The 25 Greatest Players of All Time (PEAK ONLY)

My list of the greatest players of all time, based solely on their 3 season prime.

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The game of Basketball has been my passion since I was 5 years old. I grew up as a kid watching my dad's recorded VHS tapes of playoff games through the 70s and 80s, and collected all the Basketball cards. Something about the game and what it represents just hooked me from a very young age.
My love for the game only continues to grow as time goes on. I love studying and analyzing the game, with an unbiased perspective. Feel free to subscribe, follow me on social media, and celebrate this amazing game and it's rich history with me!
I post videos every week on NBA history, predictions, hypothetical scenarios and current NBA topics.

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#nba #michaeljordan #lebronjames

[jonnyarnett]

I wanna hear some of your list! Give me some rankings...

[cristiandelvillar]

Fun fact: not only is KG on of the few players to lead his team in all five stat categories for a season… but KG is the only player to lead his franchise’s entire history in all five stat categories.

[mackeysmith]

List is great, but I thinking missing 1974-1976 Bob McAdoo is a big oversight. Dude averaged 32ppg and 14rpg, was a 3x scoring champ and MVP, and rivaled prime Kareem while playing the center position at 6’9.

[WhiskeyWars]

There is no argument that anyone could make against Jordans 91 - 93 run . Some of the most brilliant basketball ever played . It was impressive to watch .

[mrhospeed]

After watching this video I think Bird's 3 year peak might be 1984 - 1986. During those 3 years Bird won the MVP all 3 years and made it to the Finals all 3 years and won 2 FMVP awards. His MVP awards were won by a large margin and his leadership and win over the rival Lakers in 1984 was huge. See Bird's game 5 performance in the "heat game" where Bird shot 15 of 20 for 34 points and had 17 rebounds as Boston took control of that series. Also Bird's game 7 vs the Knicks in 1984 was a huge 39 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists game where Boston finally put NY and Bernard King away. I realize Bird's stats and numbers actually went up in 87 and 88 but that was due to Boston getting older and the loss of Len Bias really hurt the team from getting some youth and young legs. Bird's numbers over these 3 years were still impressive as his per game turned out to be 26.2 points and 10.1 rebounds and 6.7 assist and 1.8 steals and .9 blocks per game while shooting a FG% of 50.36% and 3 pointers were at 39.2% and FT were at 88.9% Thanks for your videos!!

[Tonio]

After this season no matter what happens in the postseason Jokic SHOULD be on this list with his current 3 year Im not a big Jokic fan but I SEE and I RESPECT what he's been doing in this current run he's on

[forestgump]

Bob Pettit's best three 29.1 ppg 18.0 rpg 3.5 assists per game, brought the Hawks their only title and took them to the Finals a couple of other years. A bad man, before there were many in the NBA.

[vdLeo-jeos]

Dominique Wilkins from 1984 until 1993 was one of the best NBA players who avg 28.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and almost 3 assists. He deserves to be in the list.

[gaminggiant]

Jokic definitely deserves to be here at this point, I don’t know if people are properly appreciating how good he is

[mrhospeed]

Thank you for sharing your list!! Glad to see Moses Malone and Oscar Robertson getting mentioned. I am sure there will be people that will want to make changes and that is great = let them publish their list. I think your list of peaks is very well done!

[gmgcbew]

You should do a vid where you take the best 3 years regardless of chronological order. For example Curry in 2016, 2021, and 2019

[b.n.]

Dr J deserves an honorary mention. His best years were in the ABA and not the NBA so yes, I get it...but damn if he wasn't greatness personified on the court. I would almost go as far to bump Karl Malone off the list..

[rosendah]

Johnny Arnett, did you consider George Mikan's three seasons from 1948-49 through 1950-51? I know it's old school, but he had three scoring titles and two championships. He likely led the league in rebounds and blocks in some of those seasons. And if MVPs were awarded, he would have had 3x MVPs and 2x final MVPs.

[lilpenny]

"If you average 30 ppg and I can reduce that to 20 ppg (and reduce your FG% by 10%) whilst I'm still getting 18 ppg, then that's dominance" ~ Bill Russell

[allo]

Man I wanted Shaq to come out on top but… you’re just right. Hard to argue with MJ’s success

[cheezydubs]

If Jokic wins FMVP this year, he's definitely gotta be top 15 at least for peak. Insane levels of offensive efficiency, 2 MVPs and some would argue was screwed over this season. Easily one of the most dominant runs by a big-man

[justinbrewer]

Great list. In terms of overall stats and impact on winning, I’d say Bird’s 1984-86 three season stretch was his best. During those 3, he won 3 straight league MVPs, went to 3 straight Finals, won 2 rings, and won 2 Finals MVPs while leading the league in Box +/- 3 straight, PER twice (2nd once), Win Shares twice (2nd once), and Defensive Win Shares twice (2nd once). Bird’s Celtics beat the Magic-Kareem-Worthy Lakers (one of the greatest teams with two Top 6 All-Time players) in one Finals and beat the Hakeem-Sampson Rockets in the another. Considering the quality of playoff and Finals opponents, I’d put that Bird Prime 3 season stretch at #2 All-Time behind Jordan’s 1991-93 🥂

[ShadowWizard]

Thank you for giving Larry Bird the respect he deserves. Dude won three mvps back to back to back while playing in the same league as Jordan, Hakeem, Dr J, Magic, Kareem, Thomas, Wilkins, etc….

[choward]

Excellent points about Kobe I never considered. Also, about Wilt, Tommy Heinsohn said teams beat Wilt and the refs didn't call the fouls. He further stated Wilt was EGREGIOUSLY fouled. If you listen to the 4th quarter of Wilt's 100-point game the play-by-play guy said, "They're fouling Chamberlain and not calling it." Check Bernard King, George Gervin, Bob McAdoo, and Julius Irving's peak.

[TheAwesomeninjaBrian]

lebron peak at 7 is crazy, he couldn’t be stopped