Top 100 NBA Players: #8

Larry Bird

(Kalb: #6, Simmons: #5, BBR: #8)

Larry Bird was one of the most dominant players of the 1980's, and he put together one of the greatest 4-year runs of any player in NBA history, but back problems ended his career prematurely and prevented him from fulfilling him potential as possibly the greatest player of all time.

When Larry Bird and Magic Johnson arrived in the NBA in 1979, they were perhaps the most anticipated pair of rookies in history, and they did not disappoint. Nearly every season for the next decade ended with one of them hoisting the championship trophy, with three of those belonging to Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Bird was their best player from the day he entered the league until the day he walked away.

In just his second season in the NBA, he had arrived as one of the top 5 players in the NBA, and Boston finished the season with the league's top record. That season, Bird won his first NBA championship, but was not awarded the Finals MVP award because of a subpar performance in the Finals, although it's pretty obvious from looking at the overall playoff statistics of Bird and Cedric Maxwell, who won the award, that Bird was the team's best player:

Bird - 21.9 pts, 14.0 reb, 6.1 ast, 2.3 stl, 1.0 blk, .470 FG%, .375 3P%, .894 FT%
Maxwell - 16.1 pts, 7.4 reb, 2.7 ast, 0.7 stl, 0.9 blk, .580 FG%, .818 FT%

Bird was the better player of the two by far, but because of the perception that he wasn't playing as well as he normally did, he was not rewarded with the MVP he deserved. A couple of years later, Bird turned up his game to another level and ensured that he would not be denied any award he deserved again.

For the next four seasons, Bird was easily the best player in the league, piling up some of the most dominant seasons in history right in a row, and each of those four seasons ended in the NBA Finals, with two titles and two seasons as the runner-up. His stats over those four seasons are incredible, as you can see below:

Bird (1983-1987) - 26.6 pts, 9.9 reb, 6.9 ast, 1.8 stl, .509 FG%, .395 3P%, .894 FT%

Only four other players have ever had shooting percentages that high during a single season, including Steve Nash, and only one other player ever reached those heights in the three major categories for a full season, Oscar Robertson. Bird had one more great season left, in which he set career highs in scoring average, shooting percentage, and free throw percentage, but by that time a new, younger force had emerged as the league's top player, a young man named Michael Jordan.

The next season, Bird only played in the first six games before ending his season early to have surgery on both feet, and once he returned, back issues prevented him from ever regaining the form he had before the injuries. The Celtics never made it back to the Conference Finals during the final years of Bird's career, but with all he accomplished in a relatively short time, there is no way to argue that he doesn't belong in the discussion as one of the best players of all time.

Bird's career did not last as long as Duncan's, and he does not have as many championships either, but he did lead one more team to the Finals, and the level of play he reached during the prime of his career was far beyond anything Duncan was ever able to do, but another championship this season could push Duncan close enough that he could pass Bird at some point in the near future.

Top 100 NBA Players: #9

Tim Duncan

(Kalb: #9, Simmons: #7, BBR: #17)

Tim Duncan has been one of the most consistent players in NBA history, and though his quiet demeanor makes him easy to overlook, he has played at such a high level since the day he entered the league and has seen so much success that he can't be left out of the top 10.

When Duncan arrived in the NBA in 1997 as the #1 overall pick, he was immediately paired with recent MVP and fellow big man David Robinson in the frontcourt for the San Antonio Spurs, and he immediately established himself as one of the best players in the league. In fact, during his rookie season, only Karl Malone and Michael Jordan were better, and Duncan won the Rookie of the Month award every month of the season and was nearly a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.

The next season, with Jordan gone, Duncan took advantage of the void at the top and became the best player in the NBA in just his second season as a pro. His nearest competition that year was fellow power forward Karl Malone, and though Malone was voted MVP that season, Duncan took the more impressive trophy home that season, earning his first Finals MVP award. I believe that he should have won both awards that season, and here are the numbers for both players to show why:

Duncan - 21.7 pts, 11.4 reb, 2.4 ast, 2.5 blk, .495 FG%, .690 FT%
Malone - 23.8 pts, 9.4 reb, 4.1 ast, 0.6 blk, .493 FG%, .788 FT%

Malone was a slightly better offensive player than Duncan that year, but Duncan was easily the better defensive player, and the two teams ended up with identical records to finish the regular season, so Duncan should have been rewarded, but was overlooked because Malone was more experienced.

San Antonio was unable to repeat as champions the following season, because Duncan injured his knee right before the playoffs and the Spurs lost in the first round. After working hard for a couple seasons to get back to his peak level again, Duncan again became the league's dominant player in 2002, edging out Kobe and Shaq as the best players during the regular season and winning the MVP award. Unfortunately, he and the Spurs were no match for the Lakers in the playoffs, who knocked them out in the second round.

The next season, Duncan was once again the top player in the league and headed to the playoffs with his second MVP in hand, with different results this time. When they met up with the Lakers in the second round again, they avenged their previous losses and knocked out the 3-time defending champs in 6 games, clearing the path for Duncan to earn his second championship ring and the Finals MVP award to go with it.

Duncan remained one of the top 10 players in the league for the next several years, and the Spurs were perennial championship contenders, which is of itself a testament to his greatness. He is currently playing his 15th season, and the Spurs have made the playoffs in each of those seasons, winning 4 championships along the way. Duncan has won two MVP's and 3 Finals MVP's, although each of those numbers should have been increased by one, since Duncan didn't earn the MVP he earned in 1999, and he was still the best Spur on the 2007 championship teams, despite the fact that Tony Parker was awarded that season's Finals MVP.

There are only two other players who can claim that they were the best player for that many regular seasons and for that many championship teams as well: George Mikan and Michael Jordan. While Duncan has lost a step over the last few years, he is still one of the best players on one of the best teams in the league, and still ranks as one of the top 20 players in the league at age 35. The four titles San Antonio has won during the Duncan era puts San Antonio at #4 all time in total titles, behind only the Lakers, Celtics, and Bulls. About the only bad thing you can say about him is that he was never able to defend a championship the following year.

Duncan and West's career charts match up more closely than any others I have seen so far, with the only difference being that Duncan has been a little more consistent as he nears the end of his career, while West was a little more up-and-down. West obviously made it to the Finals much more often than Duncan has, but Duncan has the advantage of having won the title each time he got there, and he was also able to claim the title of league's best player for several years, which West never accomplished.

Updated NBA Playoff Odds

The first round of the playoffs is in full swing, and injuries have already made a huge impact, with Derrick Rose and Amare Stoudemire leaving their teams shorthanded with serious injuries, and Rajon Rondo sitting out a game due to suspension. Four underdogs have already stolen home court advantage from the favorites, which means that the odds have been shaken up quite a bit. These are the newly updated odds of each team advancing in the playoffs and winning the championship this year.

Most Likely First Round Upsets

1. LA Clippers over Memphis - 57.7%
2. Philadelphia over Chicago - 53.3%
3. Denver over LA Lakers - 39.9%
4. Atlanta over Boston - 31.2%

When the Clippers stormed back from 27 down to steal Game 1 in Memphis, it marked LA's other team as the most likely to pull an upset in the first round. That win gave them the home court advantage in the series, with three of the next four games in Los Angeles. Philadelphia wasn't even on the upset radar heading into the series with Chicago, but when Derrick Rose went down late in Game 1 with a torn ACL, Chicago was deflated and the 76ers have taken two straight games and are now favored to win the series. Denver's upset odds have decreased slightly because they weren't able to win in Los Angeles, but by winning their first home game of the series they proved that they are still alive and could knock off the Lakers. Atlanta also saw their odds dip after Boston took Game 2 in Atlanta without Rondo, but these two teams are so evenly matched that Atlanta could still take it, but they must win at least once in Boston.

Most Likely First Round Winners

1. Oklahoma City over Dallas - 98.3%
2. Miami over New York - 98.0%
3. San Antonio over Utah - 97.6%
4. Indiana over Orlando - 83.7%

The top three are all looking like sweeps, with the Spurs a little behind the others in the odds since they've only played two games. Orlando has at least put up a fight and even won a game in Indiana, but the Pacers took back the home court by returning the favor in the first game in Orlando. These four series will not last much longer.

