10. Bill Walton
Walton would have been higher on this list had he had a healthy career. However, he could never stay healthy, as he only played in 468 career games. The fact that he still made the list shows you how great he really was. He had career averages of 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 0.8 steals in only 28 minutes per game.
He also shot a fantastic 52.1 percent from the field and 66 percent from the free-throw line. He is generally considered as the greatest passing big man of all time, and one of the best defensive centers as well.
He won a rebounding title in the 1976-17 season. He was also one of the greatest college basketball players, as he won three NCAA Player of the Year Awards, and led the UCLA Bruins to three NCAA championships.
He was also selected to two All-Star teams and two All-NBA teams, with one of the latter as a member of the first team, as well as two All-NBA defensive first teams. He also won the MVP Award in his only healthy season, 1977-78.
Walton led the Blazers to their only championship in 1977, winning the Finals MVP Award. He also helped the Celtics win a title in 1986 as a reserve.
9. Willis Reed
Reed was one of the first dominant big men in the league's history. In his ten-year career, Reed had averages of 18.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists along with 47.6 percent from the field and an excellent 74.7 percent from the free-throw line. He was selected to seven All-Star teams, and he also won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1965.
He also was selected to the All NBA team five times, with one of those on the first team. Reed also won the MVP Award in the 1969-1970 season and an All-Star game MVP in that same season.
He led the Knicks to their only two championships in 1970 and 1973, winning the Finals MVP in each series.
8. George Mikan
Mikan was the first dominant big man in the history of the league. As a member of the Minneapolis Lakers, he led them to five championships in a short seven-year career. He had career averages of 22.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists along with 40.1 percent from the field and a fantastic 78.4 percent from the free-throw line.
He won three consecutive scoring titles, and back-to-back rebounding titles. He was also selected to the All-Star game four times, winning the All-Star MVP in 1953. He was selected to the All-NBA team six times, with all of the selections as a member of the first team.
7. David "The Admiral" Robinson
Robinson was one of the best offensive and defensive centers of all time. In a 14-year career, he had averages of 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals, and three blocks per game. He also shot a very good 51.8 percent from the field, and an excellent 73.6 percent from the free-throw line.
Robinson was selected to ten All-Star games. He also won Rookie of the Year in 1990 and the Defensive Player of the Year in 1992.
He was selected to the All-NBA team ten times, with four of the selections as a member of the first team. He was also a great defender, as he was selected to the All-NBA Defensive team eight times, with four of the selections as a member of the first team.
Finally, Robinson helped lead the Spurs to two championships, and won the MVP Award in the 1994-95 season.
6. Shaquille O'Neal
O'Neal was one of the most dominant players of all time, as no one in his era was big or strong enough to guard him one-on-one down low. So far in 16 seasons, he has career averages of 25.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.4 blocks per game. He also has scored over 25,000 total points, and has shot an amazing 58.1 percent from the field along with a pathetic 52.4 percent from the free-throw line.
Shaq has also been selected to the All-Star team fourteen times, winning MVP awards in the 2000 and 2004 All Star games. He also won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1993 after a dominant season with the Orlando Magic.
He has been selected to the All-NBA team 13 times, with eight of those selections as a member of the first team, and the All NBA defensive team three times, with all of the selections on the second team.
Shaq also won an MVP award in the 1999-2000 season with the Lakers, as he also won his second scoring title, averaging 29.7 points along with 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and three blocks per game.
He has also won four championships in his career—three of them on the Lakers with Kobe Bryant, and the other one in Miami with Dwyane Wade. Shaq won three Finals MVP Awards with the Lakers during their three-peat.
5. Moses Malone
Moses was one of the most dominant big man of all time. In his twenty-year career, he had averages of 20.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks. He ranks fifth all-time in total points scored with 27,409. He also won seven rebounding titles, including six straight from the 1980-1981 season through the 1984-1985 season.
He was selected to the All Star team eleven times in his career, and was selected to the All-NBA team eight times, with four of those selections as a member of the first team. He was also a solid defensive player, as he was selected to the All-NBA defensive team twice, with one of the selections of the first team.
Malone is also one of only seven players in the history of the league to have won three or more MVP awards. He won three in his career, including back-to-back awards in the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.
Finally, Moses also won a championship in the 1982-83, as he led the Sixers to a dominant playoff performance. They only lost only one game in the entire playoffs.
4. Bill Russell
Russell was the greatest defensive center ever, the anchor of a great Celtic defense for over a decade and probably been the leader in career blocks per game if they had recorded defensive stats in his era.
In his thirteen-year career, Russell had averages of 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds, and 4.3 assists along with shooting 44 percent from the field and a terrible 56.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Russell was also selected to the All-Star team twelve times, winning the All-Star game MVP in 1963. Russell was also selected to the All-NBA team eleven times, with three of the selections as a member of the first team. Russell also ranks tied for second all time in MVP awards with five in his career.
