Being a basketball fan is truly exciting right now. The game is transitioning smoothly from one era to the next. LeBron James has had an incredible two-decade career, and it’s time for King James to relinquish the crown. The luster of Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors’ decade-long success is beginning to fade.

The NBA is currently undergoing a rebranding, and it’s happening at an ideal time. TNT Sports’ 35-year television partnership with the NBA will conclude after the 2025 season. The league will begin its new 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal with ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock, and Amazon Prime starting in the 2025-26 season. Additionally, John Tesh’s iconic “Roundball Rock” theme music is making a return, introducing a new generation of basketball fans to its catchy tune. There couldn’t be a better way to kick off this rebranding than with some fresh headliners.

The 2025 NBA Finals features two burgeoning superstars in Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the newly crowned 2025 NBA MVP, and Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Shai and Tyrese are not superstar-level yet, but they are at the doorstep. They are spearheading this new wave of contemporary talent and ushering in the yet-to-be defined era.

“We’re witnessing the changing of the guard,” said former L.A. Clippers guard Lou Williams on the “Run It Back” podcast on FanDuel TV. “We are seeing the LeBrons and Kobes of our time. These young superstars are starting to make their mark on the game and define where it’s headed in the future. SGA is going to be one of those special players.”

Lou Will had a unique perspective on Shai’s development, having been his teammate during SGA’s rookie season with the Clippers. “This is my rook,” said Williams, who recognized Shai’s maturity from Day 1. He observed how Shai dedicated himself to improving at just 20 and is now seeing him emerge as one of the best players in the league at 26.

“[Shai] was always a responsible player who carried himself like a mature professional,” Williams noted. “He had big aspirations and was clear about his endgame. He knew his abilities.”

Lou Will’s praise for Shai’s work ethic underscores SGA’s character. The Clippers had a strong feeling that SGA could become an All-Star caliber player, but an NBA MVP? “Not in my wildest dreams,” Lou Will admitted. “I’m sure Shai had [MVP] on his vision board.”

SGA embodies the qualities of a throwback player who understands the importance of consistency and patience in achieving the ultimate goal of winning a championship.

The same holds true for Haliburton. The 25-year-old Pacers guard possesses an unorthodox shooting style but plays like a classic point guard with modern capabilities. He can dominate a game without scoring, pushing the pace like an ’80s playmaker while boasting an astonishing 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. For context, a 3:1 ratio is considered well above average, while 4:1 is excellent. Haliburton is operating on an entirely different level in terms of minimizing turnovers.

Few players can match Haliburton’s killer mentality. He has made headlines by leading two historic comebacks with game-winning shots that thwarted the playoff hopes of the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers. He also delivered a memorable choke sign celebration at Madison Square Garden after making a dagger shot that seemingly floated five feet in the air before swishing through the net. That shot and choke sign celebration will linger in the memories of Knicks fans for a long time.

The Pacers achieved remarkable comebacks, erasing a seven-point lead in 34.7 seconds to eliminate the Bucks in five games, then erasing another seven-point deficit in 46.7 seconds to take a 2-0 lead against the Cavaliers. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks, they came back from a nine-point deficit in 52.5 seconds in Game 1, with Haliburton sinking critical shots during each comeback.

SGA and Haliburton — alongside Anthony Edwards (23), Jalen Brunson (28), Cade Cunningham (23) and Luka Doncic (26) — are entering their prime years. Five of the six made the 2025 All-NBA teams (Luka didn’t qualify because of games missed), and they represent the present and future of the Association. They represent the major shift in the NBA as we head into a new era.

HISTORY LESSON: BREAKING DOWN DIFFERENT ERAS IN THE NBA

How did we arrive at this point? Let’s pop the VHS tape into the VCR and press rewind. The first 75 years of the NBA can be divided into six distinct eras.

In the league’s formative years of the 1950s and 1960s, eight basketball pioneers — Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell — established the groundwork for greatness. Bill Russell and his Boston Celtics didn’t just participate; they dominated the era, clinching 11 championships in 13 seasons. This is an astonishing achievement that is unlikely to ever be matched.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Rick Barry, George “Iceman” Gervin, and Julius Erving carried the torch through the colorful and turbulent era in the 1970s. This was a challenging time marked by the competition between the ABA and NBA, resulting in dwindling audiences.

The arrival of Magic Johnson in L.A. and Larry Bird in Boston revitalized basketball during the 1980s, often regarded as the league’s golden era. It was a period of glitz and grit. Showtime vs. Celtic Pride. East Cost vs. West Coast. This period also saw the emergence of the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons, along with three-time MVP Moses Malone’s move from Houston to Philadelphia. Moses teamed up with Julius “Dr. J” Erving in the 1982-83 season and co-authored one of the most dominant playoff runs, sweeping Magic’s Lakers in the ’83 Finals and capping off a 12-1 postseason record. Moses’ audacious move may be the first variant of a superstar player joining another superstar player to form a super team.

The Air Jordan era took flight in the 1990s. After grabbing the baton from Magic and Bird, Michael Jordan ruled the ’90s, winning six championships in eight years and denying peers Sir Charles Barkley, Karl “The Mailman” Malone, and Patrick Ewing from winning rings. Jordan’s Bulls was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals and pulled off the three-peat twice.

Hakeem Olajuwon benefited from Jordan’s brief two-year retirement, leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995. David “The Admiral” Robinson teamed up with Tim “Big Fundamental” Duncan in San Antonio, winning titles in 1999 and 2003.

