Radio host Charlamagne Tha God thinks very highly of Stephen Curry, so much so that he has the Golden State Warriors guard ahead of even LeBron James on his all-time list. Charlamagne recently appeared on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, where he surprised many by having Curry at third in his list of the five greatest NBA players ever.
“I got Steph in my top five,” Charlamagne said. “I actually got Steph number three… But when I say my list, you’ll know why. You’re not going to like lists after I say my list. My top five is Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, (LeBron James), and Magic Johnson… Steph has changed all basketball.”
(starts at 0:22 mark):
Charlamagne tha God’s top 5 players of all time:
1. Michael Jordan
2. Kobe Bryant
3. Steph Curry
4. LeBron James
5. Magic Johnson
(🎥 @7PMinBrooklyn )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 20, 2024
Everyone is entitled to their opinion when it comes to these lists, but I am not sure there have been too many that I have disagreed with more, than this one from Charlamagne. Let’s start off with the non-controversial parts of The Breakfast Club co-host’s list, though.
Charlamagne had Michael Jordan at the top and the Chicago Bulls icon remains the most popular option for that top spot, to this date. Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, 10 scoring titles, and a DPOY in his incredible career. He was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals as well.
Charlamagne had Magic Johnson at fifth and that’s about where he tends to land in these rankings. Johnson won five titles, three Finals MVPs, three MVPs, and four assists titles during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers. He is generally regarded as the greatest point guard ever, although a growing number are starting to believe Curry has surpassed him.
With that out of the way, let’s now get to the parts of Charlamagne’s list that I find a bit absurd. The 46-year-old had LeBron down at fourth, which was a shock.
James has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title in his career. The 39-year-old is also the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and I am puzzled at how anyone can rank him lower than second. Jordan is really the only player, in my opinion, whom you can make a legitimate case to be ranked ahead of James, at this point.
Curry certainly hasn’t done enough to jump ahead of LeBron, even if he has changed the game as Charlamagne pointed out. The 36-year-old has won four titles, a Finals MVP, two MVPs, and two scoring titles in his career, and certainly has quite an impressive resume. It’s just not good enough to be all the way up at No. 3, though.
As for Charlamagne having Kobe Bryant as second, I think that’s way too high, but quite a few current and former players would agree with him. In fact, some of them would even put Bryant at the top.
Kobe won five titles, two Finals MVPs, an MVP, and two scoring titles in his time in the NBA. He remains the closest thing we have seen to Jordan and undoubtedly had a phenomenal career, but I believe LeBron has surpassed him by now.
As for the most notable omission from Charlamagne’s list, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the name that comes to mind. Abdul-Jabbar won six titles, six MVPs, two Finals MVPs, and two scoring titles in his career, and was the league’s all-time leading scorer from 1984 to 2023.
I don’t think there is much debate about Kareem being one of the five greatest players ever. Jordan and James might well be the only ones I would rank above him.
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