Best NBA players of all time

29084 duels later, Michael Jordan is still #1 in the NBA ranking, with LeBron James close behind.

The podium confirms basketball orthodoxy, but the gap between LeBron James and Kobe Bryant reveals the depth of the debate. 121 ELO points separate the two Lakers legends, a margin that positions LeBron firmly in the conversation about the greatest of all time while Kobe sits at 1659 points. Michael Jordan dominates with 1872 ELO and wins 90% of his duels across 129 matchups, a win rate that underscores his uncontested status among voters. Stephen Curry rounds out the top 5 at 1626 ELO points, just one point behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, demonstrating how the modern game reshapes legacy debates. At the other end of the spectrum, Billy Cunningham sits at #100 with 852 ELO points and Dave Bing ranks last at #101 with 833 points, suggesting the community reserves its harshest judgments for players whose contributions, however significant in their era, fade when measured against modern legends.

This ranking draws on 29084 duels contributed by 72 players across 101 contenders, updated on 10 October 2026. The vote remains open: add your voice to the debate and help shape the answer to basketball's oldest question.

Updated on October 10, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →