Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday, where he got into quite an interesting conversation with host Dan Patrick about his ranking of the greatest players of all time. Kidd has Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant in his top three, but the rest is rather interesting.
Dan Patrick: “Is [Nikola Jokic] in the top 10 of all-time category?”
Jason Kidd: “I think when he’s done, he could be even [as] high as five.”
Patrick: “Where’s Steph [Curry]?”
Kidd: “Steph, Steph is gonna be in the top five, too.”
Patrick: “Wow.”
Kidd: “When you talk about when he decides to retire, Steph and Joker have the opportunity to be in the top five all-time.”
Patrick: “[Kevin] Durant.”
Kidd: “Top 10.”
Patrick: “Okay, LeBron, two. So, Mike, one.”
Kidd: “Yes.”
Patrick: “LeBron, two.”
Kidd: “Yes… Kobe.”
Patrick: “Kobe three?”
Kidd: “Yes. And then if you had to end it today would be Joker and Steph.”
Patrick: “Dang, okay. You got to take some people out. Like we’re taking Magic [Johnson] and Larry [Bird] out of the top 10?”
Kidd: “Yeah… They could be in the top 15. It’s okay. It’s all right. They’re still good. They’re still really good. Don’t get me wrong.”
Patrick: “Tim Duncan top 10?”
Kidd: “Yes.”
Patrick: “Oh, that was a quick answer. [Shaquille O’Neal] top 10?”
Kidd: “Yes.”
Patrick pointed out Kidd was going to end up with 14 players in his top 10. The Hall of Famer joked he would just sub people in and out.
Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic being in Kidd’s top five if they retired today, and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird being out of the top 10, is what stands out the most here. The two retired icons still have better resumes.
Johnson won five titles, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, and four assists titles with the Los Angeles Lakers. As for Bird, he won three titles, two Finals MVPs, and three MVPs with the Boston Celtics. You’d find these two in most top 10s. Had it not been for each other, they would have won a lot more, too.
We now get to Curry, who has won four titles, one Finals MVP, two MVPs, and two scoring titles. It’s a debate nowadays whether he or Johnson deserves the title of greatest point guard of all time. The Lakers legend is still the more popular selection.
Jokic, meanwhile, has won one title, one Finals MVP, one rebounding title, and one assists title. There has been talk about the Serb being a top 10 player of all time, but that has died down now following the Denver Nuggets‘ elimination at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. Jokic’s chances of even being regarded as a top-five big man of all time have taken a big hit with this loss.
As for Kidd’s top three, it wasn’t too surprising.
Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles. Kidd called him the GOAT earlier in the show as well, as he spoke glowingly of the Chicago Bulls icon.
James is second on the list, and he has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, one scoring title, and one assists title. Kidd was actually his assistant coach on the Lakers from 2019 to 2021, but isn’t putting him at the top.
Lastly, we get to Bryant, who won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles. The media doesn’t tend to have him this high, but many former players like Kidd do.