Most Likely to Make Conference Finals

Previous ranking and percent change both in parentheses.

1. (1) San Antonio - 82.0% (+8.3)
2. (3) Oklahoma City - 72.1% (+14.7)
3. (4) Miami - 70.1% (+27.6)
4. (2) Chicago - 33.9% (-25.6)
5. (8) Boston - 28.1% (+12.0)
6. (5) Indiana - 26.9% (-3.0)
7. (13) Philadelphia - 25.1% (+16.6)
8. (11) LA Lakers - 13.7% (+3.2)
9. (6) Denver - 13.4% (-10.7)
10. (9) Atlanta - 12.9% (-3.0)
11. (10) LA Clippers - 10.8% (-1.8)
12. (12) Memphis - 6.4% (-3.5)
13. (15) Orlando - 2.1% (-4.7)

The other three teams are so unlikely to even win in the first round that their odds of winning two rounds is basically zero. The chance that we'll see the Spurs and Thunder battle it out in the West is looking pretty good, and it would be a great matchup of youth vs. experience. Miami has done more for its image this week than any other team, and that has allowed them to make a big jump here, even as their opponent in the Conference Finals becomes less clear.

Most Likely to Make NBA Finals

1. (1) San Antonio - 60.0% (+6.0)
2. (4) Miami - 42.2% (+23.2)
3. (3) Oklahoma City - 27.8% (+2.4)
4. (2) Chicago - 21.0% (-22.8)
5. (5) Indiana - 11.9% (+1.7)
6. (6) Boston - 10.3% (+2.4)
7. (12) Philadelphia - 9.1% (+5.6)
8. (7) Atlanta - 4.8% (-2.7)
9. (10) LA Clippers - 4.1% (-1.1)
10. (8) Denver - 3.4% (-3.7)
11. (13) LA Lakers - 2.3% (+0.2)
12. (11) Memphis - 2.1% (-1.5)

It is becoming increasingly likely that the Spurs will make their fifth trip to the Finals in the Tim Duncan era, and while Miami is their most likely opponent, there are still four or five teams in the East with a reasonable shot of meeting them there. Oklahoma City is the only team in the West who looks like a candidate to take out the Spurs before that point.

Most Likely to Win the NBA Championship

1. (1) San Antonio - 43.5% (+6.2)
2. (4) Miami - 16.9% (+10.0)
3. (3) Oklahoma City - 15.9% (+1.5)
4. (2) Chicago - 10.2% (-13.8)
5. (5) Indiana - 3.1% (+0.3)
6. (7) Boston - 2.5% (+0.2)
7. (NR) Philadelphia - 2.2% (+2.2)
8. (9) LA Clippers - 1.6% (-0.4)
9. (5) Denver - 1.3% (-1.5)
10. (8) Atlanta - 1.2% (-0.9)

There are still only 4 teams that have a real chance to win the championship, and San Antonio is definitely the favorite at this point. Miami is the hottest team in the playoffs right now, and Chicago is still in the running despite losing Rose, because they played a good portion of the season without him anyway and still earned the top overall seed, which gives them home court advantage no matter who they play the rest of the way.

Top 100 NBA Players: #10

Jerry West

(Kalb: #12, Simmons: #8, BBR: #16)

What better way to kick off the top 10 than with the player that the NBA chose to model its logo after? Jerry West was one of those rare players who would have been great in any era, and may have been remembered even more fondly if his career had come just a decade later.

