When it comes to greatest players of all time, people always go straight to the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James debate. That is a valid argument to bring up, but why not talk about the other players along with them, players who dedicated their lives to inspiring young athletes and earned awards like the Most Valuable Player. As the NBA season kicks off, here is a look at the top 5 NBA players of all time.

1. Michael Jordan – Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest player of all time. He played at the University of North Carolina, and then he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls, where he played 13 historic seasons.  At the time that Jordan was drafted,  the NBA was starting to die down and it was gradually losing fans. Before he was drafted the Bulls were not a good team, their record was 27-55. Jordan inspired generations of players to strive for his greatness and mirror his incredible work ethic. After Jordan left the Bulls they slowly turned back into a losing team again. To Jordan, basketball wasn’t just a game that he played for fun; he thought of it as a way to inspire kids to keep their grit and determination to reach their goals in life. “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it,” Jordan said. Also when James left the Heat they didn’t suffer the loss of him like the Bulls did with Jordan. Most players wouldn’t be where they are today if it weren’t for Michael Jordan. These are some of his most notable achievements:

• 6-0 in the NBA Finals
• 6x Final MVP
• 5x MVP
• 3x All Star Game MVP
• 1985 Rookie of the Year
• 10x All NBA First Team
• 9x All-Defensive 1st Team
• 1988 Defensive Player of the Year

2. LeBron James – LeBron James has had so many achievements throughout his long career, being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers straight out of high school. He played 11 seasons with the Cavaliers, four with the Miami Heat and six with the Los Angeles Lakers. While he is a very explosive player, what puts him so high in this list is his consistency over the years along with his ability to stay strong and healthy entering his 22nd year in the NBA. Last season he was still averaging over 25 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds per game. Although James is a very skilled player, he isn’t the greatest player of all time because he was lacking the drive that Jordan had. “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed,” Jordan said. These are just a few of his important accomplishments:

• 2004 Rookie of the Year
• 4x MVP
• 3x All Star MVP
• 4x Finals MVP
• 13x All-NBA 1st Team
• 5x All-Defensive 1st Team
• 4x NBA Champion
• Most Career Points of All Time (40,474)

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is said to be the greatest center of all time, standing at an astounding 7 feet and 2 inches tall. He played in college at UCLA and went on to start his NBA career playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. He played six seasons with the Bucks before ending his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played for 14 seasons. He is well-known for his trademark “Sky Hook” shot, which was difficult to defend. Abdul-Jabbar was a huge threat when he had the ball in the paint. In fact, his strong offensive game made him the All Time Leading Scorer in the NBA, an honor he held for 39 years. Although this record was broken in 2023 by LeBron James, he is still an amazing player with an unforgettable story. Throughout his 20-year career, he earned many awards, such as the ones below:

• 10x All-NBA 1st Team
• 6x MVP
• 2x Finals MVP
• 5x All-Defensive 1st Team
• 6x All-Defensive 2nd Team
• 1970 Rookie of the Year
• 6x NBA Champion
• 2nd Place for Most Career Points of All Time (38,387)

4. Bill Russell – Bill Russell was a great strategic player who played college ball at the University of San Francisco and was drafted by the Boston Celtics. He won 11 championships in his 13 year career with the Celtics. Russell was a great defensive player who never let anything get by him in the paint. Although he doesn’t hold the all time block leader record, he averaged 8 blocks a game over his career. He used this to his ability as he won more rings than he could fit on his fingers. He has many achievements like the ones below:

• 11x NBA Champion
• 5x MVP
• 1x All-Star MVP
• 3x All-NBA 1st Team
• 8x All-NBA 2nd Team
• 1x All-Defensive 1st Team

5. Larry Bird – Larry Bird was a memorable player who left a mark on the NBA. Bird went to college at Indiana State, where he was brought in to scrimmage the team, and later he was recruited after they saw him play. He played 13 seasons with the Boston Celtics as well. He is best known for his mentality and his competitiveness. He had a move that he was best known for and unlike the other players that wanted to surprise their opponents with their moves, Bird told his opponents what he was going to do before he did it. Most would think that could be a stupid thing to do, but because of his incredible skills he was able to make it work. Bird should be talked about more due to his fierce competitiveness and ruthless attitude. Being one of the best trash talkers of all time, he had to back it up with his game. He backed up the talk by scoring, locking up his opponents and grabbing as many rebounds as he could.  He earned many awards over the years like these ones below:

• 9x All-NBA 1st Team
• 9x All-Defensive 2nd Team
• 1x All-Star MVP
• 2x Finals MVP
• 3x MVP
• 3x NBA Champion
• 1980 Rookie of the Year