Consider Y2K.
Y2K was, in the waning weeks of 1999, a thing. A big thing. It referred to the fear that computer systems around the world, many of which used two-digit numbers to represent a year (such as “99” to represent the year 1999), would crash on Jan. 1, 2000 — because the systems, in going from “99” to “00,” would recognize “00” as the year 1900, not 2000. And because everything important in our world is run by computers — banks, water distribution, nuclear launch codes — there could be global chaos if the software malfunctioned. Some people stocked up on supplies and took money out of their bank accounts, fearing they wouldn’t be able to do so after 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 1999.
That collective fear turned out to be unfounded. The technology, both in place and that was patched in at the last minute, held up. Air traffic control didn’t fail. Bank computers didn’t wipe out savings accounts. Our interconnected planet didn’t collapse.
Twenty-five years later, Y2K seems … analog. A crisis of another, slower, less advanced age. An age where cable TV was the growing, modern presence, and flip phones and pagers were cutting edge. And an age where NBA teams still played inside-out, throwing the ball to big men inside, who decided what would happen next, 10 players wrestling with one another in the paint.
Today?
Geesh.
Today’s NBA is beyond digital, beyond 4K. It is a completely different game than the one the Lakers played en route to their 2000 to 2002 three-peat. It is a 3-point bacchanalia most nights, to be sure. But it is also filled with more players who are more skilled and more diverse than ever in what they can do on the court.
And thus, the notion of picking the 25 best players of the first quarter-century seems a fool’s errand, an unwieldy challenge. The game is completely different now than it was 25 years ago. It would be like comparing Johnny Carson with Josh Johnson. Yes, they’re in the same profession, but there’s no accurate way to compare one to the other.
But … that’s what we do.
You’ll notice that there are names not on this list that you may think should be. Joel Embiid didn’t make the cut. Tracy McGrady didn’t. Damian Lillard didn’t. They got votes, but not enough. But that speaks to the depth of quality of the last 25 years. Our list reflects the metamorphosis of the game; we still have bigs who dominated close to the basket, the way it was done back in the day. But there are also numerous guards and wings that reconfigured the geometry of the game, forever, with their range and volume.
And, our list reflects the global bent of today’s NBA. Canada is here. And Slovenia. And Serbia. And Greece. And Germany. And the Virgin Islands. The world plays here now, along with the cream of the U.S. crop, and the resulting mix of talent and new philosophies about spacing and shooting — and, just a little bit of defense, still — has produced incredible, indelible moments. With more to come. — David Aldridge
(Editor’s note: Our panel consisted of 43 writers, podcasters and editors who each provided a list of 25 names from No. 1 to No. 25. For every first-place vote, a player received 25 points; for a second, 24; for a third, 23 and so on. A 25th place vote received one point. A perfect score — 43 first-place votes — would result in 1,075 points. Also, all statistics begin with the 2000-01 season, achievements as well. Achievements before 2000-01 are noted.)
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By Joe Vardon
For the purposes of this discussion, it’s the general consensus that one of two men qualify as the greatest ever basketball player. One of them is LeBron James, 40, of Akron, Ohio. He is obviously going to be No. 1 on the list of top players for the 21st century. The other, Michael Jordan of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Wilmington, N.C. takes top billing for the 20th century.
That’s it. That’s the argument. All the special qualities, quirks, achievements, auras, legacies, memories, titles, records, shoe deals, wallet sizes, TV commercials and anything else you can think of that put LeBron into the discussion with Michael automatically qualify him as the greatest to lace up the hightops over the last 25 years.
Let’s treat this as an opportunity, then, to not get bogged down with the arguments in LeBron’s favor you’ve heard and read a million times. You already know why he is the best player this century.
The first time I covered LeBron was his junior year of high school at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s. I was a part-time reporter for the Akron Beacon Journal, and neither Brian Windhorst (heard of him?) nor Tom Reed were available to cover this game, so sports editor Larry Pantages sent me. I don’t remember the opponent. I do remember LeBron attacking the rim more viciously than I had seen a high school player do it. Never had I seen someone so young fly as high, cock the ball behind his head with one hand, and rock the rim.
There was a game his senior year at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse. The Lakers were in town to play the Cavs, and Shaq and Rick Fox took the hour drive south to watch this kid play.
For his first game at Madison Square Garden (the press used to sit on the court in those days), we had to wait for the national anthem to finish before we could walk out of the tunnel. Jay-Z was waiting, too, and we stood next to each other. He dapped me up because we were stuck, with nowhere to go.
The night LeBron scored 25 consecutive points at the end of a playoff game to sink the Pistons and their era of dominance … or when he sat with Jim Gray for “The Decision” and said “I’m taking my talent to South Beach” … or when he declared in Sports Illustrated that he was “coming home.” I’ll never forget where I was when they happened.
