At the peak of their powers and in their absolute prime, who are the greatest players in NBA history? You’ve heard the old arguments, you’ve memorized the ring counts, and you know not all teams are even, so let’s change the frame.
If you had to pick players based on how insane they were at their absolute peak rather than on the totality and success of their careers, how different is the all-time list? Would any names change from those included on the NBA's 75th anniversary team, announced earlier this season and honored at halftime of the All-Star Game in Cleveland?
A collection of over 50 NBA beat writers, national media members, and #NBATwitter stars weighed in to answer exactly that.
MORE: Meet the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team
The process will never be perfect when it comes to answering unanswerable questions but with a large number of voters, the list holds more of a collective mindset than any individual project on this has to date.
Our Method
- Voters were asked to rate players 1-100, with 100 being the greatest possible peak ever and then adjusting their scale accordingly.
- Voters were able to assign multiples of any number and were given a ballot of 259 names. Does 259 sound like a lot? Yes! This league has had no shortage of talent through its initial 75 years. We didn't want to leave any viable candidate out -- and still, we had several individuals ask for names to be added!
- We didn't define "peak" nor were voters asked to think of any one specific year when they were going through their ballots. For example, how would you define LeBron James' peak? Was it early in Cleveland when his athleticism cast him far above his peers? Was it 2013 in Miami after he added a consistent three-ball and became a Defensive Player of the Year candidate? Or was it in 2018 when his basketball acuity had never been more on display? All are worthy answers. For those who asked for more structure behind the word ‘peak,’ they were told, “If you could pick any player in history, with the hopes of winning the title immediately, not knowing the era, rules, coach, or teammates -- who would you choose? Make that player your 100 and adjust accordingly.”
- We averaged the final ratings from all 58 voters and voila... the top 75 peaks.
Keep in mind, everyone’s ballot was quite different. Some voters were very measured in how high they rated player peaks compared to the top names of this list, others saw a larger number of names garner rating in the high ‘90s. To score the picture, on the top end, one voter gave out 18 ratings of 100 and on the low end, another voter only had two players over 90! Different strokes for different folks.
Of course with any list it’d be tragic not to note the honorable mentions, so without further adieu, the 10 names who just missed this list: Shawn Kemp, Paul George, Nate ‘Tiny’ Archibald, Draymond Green, Dennis Rodman, Yao Ming, Jimmy Butler, Adrian Dantley, Chris Bosh, and Manu Ginobili.
OK. On to the good stuff...
TOP 75 PEAKS: 1-10 | 11-25 | 26-50
75) Tony Parker
- Highest MVP finish : 5th (2012)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 3
- Peak personified: Won 2007 Finals MVP in a series featuring Tim Duncan and LeBron James
74) Reggie Miller
- Highest MVP finish: 13th (2000)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 0
- Peak personified: Led NBA in made 3s during the 90s while leading the Pacers in scoring every season from 1989-90 through 1998-99
73) Pau Gasol
- Highest MVP finish : N/A
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 2
- Peak personified : Best big man on two straight NBA championship teams in 2009 and 2010 while outplaying Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett
72) Elvin Hayes
- Highest MVP finish: 3rd (tied two years)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 6
- Peak personified: Led all players in scoring and rebounding during the 1978 NBA Finals
71) Klay Thompson
- Highest MVP finish: 10th (2015)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 0
- Peak personified: 98 made 3-pt FG during 2016 playoffs - including 11 on the road facing elimination in the WCF - is the most in a single postseason in NBA history
Parker finishing one ahead of his teammate for the last spot on this list feels cruel but also like cosmic intervention. The former 2007 Finals MVP also sliced right on by Gilbert Arenas, Chauncey Billups, and Tim Hardaway to secure his place.
Meanwhile, Hayes and Gasol can stake claim to two of the most unheralded yet spectacularly solid peaks for bigs. Hayes came out firing from Day 1, winning the scoring title as a rookie before eventually filling it up as a 20-10 machine for a title team. The recently retired Gasol immediately elevated Kobe Bryant's Lakers from fringe playoff team to three-time Finalist.