The immediate post-Jordan era was dominated by five players: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, and Duncan. Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan combined to win 13 NBA titles, four regular season MVPs, and eight Finals MVPs from 1999 to 2010. For a decade, the road to the NBA Finals went through Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan. It was the dueling dynasties era. Shaq and Kobe led the Lakers to a three-peat — one of only five three-peats in NBA history. Mikan’s Minneapolis Lakers did it. Russell’s Celtics did it. Jordan’s Bulls did it twice. And Shaq and Kobe were the last to do it in 2002.

Nowitzki bridged the gap between the Kobe Bryant era and the LeBron James era. Nowitzki ended Kobe’s reign as the world’s best player when Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks squad knocked off Kobe’s Lakers in the 2011 playoffs. In the same playoff run, Nowitzki pumped the brakes on LeBron’s title run when his Mavs defeated LeBron’s Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.

LeBron’s appearance in the 2011 Finals started a run of eight consecutive trips. He put together a super team in Miami, winning two titles in 2012 and 2013, but lost to the Mavs in 2011 and Duncan’s Spurs in 2014. After a four-year run in South Beach, LeBron returned to Cleveland to fulfill his promise of bringing a championship to his hometown team. He delivered on the promise by winning a title in 2016, ending Cleveland’s 52-year professional title drought.

Dirk and KG revolutionized the game, ushering in a new era of big men. The Big Ticket made it possible for high schoolers to skip college and turn pro at 19. Nowitzki opened the door for European bigs who preferred to face the basket instead of having their back to it. Nowitzki and Garnett were instrumental in the game’s evolution, as more and more teams shifted away from traditional power forwards and opted for stretch-4s.

LeBron took the Cavs to four straight NBA Finals but could muster just one victory in four matchups against Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. Curry led the Warriors to four championships in eight seasons — two of those championship banners were aided by the addition of Kevin Durant.

The Dubs Dynasty opened the portal to the “small ball” era and advanced metrics. Analytics experts preferred shooting 3s over 2s — it’s either a layup or dunk or a 3-ball — and the midrange shot was viewed as somewhat of a dinosaur idea. The modern NBA puts a premium on pace and space.

The Pacers and Thunder are extensions of the pace-and-space approach, with some added features. Much like today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world, the game continues to evolve. Sure, the traditional back-to-the-basket center may be extinct, but centers are more valuable than ever. Small ball is becoming out of style like skinny jeans. Big-boy basketball is back — with pace and space.

Spurs 7-foot-6 center/forward/guard Victor Wembanyama is the type of player every team craves. Wemby is a big man with a handle who can shoot threes while being an anchor on defense. There’s only one Wemby, but teams will scour the Earth to find a similar player.

OKC found a Wemby-type unicorn in Chet Holmgren. Holmgren may not be as tall as Wemby but he can do all the things Wemby does. Holmgren has a decent handle for a 7-1 player, which allows him to get to his hot spots. Holmgren is also one of the best shot blockers in the NBA, which allows OKC defenders like Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, and Alex Caruso to press up and stay attached because they know Chet has their back.

The Thunder and Pacers both subscribe to the pace-and-space philosophy, but what allows them to consistently play at hyper-speed is depth. Indiana and OKC throw a wave of bodies at teams, saving their starters from having to play heavy minutes.

Today’s NBA is littered with 3&D wing players and big combo guards like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, and Cade Cunningham. What’s also becoming in vogue is skilled big men. Teams are looking for the next Nikola Jokic, a 5-man who can be the hub of an offense. We are deep in the era of positionless basketball where forwards can play center and centers can play guard.

Because the ball is in the hands of principal scorers, the traditional point guard is being phased out. What used to be the primary job of the point guard is now being distributed to other positions.
Haliburton might be one of the last of the Mohicans in terms of pure point guards, much like the gas-guzzling SUVs with V6 engines. It’s becoming harder and harder to find them. Suppressing point guards and centers isn’t healthy for the game. We need more of them, not less.

Shai, Cade, and Luka, on the other hand, are the archetypes of today’s point guard. They are big, heliocentric guards (6-6 and 6-7) built to play downhill, able to attack a compromised defense while coming off ball screens. They can score or draw fouls in the paint or draw multiple defenders and kick it out for open threes. It’s essentially an extension of what LeBron or James Harden have been doing for the past decade.

What separates SGA from Luka and Cade is his ability to do damage in the midrange area. The midrange (or the high post) is the area on the court that’s 4 to 5 feet below the 3-point line or roughly 15 to 20 feet away from the basket. It stretches from one side of the free throw line elbow to the next. Attack the mid-range is a core part of SGA’s game, and he’s proficient at it. During his 2024-25 MVP season when he averaged a league-leading 32.7 points per game, Shai made 57% of his mid-range attempts. The average NBA team’s midrange field goal percentage is around 42%.

There’s a fictitious narrative in basketball in terms of the mid-range shot. Many pundits and players jumped on the 3-point shot bandwagon and shoved the middie to the side of the road. But the middie never really went away. It is still the weapon of choice in the postseason, and it is still the best shot that’ll lead to a title. Outside of Steph Curry’s Warriors and Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics, the mid-range or the mid-post is where championship teams earn their money.

The adage of “what’s old is new again” seems fitting here because SGA is making the old mid-range shot the new viral trend.

