When the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, I heard an interesting discussion on one the argue radio shows - did getting knocked off early knock Giannis Antetokounmpo from his perch as greatest player in the world?
That's an interesting argument.
You can see how the ranking was compiled by clicking this link.
I went back to look at the players who finished with the highest rankings in each season. Basically, this is the ranking of the GORN - Greatest Of Right Now. You'll find most of the greats on this list. Some you won't find and there's really only a couple of surprises.
1950-1951 - George Mikan (1) - 304.14
1951-1952 - George Mikan (2) - 356.86
1952-1953 - George Mikan (3) - 366.23
1953-1954 - George Mikan (4) - 361.96
1954-1955 - Dolph Schayes (1) - 362.20
1955-1956 - Paul Arizin (1) - 345.54
1956-1957 - Bob Pettit (1) - 346.20
1957-1958 - Bob Pettit (2) - 371.26
1958-1959 - Bob Pettit (3) - 370.39
1959-1960 - Wilt Chamberlain (1) - 392.05
1960-1961 - Bill Russell (1) - 392.75
1961-1962 - Bill Russell (2) - 387.46
1962-1963 - Bill Russell (3) - 371.26
1963-1964 - Wilt Chamberlain (2) - 393.93
1964-1965 - Bill Russell (4) - 395.41
1965-1966 - Wilt Chamberlain (3) - 351.82
1966-1967 - Wilt Chamberlain (4) - 487.52
1967-1968 - Connie Hawkins (1) - 461.58
1968-1969 - Jerry West (1) - 350.23
1969-1970 - Willis Reed (1) - 380.49
1970-1971 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1) - 484.33
1971-1972 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2) - 393.49
1972-1973 - George McGinnis (1) - 320.14
1973-1974 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3) - 416.70
1974-1975 - Rick Barry (1) - 355.57
1975-1976 - Julius Erving (1) - 451.01
1976-1977 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (4) - 426.44
1977-1978 - Bill Walton (1) - 357.29
1978-1979 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5) - 323.97
1979-1980 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6) - 421.73
1980-1981 - Larry Bird (1) - 376.52
1981-1982 - Magic Johnson (1) - 399.33
1982-1983 - Moses Malone (1) - 471.95
1983-1984 - Larry Bird (2) - 454.23
1984-1985 - Larry Bird (3) - 423.26
1985-1986 - Larry Bird (4) - 485.96
1986-1987 - Magic Johnson (2) - 469.43
1987-1988 - Michael Jordan (1) - 395.79
1988-1989 - Michael Jordan (2) - 420.39
1989-1990 - Michael Jordan (3) - 421.33
1990-1991 - Michael Jordan (4) - 505.48
1991-1992 - Michael Jordan (5) - 474.40
1992-1993 - Michael Jordan (6) - 447.93
1993-1994 - Hakeem Olajuwon (1) - 437.44
1994-1995 - David Robinson (1) - 400.98
1995-1996 - Michael Jordan (7) - 486.78
1996-1997 - Michael Jordan (8) - 458.44
1997-1998 - Michael Jordan (9) - 443.92
1998-1999 - Tim Duncan (1) - 418.36
1999-2000 - Shaquille O'Neal (1) - 485.48
2000-2001 - Shaquille O'Neal (2) - 439.49
2001-2002 - Shaquille O'Neal (3) - 430.43
2002-2003 - Tim Duncan (2) - 445.70
2003-2004 - Kevin Garnett (1) - 442.92
2004-2005 - Tim Duncan (3) - 359.62
2005-2006 - Dwyane Wade (1) - 364.29
2006-2007 - Tim Duncan (4) - 365.65
2007-2008 - Chris Paul (1) - 408.65
2008-2009 - LeBron James (1) - 486.70
2009-2010 - LeBron James (2) - 440.19
2010-2011 - LeBron James (3) - 381.15
2011-2012 - LeBron James (4) - 487.95
2012-2013 - LeBron James (5) - 494.16
2013-2014 - LeBron James (6) - 412.82
2014-2015 - Steph Curry (1) - 433.18
2015-2016 - LeBron James (7) - 422.62
2016-2017 - Kevin Durant (1) - 362.21
2017-2018 - James Harden (1) - 416.32
2018-2019 - Giannis Antetokounmpo (1) - 415.72
2019-2020 - LeBron James (8) - 443.16
2020-2021 - Nikola Jokic (1) - 391.61
2021-2022 - Nikola Jokic (1) - 372.36
So if you look at who spent the most time on top .... the familiar faces are right there.
9 - Michael Jordan
8 - LeBron James
6 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
4 - George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Tim Duncan
3 - Bob Pettit, Shaquille O'Neal
2 - Magic Johnson, Nikola Jokic
1 - Dolph Schayes, Paul Arizin, Connie Hawkins, Jerry West, Willis Reed, George McGinnis, Rick Barry, Julius Erving, Bill Walton, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Jokic is a lock to be the top player in 2022-2023, moving him to really rarified air. The list of players who were the GORN three straight years is pretty short - Mikan, Pettit, Russell, Bird, Jordan, Shaq and LeBron.
Now, a couple of names that are not on this list are interesting. Every year, when the annual "Jordan vs. Lebron" debate bubbles up on social media, you get fans chiming in with "better than Jordan? Lebron isn't even better than Kobe Bryant."
The cult of Kobe is strong. As you can see, though, Kobe was never the best player in the NBA.
I also have a former co-worker who is a passionate Charles Barkley fan. He'll scour statistics for isolated numbers that he believes proves that Barkley was a top 10 all-time player. Again, Barkley isn't on this list.
But Jordan so dominated his era that he might have obscured Barkley's greatness. So I went back to look at who was the second best player each year going back to 1950-1951.
