RIP Bob Pettit + LeBron Only No. 3? Ranking the 15 Greatest NBA Players of All Time

Shot Clock Pod - 9-27-2026 === Jose: ​[00:00:00] All right, it's time to talk basketball. I'm Jose Salviati, editor at thePeachBasket.net. He is Steve Purciello, host of Celtic Chalk Talk, a longtime educator, vice principal, high school basketball coach, and athletic director. And this is the Shot Clock Pod. The Shot Clock Pod was born out of content in Steve's 13 Rules random NBA thoughts articles, which he publishes weekly. Steve and I have exactly 24 minutes to discuss what's on his mind around the NBA. Today we'll be discuss- discussing his latest 13 Rules random NBA thoughts article. Now, before we get to it, we wanna thank you if you're here to let you know that you are listening to one of many independent fan-driven shows on the Peach Basket Podcast Network of shows. We're not owned by a big media company, which means what you hear comes straight from fans who live the game every day, just like Steve and I, just like you. If you believe voices like this should be heard best way to support us is simple. Keep listening, keep watching, tell a friend, like, comment, subscribe. It all matters, and we're grateful for all of it. And as soon as this episode ends, head over to thePeachBasket.net, check out more fan-run [00:01:00] podcasts, and help this independent network grow the way it started, one hoops fan at a time. We're grateful you're here. Thank you. Steve, are you ready? Steve: Ray Jose: All right. I am not, as happens from time to time. I'm-- don't have my clock ready. I do now. 24 minutes, and off we go. All right. So after presenting your top coaches, your top GMs, you now turn your focus to the top 15 players. And these lists are always controversial so we're gonna talk about who you think are the 15 greatest all-time NBA players to date. And we'll talk a little bit more about it when we get there because before then, you also presented some updated recent NBA news. I wanna start with that. First off the passing of Bob Pettit. Now, casual basketball fans today may not even know the name, which has gotta infuriate folks who wa- watched him play. This guy was pretty good, though. Tell us about Bob Pettit[00:02:00] Steve: Well, first of all, he's even before my time. I remember a little bit at the end when he played with... I think he finished whatever, like around '64, '65. But he was a great player and he carried the Hawks. way back, the Lakers weren't the Celtics rivals, it was the Hawks. The owner of the Hawks, a guy by the name of Ben Kerner, him and Red Auerbach hated each other. He had fired Auerbach e- earlier. In fact, Auerbach punched him, eh, before a game or something. There's an old story about that. But anyway, there's no love. The fir- Russell's first year, Boston beat them. In Russell's second year, Russell sprained his ankle around game three or game four in that series, and Boston lost in six. He sat out a game, two games, I believe, and then he came back in game six but was limited. So that was the only time that Boston didn't win it in that Jose: Wow. Steve: But there Jose: Yeah. Steve: [00:03:00] Pettit, who was an all... A- and by the way, this says something about him and his players he played against. He was the MVP of the All-Star game. Now, for those people who, "Oh, big deal, it's the All-Star game. Nobody played." No. Back then they played, and it was great games to watch. I remember Adrian Smith becoming the A- MVP around in '60s of one of the All-Star games. He came off the bench and played well. So that was what he did. He also won the first guy to win the MVP. One of the greats. So he... And he was before, before obviously Bill Russell and then the Celtic dynasty. Not before, during but he was the, the, the impediment to Boston winning 10 straight. And he was just tremendous. Nine straight? Nine straight. But he was just incredible. So Jose: I'm looking at his stats right now 'cause y- before my time as well, obviously. This guy started... He was drafted by the '54 Milwaukee Hawks. I didn't know that Milwaukee [00:04:00] had hawks. But apparently then he spent the balance of his career with Atlanta, and yeah, his last year was '64, '65 Steve: Louis, not Atlanta. St. Louis Jose: Oh st-, sorry. St. Louis Hawks, correct. Yeah. But yeah and I think he was pretty old, right? Had a nice long life. Steve: 93. Jose: Love that Steve: Like he, he finished and he really went away and never really was around anymore after, after, he was done. He got on with his life, and back then you didn't make a lot of money, so I guess he had to get on Jose: Yeah. Yeah. Rest in peace, Bob Pettit. Glad to, to have the opportunity