Every time an NBA list and/or ranking comes out, fans have plenty of things to say about them. Hypothetical scenarios, debates about the greatest player ever, the greatest shooter, the best team in league history, and more are a daily thing for the NBA community.
It’s not strange to see many people engaging in heated debates about who was better, who could be successful in this or that era, etc. This is a common thing in the association, and things get a lot more heated when we talk about the greatest players of all time.
Picking the greatest ballers to ever do it is a pretty difficult job. The Athletic tried to do it, selecting the best 75 players in league history. Michael Jordan and LeBron James finished at 1st and 2nd, respectively, as this is the consensus right now. However, after we see Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 3rd, the situation gets tenser.
The Athletic’s ranking of the 75 Greatest players in NBA History. 👀
(https://t.co/bi6zGKYrJC) pic.twitter.com/yqdMCjzPd3
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 18, 2022
After the site published the full list, many fans debated about what player deserved to have a higher spot, which player was better than others, and even the ones that didn’t deserve to be part of this list.
— Gard (@edortiz23) February 19, 2022
I ain’t even a Kobe fan and even I know he better than Larry bird lol
— FOLLOW ~ asl.bsky.social ~ FOLLOW (@TheAlanShane) February 18, 2022
Steph is more of a great shooter than a great player. Not hating, but he is right where he should be on this list.
— Larry DC (@donn_l) February 18, 2022
Oooooooo the Kobe fans are gonna be pissed. They are gonna call everyone casuals and other nonsense for speaking the truth😂😂😂
— SidVicious (@sidvicious03) February 18, 2022
Kobe being #10 is absolutely INSANE. But, cool list.
— P (@__PauPau11__) February 19, 2022
Is a huge gap between MJ and someone else.
— Luis lion (@luislallo82) February 19, 2022
Kobe at 10…. Lmao what is this list 😭
— 𝕵𝖆𝖗𝖎❄️🎄 (@JariDaRealist) February 18, 2022
LeBron James should be number 1 and y’all are disrespecting Dwyane Wade. He is top 15 all time.
— Dami (@KingDami5299) February 18, 2022
Stephen Curry is 20x better than Oscar Robertson and it's not even close
— rodlo 🪬 (@roddystr) February 18, 2022
Stockton over CP3, Westbrook, and Nash is disgusting
— Luol Deng MVP🔅 (@LuolDengMVP) February 18, 2022
Kobe went to 3 straight and won b2b with Pau as his robbin. Only 1 team in the west playoffs from 08-10 had less than 50 wins. Yes he had great teams but what championship teams arent great? 2 injured starters in ‘08 finals away from a possible 2nd 3 peat. Top 5 ever no question pic.twitter.com/n8gd6lLbVO
— KoBean (@kobeanx) February 18, 2022
Unpopular opinion but Bird>Magic
— Juan Carlos Gamez (@gamez702) February 18, 2022
Some disagreements obviously but overall not a terrible list
— Mike O (@mopengari) February 19, 2022
LeBron has had 7 of these guys as teammates. On 3 different teams. That's how sad his legacy is. He needed that much help, everywhere he went, just to go 3-6-1.
— . (@ItLandedHere) February 18, 2022
https://twitter.com/One9ND/status/1494859990867271685
Nothing makes bill Russell or Kareem as good as wilt. No stat, no accolade or anything makes these individuals better than wilt. Throw the list away. And if match ups mean anything .. Kobe is 4-2 against Tim Duncan so tell me again why Russell is over wilt.
— Cha Skillz (@CheyenneTweets) February 18, 2022
Dame in another top 75 list pic.twitter.com/4BHaTjBYLY
— Nets Insider (@notoriousbknets) February 18, 2022
Ignoring the fact that Kobe should be 2 Tim Duncan and Kobe were in the league roughly at the same time and at NO time was Tim better Kobe
— Kari🦉 (@AyoKari_) February 18, 2022
https://twitter.com/Swole_Pigeon/status/1494878240888221696
This whole list is debatable but, I’m not ok with shaq being over Kobe all time. More dominant? For a 6-8 year stretch of course shaq was THE most dominant, but all time? Kobe was more consistently great. Other than that, everything is really just opinionated.
— RedE4NBA2K (@RedE4NBA2K) February 18, 2022
Ok last one.. d wade behind Dirk??? Stop it… d wade ahead of everyone between him and dirk..
— MF jones (@tha_sauce_boss_) February 18, 2022
Giannis at 24. 9 years in his NBA career and is the 24th best basketball player EVER. Come on man.
— Joe Buriak (@urbudyjoe) February 18, 2022
Barkley over Wade is just ridiculous.
Kobe > Shaq for no. 8
Lillard shouldn't be here
Westbrook should be in the 60s not 46
Kawhi Leonard > James Harden
— VP Heat 🔥 (@xHeatLifer) February 18, 2022
These lists/rankings will always be controversial. Everybody will have something to say, making a case for their favorite player while blasting others they don’t like. We saw a lot of that in this debate, but there’s nothing anybody can do now that the list is official. You can also check our list of the 75 greatest NBA players of all time.
Like many people have said recently, it’s time to start appreciating greatness instead of looking for the minimum detail to trash players. Once they’re gone, we’ll miss them a lot, so it’s better to enjoy their game while they’re here and don’t waste time in pointless arguments.
