Ranking the All-Time NBA Greats, 2018 Version, ##29-25

We have 29 guys left to rank.


Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Charles Barkley
Rick Barry
Elgin Baylor
Larry Bird
Kobe Bryant
Wilt Chamberlain
Tim Duncan
Kevin Durant
Julius Erving
Kevin Garnett
John Havlicek
LeBron James
Magic Johnson
Michael Jordan
Karl Malone
Moses Malone
George Mikan
Dirk Nowitzki
Hakeem Olajuwon
Shaquille O'Neal
Chris Paul
Bob Pettit
Scottie Pippen
Oscar Robertson
David Robinson
Bill Russell
John Stockton
Jerry West


I think this stretch is actually pretty easy to rank "as a group."  Havlicek and Pippen are clearly the "worst" having few all-NBAs and no MVPs and not exactly soaring up the WS or WS/48 or other leaderboards.  So, I will go with


29.  Scottie Pippen - 3X all-NBA, 0 MVPs, many all-defense awards, 6 titles.  In "MVP Award Shares" he is 57th, but he was the clear cut #2 guy on 6 title teams.  You simply cannot deny that.  (Like Harden, Scottie is a guy who I really do not care for, but as Charlie Daniels would say "You play pretty good fiddle boy, but give the Devil his due").


28.  John Havlicek - 4X all-NBA, 8 titles.  As this analysis shows:  https://hoopramblings.blogspot.com/2015/07/nbas-greatest-all-around-players-james.html Havlicek is one of the 4 most versatile players in the history of the game.  He could rank far, far higher, but he is 89th in MVP Award Shares. 


27.  Chris Paul - I struggled with whether Chris Paul (4X all-NBA, 19th all-time in WS, #1 all-time in WS/48, many all-defense awards) should be #26, but at the end of the day his complete lack of team success makes it impossible to push him any higher.  Plus - on the court, he can really be quite a dick, so if I have a "personal privilege" to push him up or down, he is going to go down.  After all, it is my list, and Chris Paul fans can feel free to make their own lists.


26.  John Stockton - Stockton is a really odd case.  #1 all-time in assists, was a good defender, team was always 50+ wins, went to the Finals twice.  HUGE numbers on WS, WS/48, PER, VORP.  He was a great player for 15 years (had 15 seasons with 7.95 or more WS!!! this ties him with Tim Duncan for 3rd most, trailing only Karl Malone and Kareem).  But despite getting MVP votes in 12 seasons, he never finished above 7th.  His MVP Award Shares ranks him 102nd all-time, by FAR the worst of anyone ranked this high.  So, is being the 7th-15th best player in the league for 15 years admirable?  Yes.  And it gets him above Chris Paul, but no farther.


25.  Rick Barry -- now, I must concede that I have a soft spot for Rick Barry,  A lot of people hate the guy and he was viewed as a bad announcer and (at times) a bad dad.  And if you look at his Advanced Stats he is certainly no match for John Stockton or Chris Paul.  So, what gives?  Well, Barry was 9X all-NBA or all-ABA.  If your reply is "the ABA sucks" you should immediately note that Barry was 2x all-NBA before he jumped to the ABA.  In the 1967 playoffs he averaged, over 15 games, 35-7-4.  He had several seasons with over 6 assists a game, he led the league in steals per game, he was the Finals MVP leading his team to a sweep of the Bullets.  Barry averaged 27 PPG in the playoffs - 34 in the ABA, 25 in the NBA. 


Barry also missed 1 1/2 seasons when he tried to jump to the ABA and was banned from playing in the ABA (he refused to go back to the NBA).  When he returned, in 35 games he put up 8.5 WS and a WS/48 of .301, making him 1 of only 6 guys to ever have a 1,300 minute season with a WS/48 of over .3 http://bkref.com/tiny/Qt8V7 (Kareem, Wilt, Jordan, LeBron, Curry, Rick Barry).  Only 4 guys have more 30+ ppg playoffs than Barry http://bkref.com/tiny/TsgEr (Kobe, LeBron, West and Jordan). 


So - it may be an unpopular opinion, but I am putting Rick Barry at #25. 


Your top 24 in alphabetical order:  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Charles Barkley, Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Julius Erving, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Moses Malone, George Mikan, Dirk Nowitzki,
Hakeem Olajuwon. Shaquille O'Neal,, Bob Pettit, Oscar Robertson, David Robinson, Bill Russell, Jerry West.