to talk about him. This is somebody whose name I, I'm familiar with, but whose game I'm not, right? So always cool to talk about guys like him. Let's pivot real quick and talk about a guy who is $5 million apart. Money that Bob Pettit would've loved to play for and Jalen Duren was talking about, $5 [00:05:00] million apart from what he's being offered, which is mind-boggling. And I would love to have asked Bob Pettit if it-- for his thoughts on a $5 million contract dispute. But Jalen Duren and the Pistons are $5 million apart. The Pistons need him, I think, and they need him to be happy I think. Duren, of course, is hoping that the Pistons forget, and you wrote about this, how bad he was in the playoffs last year. The Pistons are offering him 40, I think or 35, I don't know, and he'd want 45 or 40. They're 5 million apart. Who blinks first? What do you think is gonna end? How's, how is this gonna- Steve: don't-- I think it's getting to the point where they might have to just trade him. Sign and trade because I don't see him coming back and being a happy guy. Jose: Right Steve: they need-- You know, the, the Pistons, it's really a shame. The Pistons came out of nowhere, great story. But with this I don't know if it's gonna main- they're gonna maintain that great story. And that's a shame. It really is. I know Sacramento wants him, and you got a, a, a built-in trade there with Sabonis, and [00:06:00] give or take, although Detroit's gotta make up a lot of money in that kind of deal. But the point being I... if he does come back, I know him and Cade have a good relationship, but I can't picture that. And the other piece, centers in the NBA today, I don't know if they're worth all that money, 'cause what do they do? They don't get the ball in the post. They don't score except off lobs and putbacks. What... I- is he worth all that? Their job is to block shots, rebound, then whatever else, that goes in is a bonus. So I don't know. I don't know what, what happens but 40, 45 million for your five, your big man I don't know if that's a good idea in today's game, is what I'm trying to say Jose: Yeah. But honestly, what choice do the Pistons have, right? I think they're just backed into a corner here. Y- to your point, they're either gonna have to sign him to what he wants or they're gonna have to trade him and lose him Steve: What was surprising [00:07:00] is they put a weight clause in his contract. They wanna put a weight clause. Now, if you read between the lines on that, you gotta think Detroit kind of feels that he really doesn't have that desire to be, tremendous. So they're trying to do something s- different players, like Larry Bird had a, a... Wanted to be the best guy every time he went out there, and he Jose: Sure Steve: to... And Michael Jordan played to beat the hell out of you. Jose: Right Steve: they don't know about... i, it... To me, if I'm trying to read between the lines, I'm thinking, you know what? They don't believe this guy's got that, that killer instinct in him. so they're... You know what I mean? And by the weight clause, maybe it'll keep him better because if you look at the guy's chiseled. Jose: Yeah Steve: st- he's big, he's strong. I don't see a reason for a weight clause. So there's something that's not right on this. But it's not heading for an amicable settlement with Detroit, and I'd be very surprised [00:08:00] if he does decide to play and is happy. By the way, he's got until, I believe, October 1st, which is what? Thursday? To make a decision what he wants to do. And either he takes the money or he takes the, what is it? 9 or 10 million a year as and then Jose: Right Steve: agent after the year, and Detroit can't trade him then. so something's gotta come to a head this week Jose: Yeah. Yeah. It'd be very interesting to see how that plays out. A- and again, I think for me it's really staggering, to pivot from Bob Pettit who p- who played for, what, maybe thousands? To to Jalen Duren who's playing for multiple millions. It's kinda wild Steve: Yeah, it is. And w- it's modern basketball. It's a different Jose: Yeah yeah. Different world. Le- let's finish with the top 15 players of all time. I love that. Obviously everybody's got an opinion. This is very subjective. You... A- and I think it's important to understand how you ranked these guys, [00:09:00] right? You are basing it solely not on what they won, but on their skill on the court in their era, right? A- Steve: Right Jose: and I think that's important because some people are gonna look at this list and they might have a little pushback, but that's the key. These are the best players for their era. Who was the most dominant? So we're gonna work