I was there when LeBron pounded the floor at the end of Game 2 of the 2015 Finals — won by the Cavs even though Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were both out for the series with injuries. I stood inside the loading dock when LeBron strolled casually into Oracle Arena the following summer, for Game 7, in a pair of jeans, a sport coat, and a t-shirt that said “RWTW”: Roll With The Winners. I stood in a similar spot in Crypto.com Arena when he stalked by in all black ahead of the game in which he would break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record.
We had to finish an NBA season in a “bubble” at Disney World. He nearly shut down the whole thing, following the Bucks’ protest and postponement of a playoff game. LeBron’s team won the finals.
A couple years later, the NBA launched its In-Season Tournament. It seemed fitting that LeBron’s Lakers won the first championship. Still can’t believe he appeared in eight straight finals (the bubble finals was after that streak ended). No one will ever do that again, I’d wager.
The Paris Olympics, the night he put his arm around the Duchess of York, after a game in Brooklyn, the time he took two weeks off to clear his head, then shoved David Blatt (gently) during his first game back. The night he and Bronny first shared the floor in a real game as the first father-son duo in NBA history to play in the same game.
There are hundreds more, but we’re out of time. You’ve been watching basketball this century, you have your own memories, courtesy of LeBron, just like this.
Where were you when history happened?
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-10, ’14-18), Miami Heat (2010-14), Los Angeles Lakers (2018-present)
The Athletic panel points: 1,073 (41 of 43 first-place votes)
Achievements: NBA MVP (’09, ’10, ’12, ’13), 21-time All-NBA, 21-time All-Star, NBA champ (’12, ‘13, ‘16, ‘20), NBA Finals MVP (’12, ‘13, ‘16, ‘20), Scoring champ (’08), Assists champ (‘20), Rookie of the Year (‘04), In-Season Tournament MVP (‘23), Olympic gold (’08, ’12, ‘24), NBA 75th Anniversary team (’21)
Photo: Jonathan Hui / Imagn Images
By Jon Krawczynski
The four championships, the two MVP awards, the 4,000-plus made 3-pointers, they are all part of Steph Curry’s NBA resume. But a resume and a legacy are two different things.
The search for Curry’s legacy veers far from the NBA arenas he has filled and the opponents he has tucked into bed with daggers both ruthless and golden. It begins on the playgrounds and in the elementary school gyms where kids who weren’t even born when he was drafted in 2009 stand behind 3-point arcs that feel like they are a mile away from the rim, heave the basketball from their hips and let out a yell of hope.
“CURRY!”
Almost all of these children will never be able to feel what Anthony Edwards feels when he takes off from just inside the free throw line, soars through the air and throws down a dunk over some poor, unsuspecting defender. They will never know what it’s like to sprint from behind the halfcourt line in pursuit of a fast -reaking opponent, elevate when he is beyond their peripheral vision and swat a layup attempt into the second row.
But most, no matter how big or how small, can at some point feel the joyful sensation of watching a ball leave their hand, bend toward the heavens and then fall through the net with one of the most satisfying sounds in sports: SWISH!
So much about Curry is super-human. His competitiveness, his work ethic, his quickness and handle and, yes, that beautiful, unmatched jumper. But the fact that he is not 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds and his game is not predicated on physically overpowering his opponent with sheer athleticism makes him a more relatable superstar than most who came before him.
Curry made the 3-pointer hotter than the slam dunk. Kids want to be him just as badly as they want to be LeBron or they wanted to be Mike. And for that, his influence may be unmatched.
He has bent the entire league to his will with the kind of marksmanship that only Robin Hood could duplicate. He leveled a playing field that has almost always been controlled by giants.
The skill that he has mastered can be mimicked. Even if a 12-year-old just gets lucky with a heave from six feet behind the arc, the feeling that comes with that luck can’t be forgotten. It intoxicates with such power that it can keep a kid out there shooting all night. It makes him believe he can play this game. It makes her want to keep going until she feels it again.
Curry has made the game of basketball accessible in a way that no star has ever done. No matter how short or how tall, how fast or how slow, how graceful or how clumsy, on the right day, you, too, can stand behind the 3-point line, let one fly and see it splash through the net.
You, too, can smile and yell “Curry!” as you thrust your hands in the air in triumph. You, too, can fall in love with the game. All because of Steph.
That’s not a resume. That’s a legacy.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Golden State Warriors (2009-present)
The Athletic panel points: 997 (2 of 43 first-place votes)
Achievements: NBA MVP (’15, ’16), 11-time All-NBA, 11-time All-Star, NBA champ (’15, ’17, ’18, ‘22), Finals MVP (‘22), Western Conference Finals MVP (‘22), Scoring champ (’16, ’21), Steals champ (’16), Free throw champ (’11, ’15, ’16, ’18, ’25), Olympic gold (‘24), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski / Imagn Images
By Shakeia Taylor
Greatness isn’t always boastful. Or loud. And it doesn’t always come with a bunch of flair.
Sometimes greatness is quiet. It’s straightforward. It does the little things so well its viewers don’t always realize how exceptional it is.
