ESPN Got It Right With Their NBA All Time Rankings

I don’t always give ESPN tons of credit. In fact I have been more and more critical with alot of their practices, decision making and lots of other — shall we say petty positions they have taken in the past both distant and recent.

But I will give them a ton of credit when it comes to their NBA panel of writers and panelists. Most of the guys do know their basketball BOTH past and present and I am grateful for that given that basketball is my favorite sport in the world.

What I am specifically complimenting is their now completed list of the greatest players of all time by position in NBA history. Obviously these kind of topics leave much room for debate and banter, all which are currently happening on my Facebook page for this specific topic.

I have zero problem with ESPN’s list solely because it’s identical to mine.

I know cocky, right?

But for the sake of argument you can go anywhere with some of the positions. This debate is position specific. For those not familiar with ESPN’s AND my all time list here goes……


POINT GUARD: Magic Johnson

SHOOTING GUARD: Michael Jordan

SMALL FORWARD: LeBron James

POWER FORWARD: Tim Duncan

CENTER: Kareem Abdul-Jabber


The ones not up for debate in the slightest are Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and if you actually want to concoct a debate with me or any other intelligent basketball writer/personality on the planet you’re really fighting a losing battle or you’re just a lame Twitter troll. Know your position.

LeBron James is interesting because many are torn mostly between him and Larry Bird at small forward. While Bird has a strong case to be made I also went LeBron due to the longevity factor. Bird retired after year 12 due to severe back issues on the back end of his career. LeBron is currently at year 13 and healthy.

‘Bron wins.

The Tim Duncan selection at power forward is interesting because most do agree with his selection but there has been some contingents out there making a case for Karl Malone. Malone does have one thing going for him as he’s the 2nd all time leading scorer in NBA history but zero titles to show for it and some moments in big spots where he has actually come up small.

​By far the highest debated position of the five is at center. People really forget just how great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar really was. Not just a portion of his career but the entire 20 year scope.
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