our way back 15 to one. And we're gonna go quick because we're gonna try to get through all of these in the time that we have left before the shot clock goes off. All right. Number 15 is a player that I actually got to see live. My dad surprised me 80... It had to have been '80 or '83 the time the Sixers played the the the Lakers. Got to go to the Forum. I was in the nosebleeds, but I got to see Dr. J live beat the Lakers which is a bummer, but it was cool to be there, and that was, like, really one of those formative moments in your life. I was a young guy. I don't re- I don't know, in, in my teens and Dr. J, I remember going off, and I remember seeing D- Darryl Dawkins and that team that, those Sixer teams were good. The they were really good, and Dr. J was [00:10:00] spectacular. What makes Dr. J number 15 for you? Steve: First of all, growing up in New Jersey he played for the Nets for a while in the Jose: Right Steve: And we had-- They were on I believe it was Channel 9, the local TV. They were on a lot of games. And he was must-watch 'cause he did things with the ball. He had huge hands. He threw down a million different ways. He was just... He was the ABA's draw. Everybody, wanted to see him play. They won a title in the ABA. Then he went to the NBA because the, when the merger happened, the owner of the Nets couldn't afford him and paying the money you had to pay to get into the NBA, so they dealt him. He ended up at Philly, and he was great. He was for five years or so, he was great, and then his career wound down. He wasn't. But he did things with a ball that nobody else think of doing w- with the way he palmed it, the way he dunked it, the way everybody dunked. But he brought style to [00:11:00] dunking. He brought style to his game, and he could jump out of a gym. It was fun to watch. His shot was fair but just the other stuff, and he was just virtually unstoppable, and Just a guy who in the '70s when the NBA was kinda dying, he was one of the people that created interest at all times. Jose: Yeah Steve: that's why I put him there because I always look at the impact they made on the game in their time, and he made a great impact at it Jose: Undeniable, the cradle dunk on Michael Cooper's head is still one of the most awesome in-game dunks I've ever seen. Number 14, now this is the only one I had a little issue with, but I understand your point. You have Kevin Durant, one of the greatest offensive players of all time. He's your number 14. Make that case Steve: First of all, I grew up in an era if you were as big as Durant you got down on the block and got the ball in the post. Jose: Oh, for sure Steve: this is a guy that's 6'10", and [00:12:00] because of his long arms and his size, you can't stop his shot. He can get a shot anywhere on the court. He's one of the all-time leading scorers. He's virtually unstoppable. The one negative to him is he, never a leader. a leader on a team and that's the negative. But how could you turn your head? He's still playing and he's still scoring, and in fact last year I believe his minutes played were over 36 minutes, which is pretty good. I believe 37 or 38 years old. But the point being, he just he's basically an unstoppable offensive force Jose: Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. And that's the criteria, right? Impacting the game in the area you're given. Now let's talk about a teammate of KD, comes in at number 13, another active guy just signed an extension, Steph Curry. Absolutely changed the game. Yeah, so easy case to make for Steph, yeah? Steve: He gives every, every young person the thought that, and small, short person, the thought that [00:13:00] they can play basketball. Which at before him, you had to be... You're thinking, you gotta be 6'5" or whatever it is to play. But this guy, because he can shoot from anywhere, and he's tremendous, the greatest three-point shooter of our time of any time. And just, just... and he's so much fun to watch. He changed the game in the way giving hope to everybody that you can play this game Jose: Yeah. No, I love that. Undeniable, and he's still doing it today, which is pretty wild. We go from number 13, Steph, to the antithesis, the absolute opposite of Flair. At number 12, you've got Shaquille O'Neal. Some people might be surprised by this one 'cause this guy dominated the era that he played in. Why is he at number number 12? Steve: First of all, I think there's a couple centers that belong above him which we'll talk about. He- he's one of the four greatest centers of all time. I think the the knock Shaquille was... And nobody's, he's nobody's baby, but he was like a [00:14:00] baby Wilt in the way that he can bully