I don’t have a straight up source. I’ve searched everywhere for a digital archive of that edition of Slam Magazine but can’t find it anywhere. Best I can do is [some old forums discussing the newly released list](https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/slam-magazines-top-75-nba-players-of-all-time.38461/). Anyways heres the list
1.Michael Jordan
2.Wilt Chamberlain
3.Oscar Robertson
4.Bill Russell
5.Magic Johnson
6.Larry Bird
7.Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
8.Jerry West
9.Shaquille O’Neal
10.Julius Erving
11.Elgin Baylor
12.Hakeem Olajuwon
13.Karl Malone
14.Bob Petitt
15.John Havlicek
16.Moses Malone
17.Isiah Thomas
18.John Stockton
19.Charles Barkley
20.Walt Frazier
21.Rick Barry
22.Bob Cousy
23.Elvin Hayes
24.Dave Cowens
25.George Gervin
26.Kevin McHale
27.Dominique Wilkins
28.Patrick Ewing
29.Willis Reed
30.Wes Unseld
31.George Mikan
32.Earl Monroe
33.Nate Thurmond
34.Dolph Schayes
35.Walt Bellamy
36.David Robinson
37.Billy Cunningham
38.Paul Arizin
39.Dave DeBusschere
40.Alex English
41.Scottie Pippen
42.Nate Archibald
43.Adrian Dantley
44.Clyde Drexler
45.Bernard King
46.Bob McAdoo
47.Gary Payton
48.Artis Gilmore
49.Jerry Lucas
50.Pete Maravich
51.Hal Greer
52.Reggie Miller
53.Allen Iverson
54.Dan Issel
55.Tim Duncan
56.Robert Parish
57.James Worthy
58.Sam Jones
59.Kobe Bryant
60.Lenny Wilkens
61.Jason Kidd
62.Bob Lanier
63.Dennis Johnson
64.Chris Webber
65.Chris Mullin
66.Mark Aguirre
67.Connie Hawkins
68.Spencer Haywood
69.Dennis Rodman
70.Kevin Garnett
71.Dave Bing
72.Alonzo Mourning
73.Bill Walton
74.Grant Hill
75.Tracy McGrady
————
– Kareem is the big one. He has went from being under Wilt/Bird/Magic for most of the 80s and 90s, to now being consensus top 3. Here’s [the AP](https://www.apbr.org/oldtimrs.html) voting on the best players in NBA history in 1999, and he was under those 3 + Oscar as well. It’s interesting how much his reputation has jumped over the years even though he retired almost 40 years ago
– Oscar Robertson was voted 3rd best player. Does he even crack the top 15 in most modern lists? I don’t think so. I think Westbrook kind of took the shine off Oscar’s legacy a bit
– David Robinson’s career was almost over at this point (literally his final season), yet he was being ranked at #35, behind guys like Dolph Schayes, Dominique Wilkins and his own contemporary Patrick Ewing. Now he’s widely considered top 25 ever. What changed?
by AdulasMoonblade
35 Comments
Biggest takeaway is that current day doesnât respect the old guys nearly as much except for Kareem.
Wilt, Oscar, Russell, West, Erving, Baylor Petite, Havlicek all notably ranked higher on this list than your standard lists you will see today.
First time Iâve seen or heard the name Dan issel
The Big O is underrated. If he shows up in someone’s top 10 there should be no argument. He just didn’t have much help during his prime. I wouldn’t blame Westbrook. I might blame the “fun fact” of the triple double, because that’s all most people know about him.
Regarding the three points you made:
– Kareem low and Oscar high is reflective of how much more people cared about stats compared to accolades in the past
– David Robinson is very respected today but back then a lot of people viewed him as a playoff choker that couldn’t get it done before Duncan arrived and he got clowned endlessly for getting owned by Hakeem after his MVP season
Glad thereâs something showing CWebb was right there with Duncan and KG until he got hurt.
>Kareem is the big one. He has went from being under Wilt/Bird/Magic for most of the 80s and 90s, to now being consensus top 3. Here’s the AP voting on the best players in NBA history in 1999, and he was under those 3 + Oscar as well. It’s interesting how much his reputation has jumped over the years even though he retired almost 40 years ago
This is one list, and we don’t even know how it was compiled.
The “AP voting” from 1999 you linked to isn’t a poll of AP writers. The selection panel was:
* Marv Albert (born 1941)
* Chick Hearn (born 1916)
* Fuzzy Levane (born 1920)
* Harvey Pollack (born 1922)
* Bill Russell (born 1934)
* Lenny Wilkens (born 1937)
It’s not surprising that a bunch of old dudes were more friendly to guys who played in the 50s and 60s.
Also note Karl Malone. Karl was the âGOAT PFâ when I grew up before Timmy established his legacy.
Not a single all time list had Barkley over him. Malone doubled Barkleyâs MVP caliber seasons. Way more first team and defensive team selections. More MVPs and finals appearances.
His off court issues have diminished his basketball legacy in modern times.
Think ring culture grew and reshaped how a lot of people were remembered. Specifically I think being the top dog on a team, with whatever success came with that, was held in higher regard than being a really effective 2 or 3 guy. I feel like a lot of people would flip Pippen and Wilkens today, for instance.
Also does anyone know where SLAM published the original list? I’m assuming it was in the Slam Classic #29 edition since that released in Feb 2003 and has the title “Greatest NBA players” but I’m not sure.
