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February 11, 2016Kobe Bryant gives LeBron James his game-worn Kobe 11s (Pics)
February 11, 2016In the midst of his 13th NBA season, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James is already one of the best to ever play the game. On Wednesday, James was named the third-best player in NBA history, according to ESPN’s all-time NBA rankings, finishing behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (No. 2) and Michael Jordan.
To create All-Time #NBArank, we put together a ballot with the 150 greatest players ever. Then our ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, with voting based on both peak performance and career value.
The Akron native was unsurprisingly the top Cavalier on the list. Since coming into the league at 19 years old, James has averaged 25.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game in 962 games with both Cleveland and Miami. James has averaged 27.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in 668 games with the Cavs.
In the playoffs, the future Hall of Famer has averaged 28.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 178 games. In the wine and gold, James has averaged 29.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 91 playoff games.
Since jumping to the NBA in 2003 directly from high school, the St. Vincent-St. Mary graduate has earned four regular season MVPs (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) and is a 12-time All-Star, two-time All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008), and two-time NBA Finals MVP (2012, 2013).
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who has covered James since he was a star in high school, had high praise for his fellow SVSM alum.
Nitpick his game, mock his receding headband, criticize his free-agency choices, start comparing rings. But never before had the game seen a teenager like him. By the time he was in his mid-20s he was no longer chasing opponents but chasing ghosts, the greats who’d come before.
Now he’s trying to end a 50-year-old title drought for a city where he’s one of the most treasured residents in its two centuries of existence.
The top 10:
- Michael Jordan
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- LeBron James
- Magic Johnson
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Larry Bird
- Bill Russell
- Tim Duncan
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Hakeem Olajuwon
37 Comments
I just dont understand ranking guys before their careers are over. Also, Kareem over Russell? And Shaq over Hakeem? FAIL
And if we are going to rank guys who are still playing Duncan is above LeBron. #SorryNotSorry
I would argue that Hakeem should be higher than Shaq and Duncan.
But, today’s game of chuck it up as soon as you pass half court has all but rendered any low post players irrelevant.
Hakeem is the only guy who has more than 5900 steals+blocks in his career…or 5500…or 5000…or 4500…(although Duncan might be getting close).
Don’t fall for the trap guys! ESPN is just trying to make us their puppets. Cut the strings. Cut the strings!!
I’m surprised they didn’t put Curry on that list.
It’s not that so much as defending the post. Teams now will almost always double and triple team a dominant low-post player, forcing the kick out. Back in the day, Hakeem and David Robinson would go head to head and everyone else would clear out of the way.
I was just going to say Im surprised he wasnt #1, but your snark is more finely crafted
Team Snark never sleeps.
Nobody today even knows how to play the post.
Today’s game consists almost entirely of working for open threes, or driving the hole. The mid range jumper is extinct, and the days of the drop-step are all but a memory.
every 7 footer now wants to be a stretch 4. Rare to see one that can play with his back to the basket
Where’s Delly?
This is hyperbole. There are still good low post scorers… Al Jefferson and Nik Vucevic have a bunch of post moves and are very effective down low. Jahlil Okafor is already a very good low post scorer and he’s going to be a great one. The Cavs have two fantastic mid-range shooters in Mo Williams and Kyrie Irving (I think they’re actually the best in the league and would stack up against previous eras). I would agree that there are fewer as three point shooting has become more prominent, but if you believe that Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, Daugherty, etc would be as effective against modern NBA defenses, I completely disagree with you there. Watch any of the Hardwood Classics games on NBA League Pass and you’ll see what I mean… the defenses were almost laughable. They were not nearly as organized as we see now.
“Then our ESPN expert panel voted”
Let me stop you right there.
I’m sure the guys on ESPN radio are hotly debating this.
Those low post players would be less effective today because they would be ignored. Why go through the process of feeding a big man and letting him work down low for a measly 2 point shot, when you can just hoist up a three?
I watch, and I see a proliferation of players just standing around the 3-point line.
Thank. You.
“Today’s game of chuck it up as soon as you pass half court”
…………..
I can’t tell if you’re trolling me. Are you? That’s not at all how NBA teams operate. 3-point shots are much more effective when they come from a kick-out from the paint so almost every team tries to get the ball to the post early in a possession if they have a big man who can make good decisions. LeBron operates out of the high post a ton and is pretty darn effective getting to the hoop for two-point baskets.
