have already done just that. There will never be a consensus GOAT in basketball, and that’s ok. That said, Jordan’s career is cleaner and there are no doubts there. It doesn’t take context and we don’t have to step back to appreciate the whole picture. It has been presented to us, wrapped neatly with a no-return policy. He made unique choices that limited his longevity and perhaps elongated his dominance and legacy in the ‘90s. Going six-for-six in the NBA Finals, winning the Finals MVP each and every time, exuding a life-or-death competitive spirit, all while being marketed by multiple billion dollar corporations is pristine. The case for Jordan is easy to follow: he persevered after early-career struggles and mounted the most successful dynasty the league has seen since Russell left the game in ‘69.
