Best Player Now and Then.

There are hundreds of players throughout the Nba and many more that have already retired, and out of those players there has to some outstanding players that were dominant and the best players. On Nba.com they took vote for the best 50 players who are currently retired at the time. “At the start of the 1996-97 season the 50 players had accumulated 107 NBA Championships, 49 Most Valuable Player Awards, 17 Rookie of the Year honors, 447 All-Star Game selections, 36 scoring titles, 923,791 total points and 410,327 total rebounds.” (NBA.com). That is a lot of achievements and accumulations of stats of only 50 players. The players were in no specific order Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Charles Barkley, Paul Arizin, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Dave Bing, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere, Clyde Drexler, Julius Erving, Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, George Gervin, Hal Greer, John Havlicek, Elvin Hayes, Magic Johnson, Sam Jones, Michael Jordan, Jerry Lucas, Karl Malone, Moses Malone, Kevin McHale, Earl Monroe, Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Pettit, Willis Reed, David Robinson, Dolph Schayes, John Stockton, Nate Thurmond, Bill Walton, Lenny Wilkens, Pete Maravich, George Mikan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Bill Sharman, Isiah Thomas, Wes Unseld, Jerry West, James Worthy (NBA.com). Those are all the 50 best players that are currently retired from the NBA. Now on to the best current players in the NBA starting from the best. According to bleacherreport.com’s rules on their ranking system they do not include injured players saying that “Before delving into the rankings themselves, it’s worth noting that injured players are not considered for any of the featured spots, nor will they be listed as honorable mentions. If a player is expected to be out of action for a prolonged period, he’s automatically ineligible for the remainder of this article. As a result, Kevin Durant and Paul George will not be appearing, although they would certainly make the cut if the injury imp didn’t dictate otherwise.” (bleacherreport.com). There top 10 player starting at position 10 is DeMarcus Cousins who currently plays for the Sacramento Kings. Next it goes to Dwight Howard of the Houston Rockets, then Russell Westbrook on the Oklahoma City Thunder, next it goes to Kevin Love on the Cleveland Cavaliers, then it goes to Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers. At position 5 is Carmelo Anthony who plays for the New York Knicks then Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors followed by the point guard of the Los Angeles Clippers, Chris Paul, then at position 2 Anthony Davis who plays for the New Orleans Pelicans. Finally, the best player in the nba who currently plays, and is not injured, Lebron James who is back in his home town this year playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers (bleacherreport.com). The Question now is who is the best of them all? At number one for current players Lebron James, and best retired player, Michael Jordan, who is the best out of the two of them? This has been a long ongoing argument. Wherever you go to find the answer it will vary on the writer. Some think Lebron some think Michael, Some think they’re both even, but it is a very tough decision.

Works Cited

“Bleacher Report.” Bleacher Report. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014

“NBA.com, Official Site of the National Basketball Association.” NBA.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07

Dec. 2014.