Among the top 10 players of all time, West has fewer championships than 8 of the others. But if you examine his career closely, you'll see that he was one of the greatest winners of all time, just not a perennial champion. He played a total of 14 seasons in the NBA, and 9 of those seasons ended in the NBA Finals. 6 times those losses came to Bill Russell's Boston Celtics, with West as Elgin Baylor's sidekick during the first three losses and as the Lakers star during the next three losses. West's dominance continued after the end of the Celtics dynasty, and the Lakers made three more trips to the Finals in the 1970's, facing the New York Knicks each time, with the Lakers finally winning a title in 1972. Wilt Chamberlain was named the MVP of that Finals, but West was the Lakers' best player and should have been given the award. Here is a comparison of their stats from that season's playoffs:

West - 22.9 pts, 4.9 reb, 8.9 ast, .376 FG%, .830 FT%
Chamberlain - 14.7 pts, 21.0 reb, 3.3 ast, .563 FG%, .492 FT%

Wilt's 21 rebounds per game were probably what caught the voters' attention, but West either scored or assisted on over 40 points per game for the Lakers, nearly double Chamberlain's average. West had won a Finals MVP before, so I guess it evened things out, but it's pretty impressive to note that when West won the Finals MVP in 1969, he was the only player in history to win the award despite playing for the losing team. He earned it with one of the greatest Finals performances of all time, which included 53 points in Game 1 and a triple-double of 42 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in Game 7, which the Lakers lost by 2.

West also holds the distinction of posting the highest scoring average over the course of a playoff series, and is the only player in the top 5 besides Michael Jordan. In the 1965 Western Conference Finals, West averaged 46.3 points per game, a record which many have approached but none have surpassed in the last 47 years. His scoring average for the entire playoffs was 40.6, which is still the highest in history.

It was unfortunate for West to have played in the 1960's more multiple reasons. One obvious one was the dominance of the Celtics during that period, but there are a couple of other reasons as well. One is that steals were not recorded until West's final season, in which he only played 31 games due to a career-ending injury. In that short span, he averaged 2.6 steals per game, at the tail end of his career. He would probably have been remembered as the greatest defensive guard in NBA history if they had just kept track of them, but his opponents still remember how tough he was on both ends of the floor.

The other thing that would have helped West if he had played in a later era was the three-point line. West was well-known for his shooting range, and one of his most famous moments involved a very long shot. In Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals, New York took a 2-point lead with just seconds remaining, and since the Lakers were out of timeouts, West took the inbound pass and heaved a shot from 60 feet that was right on target, tying the game (since there was no three-point line) and keeping the Lakers alive. Because of that and several other big moments near the end of games, West earned the nickname "Mr. Clutch."

West was the best player on 6 NBA Finals teams, a feat that only three other players can boast of. Those players are Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Bill Russell, and though those players seemed to win a lot more often, you cannot take away West's greatness from the lack of rings on his fingers. It has been said that the only thing lacking in his game was the ability to play above the rim, but West would still be recognized as a star in today's NBA.

The career paths of West and Olajuwon look pretty similar, with West starting out a little stronger, and Olajuwon coming on a little later in his career. Each was among the greatest defensive players ever at his respective position, and each led his team to a championship late in his career. While Hakeem was able to complete the trick twice, his overall Finals record of 2-1 still doesn't quite compare to West's, even though the Lakers great ended up at 1-8 in the title series, because he was there three times as often as Olajuwon.

NBA Playoff Odds

The regular season has ended, and the playoffs are starting in just a few hours, giving team very little time to prepare for their first opponents, but keeping the fans interested and involved by reducing down time. The top four teams have been set in stone for months it seems, and those four teams are still the most likely to win the championship, but there are several other teams that could make runs deep into the playoffs. A couple of playoff teams have been weakened by injury or suspension, and it could cause those teams to exit the playoffs a little faster than expected. Here are my odds for teams advancing in the playoffs, and the odds of seeing various Finals matchups, along with my predictions for how the playoffs will shake out.

Most Likely First Round Upsets

1. Denver over LA Lakers - 61.3%
2. LA Clippers over Memphis - 52.1%
3. Atlanta over Boston - 50.8%
4. New York over Miami - 37.9%

The Lakers have been weakened by the loss of "World Peace," possibly the least accurate name ever chosen, and Kobe has had his worst shooting season of his career. The Lakers played better when he was out, so I just don't see them beating a Denver team that is getting healthy at the right time. The Clippers and Memphis switched spots on the last day of the season, but with the way Chris Paul turns it on in the playoffs, I don't see them going down in the first round. Atlanta is technically an upset, since they are the #5 seed, but since they have a better record than the Celtics, who won their division to earn the #4 seed, the Hawks have home court advantage in the first round, which gives them a slight advantage. I'm not picking New York to beat Miami, but of all the top teams, Miami seems to be the most likely to drop the ball in the first round, and who better to knock them out than their hated rivals up in New York?

Most Likely First Round Winners

1. San Antonio over Utah - 89.4%
2. Oklahoma City over Dallas - 79.5%
2. Chicago over Philadelphia - 79.5%
4. Indiana over Orlando - 71.5%

The Spurs just completed their third double-digit winning streak of the season, which is especially impressive considering that the season was shortened by 16 games. It's also worth noting that the first two streaks ended by choice, with the Spurs choosing to rest their stars each time a winning streak reached 11, but don't expect that to happen again. The Jazz already got their free victory from the Spurs this month. Orlando is the worst team in the playoffs, thanks to Dwight Howard's injury, but I'm not sure they were really that good with him either, because of all the internal problems he's caused with trade demands and trying to get rid of his coach. Look for the Pacers to win that series easily.

Most Likely to Make Conference Finals

1. San Antonio - 73.7%
2. Chicago - 59.5%
3. Oklahoma City - 57.4%
4. Miami - 42.5%
5. Indiana - 29.9%
6. Denver - 24.1%
7. New York - 20.7%
8. Boston - 16.1%
9. Atlanta - 15.9%
10. LA Clippers - 12.6%
11. LA Lakers - 10.5%
12. Memphis - 9.9%
13. Philadelphia - 8.5%
14. Dallas - 8.0%
15. Orlando - 6.8%
16. Utah - 3.9%

The top seeds are the most likely to make it to the conference finals, but Denver could surprise some people out West coming out of the #6 spot, while the East is full of teams that could potentially pull an upset, including the surprising star-free Pacers, the big-man-heavy Knicks, and the experienced Celtics. This is one of the first times in recent memory where the Eastern Conference is the more wide-open conference.

Most Likely the Make the NBA Finals

1. San Antonio - 54.0%
2. Chicago - 43.8%
3. Oklahoma City - 25.4%
4. Miami - 19.0%
5. Indiana - 10.2%
6. Boston - 7.9%
7. Atlanta - 7.5%
8. Denver - 7.1%
9. New York - 7.0%
10. LA Clippers - 5.2%
11. Memphis - 3.6%
12. Philadelphia - 3.5%
13. LA Lakers - 2.1%
14. Dallas - 1.5%
15. Orlando - 1.2%
16. Utah - 1.1%

Other than the top 4, the only team that has a strong chance of making the Finals is Indiana. The top 4 teams have all been ranked among my top 5 teams for over 2 months, and it's unlikely that you won't see some pairing of them in the Finals this year.

Most Likely Champions

1. San Antonio - 37.3%
2. Chicago - 24.0%
3. Oklahoma City - 14.4%
4. Miami - 6.9%
5. Indiana - 2.8%
5. Denver - 2.8%
7. Boston - 2.3%
8. Atlanta - 2.1%
9. LA Clippers - 2.0%
10. New York - 1.9%
11. Memphis - 1.3%

The other 5 teams have no chance at winning and are not even worth mentioning, except for the fact that one of them is West #3 seed Los Angeles and another is the defending champion Dallas Mavericks.

Finals Matchup Odds

Dallas vs. Miami rematch - 0.3%
Lakers vs. Celtics - 0.2%

Not gonna happen.

2 Former MVP's - 40.7% (James, Nowitzki, Bryant, Duncan, Garnett, Rose)

It's amazing that each of these players is still pretty relevant. The only former MVP to miss the playoffs this year was Steve Nash.

Former Scoring Leaders - 7.3% (Durant, James, Wade, Bryant, McGrady)

Did you even know McGrady was still in the league? Apparently he's averaging 5 points per game off the bench for Atlanta.

Carmelo past vs. Carmelo present - 0.5%

The most interesting thing here is that the Nuggets, a team with no stars, has a better chance of getting there than the Knicks, with their two high-priced superstars.