When San Antonio drafted Duncan out of Wake Forest in 1997, David Robinson was the cornerstone of the Spurs franchise. But it was a fortuitous opportunity to add a generational big man. Duncan wasn’t just a co-star with Robinson; he became a superstar alongside him.
Duncan’s expressionless demeanor and fundamental basketball was viewed by many as “boring” at a time when the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s swagger and multiple championships were considered far more exciting.
In Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals, Duncan put together one of the greatest individual performances in a closeout game. Duncan messed around and got a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocks to earn the Finals MVP. He’s the only player with 20-20-10-5 in a playoff game since blocks were tracked, let alone in a Finals game.
Nobody better articulated Duncan’s quiet nature than a fellow great who had the opposite temperament.
“People would not see him verbally saying stuff because he wouldn’t talk in sentences,” 15-time All-Star Kevin Garnett said on the “All the Smoke” podcast. ”Timmy would hit you in phrases (like) ‘Got you,’ ‘Ooh, almost’ and ‘Nice try.’ No gangsta s—. No real hard core s—.
“What really pissed me off is when the trash talk wasn’t affecting him. Now you’re spending all this energy trying to rile him up and you done forgot about your own game, you forgot they’re coming to you, what you’re supposed to do. I quit talking trash to Timmy because he wouldn’t respond and he wasn’t giving me the reaction I was looking for. I can’t even get hype. He wouldn’t react to that. Next thing you know, Timmy got 20-20-15.”
For 19 seasons, without much yelling, flexing, or celebration, Duncan casually dominated. He put his head down, went to work and simply let his game do the talking.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: San Antonio Spurs (1997-2016)
The Athletic panel points: 982
Achievements (from 2001-16): NBA MVP (’02, ’03), 12-time All-NBA, 13-time All-Star, NBA champ (’03, ’05, ’07, ’14), Finals MVP (’03, ’05), Hall of Fame (’20), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Duncan also won a title and a Finals MVP in 1999, Rookie of the Year in 1998 and was named to three All-NBA teams and appeared in two All-Star games.
Photo: D. Clarke Evans / NBAE via Getty Images
By Jason Jones
No one established their dominance quite like Kobe Bryant.
It was a zig-zag of exhilaration and frustration. Bryant believed in his ability to will the Lakers to victory and was stubborn about it. That was great at times. There were others when you pleaded with him to pass the ball. But on June 17, 2010, there was no denying Bryant’s legacy.
He stood on the scorer’s table, arms outstretched and the basketball in his left hand. He’d secured his fifth championship and vanquished the Lakers’ longstanding rival, the Boston Celtics, to do so. Bryant shot a miserable 6 of 24, but grabbed 15 rebounds and had four assists and willed the Lakers from 13 points down in the third quarter for the win.
It was the last time Bryant would celebrate as a champion, but his legacy in the 21st century is rivaled by few, if any. From 2000 to 2010, Bryant was in the Finals seven times. He became the favorite player of a new generation.
There were doubts Bryant would have that moment in June 2010. The Lakers traded Shaquille O’Neal in 2004 and bet on Bryant —and they took their lumps. Bryant, however, never stopped believing in himself. The Lakers would miss the playoffs in 2005 and struggle as a lower seed. That included taking a 3-1 lead as a seventh seed over Phoenix in 2006 only to lose the series in seven games. In Game 7, Bryant was inexplicably passive on offense.
Two years later, Bryant was the league MVP. Three years later, he won another championship. In 2010, he cemented his Lakers legacy. He grew into the leader and teammate the franchise needed to go with his impressive stats.
It wasn’t just scoring 81 points in a game, scoring 62 points in three quarters or any of the amazing scoring nights. It was Bryant’s will and self-belief that made him one of the best. Bryant’s “Mamba Mentality” isn’t just a cool slogan. It’s going after the ultimate prize relentlessly, fueled by self-belief and hard work.
Bryant did all of that like few can match.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Los Angeles Lakers (1996-2016)
The Athletic panel points: 952
Achievements (from 2001-16): NBA MVP (’08), 13-time All-NBA, 16-time All-Star, NBA champ (’01, ’02, ’09, ’10), Finals MVP (’09, ’10), Scoring champ (’06, ’07), Olympic gold (’08, ’12), Hall of Fame (’20), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Bryant also won an NBA title in 2000, was named to two All-NBA teams and appeared in two All-Star Games.
Photo: Matt Stone / MediaNews Group / Boston Herald via Getty Images
By John Hollinger
It’s just a normal halfcourt possession for the Denver Nuggets. Nikola Jokić comes up to the right elbow to catch a pass, and then turns and faces the right corner to look at Aaron Gordon, who is meeting Russell Westbrook on the right wing and will likely cut to the basket off a Westbrook screen.
Meanwhile, over in the left corner, a weak-side defender stands watching and waiting as he matches up with Christian Braun in the left corner. As the possession begins, he is totally out of the play, and not even in Jokić’s field of vision. And yet, he is the one Jokić is reading the whole time. He’s about to get cooked.