He is also considered by many to be the greatest winner in team sports. He won eleven championships in this thirteen-year career and led his team to the Finals in every season he played in except for one.
He led the Celtics to a record eight consecutive championships in the 1960s, with most of those Finals wins coming against the great Lakers teams of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.
3. Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon
Hakeem was one of the most-skilled big men of all time at both ends of the floor. Offensively, he averaged 21.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, shooting 51.2 percent from the field and a solid 71.2 percent from the free-throw line. Defensively, he was amazing, with career averages of 3.1 blocks and 1.7 steals.
He won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in both 1993 and in 1994 and he was selected to the All-NBA defensive team nine times, with five of the selections as a member of the first team. He was also selected to the All-Star team twelve times and to the All-NBA team twelve times, with six of those selections as a member of the first team.
He also won his only MVP award in the 1993-1994 season. He won two rebounding titles in his career along with three blocked-shot titles. He also ranks first all-time in career blocked shots with a total of 3830, and he somehow is eighth all time in total steals with 2162.
Hakeem led the Rockets to back-to-back championships in the mid '90s, winning the Finals MVP award each time.
2. Wilt Chamberlain, "The Big Dipper"
Wilt was, without a doubt, the most dominant player of all time. In his 14-year career, he had averages of 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game, while shooting a fantastic 54 percent from the field and a terrible 51.1 percent from the line. He won seven scoring titles and an unheard-of eleven rebounding titles in his career. He also would've been at the top of the blocked shots list, but they weren't recorded in his era.
He was also selected to the All-Star team thirteen times, winning the All Star game MVP in 1960. He was also selected to the All-NBA team ten times, with seven of the selections as a member of the first team. He was also selected to the All-NBA defensive twice, with both of the selections as a member of the first team. (All NBA Defensive teams started in his last two seasons.) He also ranks fourth all-time in total points, with 31,419 in his career.
He also won four MVP Awards, including three consecutive from the 1965-66 to the 1967-68 seasons. He also had the greatest statistical season of all time by far, as he averaged an unfathomable 50.4 points, 25.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game in the 1961-62 season.
Wilt won two championships, and the Finals MVP in the 1972 Finals as a member of the legendary Lakers team that won 69 games (a record at the time) and 33 straight—still a record in all of sports.
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In terms of accomplishments, Kareem is the greatest player of all time, and without a doubt the greatest center of all time. He is first all-time in total points with 38,387, third all-time in total rebounds with 17,440, third all-time in total blocked shots with 3,189 and even 33rd all-time in total assists with 5,660.
In a dominant twenty-year career, he had averages of 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 2.6 blocks per game. He also shot an amazing 55.9 percent from the field and 72.1 percent from the free-throw line.
He was selected to a record nineteen All-Star teams and to the All-NBA team 15 times, with ten of the selections as a member of the first team. He was also a very good defensive center, as he was selected to the All NBA defensive team ten times, with five of the selections as a member of the first team.
Kareem was also one of the game's biggest winners, as he led his teams to six championships, five of the them with the Showtime Lakers in the 1980s. He also led his team to the Finals a total of ten times, winning the Finals MVP twice, in the 1971 and 1985 Finals.
Kareem also won the 1970 Rookie of the Year Award, and a record six MVP Awards in his career.
On a side note, Kareem was also the greatest college basketball player of all time, as he led the Bruins to three consecutive NCAA championships, a total record of 88-2 and was the winner of two NCAA College Player of the Year Awards.
Within the next few days, I will write an article of the 25 greatest NBA players of all time.
comments (27) write a comment »
write a new comment
about 1 month ago
Great article Marcel I can't believe how many great centers there have been
about 1 month ago
very good list. I also think that Kareem is the greatest. He has every award in the books. He is also one of the most durable players of all time.
about 1 month ago
I like the list very much and it is well thought out. I would only swap Hakeem with Wilt because of the great Centers Hakeem faced vs. Wilt's only competition with Russell.
about 1 month ago
Only on B/R.com, will a slot always be saved for the *dead-weight Caucasoid player* to receive his usual, undeserved credit. At some point, White people must face it; Walton simply fell short.
Its a total disrespect to your basketball knowledge, to rank a player amongst *the greatest* of...when he only produced two (2) impressive seasons. It just stinks, with hypocritically-unfair bias. And it highlights, how the irresponsibly-irrational & guilty party, possessing some serious 'reasoning' deficiencies.
Walton only had 2 All-Star seasons. I repeat, Walton only had 2 All-Star seasons. Which = he never reached the pinnacle that White America had hoped for. Period. Now, how crazy would it be, if we were to go back over NBA-History and deem every player with only two (2) all-pro seasons, as amongst the greatest of all-time? hahahahaha
So we can't continue to dream, *play pretend*, and gauge Walton's career as if he did reach that pinnacle.