Slam’s lists are dog shit and should not be taken seriously in any way. [Here is their big 500 Greatest list from 2011](https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/slam_500_greatest.html), and three huge things stand out to show how dumb they are at stuff like this:
* They completely forgot to include Gail Goodrich, a fringe top-100 player.
* They put Gus Johnson at 66. I love Gus Johnson and wish he wasn’t as forgotten as he is, but in no way can he be considered a top-100 NBA player of all-time, not unless it’s a list based solely on potential/”what if”.
* They lazily ranked twin brothers Dick and Tom Van Arsdale next to each other at 311 and 312. Dick was considerably better than Tom, like at least 50 spots worth.
>Oscar Robertson was voted 3rd best player. Does he even crack the top 15 in most modern lists? I don’t think so. I think Westbrook kind of took the shine off Oscar’s legacy a bit
​
Yes, absolutely lol. I don’t think I’ve seen a list that doesn’t have Robertson top 15 lol.
Im surprised TMac makes the list.
Shaq was considered 9th!!!
He was yet to win another ring.
I see a lot of people leave him out the top 10 these days for guys like kd and curry
That list shows what people at Slam Magazine thought
Surprised at how high Stockton is. Nowadays he doesn’t get much praise.
No way is Malone 13 đ
What did they mean when they put Karl Malone at 13?
No LeBron? Wtf was Slam Magazine smoking?
Itâs not like people are shitting on older players, itâs that weâve got 20 years of new players and modern basketball is really not that old.
Kobe already considered a top 59 player in 2003? I thought Shaq won those rings by himself?
I donât care what the majority opinion is. I always had Magic ahead of Kareem. Kareemâs prime was during the days of the ABA in the mid-70s. The second and third best Cs in the mid-70s were Artis Gilmore and Dan Issel, who both played in the ABA (Unseld had regressed a bit and Wilt/Reed retired). By the time Bill Walton got healthy and became the second best C, he dominated Kareem and the Lakers 4-0 in the WCF. Kareemâs Lakers couldnât even get past Jack Sikmaâs Sonics teams in the late 70s when they had no superstars. Then Kareem later also got dominated by Moses Malone (another ex-ABA player who was now the best C in the league, passing Kareem) in both 1981 and 1983.
He had that great run with Oscar/Dandridge, but after that, he didnât win anything except individual awards in a diluted NBA. Then he got dominated multiple times by other Cs like Walton and Moses Malone. Magic is the reason the Lakers won those championships in the 80s. Without Magic, Kareem has 1 ring.
Shoutout to Wilt. The Baylessfication of ranking basketball players forever gave most who view him shit colored glasses.
One thing that happens in these lists I think is people may impose modern standards to historical players. I’ve definitely seen a shift where Ray Allen and Reggie Miller used to be ranked quite inconsistently, but since the 3-point era they’ve received quite favorable rankings. On the flip side, a guy like Clyde Drexler has his rankings hurt because jump shooting isn’t his main thing.
And how is Tim Duncan lower than Allen Iverson on this list? Granted itâs only 2 but Duncan has already won a championship in 99â with finals MVP and won the championship with finals mvp in 03â. Also already 2 all star selections and a all star game mvp award and multiple all nba awards.
All the comments in here about Oscar being that high because of stats and triple double is not really accurate.
By all accounts from players and media during that era, many had Oscar as the greatest basketball player of all time. Since we can only go off stats, and his stats show the trip dubs it confirms he was a great player and we think that’s the whole story. But it seems more like he was a proto-MJ who had the eye test, skills, athleticism AND stats, as a whole package. That made people of that era consider him the greatest. He was always ranked right at the top by guys like Wilt, Bill. I think he was the first guy Bob Cousy mentioned when he sonned JJ last year.
I was speed scrolling the list to get to the comments and out of the corner of my eye saw “Hawkins” and thought for a second Hersey Hawkins was in the top 75. Flashbacks to my childhood when I only called him “Hershey Hawkins”.
It’s because we’ve seen so many greats come in the league the past 20 years too. We’ve had guys enter the league and shaked the rankings like Lebron, Jokic, Wade, Curry, KD, Harden, Russ, and Giannis. You also have players not reaching their peak being very low on that list like Kobe, AI, Garnett, and Duncan. We don’t even have Nash or Nowitzki on the list. Dwight’s a shout too for the peak he reached.
Wild that Kobe cracks this list at 59 in 2003. He wouldnât go on to win his ONLY MVP award until 2007.
Literally one of the greatest and most underrated all time players.
AI over Kobe is crazy
Kareem really was under appreciated
Kareem was disrespected for years by sports journalists for being aloof, muslim, and an intellectual. I remember reading articles in which the author and even tv commentators still referred to him as lou alcindor as late as the late 90s, rationalizing it because they disagreed with KAJâs religious reasons for changing his name. Kareem has been writing and commentating against that perception the entire time and is held in much higher regard now.
With Duncan, CWeb, and Garnett all close together it highlights how much people have forgotten how good CWeb was back then. Early 2000s there was a real argument for CWeb being the second best PF in the league. Dirk was good, but soft, and seen as a tier below.
Those kings teams really propped up CWebs reputation back then. Kobe/Shaq lakers are a top 5 all time team, and the Kings were right on their heels. A narrative lost to time.
Tim Duncan at 55 is incredible
Imagine having your legacy wrecked because WB averaged a triple double.
As we get further away from Chamberlain/Russell/Robertson’s playing days, the people who saw them play won’t be able to vouch for them anymore and they’ll just kinda fade off of these lists.