Gordon cuts toward the basket and has half a step on his man. Jokić’s head is pointed straight at him, but Jokić isn’t really looking at him. No, his focus is on a teammate he can’t even see — his back is half-turned to Braun because he is facing the right corner, not the left one. But he knows where Braun is, and for Jokić that’s enough.
So as Gordon cuts, Jokić watches Braun’s defender creep in from the opposite corner to help. Jokić can see him, just out of the corner of his eye, and the second that defender makes a false move toward the paint, he whips a blind pass across his body toward Braun.
As Braun’s defender makes his step one way, he hears a “whooooosh” as the ball goes by him in the opposite direction, followed by an “Ooooohhhhhh!” from the crowd. The Joker got him. The pass hits Braun right in his hands, right where Jokić expected him to be, and he has a wide-open corner 3 that the 40 percent career shooter knocks down.
If there’s one signature play to sum up Nikola Jokić’s greatness, it’s that one: the ability to set up wide-open shots for players he can’t even see just by reading the court and understanding what all 10 players will be doing in a given moment.
The three-time MVP is a dominant scorer and rebounder, yes, but the truly magical part is that he may be the best passer the game has ever seen, one who throws passes that people didn’t even consider possible until Jokić started doing them on the regular.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Denver Nuggets (2015-present)
The Athletic panel points: 873
Achievements: NBA MVP (’21, ‘22, ‘24), seven-time All-NBA, seven-time All-Star, NBA champ (’23), Finals MVP (’23), Western Conference Finals MVP (‘23)
Photo: Troy Wayrynen / Imagn Images
By David Aldridge
“You the real MVP.”
For all of Kevin Durant’s many, many accolades — his devastating ability to put the ball in the basket, leaving him at more than 30,000 career points and counting, his two NBA titles and two Finals MVPs, his standing as perhaps the greatest U.S. men’s international basketball player in history, with four Olympic gold medals and a gold from the 2010 World Cup, his spot on the league’s 75th Anniversary team – his signature moment came not in a uniform, but in a suit, wearing glasses, as he was given the 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player award. And in a joyous, tearful, reflective acceptance speech, Durant thanked everyone he could think of, but saved the best for last.
In honoring his mother, Wanda Durant, he expressed gratitude and raw emotion, detailing the hardest of times his family endured moving over and over again in Prince George’s County, Md., during his childhood, and the role she played in keeping the family together. He lifted her up, as loving sons do, rather than center himself.
It amplified some of Kevin Durant’s more interesting traits — his ability to bounce back and forth between sublime soloist and fierce teammate, a player supremely confident in his abilities on the floor, but who hates almost all of the attention bestowed upon him, someone that is desperate to protect his privacy, yet is willing, seemingly eager, to engage with random yahoos on X.
Throughout his first 17 NBA seasons, Durant has always been on a continuum, a 6-11 metronome. He ingratiated himself completely into the ethos of the Thunder for nine seasons, only to leave them for the team that conquered OKC in the 2016 Western Conference finals. He was sensational for Golden State in back-to-back finals campaigns, yet bounced after three seasons there to begin a nomadic path that has come to define the second half of his career.
But no matter where he plays, Kevin Durant was put on earth to put a basketball through a hoop. With his size and impeccable fundamentals, you cannot keep him from getting to his favorite spots on the floor – the elbows, particularly – and doing damage. Yet KD remains one of the most efficient high-volume scorers in league history: He ranks eighth all-time in field goal percentage (.502 entering this season) among players with more than 20,000 career field goal attempts.
Now with the Rockets, at 37, Durant is looking to add another title to his sparkling resume. But his place in league history is already secure. Wanda Durant, to be sure, remains the real MVP. But her son has left some impressive and long-lasting footprints of his own. — David Aldridge
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Seattle SuperSonics (2007-08), Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-16), Golden State Warriors (2016-19), Brooklyn Nets (2020-23), Phoenix Suns (2023-25), Houston Rockets (2025-present)
The Athletic panel points: 854
Achievements: NBA MVP (’14), 11-time All-NBA, 15-time All-Star, NBA champ (’17, ’18), Finals MVP (’17, ’18), Rookie of the Year (’08), Scoring champ (’10, ’11, ’12, ’14), Free throw champ (’13), Olympic gold (’12, ’16, ’20, ‘24), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images
By Jason Jones
There’s a photo from the 2002 NBA Finals that sums up O’Neal’s dominance: He dunked on an entire team. There are five New Jersey Nets looking helpless as O’Neal powers the ball through the rim, the Lakers were on their way to their third consecutive championship.
O’Neal was unstoppable. Even the NBA changing its rules to allow zone defenses that season couldn’t slow down the Diesel. He obliterated defenses and forced the league to change rules to give defenders a chance to stop him. But there was no stopping a motivated O’Neal, as that Finals run proved again.