As much as we’d like to see our sports heroes play forever, they can’t. Every now and then they might be able to summon a flicker of their greatness, but eventually the flame will go out.

We’ve been fortunate enough to watch all-time greats like LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant entertain us for years. However, Father Time is undefeated and the clock will eventually run out on LeBron (who turns 41 next season), Steph (36), and KD (36).

It’s time for a new generation of stars to entertain us. Embrace the changing of the guard and get excited. It’s going to be fantastic.

Joel Huerto is editor and publisher of OneManFastbreak.net. Follow and subscribe to his YouTube channel at @onemanfastbreak1.

Bill Russell, who died on July 31, 2022 at the age of 88, didn’t need to remind folks how great he was. The man had a championship ring for each of his 10 fingers plus 1 more for good measure.

If owning championship rings is the standard in recognizing the greatest basketball player of all time, then William Felton Russell was the greatest of all time.

When Russell was snubbed by LeBron James in his mythical Mt. Rushmore of all-time great players, Russell didn’t throw a fit. He simply reminded LeBron, and the rest of the basketball world, his legendary credentials.

“Hey, thank you for leaving me off your Mount Rushmore. I’m glad you did,” Russell told TNT’s Craig Sager back in 2014. “Basketball is a team game, it’s not for individual honors. I won back-to-back state championships in high school, back-to-back NCAA championships in college, I won an NBA championship my first year in the league, an NBA championship in my last year, and nine in between. That, Mr. James, is etched in stone.”

In fairness to LeBron, his Mt. Rushmore included Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. Those four are hard to knock. But not having a center in that group is a huge slap in the face to Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. They made the NBA what it is today, and was very instrumental in paving the way for Jordan, Magic and Bird.

Over the course of NBA history, championships are won by dominant big men. And nearly all the great championship teams had a great center: Russell (11 titles), George Mikan (5), Chamberlain (2), Abdul-Jabbar (6), Hakeem Olajuwon (2), David Robinson (2), Tim Duncan (4) and Shaquille O’Neal (4).

There are a few exceptions, of course, such as Jordan’s Bulls, LeBron’s Heat, Isiah Thomas’ Pistons, and Stephen Curry’s Warriors. But Jordan couldn’t have won without the dirty work of power forwards Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman. LeBron would be ringless without the help of Chris Bosh. Isiah needs to thank Bill Laimbeer, James Edwards and Rick Mahorn for having his back. And Curry would not have multiple championships without Draymond Green, who may not have the ideal size for a center (6-6) but he does exactly what a center does.

Russell was also considered undersized compared to other dominant big men. He was listed at 6-foot-9, which is almost two inches shorter than his main counterpart Wilt Chamberlain (7-1).

Russell was ahead of his time. We often use the term “icon” whenever describing a superstar. Russell was truly an icon. He was also a pioneer. A defensive genius. A winner. A champion on and off the court. He was arguably the greatest champion in the history of team sports. He figured out during the infancy of his basketball journey that defense was the best path to winning. By focusing much of his attention defending the basket, Russell made a seismic shift and changed the game of basketball forever. Russell took the famous football adage “defense wins championships” from legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and applied it to basketball.

Russell won more championships than any athlete in team sports because he mastered the art of blocking shots and rebounding. He won two NCAA championships as the center of the San Francisco Dons and won 11 NBA titles in 13 years as the anchor of the Boston Celtics dynasty.

Russell understood that winning games eventually come down to which team can get the most stops. Shooting comes and goes, but playing defense is consistent and more sustainable.

Basketball was played horizontally until Russell entered the picture. Because of his otherworldly athletic talents — he was an Olympic-level high jumper — Russell made basketball a vertical game. He turned defense into an offensive weapon. Nobody know how to block a shot in basketball until Russell came along. When he blocked a shot, he kept the ball in play and often triggered a fastbreak. The Celtics, under head coach Red Auerbach, was the first team to use the fastbreak as a primary source of offense, and at the center of it was Russell’s ability to defend and rebound.

Blocks didn’t become an official statistic in the NBA until the 1973-74 season, four years after Russell retired. There’s no telling how many blocked shots Russell would have had in his illustrious career, but some believe he could have averaged eight blocks per game.

Where does Russell rank among the all-time best defensive players in NBA history? OneManFastBreak.net has Russell at the top. Here’s OMFB’s top 10 all-time defenders:

10) Ben Wallace — The Detroit Pistons captured the NBA title in 2003-04 using a suffocating defense anchored by Big Ben. In the NBA Finals, Wallace (who stands just 6-7, but 6-9 with his massive afro) guarded 7-1 Shaquille O’Neal and held his own without much of a double team and absorbed the beating from the 300-plus pound Shaq Diesel. Wallace was one of just two players in league history to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) four times.

9) Michael Jordan — Jordan’s offensive skills were well documented, but his defense was vastly underrated. Jordan took pride on being a two-way player, making him one of few all-time great scorers who defended his position as well as anyone. MJ never backed down from a challenge, and he often volunteered to guard the other team’s best player.

8) Gary Payton — Nicknamed The Glove for the way he smothered his opponents, Payton won DPOY in 1996 and amassed 2,445 steals during his 17-year NBA career that included stints in Seattle, Milwaukee, L.A., Boston and Miami. The Glove was also one of the league’s best trash talkers, which gave him a huge psychological edge.