Former Rebounding Leaders - 0.0%

The only rebounding champ who will be in the playoffs is Garnett, because Howard is out with an injury, and Kevin Love and Ben Wallace play on crappy teams.

Former Assist Leaders - 1.1% (Kidd, Andre Miller, Rondo, Paul)

Wouldn't Rondo vs. Paul be a great point guard matchup in the Finals? Two great little guards who fill up the stat sheet facing off would be awesome.

Former Finals MVP's - 15.4% (Pierce, Nowitzki, Bryant, Duncan, Parker, Wade)

It's very interesting that each of these players is still with the team where they won the award, and none has even played for another NBA team. Is that a bad omen for LeBron?

Playoff Predictions

Upset picks are in italics.

First Round

Bulls over 76ers in 5
Celtics over Hawks in 6
Pacers over Magic in 5
Heat over Knicks in 7
Spurs over Jazz in 5
Clippers over Grizzlies in 6
Nuggets over Lakers in 6
Thunder over Mavericks in 5

Second Round

Bulls over Celtics in 5
Heat over Pacers in 7
Spurs over Clippers in 5
Thunder over Nuggets in 5

Conference Finals

Bulls over Heat in 5
Spurs over Thunder in 5

NBA Finals

Spurs over Bulls in 7

Tim Duncan pulls into a tie with Kobe Bryant as the active player with the most rings and joins Kareem, Havlicek, Horry, and Parish as the only players to win championships at least 13 years apart.

Top 100 NBA Players: #11

Hakeem Olajuwon

(Kalb: #16, Simmons: #10, BBR: #9)

Hakeem Olajuwon is undoubtedly one of the greatest centers of all time and easily the best modern defensive center the NBA has seen. He is the best player who was not born as a United States citizen, and he peaked at exactly the right time, which allowed him to win a couple of championships and cement his place as one of the all-time greats.

Hakeem grew up primarily playing soccer in his native Nigeria, but when he was introduced to basketball as a teenager, he knew he had found his calling in life. He was only offered a spot on one college team, at the University of Houston, and after a couple of years training with local pro and NBA MVP Moses Malone, Olajuwon led the Cougars to two consecutive national championship games before being drafted by the Houston Rockets as the #1 pick in the NBA Draft, two spots ahead of Michael Jordan.

The Rockets started seeing success pretty quickly, making it to the NBA Finals in Hakeem's second season, where they lost to the Boston Celtics, whose 1986 team is regarded as one of the greatest teams in history. It looked like the Rockets were going to be a force for years to come, but because of a series of injuries to Ralph Sampson and their inability to get any decent players to play with Olajuwon, Houston suffered through several disappointing seasons.

Everything finally came together in 1993-94, beginning with the retirement of Michael Jordan in the offseason. Olajuwon took advantage of the hole left at the top of the league and had one of the most impressive seasons in history, becoming the only player ever to win the regular season MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year Award in the same season.

The next year, things didn't look quite as good, with David Robinson and the Spurs dominating the regular season and Olajuwon dealing with some health issues near the end of the year, but with a late-season trade that brought college teammate Clyde Drexler to town, the Rockets were able to become the lowest-seeded team in history to win the NBA Finals, and Olajuwon repeated as Finals MVP.

Olajuwon is well-known as a great shot-blocker, and he still holds the record for most shots blocked in a career, although they have only been recorded for half of the league's history. Not only was he great at blocking shots, he was always among the leaders in steals as well, and in 1989 he became the only player in history to record more than 200 blocks and 200 steals in the same season. In fact, there have only been 8 seasons in which a player reached 150-150, and four of those belong to Olajuwon. He is definitely one of the greatest defensive players of all time.

Olajuwon was also great on the offensive end of the court, averaging over 20 points per game for 13 consecutive seasons to start his career, and his moves in the low post have become legendary, especially his patented "Dream Shake," which involved numerous fakes and spins and allowed him to get a ton of easy shots near the hoop. He now hosts a camp each summer where he teaches footwork in the paint, and many NBA stars have trained with him, including Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.

