Who is the best basketball player of all time? It's a debate as old as time, and the 20th century has seen some of the greats pass through the NBA. Right now you have the likes of Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant looking to go down as the greatest of all time, but what about the eras before them?
Well, we asked AI to rank the top 20 NBA players from the 20th century, and here's what we got.
20 greatest NBA players of the 20th century, according to AI (20-11)
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10 Julius Erving
NBA Championships: 1
Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers
Starting off strong, we've got Dr J. Erving, who is better known for his time in the American Basketball Association (ABA) before its merger with the NBA. He also won two ABA championships alongside his list of accolades in the NBA.
He played for 16 seasons across the two leagues, and not once did he miss the postseason. He ended his career with a staggering 30,026 points, which puts him eighth on the all-time scoring list. He is undoubtedly one of the greats, making 11 All-Star teams, and in 1997, he was voted as the greatest ABA player of all time.
9 Jerry West
NBA Championships: 1
Jerry West
A man so iconic that he is the silhouette of the NBA logo today. Jerry West may have only won one ring, which came in 1972, but he was undoubtedly one of the greatest.
He was known for his big game moments, such as his shot in Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals at the buzzer. He made the NBA All-Star lineup in every year of his playing career, and he won the first ever NBA Finals MVP award in 1969 despite losing to the Celtics. To this day, he is the only player to receive the award from the losing side.
After his playing career, he was a very successful executive at the Los Angeles Lakers, and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019, before sadly passing away last year.
8 Hakeem Olajuwon
NBA Championships: 2
Hakeem Olajuwon
The Dream was the first pick in the 1984 NBA Draft, and went on to win back-to-back championships with the Houston Rockets in 1984 and 1985, and in both years he was the Finals MVP.
He was the first non-American to win the NBA MVP award, and he matched up and beat some of basketball's most iconic names. He was also an Olympic gold medalist, and when he ended his career in 2002, he had the record for the most blocks with 3,830.
7 Oscar Robertson
NBA Championships: 1
Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals
The Big O is someone who is slept on in the "greatest point guard of all time" conversation. AI ranks him at third behind Steph Curry and Magic Johnson, but Robertson is a 12-time All-Star and was the 1964 MVP.
He won his ring with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971, being a key part of the Bucks' first NBA title. He won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games, and is one of only three players ever to average a triple-double for the season. He retired in 1974, and was named as part of the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams.
6 Wilt Chamberlain
NBA Championships: 2
Wilt Chamberlain
He may only have two rings, but Wilt Chamberlain's list of records is staggering. He holds 72 in total, 68 of those being solo records. Some of them include the most points in a season with 4,029, for which he also holds second place. Highest average points per game in a season with 50.4, for which he also holds the next three spots. Most points by a rookie, the highest career rebounds per game, and most consecutive double-doubles with 227.
These are just some of the records he broke, and some of them will remain unbeaten for a long time. He won championships with the 76ers in 1967 and the Lakers in 1972, and he also picked up four MVPs, winning three in a row between 1966 and 1968.
5 Larry Bird
NBA Championships: 3
Larry Bird Team USA 1992
Larry the Legend is a three-time NBA Champion, two-time Finals MVP, three-time league MVP, and 12-time All-Star. He was drafted as the sixth pick in the 1978 draft by the Boston Celtics, and that is where he spent his entire career.
The peak of his powers came between 1984 and 1986, when he won all three of his MVP awards, and his rivalry with Magic Johnson helped popularise the NBA. He will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest to ever play the sport, regardless of which era you're looking at.
4 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
NBA Championships: 6
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Milwaukee Bucks
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar holds the record for the most MVP trophies, with his dominance coming in the 1970s with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
He is a six-time NBA Champion, with five of those rings coming with the Lakers, and at the time of his retirement, he led the NBA in regular season minutes, points, field goals made, and rebounds. He was the first pick of the 1969 draft, and went on to become one of, if not, the greatest center of all time.
3 Bill Russell
NBA Championships: 11
Bill Russell
Bill Russell played basketball for the Boston Celtics for 13 years between 1956 and 1969, and in that time won 11 championships, five MVPs, and 12 All-Star appearances. He is one of only eight players in the history of the sport to complete the triple crown.
He was known for his rebounding and defensive game, and the finals MVP trophy was named after him in 2009. He also won two rings as player-coach, becoming the first black NBA coach to win a championship. In 2022, the NBA retired the number 6 jersey league-wide, and he is the only player ever to have that honour.
2 Magic Johnson
NBA Championships: 5
Magic Johnson
A man that defined an era in the NBA. Magic Johnson is one of the greatest passers of all time. His playing career spanned 21 years across three different stints, and in that time he won five rings, three Finals MVPs, the league MVPs, and was the assists leader in four consecutive seasons between 1983 and 1987.
He is also one of the eight to win the triple crown, being part of the legendary US basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in Barcelona. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this year, and will go down as one of the most iconic basketball players of all time.
1 Michael Jordan
NBA Championships: 6
Michael Jordan with the NBA 50th Anniversary logo as the background
Who else was it going to be? When you think of basketball, one of the first names that you think of is Jordan. He is a six-time champion with the Chicago Bulls, winning the Finals MVP every one of those years, a five-time league MVP, and a 14-time All-Star.
He is a 10-time scoring champion, the most of any player ever, and he had eight seasons averaging 30 or more points per game. Not only was he amazing on the court, his deal with Nike made him iconic off of it too, and now he is one of the richest business people on the planet.
No one in the history of the sport is as iconic as Jordan, and there may not be another like him.