7) Draymond Green — Draymond may be the most important player on the Golden State Warriors outside of superstar guard Steph Curry. Green won’t blow you away with his individual statistics, but he brings a ton of intangibles that leads to winning. Green won DPOY in 2017, and should have won another in 2022 if it wasn’t for an injury that caused him to miss games. Green’s versatility is one of his best attributes, being able to guard all five positions, and does whatever his team needs in crucial situations.

6) Kevin Garnett — Garnett was a stat-sheet stuffer during his Hall of Fame career. He tallied 14,662 rebounds and 2,037 blocks. KG could guard all five positions and played each game with an intensity level that was off the charts. After serving as the Minnesota Timberwolves’ meal ticket for the first 12 years of his career, The Big Ticket joined the Celtics in 2007 and became the centerpiece of Boston’s 17th championship team. Garnett made the all-defensive team 12 times and won DPOY in 2008.

5) Tim Duncan — San Antonio won five NBA titles in Duncan’s 19-year career — all with the Spurs. Duncan was a phenomenal two-way player, who played power forward and center under head coach Gregg Popovich. The Big Fundamental was named to the NBA all-defensive team 15 times, and he is one of only two players in league history with over 15,000 rebounds (15,091) and over 3,000 blocks (3,020). Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the other player in the 15K and 3K club.

4) Dikembe Mutombo — At 7-3 with arms as long as a redwood tree, Mutombo was a dominant rim protector. Few tried to challenge Mt. Mutombo at the rim. Those who challenged him found rejection and was the recipient of an embarrassing finger wag — Mutombo’s signature diss for anyone who dared to dunk on him. Mutombo blocked 3,289 shots in his career, second most in league history. He also won defensive player of the year four times.

3) Hakeem Olajuwon — Hakeem The Dream is the NBA’s all-time leader in blocked shots, rejecting 3,830 shots during his remarkable Hall of Fame career. Olajuwon and Michael Jordan were the only two players in league history to win MVP and defensive player of the year in the same season. Olajuwon won both in 1993-94, while Jordan pulled off the feat in 1987-88. Olajuwon is also the only center to rank in the top 10 in career steals (2,162).

2) Dennis Rodman — During his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Rodman admitted that all the glitz and glamor was an act. Underneath the body ink and the fancy outfits was a hard-working man who came from nothing and amounted to something. In the 1996 NBA Finals, then Seattle Sonics coach George Karl said Rodman could have easily been named the MVP of the Bulls-Sonics series. Karl pointed out that Rodman almost single-handedly won two games for the Bulls in the series with his energy and defense. His former Pistons teammate, Joe Dumars, said that Rodman may be flamboyant off the court but on the court he was all business.

1) Bill Russell — The 1960s began and ended with Russell walking off the court a champion. The Boston Celtics dynasty was built on defense, and Russell was front and center. He finished his career second all-time in rebounds with 21,620 and turned the blocked shot into an art form. Blocks weren’t kept during Russell’s playing days, but if they were he would easily rank in the top five. What made Russell a great shot-blocker was the way he kept the ball in play, which often ignited a Celtics fastbreak. Even though he lost the majority of his one-on-one battles with his nemesis Wilt Chamberlain, Russell’s Celtics teams often walked away ahead in the scoreboard. Great defensive centers are often compared to Russell, but the five-time NBA MVP was a once-in-a-lifetime player.

Joel Huerto is the publisher and editor of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

The NBA honored its 75 greatest players — 76 to be exact because of a tie — on Feb. 20, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio. LeBron James was one of 45 members of the all-time 75 team who came in person and participated in the festivities.

For LeBron, being a part of an event to honor basketball’s greatest fraternity was like seeing the posters on his bedroom wall come to life. “To see those guys and then be on stage with those guys — it’s just crazy,” he said.

Bill Russell was one of the living legends who were honored in Cleveland. Russell won 11 championships in 13 years with the Boston Celtics. The man has more rings than fingers. Commissioner Adam Silver summed it best when he called Russell basketball’s Babe Ruth.

The NBA 75th anniversary team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of current and former NBA players, coaches, general managers, team and league executives, WNBA legends, sportswriters, and broadcasters. Voters were asked to select the 75 greatest players in NBA history without regard to position. Panelists did not rank their selections. Current and former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.

Choosing the 75 greatest players in the history of the NBA was no easy task. For the most part, the blue-ribbon panel got it right. But there were a few notable misses.

OneManFastBreak thought it would be fun to revisit the list and rank them in order from 1 to 75, with some editing to make the list our own. The benchmarks were based on individual accomplishments, team success (with more weight placed on postseason resume and titles), how they performed against other great players in their era, overall influence and impact on the game, and legacy. But more importantly, the question we have to ask while ranking the best of the best is this: can you write the story of the first 75 years of the NBA without this player?

Here are the 75 greatest basketball players of all time, based on one man’s opinion.

1-Michael Jordan

2-Kobe Bryant

3-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

4-Bill Russell

5-Magic Johnson

6-LeBron James

7-Shaquille O’Neal

8-Tim Duncan

9-Larry Bird

10-Stephen Curry

11-Wilt Chamberlain

12-Julius Erving

13-Hakeem Olajuwon

14-Kevin Garnett

15-Jerry West

16-Dirk Nowitzki

17-Moses Malone

18-Oscar Robertson

19-David Robinson

20-Kevin Durant

21-Dwyane Wade

22-Giannis Antetokounmpo

23-Nikola Jokic

24-John Havlicek

25-Isiah Thomas

26-Willis Reed

27-Bob Pettit

28-Scottie Pippen

29-Rick Barry

30-Bob Cousy

31-Karl Malone

32-Charles Barkley

33-Kawhi Leonard

34-Jason Kidd

35-Dave Cowens

36-Bob McAdoo

37-Bill Walton

38-Allen Iverson

39-Wes Unseld

40-John Stockton

41-Dennis Rodman

42-Clyde Drexler

43-Elgin Baylor

44-Walt Frazier

45-Elvin Hayes

46-Gary Payton

47-Kevin McHale

48-James Worthy

49-Joe Dumars*

50-George Mikan

51-James Harden

52-Russell Westbrook

53-Klay Thompson*

54-Patrick Ewing

55-Manu Ginobili*

56-Tony Parker*

57-Dwight Howard*

58-Dennis Johnson*

59-George Gervin

60-Paul Pierce

61-Nate Archibald

62-Steve Nash

63-Earl Monroe

64-Ray Allen

65-Dikembe Mutombo*

66-Sam Jones

67-Hal Greer

68-Draymond Green*

69-Billy Cunningham

70-Bernard King*

71-Alonzo Mourning*

72-Reggie Miller

73-Pete Maravich

74-Dominique Wilkins

75-Paul Arizin

* Wasn’t included in the original NBA 75th anniversary team

Honorable mention: Lenny Wilkens, Nate Thurmond, Robert Parish, Dolph Schayes, Jerry Lucas, Bill Sharman, Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, Artis Gilmore, Sidney Moncrief, Adrian Dantley, Dan Issel, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, Anthony Davis, Yao Ming, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gobert, Chris Paul, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard.

OMFB’s top-12 list is rock solid. The gap between each of them is minuscule. You won’t hear pushbacks here if Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was placed ahead of Michael Jordan, or LeBron James ahead of Kobe Bryant, or Shaquille O’Neal ahead of Magic Johnson. The order can be rearranged but the history of basketball can’t be written without mentioning Jordan, Kobe, Kareem, Bill Russell, Magic, LeBron, Shaq, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and Julius Erving, and Stephen Curry.

Jordan is universally recognized as the Greatest of All Time — aka the GOAT. Air Jordan’s resume speaks for itself. MJ was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals and named Finals MVP six times. Once he dethroned Magic in 1991, he never relinquished the crown until he retired.

Kobe is No. 2 on the OMFB list. Black Mamba was a facsimile of Air Jordan. He was the closest thing to MJ. Kobe and Mike were the same height and had the same body type. Kobe even sounded like Mike. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Jordan gave rare praise to his contemporaries, but he made an exception for Kobe. “He was a mentally tough kid, maybe even tougher than I was,” Jordan said of Kobe, who tragically died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Jordan spawned millions of ballers who wanted to be Just Like Mike. Kobe gifted the next generation of hoopers the “Mamba Mentality.” If you’re still not convinced that Kobe deserves to be No. 2 on the all-time list, pull up the YouTube video from Jan. 22, 2006. Kobe authored arguably the greatest individual performance in NBA history when he scored 81 points in 42 minutes. Phil Jackson, who coached Michael Jordan in Chicago, was sitting on the Lakers bench for Kobe’s 81-point game. He put it in proper perspective. “It was another level,” Jackson said. “I’ve seen some remarkable games, but I’ve never seen one like that before.”

Some LeBron fans might be aghast seeing their beloved king at No. 6. But here are the cold, hard facts. LeBron lost six times in 10 trips to the NBA Finals. He has a 22-33 win-loss record in The Finals. Magic (24-26), Erving (10-12) and Wilt (16-19) are the other top-12 players who had sub-.500 records in the NBA Finals. LeBron lost to Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs twice and he could have been 0-3 against Duncan if Ray Allen hadn’t made a ridiculous late-game 3-pointer, saving the Heat’s season and forcing a Game 7. LeBron is 1-3 against Steph Curry. It’s an unfair record because Curry teamed up with Kevin Durant in 2017 and 2018 against James, but they were “Ls” on LeBron’s resume nonetheless.

LeBron’s place among basketball’s all-time greats is secure. To say he’s had a better career than Jordan, Kobe, Kareem, Magic, Russell, or even Duncan is up for debate.

Steph Curry broke into the top 10 after winning his fourth NBA title. Curry is considered the best long-range shooter in the sport, and the numbers back it up. When Steph hangs up his Under Armour sneakers, a strong case could be made that he was the most influential. Because of Steph — the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made — there’s a generation of players at various levels launching shots from beyond the arc.

OMFB made the difficult decision to remove 10 players from the league’s original top-75 list and inserted 10 new names: Joe Dumars, Dennis Johnson, Dwight Howard, Dikembe Mutombo, Klay Thompson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Bernard King, Alonzo Mourning and Draymond Green.

Dumars was a two-time NBA champ and Finals MVP in 1989. Thompson is a four-time NBA champ and arguably the second-greatest 3-point shooter we’ve ever seen. Thompson pulled off an unthinkable feat in 2017 when he scored 60 points in 29 minutes, using just 11 dribbles. Dennis Johnson earned three championship rings and was Finals MVP in 1979. Larry Bird considered DJ the best player he ever played with. Howard was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), carried the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009, and won a title with the L.A. Lakers in 2020. Mount Mutombo was a four-time DPOY and pulled out the “finger wag” each time he blocked a shot.