What really made Olajuwon great is that he stepped up his game when it mattered most, especially against the toughest competition. During his two championship seasons, he outplayed David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Patrick Ewing in the playoffs, and also beat teams led by Karl Malone and Charles Barkley. When Robinson won the regular season MVP in 1995, Olajuwon made a point of completely dismantling him in the Western Conference Finals, and Robinson was never the same player again.

The thing that held him back from making the all-time top 10 was that his three-year peak was relatively short for a great player, and happened to coincide nicely with Jordan's first retirement, then abruptly ended when Jordan returned. He played in an era with many other great centers, and he was the best of any of them during his peak years, but he was only one of the top 5 players in the league for 5 seasons, which was a relatively short period, especially when compared to the players that make up my top 10.

Hakeem Olajuwon was only the best player in the NBA for one season, while LeBron has already done it 6 times, but Hakeem has a couple of advantages over James. One is that he has won a couple of NBA Championships as the best player on his team, while LeBron has lost a couple of NBA Finals as his team's best player. Olajuwon also made one other trip to the penultimate series, so he also holds the edge in Finals appearances. The other thing that puts Olajuwon ahead is that he had a very long career, and was among the NBA's best for the majority of it, so LeBron needs to keep up his current level of play for a little longer in order to pass the best foreign player ever.

Top 100 NBA Players: #12

LeBron James

(Simmons: #20, BBR: #19)

LeBron James is the third-youngest player in this entire list, yet he has somehow risen to #12 already, and the sky is the limit for him, whether you are a fan of his or not. Many try to say that LeBron is not that great, that he'll never be as great as Michael Jordan, but there are problems with that reasoning.

People say that Jordan was greater because he won 6 titles, and LeBron has yet to win one. The problem is that we are comparing 1990's Jordan with 2000's LeBron, when we should be comparing current LeBron with 1980's Jordan. At the end of last season, when these rankings were created, LeBron James was 26 years old. Here is a comparison of the career accomplishments and statistics of Jordan and LeBron at age 26:

Jordan - 6 playoffs, 2 conference finals, 0 NBA Finals, 1 MVP, 3 years as best player in the league
James - 6 playoffs, 3 conference finals, 2 NBA Finals, 2 MVP, 6 years as best player in the league

Jordan - 32.8 pts, 6.3 reb, 6.0 ast, 2.8 stl, 1.1 blk, .516 FG%, .282 3P%, .848 FT%
James - 27.7 pts, 7.1 reb, 7.0 ast, 1.7 stl, 0.8 blk, .479 FG%, .329 3P%, .744 FT%

When looking at them statistically, LeBron has more triple-double potential, but Jordan was still a little better overall. When looking at their accomplishments at age 26, LeBron is the clear-cut winner, matching or beating Jordan in every category. The fact is that back in the 1980's, people were saying the same things about Jordan that they now say about LeBron, that he's great but he'll never lead his team to a title, that he doesn't know how to involve his teammates enough, etc. At age 27, Michael Jordan won his first of six NBA Championships. If LeBron wants to eventually be remembered as equal to or greater than Jordan, and potentially as the greatest player of all time, the titles have to start coming soon.

LeBron is the only player in history to own career averages of 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists per game, and is also the holder of many "youngest" records, including youngest #1 pick, youngest Rookie of the Year, youngest to record a triple-double, any many others. He is also one of 4 players in history to lead his team in all 5 of the major statistical categories for a full season, along with Dave Cowens, Scottie Pippen, and Kevin Garnett.

He has also been the best player in the entire league for 6 of the 8 seasons he has played so far, the only exceptions being his rookie year, when he was just All-Star material, and 2008, when Kobe finally decided he needed an MVP award. In 2005, at the age of 20, LeBron was already the best player in the NBA, becoming only the third player to be the best within his first two seasons, and the other two happen to be Kareem and Wilt.

Baylor was one of the greatest talents ever at the small forward position, and LeBron is following in his footsteps. Injuries slowed down Baylor's career trajectory prematurely, while James has been able to maintain his high level of play now for 7 full seasons. James has already been the best player on 2 Finals teams, while Baylor achieved the feat 4 times in a full career. The biggest thing that separates James from Baylor is that he has been the league's best player 6 times already, while Baylor was never the very best player at any point in his career.