The SBORNs (Second Best Of Right Now)
1950-1951 - Dolph Schayes - 245.59
1951-1952 - Paul Arizin - 310.04
1952-1953 - Bob Cousy - 282.92
1953-1954 - Dolph Schayes - 333.16
1954-1955 - Clyde Lovellette - 285.16
1955-1956 - Neal Johnston - 331.78
1956-1957 - Bob Cousy - 338.16
1957-1958 - Bill Russell - 354.68
1958-1959 - Bill Russell - 367.59
1959-1960 - Bill Russell - 387.81
1960-1961 - Elgin Baylor - 349.13
1961-1962 - Wilt Chamberlain - 380.41
1962-1963 - Elgin Baylor - 342.34
1963-1964 - Oscar Robertson - 373.25
1964-1965 - Jerry West - 339.96
1965-1966 - Bill Russell - 338.46
1966-1967 - Chet Walker - 310.89
1967-1968 - Wilt Chamberlain - 387.18
1968-1969 - Willis Reed - 327.79
1969-1970 - Spencer Haywood - 371.06
1970-1971 - Zelmo Beatty - 394.40
1971-1972 - Wilt Chamberlain - 368.1
1972-1973 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 314.28
1973-1974 - Julius Erving - 411.24
1974-1975 - George McGinnis - 338.1
1975-1976 - Dave Cowens - 315.38
1976-1977 - Bill Walton - 348.87
1977-1978 - George Gervin - 318.19
1978-1979 - Gus Williams - 306.86
1979-1980 - Magic Johnson - 359.56
1980-1981 - Julius Erving - 368.72
1981-1982 - Julius Erving - 360.61
1982-1983 - Magic Johnson - 345.59
1983-1984 - Magic Johnson - 347.45
1984-1985 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 374.54
1985-1986 - Magic Johnson - 348.58
1986-1987 - Larry Bird - 345.64
1987-1988 - Larry Bird - 347.77
1988-1989 - Magic Johnson - 398.71
1989-1990 - Magic Johnson - 361.59
1990-1991 - Magic Johnson - 354.33
1991-1992 - Clyde Drexler - 367.45
1992-1993 - Charles Barkley - 388.59
1993-1994 - David Robinson - 343.49
1994-1995 - Shaquille O'Neal - 355.92
1995-1996 - David Robinson - 365.33
1996-1997 - Karl Malone - 384.56
1997-1998 - Karl Malone - 397.38
1998-1999 - David Robinson - 349.52
1999-2000 - Karl Malone - 310.51
2000-2001 - Allen Iverson - 358.64
2001-2002 - Tim Duncan - 403.01
2002-2003 - Kevin Garnett - 329.58
2003-2004 - Tim Duncan - 364.58
2004-2005 - Steve Nash - 344.52
2005-2006 - Dirk Nowitzki - 363.77
2006-2007 - Dirk Nowitzki - 346.36
2007-2008 - Kobe Bryant - 378.38
2008-2009 - Kobe Bryant - 381.66
2009-2010 - Kobe Bryant - 355.99
2010-2011 - Derrick Rose - 380.11
2011-2012 - Kevin Durant - 390.59
2012-2013 - Kevin Durant - 372.20
2013-2014 - Kevin Durant - 388.46
2014-2015 - James Harden - 369.35
2015-2016 - Steph Curry - 418.88
2016-2017 - LeBron James - 357.68
2017-2018 - LeBron James - 408.36
2018-2019 - James Harden - 378.90
2019-2020 - Giannis Antetokounmpo - 415.54
2020-2021 - Giannis Antetokounmpo - 378.98
2021-2022 - Giannis Antetokounmpo - 370.44
So now if you look at the number of times a player was one of the two best in the NBA, a clearer picture emerges.
10 - LeBron James (8 first, 2 second)
9 - Michael Jordan (9 first, 0 second); Magic Johnson (2 first, 7 second)
8 - Bill Russell (4, 4); Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6, 2)
7 - Wilt Chamberlain (4, 3)
6 - Larry Bird (4, 2); Tim Duncan (4, 2)
4 - George Mikan (4, 0); Julius Erving (1, 3); David Robinson (1, 3); Shaquille O'Neal (3, 1); Kevin Durant (1, 3); Giannis Antetokounmpo (1, 3)
3 - Dolph Schayes (1, 2); Bob Pettit (3, 0); Karl Malone (0, 3); Kobe Bryant (0, 3); James Harden (1, 2)
2 - Paul Arizin (1, 1); Bob Cousy (0, 2); Elgin Baylor (0, 2); Jerry West (1, 1); Willis Reed (1, 1); George McGinnis (1, 1); Bill Walton (1, 1); Kevin Garnett (1, 1); Dirk Nowitzki (0, 2); Steph Curry (1, 1); Nikola Jokic (2, 0)
1 - Clyde Lovellette (0, 1); Neal Johnston (0, 1); Oscar Robertson (0, 1); Chet Walker (0, 1); Connie Hawkins (1, 0); Spencer Haywood (0, 1); Zelmo Beatty (0, 1); Rick Barry (1, 0); Dave Cowens (0, 1); George Gervin (0, 1); Gus Williams (0, 1); Clyde Drexler (0, 1); Charles Barkley (0, 1); Hakeem Olajuwon (1, 0); Allen Iverson (0, 1), Steve Nash (0, 1); Dwyane Wade (1, 0); Chris Paul (1, 0); Derrick Rose (0, 1)
Kobe really doesn't have an argument as a top-10 player all-time. He's become even more popular in death and that popularity overshadows the numbers. And Barkley, at least in this ranking, sits in a group with players such as Derrick Rose, Chet Walker and Dave Cowens .... and not in the group with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Dr. J.