Parker inspired a generation of new-age point guards. Aside from winning the 2007 Finals MVP, the four-time NBA champion’s biggest contribution to the game was his signature shot: the tear-drop floater. The vast majority of guards in today’s game, from high school to college to the pros, have a floater in their bag of shots. Parker’s backcourt mate in San Antonio, Ginobili, sacrificed personal statistics in order for the Spurs to win titles. Ginobili posted modest numbers throughout his career (13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists), but his 72% winning percentage ranks among the all-time best. Ginobili also introduced one of the best basketball moves in recent memory — the Eurostep.

Alonzo Mourning was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and won a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006. Pat Riley’s famed “Heat Culture” in Miami wouldn’t exist without Zo. He embodies what Heat Culture is all about. The Heat prided itself on being the hardest-working, best-conditioned team, and that defined Mourning’s career until a rare kidney diseased robbed him of his athletic prime.

Bernard King was a scoring machine until he wrecked his knee at the peak of his powers. Armed with a smooth turnaround jumper that was nearly impossible to stop, King put on a show in the 1984 playoffs as he averaged 34.8 points and almost single-handedly led the New York Knicks to the conference semifinals.

Outside of Dennis Rodman, four-time champ Draymond Green might be the most unique player. The 2017 DPOY won’t blow you away with individual stats but he’s arguably the heart and soul of the Golden State Warriors dynasty. Green is the primary playmaker on offense as the point forward and the anchor on defense.

The first 75 years of the NBA can be broken down into six eras.

From the 1950s through the 1960s, Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, George Mikan, Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell were the pioneers.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dave Cowens, John Havlicek, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Rick Barry, and Julius “Dr. J” Erving carried the torch through a rough patch in the 1970s when the ABA and NBA canceled each other and the audience dwindled.

Magic and Bird revived basketball in the 1980s, arguably the league’s golden era that also included the rise of Isiah Thomas’ “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons. Moses Malone teamed up with Dr. J during the 1982-83 season and together they co-authored one of the most dominant playoff runs, sweeping Magic’s Lakers in the ’83 Finals and capping off a 12-1 postseason.

Michael Jordan took the baton from Magic and Bird and ruled the 1990s. Jordan won six championships in eight years, pulling off the three-peat twice and denying peers Sir Charles Barkley and Karl “The Mailman” Malone from winning rings. Hakeem Olajuwon benefited from Jordan’s brief retirement, leading the Houston Rockets to back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995. David “The Admiral” Robinson teamed up with Tim “Big Fundamental” Duncan in San Antonio, winning titles in 1999 and 2003.

The immediate post-Jordan era was dominated by five players: Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, and Duncan. Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan combined to win 13 NBA titles, four regular season MVPs, and eight Finals MVPs from 1999 to 2010. For a decade, the road to the NBA Finals went through Kobe, Shaq, and Duncan.

Dirk and KG revolutionized the game and ushered in a new era of big men. The Big Ticket made it possible for high schoolers to skip college and turn pro at 19. Nowitzki opened the door for European bigs who preferred to face the basket instead of having their back to it. Nowitzki and Garnett were instrumental in the game’s evolution, as more and more teams shifted away from traditional power forwards and opted for stretch-4s.

Nowitzki bridged the gap between the Kobe Bryant era and the LeBron James era. Nowitzki ended Kobe’s reign as the world’s best player when Dirk’s Dallas Mavericks squad knocked off Kobe’s Lakers in the 2011 playoffs. In the same playoff run, Nowitzki put a pause on LeBron’s title hopes when his Mavs defeated LeBron’s Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.

LeBron’s appearance in the 2011 Finals started a run of eight consecutive trips. He put together a super team in Miami, winning two titles in 2012 and 2013, but lost to the Mavs in 2011 and Duncan’s Spurs in 2014. After a four-year run in South Beach, LeBron returned to Cleveland to fulfill his promise of bringing a championship to his hometown team. He delivered on the promise by winning a title in 2016, ending Cleveland’s 52-year professional title drought.

LeBron took the Cavs to four straight NBA Finals but could muster just one victory in four matchups against Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. Curry led the Warriors to four championships in eight seasons — two of those championship banners were aided by the addition of Kevin Durant.

The Warriors opened the portal to the “small ball” era and advanced metrics. Analytics experts preferred shooting 3s over 2s — it’s either a layup or dunk or a 3-ball — and the midrange shot was viewed as somewhat of a dinosaur idea.

The modern day NBA put a premium on pace and space. The traditional back-to-the-basket center is becoming extinct and today’s game is dominated by versatile wing players like LeBron, Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. All of whom can anchor a defense like a center and initiate the offense like a point guard. We are now in the era of positionless basketball.

Basketball is cyclical. What may be considered old school could swing back to new school. The next generation of players will determine what the NBA will become in 25 years when we celebrate the league’s 100th anniversary.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics. (GETTY IMAGES)

Bill Russell doesn’t need to remind folks how great he was. He has 11 rings to prove it.

If the number of championships is the deciding factor in recognizing the greatest NBA player of all time, then the former Boston Celtics great wins it hands down.

When Russell was snubbed by LeBron James in his mythical Mt. Rushmore of all-time great players, Russell didn’t throw a fit. He just reminded LeBron, and the rest of the basketball world, his team titles.

During Sunday’s All-Star game, TNT’s Craig Sager relayed Russell’s message.