his way and be unstoppable. I think the Jose: Yeah. Steve: Shaquille was, I don't think he was a killer. And by that, I mean he could have dominated, but he came in out of shape o- often and, he had fun. And he wasn't he, he wasn't that player that could have propelled himself to be one of the greats of all- one of the five greatest of all time. He's great. He's a great player, but I think he left some on the table. He could've been much better Jose: Yeah, and that encapsulates the argument that he and Kobe had, which is why they didn't stay together longer than th- than they did, for sure. At number 11, probably the most boring NBA All-Star of all time. A phenomenal swimmer, did other things, but just an incredible basketball player. You got Tim Duncan at 11. Steve: The probably, again, the greatest four, which means big forward, of all time. Great in the post, played and [00:15:00] won some titles. He just, he was the, the rock for Popovich's great teams. Always there and always the guy. Throw him the ball he'll score, and he had this funny looking, not funny looking, but a bank shot he, he liked to take and good at it. Just a great four man and just a, a great player and a Jose: Yeah. Yeah, I love Tim Duncan because he was never too high, never too low. He just went out there, did his job. He was, again, boring really, but phenomenally good basketball player. Now 10, right? You called Shaquille a, a baby Wilt. It's incredible to think that baby Wilt got paired with baby Jordan in in Kobe Bryant. You got him at 10 Steve: Let's slow down on that. Kobe was great. Nobody's knocking that. But, you're putting Jordan and Jordan is up here and... But anyway, was great. Kobe worked harder than anybody in the league and just wanted to be great, and he was the killer, meaning he could he'd take over [00:16:00] games and just could do things that, that people couldn't do. Great player and, people still talk about his work ethic and his abilities to this day, and he's been-- he's passed for a couple years now. But they still talk about it, and many young NBA players grew up idolizing him as a great player and a winner. And don't forget, he won with Shaquille O'Neal, and then in the later version, he won with Gasol as his number two. So he was able to be with different groups and win games Jose: Yeah. Which tells you a lot about, about the type of player he was. And we talked recently about Russell Westbrook and how he played hard on a Tuesday against the Pelicans. Kobe Bryant did the same thing. Steve: yeah. Jose: guy was a battler. And he was, different player than Russell Westbrook, Steve: Yep Jose: still played with that same intensity, so loved that at Kobe at 10, one of the top 10 players of all time. Number nine, this is a guy who doesn't get a lot of love because of, I think of his finals record. I think it's one and eight, one and nine, but Jerry West is your number nine. Tell us about [00:17:00] Mr. West. Steve: I think one of the things I wrote about 94-- in, in, in the 1969 playoffs, the Lakers lost to Boston, but they won the first two games of that series. Jerry West, in the first two games, had 94 points. Jose: Yeah Steve: three then. Had over Jose: That's crazy. Steve: game. It was Jose: Yeah Steve: Jerry West, if you watched him play... Now, you gotta understand, if he played today, guys would be way better, but for his time, he was dominant, and that's how I pick these guys, not about how they'd Jose: Yeah. Steve: today. And Jerry West, what a great shooter. The shame of it was he ran into Boston and, couldn't beat them. But he was just great. And if you watched him, you're just like, "Oh my God." And just consistently great shooter every night. Now, Jerry West is one of them people, we can, we could talk about him in two different places, that and as a general manager, which we did. Was he was just announced, but I'd rather shed light on how great he was. [00:18:00] And I think you had the numbers before about his '69 series where he just... and by the way, in '69, that was the beginning of giving out, I believe one of the first years of giving out the MVP award for the final series. Now, there's only one player the history of giving that out that won the MVP without his team winning the title, and it's Jerry West in 1969. Jose: Yeah Steve: back then they gave a car for winning it, and that was good because the players didn't make as much money. But that tells you how dominant he was in that series Jose: Yeah. Before the show Steve and I did a little bit of a deep dive into the 1969 NBA Finals, and for those of who, who've never done that, I want you to do that. I want you to go and take a look at game one and envision