The 100 Best Players in Basketball History, the Conclusion.

The previous installment is here.

We’ve gone through the careers of almost all of the 150 players in basketball history with the most total win shares in an effort to find the new top 50/top 100 players who ever lived. 

20 left.

20. Magic Johnson 188.42 PG 1096 .172

Magic, as of this second, has a ten win lead on LeBron, but is .03 behind him per game; you could go either way – but that won’t be true a year from now.

We make King James wait a year and say that Magic takes over as number one overall.

19. Jerry West 189.33 SG 1085 .174

Look how West and Magic have nearly identical careers.  New number one (James is going by both next year)

18. Bill Russell 191.27 C 1128 .170

So close, Russell’s got a little more career value and a little less per game value than the two Lakers; he moves into first (but a year from now…LeBron)

17. Moses Malone 193.95 C 1555 .125

Moses steps back in per game value; he loses the coin flip to Bird, but goes ahead of Mikan.

16. Reggie Miller 194.3 SG 1533 .127

Like Moses, but a tick better.  Just behind Bird. 

15. David Robinson 196.19 C 1110 .178

With only 14 players left – the best basketball player ever is the Admiral.  LeBron probably catches him in a year too.

14. Dirk Nowitzki 196.42 PF 1236 .159

Dirk and LeBron are close right now when playing off the career against the per game; I’ll keep consistent and give Dirk the coin flip for one more year.  By the way – no debate, much more career value and nearly the same per game value, if Dirk retires today he’s better than Bird. 

13. Charles Barkley 196.73 PF 1196 .164

Charles Barkley’s career value gets him right behind only Robinson.

12. Kobe Bryant 201.59 SG 1459 .138

Kobe finishes between LeBron and Dirk.  For one more year.

11. Artis Gilmore 202.84 C 1429 .142

Gilmore lands right above Kobe. 

10. Oscar Robertson 202.26 PG 1126 .180

Look at Oscar; not only the most wins but a higher per game value than anyone since LeBron. 

9. Kevin Garnett 203 PF 1454 .140

Right above Gilmore is KG…we are getting down to it. That knocks James out of the top 10…for one more year.

8. Julius Erving 208 SF 1432 .145

Ahead of his old teammate Barkley comes Doc. 

7. Shaquille O'Neal 212.79 C 1423 .150

Shaq is just above the Admiral.  3 left.

6. Tim Duncan 217.3 C 1391 .156

He has more value left – but doesn’t need it to be the overall number one with only five players left. 

5. John Stockton 229.05 G 1686 .136

A jump in career value to Stockton, that is going to get him above Oscar. 

4.       Michael Jordan 253.78 G 1251 .203

LeBron’s a little bit away – he’d need 70 wins and not give up much at all from his career value; it’s 4 years – check back in 2017.  3 left – can anyone catch Jordan?

3. Karl Malone 257.62 F 1669 .154

Duncan will never catch Malone – he’s 40 wins away.  Only two left, at worst, that Utah team had two of the 6 greatest players who ever lived to this date.

2.       Wilt Chamberlain 278.72 C 1215 .229

Only MIkan has more per game and only the next guy has more career – the Dipper is going to take this thing. Jordan isn’t close. 

1.       Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 308.97 C 1797 .172

I spoke too soon.  Now it’s a question of Wilt’s per game advantage vs. Kareem’s  career advantage.  It’s a flat coin flip, really just a matter of preference. 

Here’s the final list…

1.       Wilt Chamberlain

2.       Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

3.       Michael Jordan

4.       Karl Malone

5.       Tim Duncan

6.       John Stockton

7.       Oscar Robertson

8.       Shaquille O’Neal

9.       David Robinson

10.   Julius Erving

11.   Charles Barkley

12.   Bill Russell

13.   Jerry West

14.   Magic Johnson

15.   Dirk Nowitzki

16.   Kevin Garnett

17.   Artis Gilmore

18.   Kobe Bryant

19.   LeBron James

20.   Hakeem Olajuwon

21.   Larry Bird

22.   Reggie Miller

23.   Moses Malone

24.   George Mikan

25.   Dan Issel

26.   Bob Pettit

27.   Dolph Schayes

28.   Ray Allen

29.   Paul Pierce

30.   Clyde Drexler

31.   Adrian Dantley

32.   Robert Parish

33.   Gary Payton

34.   Steve Nash

35.   Rick Barry

36.   Jason Kidd

37.   John Havlicek

38.   Scottie Pippen

39.   Chauncey Billups

40.   Walt Frazier

41.   Chris Paul

42.   Walt Bellamy

43.   Patrick Ewing

44.   Dwyane Wade

45.   Kevin McHale

46.   Horace Grant

47.   Paul Arizin

48.   Pau Gasol

49.   Bob Lanier

50.   Shawn Marion

That's the New 50 Best Player List.  Here's the rest of the top 100. 

51.   Chet Walker

52.   George Gervin

53.   Elgin Baylor

54.   Bailey Howell

55.   Zelmo Beaty

56.   Elvin Hayes

57.   Wes Unseld

58.   Dominique Wilkins

59.   Ed Macauley

60.   Neil Johnston

61.   Dikembe Mutombo

62.   Buck Williams

63.   Jeff Hornacek

64.   Larry Nance

65.   Jack Sikma

66.   Vince Carter

67.   Dwight Howard

68.   Rasheed Wallace

69.   Bill Laimbeer

70.   Terry Porter

71.   Maurice Cheeks

72.   Detlef Schrempf

73.   Elton Brand

74.   Manu Ginobli

75.   Kevin Johnson

76.   Eddie Jones

77.   Sam Jones

78.   Allen Iverson

79.   Jerry Lucas

80.   Sam Perkins

81.   Bobby Jones

82.   Otis Thorpe

83.   Sidney Moncrief

84.   Chris Bosh

85.   Hal Greer

86.   Ben Wallace

87.   Tracy McGrady

88.   Alex English

89.   Grant Hill

90.   Tony Parker

91.   Bob Cousy

92.   Dave Cowens

93.   Amare Stoudemire

94.   Alonzo Mourning

95.   Vern Mikkelson

96.   Bill Sharman

97.   Dennis Rodman

98.   Vlade Divac

99.   Hersey Hawkins

100.                        Bob McAdoo