It's just not fair to the Patrick Ewing's and Artis Gilmore's and Nate Thurmond's and Mark Eaton's and Dave Cowen's and Robert Parish's and Jack Sikma's of NBA history.
George Mikan is a 'suspect' choice too. Considering he was an average player ---at best!--- who luckily had no one of his size to expose that. I mean, if Manute Bol were to dominant a league of players who happened to all be under-6 feet, would it be fair to deem him amongst the all-time greatest?
from about 1 month ago
What have you been smoking yung? When healthy, Walton was as good a center as anyone who ever played. And even considering his injuries, to not rank him top 10 all-time would show your lack of basketball IQ my friend. What's with the white america comments btw? Race has no place in this discussion as the players picked were almost all black. And when you cry that Miken played against shorter players, then I suppose Wilt wasn't that good because he dominated in height during his career and also Magic Johnson (I know he was not a center) since he was much taller than other guards. So you can see your argument is based on hate rather than on facts and basketball knowledge.
about 1 month ago
Is it just me or is youngcaucsoid always negative…all his comments, the one article he’s written.
“Decades, as an expert in the business of bringing 'THAT REAL' which People hate to have to think about, regarding sports.” Quoting his bio
That’s because it’s SPORTS, we aren’t fans because we don’t want to focus on things we ‘HATE’ that’s why this article is a ten best, not most over rated. Do you go to bad movies just so you can bitch about it afterwards? NO!!!…because that would be stupid. Please take ‘THAT REAL’ and just go away.
But I’m sure you won’t go away and you’ll have plenty of Nash rants among others, and we’ll just have to keep skipping every blow hard thing you write.
about 1 month ago
Bart,
looks like you *need to skip* higher there pal.
Or else, take notice of yourself, and heed the warnings of continuing to give *dead-weight Caucasoid players* that quintessential pass, like that, which Bill Walton receives here.
about 1 month ago
Guys, I know that Shaq is finished, but he was a better player than Moses Malone for definate, and i would argue that he was better offensivley and more consistently than Olajuwon. As for my top 5, i go for
1. Russell
2. Chamberlain
3. O'Neal
4. Abdul Jabbar
5. Olajuwon
I gues it depends on where you are coming from, but i would argue that Shaq helped carry the league when MJ wasn't about, and he has won 4 titles, with 3 as deserved final MVP
about 1 month ago
Yung, Walton deserves to be in the top ten even with only only haveing a couple of great seasons. When healthy, he would've been in the top 5. He also won an MVP Award and two rings which are other reasons why he deserves to be on this list. Gerry, Hakeem was flat out better than Shaq. He was a far better defensive player and not too much of a less productive offensive player. He also didn't have a bad and lazy attitude as Shaq has always had. Shaq always goes to as team, plays well and then they leave on bad terms because of his severe laziness.
about 1 month ago
Although he again has turned this into a racial issue and managed to piss people off in the process, YC is right about Walton being overrated. The guy had a great collegiate career and showed flashes of brilliance during the brief stints when he was healthy in the NBA, but he fell *far* short of what Ewing, Gilmore or Chief during their respective careers. Quite frankly, Walton would be fortunate to make a Top 20 list of the greatest NBA centers, so this talk about Top 10 is ridiculous. Compare what Walton achieved with any of the other players I mentioned above. No comparison, my friends. For once, YC has a valid point.
from about 1 month ago
What's that phrase about putting a thousand monkeys in a room with a thousand typewriters for a thousand years? ...eventually they will recreate the works of Shakespeare... Maybe YC has had a bountiful banana harvest this season and now possesses the wherewithal to get some hired help...
about 1 month ago
Great article. I would argue only that Shaq would be a little higher than "the dream" because of Championships, but thats just me, otherwise it is a solid list.
about 1 month ago
I will just add that if Shaq goes higher because of titles accumulated then Bill Russel is the entire list +1.
about 1 month ago
Your list immediately becomes suspect if you put Bill Walton as number 10. There's no way on earth he's a top 10 center..Yet, there's no mention of Patrick Ewing on the list, what about Alonzo Mourning? Bill Walton isn't even better then Bill Wennington. Ok that might be a stretch but Walton isn't a top 10 center in the history of the NBA.
about 1 month ago
I mean come on what were you smoking when creating the list?
about 1 month ago
Get off the when healthy part Bill Walton only had two really good seasons and that is it. Even if we go by injuries there's been plenty of players who have come back stronger from them not weaker. David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, and Alonzo Mourning. Keep in mind Walton is nowhere near being on the top rebounder for his career. Heck Michael Jordan has more rebounds then Walton does. Walton would be lucky not to make a top 20 or 50 list but more like the top 100 list.
about 1 month ago
Steven,
nice veracity.
about 1 month ago
Maybe he should be on the list, maybe not, but Bill Simmons once wrote that in the late-70s "a healthy Bill Walton had a more dramatic effect on basketball games than anyone else". You could debate that point, too, but at the very least it isn't hyperbole. The assertion can be made and argued for. That counts for something. That counts for a lot.
about 1 month ago
shaq 6th wow thats low id have to put him 3rd atleast 4th no way is he just 6th.
about 1 month ago
You're going to have some trouble with this list because not many people on the Bleacher Report have seen them all play. I have seen them all either live or on TV when they played.