it, and look at the box score in game two, but look at game seven. That today, th- that series w- would absolutely destroy the internet today. A- and knowing the history who was expected to win it's pretty [00:19:00] crazy. But Jerry West at number nine, I love that. No argument from me. Number eight, the guy, the first guy to average a triple-double. We talked about Russell Westbrook not too long ago. Second guy to do it, Oscar Robertson comes in at number eight. Doesn't get a lot of love 'cause didn't win any championships, I don't think, right? But, Steve: No, Jose: he's your number eight. Steve: one with the Bucks. He won one with the Jose: Okay Steve: the end of his career when he, with, when he teamed up with Jabbar. in the '60s there were two, two great guards. Number one was Oscar, number two was West. Oscar had a, averaged a triple double in the '61, '62 season. That was unheard of back then. I just, he was great. He was just great. He was strong. I remember as a kid, this has gotta be I might have been... He was with the Royals, I believe then, so it has to be like '69 so. We went to the Garden and they were playing the the Knicks obviously. And before the game, Oscar was [00:20:00] out there and Oscar was shooting just before the game, before the teams came out, just doing a little workout or whatever. And I sat and we were walking around, and back then you can get around, and I was right behind the scorer's table and I'm watching this. And Oscar must have made, about a foot or two behind the foul line, he made about 15 in a row. I just sat there and said, "This, oh my God." "This is amazing." And I was with a friend and we both were like gaping. But that's how good he was. He could do anything on the court. Unfortunately, Cincinnati, like the Lakers and everybody else, they ran into the Celtics and they couldn't win. He did win it, the, with Jabbar with the Bucks, and that was when he was getting a little old, he was getting a little heavy, but he still was good enough to control a game. And it was what the Bucks needed to get over the top to win the title Jose: Yeah. Love that. The Big O at number eight. Number seven, you've got a tie and I love that you did this. These are two players that are forever linked together. [00:21:00] These are two players that single-handedly, if you could... dual-handedly saved the NBA which was not having a good time of it in the late '70s, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Impactful players, both of them. Why did you feel the need to bundle them together? Steve: Because they saved the NBA together. Th- picture this and let's think about it. In '79, Larry Bird played for Indiana State. Now, without getting in deep, he was white. Magic played for Ma- Michigan State. was Black. It was TV, it saved the NBA. He played the college the championship. Magic won that. But a rivalry existed for a lot of reasons. Bird wasn't happy he didn't play well in that championship game. Now he comes, both of them come into the NBA, and the curiosity created from the national championship in college, people followed that and got people interested in the NBA. People have to [00:22:00] understand, in the '70s, the NBA was riddled with drugs and problems and it was really not followed that great, and was looked at with disdain. By the time the '80s came along with those two guys, everything changed and it's because those two guys did it. Eight Jose: Yeah Steve: in the decade, those two teams won. Jose: That's wild Steve: five, Boston won three. But they were... you can make an argument the '86 Celtics are one of the greatest teams of all time. You can make a lot of interesting ar- arguments about this but those two got the interest back in the NBA Jose: Yeah. Undeniable, and I was lucky enough to start being coherent enough to follow the game right when this happened. This is the start of my love of the game because I got to see Magic doing what he did and Larry Bird doing what he did and Darryl Dawkins doing what he did and Dr. J doing what he did. That was my era. So I love the fact that you bundled these guys together, and certainly [00:23:00] deserved. We got five more to go. Just about a minute left before the clock goes off. We're gonna rapid-fire some of these a little bit. Two great centers, two of the greatest centers of all time. At four and five you've got Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Steve: Well, where could I start? I'll say about... I'll be quick on Russell, 11 titles in 13 years. Must have Jose: Mic drop. Steve: People forget the fact that he won two, two college championships at the University of San Francisco, and he was the Olympic-- he was an Olympic