The 2002 championship was the last of O’Neal’s Finals MVPs and the third of his four championships. The Nets never stood a chance. The Lakers had survived a seven-game series with the Sacramento Kings, coming back from being down 3-2 to outlast the Kings in Game 7 in Sacramento.
O’Neal had his desire questioned for years before he dominated the league at the turn of the century, and maybe that lit something in O’Neal his opponents would regret. Once he got rolling, there wasn’t a single defender who stood a chance.
The Nets learned in the Finals that sometimes five defenders couldn’t stop O’Neal. Critics and nitpickers will say all Shaq did was dunk on people. as if that’s some easy thing.
He didn’t just dunk. He destroyed the rim. He did so with power. He did it with nimble footwork that a man weighing more than 300 pounds shouldn’t have.
Big men have become more skilled in that they can shoot 3s. O’Neal attempted 22 3-pointers in 19 seasons, making one. But don’t let that fool you — O’Neal was extremely skilled. His touch around the rim was good and he could hurt teams with his passing.
But what made O’Neal so great were plays like the one against the Nets in the Finals — where he obliterated defenders.
Shaq might have said it best in his song, “Are You a Roughneck?”: “I’m coming with the monster dunk, Get off me punk!”
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Orlando Magic (1992-96), Los Angeles Lakers (1996-2004), Miami Heat (2004-08), Phoenix Suns (2008-09), Cleveland Cavaliers (2009-10), Boston Celtics (2010-11)
The Athletic panel points: 815
Achievements: Six-time All-NBA, eight-time All-Star, NBA champ (’01, ‘02, ‘06), Finals MVP (’01, ‘02), field-goal percentage champ (’01, ’02, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’09), Hall of Fame (’16), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Shaq won the 2000 NBA MVP and Finals MVP. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1993, named to seven All-NBA teams and seven All-Star Games. He led the league in scoring twice (‘95 and 2000), won an Olympic gold medal in ‘96 and was a member of the NBA at 50 team.
Photo: Lucy Nicholson / AFP via Getty Images
By Eric Nehm
As he was getting interviewed following a 50-point performance in the 2021 NBA Finals to seal the Milwaukee Bucks’ first championship in 50 seasons, Giannis Antetokounmpo turned to Khris Middleton and asked a simple question.
“Khris, we did it, huh?” Antetokounmpo asked his long-time teammate. “We f–ing did it. We f–ing did it.”
The defiant statement perfectly reflected how improbable it was for Antetokounmpo to be standing at that place in that moment.
Three weeks earlier in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, Antetokounmpo hyperextended his left knee so badly that team doctors told him it would be six to eight weeks before he could even have the injury re-evaluated for a potential return. Instead, six days after the initial injury, Antetokounmpo started his first NBA Finals game. And then, despite losing the first two games in Phoenix, the Bucks won four straight games and captured their first NBA title since 1971 with Antetokounmpo knocking down 17 of his 19 free-throw attempts on his way to 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in Milwaukee’s closeout Game 6 effort.
But the 2021 NBA Finals, Antetokounmpo’s lone NBA championship for the time being, is just one improbable chapter in a much longer and more improbable story.
When the Bucks selected Antetokounmpo as a relatively unknown skinny 6-foot-9 forward from Greece, no one could have ever predicted what would come next. Expected to begin his NBA journey in the D-League, Antetokounmpo immediately found himself in Milwaukee’s rotation and entered the Bucks starting lineup a month and a half into the season. After finding his footing as a rookie, Antetokounmpo turned into a double-digit scorer in his second season and won Most Improved Player in his fourth season, his first season as a 20-points-per-game scorer and All-NBA player. And he hasn’t left the All-NBA stage since first arriving in 2017.
His nickname, The Greek Freak, started as a useful moniker for broadcasters who needed a quick way to describe the elastic-limbed unknown kid from Greece with a long last name, but it turned into a far better description than anyone could have ever expected. Antetokounmpo has been one of the NBA’s best players for seven consecutive seasons and blossomed into one of the league’s most dominant forces, blending a combination of strength, agility and skill that few players have ever possessed in the league’s history.
Not only has he grown a couple inches and gained almost 50 pounds since joining the league though, he has improved every single season. That desire to grow has turned Antetokounmpo into one of the greatest players of this decade, even though there are still many chapters of his story to be written.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks (2013-present)
The Athletic panel points: 755
Achievements: NBA MVP (’19, ‘20), nine-time All-NBA, nine-time All-Star, NBA champ (’21), Finals MVP (’21), Most Improved Player (‘17), Defensive Player of the Year (‘20), NBA Cup MVP (‘24), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Matt Marton / Imagn Images
By Christian Clark
In his 13th season, seven days shy of his 33rd birthday, Dirk Nowitzki did it.
The forward from Würzburg, Germany had dealt with so much playoff disappointment along the way, he wasn’t sure it was ever going to happen. There was the Dallas Mavericks’ collapse in the 2006 NBA Finals, when they blew a 2-0 series lead against the Miami Heat. Then there was the Mavericks’ first-round exit in 2007, when a 67-win Dallas team was upset by the Golden State Warriors.
