In October of 2003, Tim Duncan was the reigning MVP, Tracy McGrady had just won the most recent title by averaging 32.1 points per game and the Detroit Pistons were loading up for a title run. Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs were coming off their second ring and would win two more in the next four seasons.
The All-NBA first teamers of the previous year offered a good representation of who was in charge of the league at the time. Joining Duncan and McGrady were Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O’Neal. Toss in second-teamers Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki, and you’ve got a veritable who’s who of the early 2000s.
Zooming out a bit, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league’s all-time scoring leader at the time. He held onto that title until James surpassed him on Feb. 7, 2023, but the rest of the top 10 looked wildly different than it does today. It included Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaq, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar Robertson and Dominique Wilkins in that order.
James is now at the top, and only Abdul-Jabbar, Malone, Jordan, Chamberlain and O’Neal remain in the top 10. The rest were displaced by Bryant, Nowitzki, Kevin Durant and James Harden. Those last two were 15 and 14 years old, respectively, when LeBron first suited up for an NBA game. Cooper Flagg’s birth? Three years in the future.