MORE: Comparing every 2022 All-Star to members of 75th anniversary team
70) Bob Cousy
- Highest MVP finish: 1st (1957)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 12
- Peak personified: Won 1957 NBA MVP and made First-Team All-NBA 10 straight seasons
69) Bernard King
- Highest MVP finish: 2nd (1984)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 3
- Peak personified: Averaged 34.8 PPG during 1984 playoffs. The only player in the 1980s or 1990s to average more over an entire postseason is Michael Jordan (min. 5 games).
68) Alonzo Mourning
- Highest MVP finish: 2nd (1999)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 2
- Peak personified: Won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards while leading the Heat in scoring both seasons
67) Pete Maravich
- Highest MVP finish: 3rd (1977)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 4
- Peak personified: Won 1976-77 scoring title and scored 68 points in a single game, at that time the most in NBA history by a guard
66) Ray Allen
- Highest MVP finish: 5th (2009)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 1
- Peak personified : Shot over 20% better than league average from 3-pt line while also averaging 22 PPG from 1999-00 through 2001-02
How do you even begin to compare someone like Bob Cousy with the above-the-rim, net-torching point guards of today? Unequivocally on another level relative to his era-specific peers, how does his peak translate across time?
Speaking of hard to rate on our list of 259, Pistol Pete's career ran relatively short and the ‘70s were a hard era for league viewership. He came as Wilt Chamberlain was leaving and left before Michael Jordan set foot at UNC! He is well renowned for his skill and showmanship, was ahead of his time as a shooter and yet he never led a team out of the first round as a starter. Was his peak in Atlanta or New Orleans?
Peak King went toe-to-toe with prime Larry Bird in the first of three MVP runs for the Legend. If you are wondering why he jumped ahead of comparable scorers with longer careers like Dantley, David Thompson, or Alex English -- that’s why.
And often compared to Miller and Thompson, Allen manages to finish higher than both. His career high in WS/48 and his 5th place MVP finish came as Buck, though many remember his prime being in Seattle. Allen arguably outplayed Allen Iverson in the 2001 Conference Finals and his Bucks were one win from their own date with the inevitable Lakers that season. What if...
65) Derrick Rose
- Highest MVP finish: 1st (2011)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 1
- Peak personified: Became the youngest MVP in NBA history in 2011
64) James Worthy
- Highest MVP finish: 12th (1986)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 0
- Peak personified : Finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 7 of 1988 NBA Finals en route to winning Finals MVP
63) Vince Carter
- Highest MVP finish : 10th (2000)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 1
- Peak personified: Scored 50 points in a postseason duel with Allen Iverson
62) Willis Reed
- Highest MVP finish: 1st (1970)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 5
- Peak personified: 2-time Finals MVP with both wins coming against Wilt Chamberlain
61) Walt Frazier
- Highest MVP finish : 4th (1970)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 6
- Peak personified: Outplayed Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, finishing with 36 points and 19 assists
Rose’s career may not amount to a top-75 finish but being the youngest player named MVP certainly led to him getting a boost in this project.
The best athlete in the league, half-man, half-amazing while shooting over 40 percent from three in just his second season in the NBA? Matt Barnes just said Vince Carter was the most gifted teammate he ever played with, extraordinarily lofty praise for someone who played alongside Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry. Perhaps Carter’s peak is underrated because people expected more growth after his ballistic career start and it didn’t really ever occur.
Frazier — by far the best player in “The Willis Reed Game” — finishing one in front of his co-star running mate? You can’t make this stuff up.
60) Paul Pierce
- Highest MVP finish: 7th (2009)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 1
- Peak personified : 2008 postseason including scoring 41 points in a Game 7 against LeBron James and winning Finals MVP against Kobe Bryant
59) Chris Webber
- Highest MVP finish: 4th (2001)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections : 4
- Peak personified: Recorded 51 points, 26 rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks in a game during First-Team All-NBA season in 2000-01
58) Kyrie Irving
- Highest MVP finish: N/A
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 1
- Peak personified : Outplayed Stephen Curry in 2016 NBA Finals and hit the series-clinching shot in Game 7 to beat the 73-9 Warriors
57) Carmelo Anthony
- Highest MVP finish: 3rd (2013)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 2
- Peak personified: Holds record for most points scored (62) in a single game at current Madison Square Garden
56) Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway
- Highest MVP finish: 3rd (1996)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 2
- Peak personified: 1 of 10 guards in NBA history with multiple First-Team All-NBA selections by the age of 24
Webber may have got shafted in the 2002 Western Conference Finals but the panel of voters clearly thought highly of his peak as he ranked well ahead of a lot of the names he’s often compared with such as Bosh, Gasol, Kemp, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Rasheed Wallace.