All of that only made it sweeter when Nowitzki led the Mavericks to their first and only championship in 2011. This time, it was the Mavericks who overcame a series deficit against the Heat and won in six games. The Mavericks’ championship celebration at the nightclub LIV in Miami lasted until the wee hours of the next morning.
Before that champagne-soaked celebration, Nowitzki needed a moment of quiet. As the final seconds of Game 6 ticked away, Nowitzki hurdled the scorer’s table and headed toward a backroom shower area. He lay down with a towel draped over his head. He was so overcome with emotion that one of the Mavericks public relations officials had to convince him to return to the court so he could lift the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy and accept the Finals MVP award.
The Mavericks’ 2011 championship run resonated so deeply for Nowitzki and Mavericks fans because of the journey they’d been on together. Nowitzki had opportunities to leave Dallas, and the Mavericks could have traded him after failing to summit the mountain so many times. Neither did, and they were rewarded with one of the most satisfying title runs in recent memory.
“Loyalty,” Nowitzki said when he was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2023. “The quality that is more important to me than any other.”
Nowitzki is the greatest jump-shooting big man of all time, someone who showed that a 7-footer could play a perimeter-oriented game and still be dominant. He was remarkably consistent; he played 75 or more games 15 times in his career, and the Mavericks ripped off 11 straight 50-win seasons during his run. But more than anything, Nowitzki was loyal. His brilliance in the 2011 postseason meant so much because of the shared history he had with the Mavericks fan base.
On Christmas Day in 2022, the Mavericks unveiled a Nowitzki statue outside American Airlines Center. The inscription on it read: “Loyalty never fades away.” Twenty-one letters for the 21 seasons Nowitzki played in Dallas — the most one player spent with one team in NBA history.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Dallas Mavericks (1998-2019)
The Athletic panel points: 709
Achievements: NBA MVP (’07), 12-time All-NBA, 14-time All-Star, NBA champ (’11), Finals MVP (’11), Hall of Fame (’23), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to 2001, Nowitzki played two seasons for Dallas
Photo: Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports
By Hunter Patterson
The elegance of Dwyane Wade’s game was directly tied to the way he intertwined grace and grit, which earned him his “Flash” nickname. He was equally as elusive as he was inevitable — elusive for the defenders trying to stay in front of him, inevitable when the game was on the line.
He boldly blended both qualities in 2006 to bring the organization he’ll forever be synonymous with its first championship. While LeBron James did elevate the Miami Heat to four consecutive NBA Finals appearances and two rings between 2011 and 2014, Wade laid the franchise’s foundation for sustained success.
There’s a reason he’s the only player in Heat history with a statue in front of the Kaseya Center.
“Dwyane is the greatest player who ever put on a uniform for us,” Miami team president Pat Riley said in August 2023 ahead of Wade’s Hall of Fame enshrinement. “LeBron was here for four years and gave us a tremendous lift and helped Dwyane achieve what he wanted to achieve. But over the body of work here in Miami, Dwyane is the greatest player who ever played for the Heat.”
Wade captivated crowds on Biscayne Boulevard for more than a decade with mid-air acrobatics, midrange mastery and tenacious defensive instincts that led him to have more blocks than any other guard in league history. Injuries eventually plagued his career, but the vigor Wade played with never allowed his legacy to be tarnished. His passion was palpable, and his reckless abandon when attacking the rim likely contributed to the injuries he suffered.
But each time Wade went crashing down onto the hardwood, you could count on him to pick himself off the floor and do it all over again. From the and-1 scooping layup with his back to the basket on the Detroit Pistons in the 2006 Eastern Conference final to the banner that was raised to the rafters to retire No. 3 and immortalize him, Wade embodied everything the Heat still strive to be.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Miami Heat (2003-16, ‘18-19), Chicago Bulls (2016-17), Cleveland Cavaliers (2017-18)
The Athletic panel points: 690
Achievements: Eight-time All-NBA, 13-time All-Star, NBA champ (’06, ‘12, ‘13), Finals MVP (’06), Scoring champ (’09), Olympic gold (‘08), Hall of Fame (’23), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Victor Baldizon / NBAE via Getty Images
By Jon Krawczynski
It was the sweat that always set Kevin Garnett apart.
Not beads that rolled off of his bald head in the fourth quarter of a playoff game or the jersey that was drenched as he walked into the locker room at halftime.
No, it was the image of all of that and more before the game clock had ticked a single second. Garnett would work himself into an incredible lather going through his pregame routine and then stewing on the bench waiting for his name to be called in the starting lineup introductions. His blood would boil as he conjured reasons to hate his opponent and he would always stand underneath his basket just before the game began, tying his shorts and butting his head against the stanchion to prepare himself for the 48-minute fight that was coming.
