Ranking the top 50 players in NBA history\u2026<\/p>\n
1. Michael Jordan<\/p>\n
In the pantheon of basketball legends, Michael Jordan stands alone as the GOAT.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s peak during the 1990s is unparalleled in the history of the NBA, and Bill Russell is the only all-time great with a comparable or better championship resum\u00e9 from a team standpoint. <\/p>\n
MJ is basketball\u2019s greatest ambassador. He took what Magic Johnson and Larry Bird built in the 1980s and turned the NBA into a global product, the effects of which are still reverberating today.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
Besides being the best offensive player and best defensive player in the world during his prime, Jordan was probably the most insane competitor the NBA has ever seen. Pair that with his natural charisma, eye-opening athleticism, and insatiable drive to improve, and it\u2019s no wonder that Jordan is considered arguably the greatest athlete \u2014 not just basketball player \u2014 of all time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
MJ won five MVPs but deserved far more than that. He also bagged 10 scoring titles and a 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s clutch gene and killer instinct were off the charts, and we may never see an athlete again who combines all the elements of competitive greatness into one human being.<\/p>\n
Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n
Jordan redefined what it meant to be an elite superstar. In some ways, NBA basketball as we know it can be historically divided into two eras \u2014 before Jordan, and after him. <\/p>\n
Millions of basketball players have tried to emulate even a fraction of MJ\u2019s greatness, and the one or two guys that have come \u201cclose\u201d were still not very close at all.<\/p>\n