gold medalist. Jose: Yeah. Steve: just-- that just sums up everything. He just a winner. He figured out how to get his team over the top, and he did it. And by the way, his last game he ever played against the Lakers in the final in '69, how many minutes did he play? We looked that up. How many minutes did he play in that game? Jose: 48 minutes. Yeah Steve: Yeah. Now, when we talk about Will, now we're gonna talk about something really interesting. In his Jose: Oh, it was [00:24:00] Kareem. Kareem was number four Steve: I'll, we'll get to Will. Kareem just had the skyhook, scored a million points unstoppable, won a bunch of titles. He just offensively one of the great forces of all time. There's nothing else you can say. Just a great player, and he lasted for many years. There's Jose: like Russell won at every r- won everywhere he played. He won in high school, he won in college a- and in, in an era when you couldn't dunk in college, Steve: That's Jose: right? Steve: they Jose: And you couldn't... Steve: because of him. Jose: Oh, is that right? Okay. Steve: yes. Jose: So he had to be, adept around the rim and he couldn't play as a v- as a varsity guy as a freshman, and then he comes into the NBA and does what he does. Steve: Oh, he was just great. Jose: yeah. No, I'm a Steve: though, who-- he started out with what team? Jose: The Bucs. Steve: Yeah. Yeah, people don't realize that. They think he was a Laker forever Jose: Which is funny. No he played with the Bucs and he won with the Bucs. Number three we'll leave alone as, as opposed to bundling him. You heard the buzzer go [00:25:00] off, but we're going, Steve: We're gonna Jose: shot clock overtime. This is the highest ranking active player. Plays for the Philadelphia 76ers right now. Why do you got LeBron at number three? Steve: He's a great player. He can guard anybody. He can, he, in his day, he could guard anybody on the court. He can play any position on the court from point guard to big man. And just all-time leading scorer, just a great player. There's nothing else to say. Y- and he's still going, and he's still probably one of the top 20, 25 players in the league. So what more, what more could you say? And this guy's, he goes on forever Jose: Yeah. Yeah, a- and after you rattle off all those incredible accolades about this guy it blows my mind to think you got two guys ahead of him. Steve: Yeah, I Jose: You got two guys that were more impactful and again, keep in mind the criteria, right? Not saying a better player, not saying not saying more wins, more championships. We're saying he was more impactful during his era on the court than LeBron James. I gotta ask [00:26:00] you, who was more impactful than i- the incredible LeBron James? Number two, you had probably the most impactful player... you got him at number two, so there's one better, but Wilt Chamberlain, tell us about this guy Steve: People don't understand, he's the only player I ever saw in my life that could do any- well, he could score at will. Just you just have to hope he, he doesn't beat you alone. He scored 100 points in a game. Read, read his minutes career average, minutes career, read those numbers that we talked about Jose: I got him. 45.8 minutes per game average over his career. 30.1 points per game, 22.9 rebounds per game. In one season, he figured, "I think I'm gonna just be an assist guy, right?" Steve: Then he led the league in that. He, he had Bill Russell's heart or whatever you wanna say he would've won titles forever. The [00:27:00] shame of it was he could do whatever he pleased, and he wasn't always, And he didn't like the fact that people considered him a loser, but when you look at on the court, it was just unstoppable. Now, as a kid, it seemed like in the '60s, the NBA was on Sundays, the game of the week, and it seemed like Boston played Philly with Wilt all the time. And as a kid, couldn't wait to get home and see those games. It, because it was just so much fun. But Wilt was just so unstoppable. You just, you just, how the heck do you, how do you stop this man? And he didn't come out of the games. It's not when you get a guy in today's game, they sit out six, eight minutes, 10 minutes a game, 12 minutes. So it's just oh my God, it's relentless. And one last story. He was so strong, such a strong player. There's an old story, and I didn't see it, but with, they're playing the Celtics and somebody provoked Wilt and he went back at him. And Sam, I believe it was Sam [00:28:00] Jones, grabbed a chair to try to keep Wilt away from him. That tells you the fear and the worry about his strength, and how this guy was a man with boys playing. Jose: Yeah. And I gotta wonder and it's subjective, I know we don't know, but I'm curious, do, do you think that was the reason there was no, a lack of fire, which you called out in Wilt? 