It did not matter if he was going up against Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley or an unknown journeyman, if it was Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers or Game 32 of the regular season against the Washington Wizards: Garnett whipped himself into a pre-game frenzy and then unleashed holy hell on whoever stepped in front of him.
Of the many, many four-letter words that would stream out of his mouth on a game night, none would have been uttered with more disdain than “load management.” It was a 12-round battle to get him to take a practice off, let alone a game.
And for that, as much as for his unparalleled defensive prowess and groundbreaking skills for a player his size, Garnett belongs up here with the greatest. He made sure that every single night he stepped on the floor, he gave the fans their money’s worth.
Buy a Minnesota Timberwolves or a Boston Celtics ticket during his prime, and you could be sure that when you sat down in your seat on the night of the game, KG would be out there, sweating through his uniform and giving it everything he had.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Minnesota Timberwolves (1995-2008, 2015-16), Boston Celtics (2008-13), Brooklyn Nets (2013-15)
The Athletic panel points: 674
Achievements: NBA MVP (’04), seven-time All-NBA, 12-time All-Star, NBA champ (’08), Defensive Player of the Year (‘08), Rebounding champ (‘04, ‘05, ‘06, ‘07), Hall of Fame (’20), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, was named to two All-NBA teams and three All-Star games. He won Olympic gold in 2000
Photo: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images
By James Jackson
Quiet and dominating are the two terms to best describe Kawhi Leonard, one of the most feared playoff risers in NBA history.
Respected as one of the most impactful two-way threats ever, Leonard’s prowess is influenced by his massive hand size, 7-foot-3 wingspan and an arsenal of skills he’s honed since being drafted 15th in 2011 by the San Antonio Spurs.
There, Leonard contributed to the final iteration of San Antonio’s Tim Duncan-led dynasty with Hall of Fame catalysts Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and head coach Gregg Popovich still in the fold. In 2014, en route to the Spurs’ fifth championship, a 22-year-old Leonard became the league’s youngest Finals MVP since a 22-year-old Duncan did so in 1999.
An injury-riddled conclusion to Leonard’s Spurs tenure led to him joining the Toronto Raptors in 2018, leading to a legendary one-season stay north of the border that ended in the Raptors’ lone NBA title. With that run — which included the third-highest-scoring individual playoff run ever (732) and an unforgettable, four-bounce, buzzer-beater in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers — Leonard joined only LeBron James (Heat, Cavaliers, Lakers) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Bucks, Lakers) as the only players to win NBA Finals MVP honors for multiple franchises.
“Are you kidding? He’s probably gonna be a Hall-of-Fame player,” Popovich said of Leonard in 2022. “He wasn’t a Hall-of-Fame player when he first got drafted. So, I will say he’s improved quite a bit. He’s done a great job, he’s worked his ass off.”
When Leonard’s career ends, raw statistics won’t convey the same impact of simply being there to see him work. Once deemed a promising 3-and-D prospect, he’s provided us with clutch moments, unmatched defensive tenacity and playmaking versatility mirrored by only the very best.
His MVP trophy case won’t match that of Michael Jordan or LeBron James, but the quiet Leonard has often preferred to let his game do the talking, playing an undeniable role in the respective peaks of three franchises despite an injury history that often makes the hoops wonder, “What if?”
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: San Antonio Spurs (2011-18), Toronto Raptors (2018-19), LA Clippers (2019-present)
The Athletic panel points: 544
Achievements: Six-time All-NBA, six-time All-Star, NBA champ (’14, ‘19), Finals MVP (’14, ‘19), Defensive Player of the Year (‘15, ‘16), Steals champ (’15), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images
By Dan Woike
There’s a competitive rage that burns inside of Chris Paul, the fuel stoked by a litany of almosts and what ifs throughout the prime of his NBA career. Things, it seemed, would go sideways at the worst moments, the player who wanted it more than anyone else cruelly forced to see it, again, slip through his fingers.
But not this time.
In Game 7 of the first round against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, calamity struck again and threatened to prematurely knock Paul out of the playoffs. Playing a must-win game at home for a franchise he helped bring fully to life, Paul felt a pull up the back of his left leg – a strained hamstring.
He went to the bench late in the first quarter and put his head into his hands, to hide the emotion of another opportunity seemingly ripped away.
But Paul, as ruthlessly competitive as any player of his era, found a way to get back into the game. And in the closing seconds of one of the best basketball games played in the last 25 years, a definitive point guard found himself staring at a definitive moment.
With eight seconds left, Paul somehow hobbled around Danny Green when Green gave him the slightest opening. He jetted toward the right block, created a little bit of space with a bump and planted on the injured left leg. He pushed back away from the basket and from Tim Duncan, who had come over to contest. And with just a few seconds left, he somehow found a way to flip the ball over Duncan, off the backboard and through the hoop — the punctuation on one of the most underrated Game 7s in NBA history.