“Hey, thank you for leaving me off your Mount Rushmore. I’m glad you did,” Russell said. “Basketball is a team game, it’s not for individual honors. I won back-to-back state championships in high school, back-to-back NCAA championships in college, I won an NBA championship my first year in the league, an NBA championship in my last year, and nine in between. That, Mr. James, is etched in stone.”

In fairness to LeBron, his Mt. Rushmore included Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. Those four are hard to knock. But not having a center in that group is a huge slap in the face to Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. Those great big men arguably made the NBA what it is today, and was very instrumental in paving the way for Jordan, Magic and Bird.

Even though the NBA has evolved into more of a perimeter-oriented game — leaving the center position off the All-Star ballot — it doesn’t mean we should completely ignore them. Basketball is still a big man’s game.

Over the course of NBA history, championships are won by dominant big men. And nearly all the great championship teams had a great center: George Mikan (5 titles), Russell (11), Chamberlain (2), Abdul-Jabbar (6), Hakeem Olajuwon (2), David Robinson (2), Tim Duncan (4) and Shaquille O’Neal (4).

There are a few exceptions, of course, such as Jordan’s Bulls, LeBron’s Heat and Isiah Thomas’ Pistons. But Jordan couldn’t have won without the dirty work of power forwards Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman. LeBron would be ringless without the help of Chris Bosh. And Isiah needs to thank Bill Laimbeer, James Edwards and Rick Mahorn for having his back.

History suggests that the path to a title goes through the center.

Dennis Rodman won three NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and two with the Detroit Pistons. (GETTY/ALLSPORT)

Dennis Rodman entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. It’s a deserving honor considering the enormous impact Rodman has had in the sport, especially on defense where he truly (and literally) left his mark.

Rodman was an absolute pest on the defensive end, hounding perimeter players and muscling post players with an all-out style that bordered on dirty and calculated. Rodman, nicknamed The Worm, was a unique individual on and off the court. He played to the beat of his own drum, and because he wore his emotions on his biceps he can very difficult to deal with if you don’t allow him his space. But underneath the bleached hair, multiple tattoos, piercings and eccentric personality lies a truly great basketball player who defended his position with boundless energy and passion.

Rodman didn’t care about individual scoring. All he cared about was playing hard, defending his turf and, most of all, winning. When he won the first of his two NBA defensive player of the year awards in 1990 he cried at the podium. That’s how much the award meant to him, and also it validated all the hard work he put into his craft. Defense wins championships is an adage that rings true for Rodman as he helped his teams win the NBA title five times during his career. Whether it was against Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson or Karl Malone, Rodman gave them hell. He guarded the basket as if his lunch money was on the line.

So, where does Dennis Rodman rank among the all-time best defensive players in NBA history? OneManFastBreak.net examines the 10 best defenders of all time:

10) ALONZO MOURNING — The former Georgetown Hoya epitomized what a Miami Heat player was in the Pat Riley era – physically and mentally tough. Riley built the Heat image with Zo in mind. Mourning was a two-time defensive player of the year, and he may have won a few more if not for kidney issues. Zo rejected 2,356 shots in his career, but altered thousands more.

9) BEN WALLACE — The Detroit Pistons captured the NBA title in 2003-04 using a suffocating defense anchored by Big Ben. In the NBA Finals, Wallace (who stands just 6-7, but 6-9 with his massive afro) guarded 7-1 Shaquille O’Neal and held his own without much of a double team and absorbed the beating from the 300-pound Shaq. Wallace is one of just two players in league history to win defensive player of the year four times.

8) SIDNEY MONCRIEF — During the 1980s, there were plenty of top perimeter defenders in the league – such as Michael Cooper, Alvin Robertson and Joe Dumars – but Moncrief was regarded as the best at his position. The former Bucks star was the first to receive the defensive player of the year award, winning it 1982-83 and again in 1983-84.

7) HAKEEM OLAJUWON — Hakeem The Dream is the NBA’s all-time leader in blocked shots, rejecting 3,830 shots during his Hall-of-Fame career. Olajuwon and Michael Jordan are the only two players in league history to win MVP and defensive player of the year in the same season. Olajuwon won both in 1993-94, while Jordan pulled off the feat in 1987-88.

6) GARY PAYTON — Nicknamed The Glove for the way he enveloped his opponents, Payton won defensive player of the year in 1996 and amassed 2,445 steals during his 17-year NBA career that included stints in Seattle, Milwaukee, L.A., Boston and Miami. The Glove was also one of the league’s best trash talkers, which oftentimes gave him a huge psychological edge.

5) MICHAEL JORDAN — Jordan is regarded as one of the greatest offensive players in basketball, but his defense was almost as good as his offense. Jordan took pride on being a two-way player, making him one of few all-time great scorers who defended his position as well as anyone in the sport. MJ never backed down from a challenge, and he often volunteered to guard the other team’s best player.

4) DIKEMBE MUTOMBO — At 7-3 and arms as long as a redwood, few tried to challenge Mt. Mutombo at the rim. And those who did often found rejection and was the recipient of an embarrassing finger wag – Mutombo’s signature diss for anyone who dared to challenge him. Mutombo blocked 3,289 shots in his career, second only to Olajuwon. He also won defensive player of the year four times, tied with Wallace for most DPY awards.

3) SCOTTIE PIPPEN — Phil Jackson calls Scottie Pippen one of the smartest defensive players he has ever coach. This is high praise from a man who coached Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman. Pippen disrupted many offensive plans with his quickness, length and incredible instincts. He was named to the NBA’s all-defensive first team eight times and amassed 2,307 steals. During the 1991 NBA Finals, he flipped the series in favor of the Chicago Bulls when he suffocated Magic Johnson in Game 2 and made it extremely difficult for the Lakers to get into their offensive sets. Jordan often got more recognition for his defense, but Pippen was the quarterback of the Bulls’ defense.

