I think #9-#11 always change around for me. Kobe, Hakeem and Shaq are in these spots but which order they are in I’m not sure. You can make a case for any of these guys to be in any order from the 9–11. Most people have Kobe in their top 10. Then Shaq/Hakeem is a tossup but I personally prefer Hakeem in my top 10. So aside from Kobe and Hakeem, you can deduce that MJ, Bron, Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Magic, Duncan, Bird make up the rest of my top 10.
Which means my #11 is probably going to be Shaq. He and Hakeem sit right at the edge of the top 10.
My #12 is going to be Dr J because I take ABA awards and stats into consideration, which means Dr J is to me a 16x All-Star, 12x All-NBA/ABA, 4x MVP, 3x Champion and 2x FMVP. That’s a pretty stacked resume.
#13 will be Steph Curry. Some people have him in their top 10 now. I can’t put him ahead of Kobe/Shaq/Hakeem yet and not in front of ABA combined Dr J either. So Curry comes right after.
#14 is Jerry West, one of my personal favorite players. and #15 Oscar Robertson. Yes, West over Oscar for me. West went to 9 Finals compared to Oscar’s 2. West has a FMVP, Oscar has an MVP. West raises his averages in the playoffs to 29 PPG, Oscar’s drops to 22 PPG. West was also a better shooter and defender and teammate. So West, then Oscar.
#16 is Moses Malone. Moses is an underrated player, he led a 40 win Rockets team to the Finals, he had a dominant playoffs and FMVP run with the 76ers, and he’s a 3x MVP and the best offensive rebounder ever.
#17 is Kevin Durant. A bit low on this list some might say, but KD really didn’t do any favors with his legacy the past couple of years. He’s an all time great scorer and shooter, he has the rings, fmvps and an mvp, but he doesn’t seem to have alpha dog leadership mentality. And that’s something even Dr J had (which is why I rank Dr J ahead of KD). He’s probably the best beta dog to play the game though, lol
#18 is the often underrated John Havlicek. Ok, look at Havlicek’s resume and tell me how he’s not top 20: 13x All-Star, 8x Champion (8–0 in the Finals), 1x FMVP, 11x All-NBA, 8x All-Def, 26k points. How’s that not top 20?
#19 is Kevin Garnett. Giannis will eventually overtake KG’s career, but for now KG still has the longevity aspect. 15x All-Star, 4x reb champ, 1x champion, 1x mvp, 12x All-def, DPOY. KG was as complete a PF as you could find outside of Duncan/Giannis.
#20 is Karl Malone. He sits slightly ahead of Bob Pettit although you could make a case for Pettit here too if you are really going to knock Malone for the rings. But yeah 14x All-Star, 2x MVP, 14x All-NBA and 36k points. That’s consistency on the highest level.
Also just want to note that Giannis, Robinson, Pettit, Dirk and CP3 are probably going to be my next 5 in some order though all are just slightly outside of my top 20.
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