Big men from that era would be less effective because NBA defenses are more organized and sophisticated. I will not accept any other answer as a viable answer. That isn’t to say those guys wouldn’t be great players in the modern NBA… they just wouldn’t have the gaudy stats they used to put up.
All this, plus the mid-range jumper is mostly pointless.
https://i0.wp.com/i.giphy.com/gZGlQX3wWAV1u.gif
I would like to point out two things wrong on this article:
– Lebron came into the league at 18 years old, then turned 19 that December 31st.
– The career averages of Lebron are as follow: 27.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 6.9 APG, 1.7 STLs, 0.8 BLKs. The ‘career’ averages that you provided are his ‘Per 36 minute’ stats and not his career averages.
I can’t put Tim’s skillset over LeBron’s. Rings yes. Actual player, no.
“Nobody today even knows how to play the post. Today’s game consists almost entirely of working for open threes, or driving the hole”
Analytics.
I think you mean every Coach/GM wants there 7 footers to be able to knock down the outside jumper which trickles down to what those players are being taught.
It’s true, unless you’re one of the precious few who are very efficient at shooting them, there’s almost no reason for working to get an open mid-range jumper.
NO.
I’ll take Kareem over Russell every day and twice on Sunday. Russell played with, like, 5 hall of famers. I get that he won a lot but he played with all the best guys, so what do you expect? I’m over the whole “championships” thing. That’s all anyone ever argues. Kareem was unstoppable. All-time leading scorer. 6-time champ and 6-time MVP.
Plus, Kareem goes by one name. LeBron goes by one name. Michael, Magic also go by one name. Bill Russell needs two names to know who you are talking about.
And LeBron is way better than Tim Duncan, who is really good.
they couldn’t play zone, for starters.
They are waiting until mid-summer to release this list again after Curry wins another title. Then they can ask, “how good is Steph Curry?” and show where he fits in the rankings. They need to generate mid-summer basketball clicks, too.
#TeamConspiracy
wow. dude’s got like 55 posts about Nintendo and them comes in here and wipes your butt with some /stats, Josh.
Response??
I saw all of these guys and Russell is the best. It was not that he played with great players, but that he made his teammates great. If you look at his rookie year and then his last year it is a completely different set of players. People get too caught up in stats in basketball. Since there are only 5 on the court at any one time, an individual has a greater influence over the results than in baseball and football. The various stats, points, rebounds, assists etc. are similar to things in golf like driving accuracy, greens in regulation etc. They can help us understand WHY someone won, but the significant event is winning. Russell is the greatest winner ever and no one else is even close. If you did not see him play than you have no way to understand how much he influenced the outcomes of games. He basically invented the fast break with his rebounding and lightning quick outlet passes. He was one of the fastest players in the league, and was extremely athletic. He was the first player to show how important defense, especially at center was. In his book – How I psych them – he explained how he influenced every player of his era on their drives to the hoop and set them up to fail. Wilt would have great stats, but Russell always won because he effected all 10 players on the court while Wilt was just a dominant individual. When Kareem was at his peak someone asked him how he would do against Kareem and he said -” son, you have that question backwards”. I am not denigrating Kareem who was excellent, but Russell had the same consuming fire to win that Jordan and Kobe had. He would throw up before every game due to his intensity. If you are picking a team of all the greats at their peak, Russell is the first pick. Please note that I look at how a player dominates his peer group. With different rules, nutrition etc. it is the only reasonable way to compare guys from different eras.
Sure, but who plays much zone now? Maybe for a possession or two to mix things up, but I feel like it always gets burned because there are too many good 3-point shooters in the league. And it can’t be a true zone because there’s the defensive 3-seconds call which keeps defenders from hanging out in the paint too long.
Sure, he was a “winner.” But when there are 8 teams in the league I don’t hold “winning” to the same standard as today.
Appreciate the reply. As I mentioned, you must look at how he compared to his peers in his era. With only 8 teams, if it was so easy to win others would have done it. Also, you are competing against the best of your generation more often. To take this to its logical conclusion think of college sports vs pro sports. Easier to dominate in college but harder in pros. I enjoy the dialogue with you regardless of our different perspectives.
Shaq being on the list is ridiculous, he is top 20 not top 10.
Interesting list. Surprised by Shaq’s inclusion but he was dominant as hell in his prime.
Also surprised Kobe didn’t crack the top 10 but in all honesty his first three titles should come with a minor asterisk (when individually ranking all-time players) as he was not best player on any of those three teams.
Where did they have Oscar?
No, not above Duncan. Duncan is the best PF ever. Hakeem is not the best C ever.