2) DENNIS RODMAN — During his Hall-of-Fame acceptance speech, Rodman admitted that all the glitz and glamor is one big act. Underneath the body ink and the fancy outfits is a hard-working man who came from nothing and amounted to something. In the 1996 NBA Finals, then Seattle Sonics coach George Karl said Rodman could have easily been named the MVP of the Bulls-Sonics series, as Karl pointed out that Rodman almost single-handedly won two games for the Bulls in the series with his energy and defense. His former Piston teammate, Dumars, said that Rodman may be flamboyant off the court but on the court he was all business.

1) BILL RUSSELL — Defense wins championships and nobody won more titles in the NBA than William Felton Russell. The 1960s began and ended with Russell walking off the court a champion. The Boston Celtics dynasty was built on defense, and Russell was front and center. He is second all-time in rebounds with 21,620 and turned the blocked shot into an art form.

Blocks weren’t kept during Russell’s playing days, but if they were he would easily be in the top five. What made Russell a great shot-blocker was the way he kept the ball in play, often igniting fast breaks for his teammates. And even though he lost the majority of his one-on-one battles with his nemesis Wilt Chamberlain, Russell never backed away from his greatest challenge and the Celtics almost always came out on top on the scoreboard. Great defensive centers are often compared to Russell, but the five-time NBA MVP was a once-in-a-lifetime player.

Joel Huerto is the publisher and editor of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing.

Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon were always considered two of the best centers in the game and their induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 officially cemented their place in history. But where does Ewing and Olajuwon rank among the greats? Who is the best center of all time? Wilt? Russell? Shaq? With apologies to SI.com’s Marty Burns, here’s the real top 10 list according to ONEMANFASTBREAK:

10. GEORGE MIKAN: A big salute to the man who started it all. The NBA owes a great deal of thanks to Big George because he carried the league through its early stages. The 6-foot-10 Mikan was ahead of his time. He dominated the sport and was a larger-than-life figure; the first true superstar of the NBA.

9. ARVYDAS SABONIS: By the time Sabonis entered the NBA, he was 31 years old and had chronic knee problems. But at the height of his basketball career, the big Lithuanian could score inside, shoot outside, and was a tremendous passer. “Arvydas was Dirk Nowitzki, only 7-foot-4. Passed the ball like Larry [Bird] or Magic [Johnson],” said Donnie Nelson.

8. PATRICK EWING: A friend of mine once told me that Ewing is the greatest Knick player of all time. Initially, I scoffed at the statement. Then the more I thought about it, he was right. Ewing was everything and then some to the Knicks and only a championship ring separated him and the next guy on this list.

7. DAVID ROBINSON: The Admiral won two NBA championships (with an big assist from Tim Duncan), a scoring title and voted regular season MVP in 1995. He played all 14 of his seasons for the San Antonio Spurs, and that alone is quite an achievement.

6. MOSES MALONE: Arguably the most dominant post player in the NBA from 1979-84. Three things come to mind: rebounds, rebounds, rebounds. His credentials include three regular-season MVPs, two trips to the NBA Finals and won a championship ring in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers.

5. HAKEEM OLAJUWON: For two years, Olajuwon was the best player on the planet. Of course, those two years were the ones Michael Jordan missed during the 1990s. Nonetheless, The Dream was a force on both ends. In 1994, he was the regular-season MVP, defensive player of the year and NBA Finals MVP.

4. SHAQUILLE O’NEAL: Despite all the weight issues and Kobe bashing, The Diesel is the biggest and strongest man to ever play the game. No player in NBA history attacked the rim like O’Neal. His dunks were so ferocious because he used every ounce of his 330-pound frame into every slam. Sure, he should have won more than four NBA titles or should have more than one regular-season MVP award, but Shaq’s dominance is measured by the amount of respect his peers have for him. He’s the modern-day Wilt!

3. WILT CHAMBERLAIN: The original MDE! Wilton Norman Chamberlain’s name is all over the record book. The man averaged 30.1 points and 22.9 rebounds for his career. He was one half of the greatest center rivalry in history and the only reason why he’s not rated higher is because he won just two NBA titles. Wilt was always concerned about numbers ~ 100 points, 23,000 rebounds, 20,000 women, etc. His greatest strength was also his greatest weakness. He was such a dominant individual scorer it affected team play.

2. BILL RUSSELL: William Felton Russell is the other half of the greatest center rivalry in the history of the game. The anchor of the Boston Celtics Dynasty has more championship rings than fingers. Russell is responsible for 13 ~ two as coach and 11 as a player ~ of the Celtics’ 17 championship banners. Defense may have been Russell’s calling card, but his legacy was all about winning. He won in college, he won a gold medal in the Olympics and is the gold standard when it comes to championship rings in the Association.

1. KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR: Speaking of winning…probably the greatest winner in the history of basketball when you consider high school, college and pro. He never lost a game in high school and was 88-2 while at UCLA.

In 20 years in the NBA, The Big Fella won six NBA championships (five with the Lakers and one with Milwaukee), a record six most valuable player awards and still holds the career scoring mark of 38,387. His best weapon on offense might be the greatest shot in league history: The Sky Hook.