Stephen A's top-5 NBA players all-time | Stephen A's World

Stephen A. Smith ranks his top-5 NBA players all-time and shares his reasoning why Steph Curry didn't make his list.

[bryanttisdale]

Paul Pierce- " I Got LeBron at #75". 😅🤣

[scoliva]

ESPN is slowly turning into Stephen A's world.

[nirenberg]

I’m not taking bill Russell over shaq or Larry bird… there were 8 teams in the league back then… wilt used to average 30 and 28 on bill he just had the better teammates

[namandoctor]

Wilt blocked Kareem's skyhook twice in a single game

[twopatt]

I have to disagree Stephen A, I don’t think Brian Scalabrine is the best player of all time.

[TeamDaemon]

Michael Jordan in basketball video games is like Akuma in fighting games. Very balanced. No glaring flaws except he is mid-sized. I use Bird and Wilt but '96 MJ always ends up as the player of the game with most points and steals.

[Pasuhdina]

This is actually the best top 5 list imo…. Historically accurate dawg. I like these takes from him

[sidsche]

I was expecting Kevin "giveittome Mr. 6'11'' with a 7'6'' wingspan and can pull up from 30" Durant at number 0

[josephmcintyre]

Russell is great, but I feel his achievements are more TEAM ORIENTED, RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

[alfonsoterrero]

Jordan is 11-0 including college, International gold medals and NBA titles, and has more offensive rebounds than lebron james, 10 scoring titles, 9 defensive first team selections, 3 rd in steals. He combined the one on one game with team work and won 6 finals mvps, the one and only. Oh yeah, the largest TV audience for the finals and the air Jordan brand logo that opened the pandora box for athletes in all sports all over the world with sports shoes contracts

[orlyjamesgomez]

GOAT by position: PG - Magic Johnson, SG - Michael Jordan, SF - LeBron James, PF - Tim Duncan, C - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[c-meezy]

People use Bill's era to discredit his greatness. Look how dominant he was able to be without AAU circuits, million dollar facilities and medical staffs etc. And in spite of all the racism he faced. Just pure skill and grit. He was ahead of his time physically and mentally. Rightfully top 5.

[georgewagner]

In the 80’s, when Wilt was 44-48 years old, and retired since 1973, he would go to the forum and the Pavilion and play in HIGHLY competitive pick- up games. MAGIC JOHNSON got DOMINATED by Wilt. Other NBA/NCAA players would play also, such as Mark Eaton, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Dave Greenwood would also play. Many times, HOF coach, Larry Brown would officiate. Eaton, Vandeweghe and Brown have all gone on record, to tell of what took place. Wilt DOMINATED.
The Cavs and Pistons actually offered him contracts when they heard what happened. These are all TRUE stories. If Wilt only dominated because he played in “weak era” then this would not be able to happen. If Wilt only dominated because of his size, well Eaton was 7”4” and 300 lbs. This was when Wilt was 44-48 years old !!

[renzgumaru]

Kobe Bryant's Rankings in the all time list is one of the Most Diverse I ever seen. Bruh, like

30% of people - He should be top 2 because he is the closest with MJ(playstyle like).

30% of people - He should be out of top 10 because he is not the best player in 3 of his 5 rings.

20% of people - Puts him 3-5

20% of people - Puts him 6-10

🤦😂

[grantmaxwell]

You know Skip Bayless is tearing up the newspaper right now. His beloved LeBrick at number 2?

[jrruiz]

Just here to listen to SAS top 5 all time players but remember his list is FLUID every week

[josephrinehart]

I love this top 5. I'm not a LeBron fan.. but I agree with his skill. Jordan is by far number 1... And sounds like his ranking went deeper than just longevity stats, (which it should). I'm happy with this

[DarkMarwin]

Come on Stephen A. You don't have to explain number 1. Just say MJ number 1 nuff said

[casualfandestroyer]

In playoff/finals meetings between Russell and Chamberlain, Wilt's scoring went down each time

Wilt = 37.6 ppg in 1959/60 season
Wilt = 30.5 ppg vs Russell in 1960 EDF
(- 7.1 ppg)

Wilt = 50.4 ppg in 1961/62 season
Wilt = 33.6 ppg vs Russell in 1962 EDF
(- 16.8 ppg)

Wilt = 36.9 ppg in 1963/64 season
Wilt = 29.2 ppg vs Russell in 1964 Finals
(- 7.7 ppg)

Wilt = 34.7 ppg 1964/65 season
Wilt = 30.1 ppg vs Russell in 1965 EDF
(- 4.6 ppg)

Wilt = 33.5 ppg in 1965/66 season
Wilt = 28.0 ppg vs Russell in 1966 EDF
(- 5.5 ppg)

Wilt = 24.1 ppg in 1966/67 season
Wilt = 21.6 ppg vs Russell in 1967 EDF
(- 2.5 ppg the only time he beat Russell)

Wilt = 24.3 ppg in 1967/68 season
Wilt = 22.1 ppg vs Russell in 1968 EDF
(- 2.2 ppg)

Wilt = 20.5 ppg in 1968/69 season
Wilt = 11.7 ppg vs 35 year old Russell in 1969 Finals
(- 8.8 ppg)

[nattydelights]

Keep in mind jordan retired three times in his nba career and most of those years were his prime years… if Jordan played his whole career that would be EASY 8+ rings.. and this wouldn’t even be a debate.. yet here we are