Anthony’s third-place MVP finish cost longtime friend and — now teammate — James a unanimous MVP as the King garnered 120 out of 121 first-place votes! Although he finished behind James and Kevin Durant, Anthony picked up the other first-place ballot. One of the current generational favorites, yet another player we have to ask: was his peak as a Nugget or a Knick?
Neither Irving, nor Hardaway was ever the best player on a title team but in a list that rewards individual talent, it’s easy to see why two of the best number two options to ever do it have risen so high.
55) Dominique Wilkins
- Highest MVP finish: 2nd (1986)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 5
- Peak personified: Won 1985-86 scoring title and scored 57 points against Michael Jordan (most any player scored head-to-head vs Jordan)
54) Gary Payton
- Highest MVP finish: 3rd (1998)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 7
- Peak personified: Nine straight First-Team All-Defense selections (longest streak in NBA history)
53) George Mikan
- Highest MVP finish: N/A***
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 6
- Peak personified: 5-0 record in NBA/BAA Finals and led team in scoring all five series
***The NBA did not award an MVP until the 1955-56 season, the last year of Mikan's career which began in 1948.
52) Damian Lillard
- Highest MVP finish: 4th (2018)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 5
- Peak personified: One of two players in NBA history with multiple series-clinching postseason buzzer-beaters (other: Michael Jordan)
51) Joel Embiid
- Highest MVP finish: 2nd (2021)
- First/Second-Team All-NBA selections: 3
- Peak personified: Averages more career points per 36 minutes than any player in NBA history
MORE: Ranking the NBA's top 30 current players
Before Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo there was Payton and Kemp. Imagine a world in which George Karl put Payton on Michael Jordan for the entirety of the 1996 NBA Finals. Where does the Glove finish on this list if he’s picking up MJ the whole series?
Mikan falls into the same conversation as Cousy. Would Mikan’s game hold up today? Probably not but they didn’t even give out the MVP award until 1956 and Mikan’s peak was years prior. Mikan would have multiple MVP awards had it been an award given out in his time. There was no comparable powerhouse during his run.
Ben Simmons' drama continues to swirl but the Philadelphia 76ers have a near top-50 talent in the middle of his prime, Embiid soaring up this list despite limited experience and success in the playoffs is a testament to his talent. This won’t be the last time a current player makes a splash either.
Thanks again to the awesome collaborators who took time to pitch in for this project!
Contributors: Micah Adams, Quenton Albertie, Andy Bailey, Rod Beard, Ryan Blackburn, Shawn Coleman, Ben Collins, Kevin Cottrell, Adria Crawford, Evan Dammarell, Spencer Davies, Jabari Davis, Shamit Dua, Travonne Edwards, Farbod Esnaashari, Beau Estes, David Gardner, Andy Glockner, Dan Greenberg, Lauren Gunn, Nicolas Henkel, Chase Hughes, Josiah Johnson, Jason Jones, Dragonfly Jonez, Trey Kerby, Alex Kramers, Dieter Kurtenbach, Mitch Lawrence, Josh Lloyd, Jason Maples, Danny Marang, Oliver Maroney, Kelly Melvina, Janelle Moore, Matt Moore, Law Murray, Krishna Narsu, Eric Newman, Ashley Nicole Moss, Zak Noble, Gina Paradiso, Jeff Pearlman, Andrew Potter, Sam Quinn, Eustacchio Raulli, Billy Reinhardt, Andrew Sharp, Keith Smith, Allana Tachauer, Justin Termine, Brad Townsend, Roosh Williams, Ti Windisch, Ant Wright, Trill Withers, and Su York.