I would move Russell to #1 and move Mikan above Shaq but, it is your list so you can do as you wish. Enjoyed reading the write up and thought you did a great job of defending your positions.
Am surprised someone of this era understands how great a player Bill Walton was. In college, he would rate in the Top 3 with Russell and Alcindor. I'm very impressed with your placement of Bill Walton, good work.
about 1 month ago
Not to be repeatitive, but I would have to move Shaq up to number #3. When Shaq was in his prime I cannot name another player that was more dominant. His mere presence on the court had such a huge impact on the entire game. Whether it be the defensive miss matches created, or his shot changing ability on defense. Unfortunately, the diesel lacked the consistent drive that the uber-elite greats had.
Baby T has a point about comparing players from different generations. I do not have the same respect for Russell that those who saw him play do. The amount of titles he won is baffling, but his numbers do not support such a high ranking on this list. I am not saying that it is not deserved, but just saying.
I like that you put Hakeem in the top 5, he seems to get overlooked in this discussion. Remember, when he abused Shaq in the finals, so brutal.
about 1 month ago
Very good article, I agree with your list and with all the comments. This is just an impossible list to put together. Through most of the 70s and 80s almost every team had a center who nowadays would be considered among the best in the league.
Before Magic arrived in Los Angeles, for example, people complained that Kareem was over the hill and should retire! The reason is that every night he was competing against the likes of Moses, Artis Gilmore, Willis Reed, Wes Unseld, Bill Walton (when he wasn't hurt), Wilt (almost still in his prime), Dave Cowens, Clifford Ray, Nate Thurmond, Dan Issel, Bob Lanier, Bob McAdoo, Sam Lacey, should I continue? Hell even no name Tom Burleson was a big bruising 7 footer with a mildly effective hook shot.
Plus, almost every team's offense (even if you had great scoring non-centers) used to go through the center.
about 1 month ago
Good article Marcel. I agree that the center position is not played as well today as in years past. The back to the rim big man that can pass and shoot is a rare commodity in the 21st century.
I agree that it is easy to overlook Bill Walton in the list. I look at the fact that his team won. 2 NCAA titles and 2 NBA titles. The joy on his face when he was playing for the Celts in 86 was evident. Here he was the guy who had won so much and then to be constantly hurt and playing for lousy teams to finally be healthy enough to play for a good team. And his play put that team over the top.
Sorry, Gilmore. I liked Artis myself. He carried Jacksonville to the NCAA final 4 and never got a title in the NBA.
Kareem has lots of titles and deservedly so. His skyhook could not be stopped. He excelled his entire career starting in high school. His defense and passing could be overlooked, but his play with the showtime Lakers showed his ability to adapt his game for the team.
Mark Eaton's contribution to the game of basketball was to move in and out of the key at 3 second intervals and keep his hands up. Catch the ball if it gets close enough. turn around and change ends. repeat. A style of play that was not duplicated by Gheorghe Muresan.
Shaq's sheer size and strength put him into another category. Through history he was bigger than all the others mentioned. But his game didn't develop enough until he had the Lakers around him.
There is no way to fully decide who was best or not, but thanks for the good article.
about 1 month ago
I can't believe Patrick Ewing isn't on this list.
about 1 month ago
Shaq should way higher, at number 3. Olajuwon at 4, Malone at 5. When he was with the Lakers, he really started to peak. I know there weren't as many dominant big men, but Shaq was better in Los Angeles than in Orlando.
I also think Walton should be on this list. He had two incredible seasons and could have been better than Kareem. He is a horrible commentator, though.
about 1 month ago
Whoa, I forgot Russell. Sorry, he's at three, Shaq at 4, and so on.
25 days ago
Are you guys crazy....
The players Bill and Wilt faced arent even as fundamentally good as the guys shaq and Hakeem faced.
I would say the Greatest of all time for being dominant would be.
Wilt
Shaq
Hakeem
Kareem
Bill
Ok Thats for being dominant. The list for being the most unstoppable
Shaq
Wilt
Kareem
hakeem
Bill
The List for having a overall game...
Wilt
Bill
Kareem
Hakeem
Shaq
The list for how good they would be in this era would be..
Shaq
Hakeem
Wilt
Kareem
Bill
write a new comment