Stephen A. Smith is one of the most prominent basketball analysts today, and there’s no doubt that he will generally be willing to state his opinions on anything basketball. He definitely has fairly good knowledge of the NBA, even if he gets roasted by fans quite often for his hot takes.
One of the things that fans and analysts do is create all-time lists of NBA greats. It can certainly be fun to compare legends to one another, and there are always debates on just how good certain players are. Stephen A. Smith has recently shared his top 5 players of all-time list, which featured some Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and Magic Johnson.
My top 5 players of all-time! pic.twitter.com/s3AdTiv6pa
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 8, 2021
A notable omission from Stephen A. Smith’s list is Kobe Bryant, who is widely considered as a top 5 player all-time, due to his winning pedigree and skill level. One of Jayson Tatum’s notable quotes featured him saying that he has “a really hard time” listening to people who don’t have Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James in their top 5 lists, which is the case here. A lot of fans would agree with Tatum in this situation.
That being said, it’s also difficult to knock any of these players off Stephen A. Smith’s list. LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are all players that have arguments for being the GOAT, and it makes sense to have them positioned 1, 2, and 3. Generally, it’s tough to say that any of these players should be outside of the top 3.
The last two spots are the more arguable ones, but there’s definitely an argument for Bill Russell and Magic Johnson at 4 and 5. Bill Russell has won 11 championships, and while we do have to account for the era he played in, there’s no question that he dominated the league. Magic Johnson is the greatest point guard of all time, with multiple championships and MVPs.
Stephen A. Smith’s list overall features players you’d expect on these sorts of lists, and there’s no question that all of these players are great in their own right. No one list will satisfy everyone, but every player on Stephen A. Smith’s list has their own argument for a top 5 position, which makes it a fairly decent list.