'Cause he was just bored. He could do whatever he wanted. He wasn't... There was nobody competing against this guy. Do you think he was just bored out there? Steve: I kinda think some players like Jordan are born, they'll cut your throat out. I don't know if he had that in him. Jose: Yeah. Steve: think that's a, a bottom line. The old stories go that when they played Boston, Russell would have him over the house and have dinner and the whole bit, and then they'd play. But, and Russell thought, I think that he tried to use him, like to Jose: Oh, sure. Mind games. Steve: Yeah and because Russell knew he can't stop this guy. Nobody can. So if he wants to do something, he's gonna do it on the basketball court Jose: [00:29:00] Yeah. Absolutely incredible, and it's a shame that a lot of a lot more highlights from that era don't exist, like the 100-point game that you called out. But this guy was absolutely dominant. And despite all of that, despite all those incredible numbers, there was one player who was better in your mind's eye in his era, and that's Michael Jordan. I don't think anybody would argue that this guy was unbelievable. I had, the privilege of watching him play for sure and beat up teams. I remember one of the greatest memories I have of Michael Jordan is an odd one against the Clippers in a, a Tuesday game that nobody cared about, 'cause nobody cared about the Clippers. He had a breakaway moment and a dunk that he missed, and I always call that out because I like people to know even the greatest of all time miss dunks sometimes 'cause I saw it happen. But short of that dunk miss against the Clippers in some no- nothing game in the '90s, tell us about why you think Michael Jordan's number one. Steve: Kinda simple. Jordan is talented, [00:30:00] multi-talented. When you look at great players, there's a lot of guys that were great, Wilt was an example, but they didn't have that killer instinct. And Michael Jordan had it. And Michael Jordan every night not just in playoffs, every night was going to show you he's the best guy on the court, and he generally always did it because he was just incredible. Some of the things he did. When he made the shot against Cleveland that got the whole thing going f- when they finally got over the hump and beat Cleveland, take a look. When he jumps in the air, just look at how high he jumped, how far off the ground he... realize this guy could Jose: Yeah. Yeah Steve: was just... Even when he came back, he would retire and came back with the Washington Bullets, now he, at the time, I don't know, what was he, 38? I don't know what he was age, but he was averaging over 20 points a game. And it just and I know LeBron's still doing it. I got it. But this guy was just, anything you wanted to do, [00:31:00] this guy could do. And he always brought home a winner. He was always a winner. You can't, you can't deny, A, the immense talent and the immense killer instinct he had. He had the whole package Jose: Yeah. One of the most iconic photos, I think i- is Michael Jordan jumping up in the air, Craig Ehlo in the background just dejected. They call that the shot. A- and that was the start of six championships. Six and O. This guy Steve: yes Jose: was unbelievable. And your number one, and absolutely warranted. Let's rattle them off real quick before we we log off. Number 15, Dr. J, 14, Kevin Durant, 13, Steph Curry, number 12, Shaq, number 11, Tim Duncan, number 10, Kobe Bryant, number nine, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, number eight, Larry and Magic. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson at seven and six are tied. Number five, Bill Russell, number four, Kareem, number three, LeBron James, two, Wilt, and the number one best [00:32:00] player in Steve's mind, and I think probably 95% of people who watch the game's mind agree Michael Jordan. You heard the shot clock go off. This was a little bit of a overtime show. Hope you stuck around for it all. If you have any questions, any disagreements, leave them in the comments. I guarantee you Steve's gonna read them and he'll give you his thoughts on, on, on why you're wrong if you disagree with him. But that's it. Our time is up. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Make sure to read Steve's entire 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts article. We'll post it wherever you're watching or listening to this today. And join us next week when we recap Steve's latest 13 Rules Random NBA Thoughts article. We'll talk then. Thanks, Steve Steve: Take care