Top 5 lists are meant to be argued and this is a top 5 list that is definitely up for long debates about who deserves to be a top 5 player of all time.
- Wilt Chamberlain – Chamberlain holds numerous official NBA all-time records, setting records in many scoring, rebounding and durability categories. Among other notable accomplishments, he is the only player in NBA history to average more than 40 and 50 points in a season or score 100 points in a single NBA game. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Wilt won two NBA titles, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Abdul-Jabbar scored more points than any other player in league history, won six NBA championships and a record six regular season MVP Awards. Kareem was the NBA’s all-time leader in points scored, games played, minutes played, field goals made, field goal attempts, blocked shots, defensive rebounds, and personal fouls.
- Michael Jordan – Michael won 6 NBA championships include five MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances, three All-Star Game MVP awards, ten scoring titles, three steals titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.
- Bill Russell – A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA Championships during Russell’s thirteen-year career. He led the NBA in rebounds four times and tallied 21,620 total rebounds in his career. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain to have grabbed more than fifty rebounds in a game.
- Julius Erving – Commonly known by the nickname Dr. J. Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles while playing with the ABA’s Virginia Squires and New York Nets and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history, with 30,026 points. Many consider him among the most spectacular basketballers ever, and one of the best dunkers of all time.