It was Paul personified — toughness, will, smarts and skill. Title or not, Paul authored winning play after winning play since he entered the league 20 years ago: 23,000 points, nearly 12,500 assists, 11 All-NBAs and 10 top-10 finishes in MVP voting. The resume is undeniable.
Part Point God, part 6-foot assassin, on that night in 2015 — on one leg even — no one was better than Chris Paul.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: New Orleans Hornets (2005-11), LA Clippers (2011-17, 2025-present), Houston Rockets (2017-19), Oklahoma City Thunder (2019-20), Phoenix Suns (2020-23), Golden State Warriors (2023-24), San Antonio Spurs (2024-25)
The Athletic panel points: 527
Achievements: 11-time All-NBA, 12-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year (’06), Assists champ (‘08, ‘09. ‘14, ‘15, ‘22), Steals champ (‘08, ‘09, ‘11, ‘12, ‘13, ‘14), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images
By Doug Haller
Entering his 17th season, James Harden has 80 career triple-doubles, eighth most in NBA history. One, however, stands out among the rest.
On Jan. 30, 2018, Harden recorded the first 60-point triple-double in league history, finishing with 60 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a home win over the Orlando Magic.
Harden was sharp from the opening tip. Coming off a screen, he delivered a between-the-legs pass to cutting Clint Capela for the game’s first points. In the second quarter, he deflected an Orlando pass, leading to a fast break and lob to Gerald Green.
Coming out of Arizona State, Harden’s vision had been perhaps his most overlooked skill. Yes, he could shoot. Yes, he could attack the basket. But Harden also had a knack for getting the ball where it needed to go, often with uncommon flair.
In the second half, Harden’s confidence soared. He penetrated the lane, drew a foul and just threw the ball toward the rim – it banked off the glass and through the net. In the final seconds of the third quarter, Harden came off a screen on the left wing but had nowhere to go. Shelvin Mack was right in his face, both arms raised. With time about to expire, Harden pivoted and launched a desperation 3.
Swish!
In the game’s final minute, Harden drilled a 3 and drew a foul, breaking Calvin Murphy’s franchise single-game scoring record of 57 points. When it was over, Harden raised his hand, acknowledging the home crowd. With the Rockets short-handed – they had played without Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza because of injuries – he had accounted for 86 points in the 114-107 win.
In 46 minutes, the All-Star guard had made 19 of 30 from the field and 17 of 18 from the foul line.
Coach Mike D’Antoni said the Rockets needed every point.
“A performance for the ages,” Rockets broadcaster Bill Worrell said.
“It’s a good feeling, I guess,” Harden told reporters. “Just try to go out there and make an impact every single night, however I can. Whether it’s scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, whatever it is. And tonight, I guess I was doing everything.” — Doug Haller
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Oklahoma City Thunder (2009-12), Houston Rockets (2012-21), Brooklyn Nets (2021-22), Philadelphia 76ers (2022-23), LA Clippers (2023-present)
The Athletic panel points: 485
Achievements: NBA MVP (’18), eight-time All-NBA, 11-time All-Star, Sixth Man of the Year (‘12), Scoring champ (’18, ‘19, ‘20), Assists champ (‘17, ‘23), Olympic gold (‘12), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Rob Gray / Imagn Images
By Doug Haller
In the summer of 2004, the Phoenix Suns felt like they were close. They had a creative head coach in Mike D’Antoni, who believed in a fast-paced “ball finds energy” style. They had a versatile wing in Shawn Marion and an explosive big man in Amar’e Stoudemire. They just needed an engine to make it all work. Nash was the answer.
“When the floodgates of free agency opened up on July 1, we had one specific goal and one specific purpose,” then-GM Bryan Colangelo said at Nash’s Phoenix introduction, “and that purpose is sitting right next to me.”
Over six seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, Nash had blossomed into one of the league’s better point guards, but no one could have predicted what unfolded in Phoenix.
Nash instantly made the Suns a Western Conference threat and helped revolutionize the sport. D’Antoni’s “:07 Seconds or Less” offense became the league’s most entertaining product, one rivals would try to duplicate for years.
“We started to notice like, it’d be in the fourth quarter, six or seven minutes to go and (the starters would) all be on the bench, icing and chilling and talking to each other,’’ wing Quentin Richardson said in 2023. “We were like, ‘All right, starting games we got to be ready,’ and then it was like, ‘Damn, we beat them by 20-something.”
Nash made it all go. Probing the lane, circling defenders, flipping behind-the-back passes to a trailing Stoudemire or lofting lobs to a high-flying Marion. He had Maravich-like tendencies, scoring with both hands, jumping off his right foot or left, playing angles, always seconds ahead of everyone else.
The Suns advanced to the Western Conference finals in 2005 and 2006. Nash was voted MVP in both seasons and finished second in 2007, an outstanding run of creativity and skill that lifted a franchise and sparked change within the sport.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Phoenix Suns (1996-98, 2004-12), Dallas Mavericks (1998-04), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-14)
The Athletic panel points: 482
Achievements: NBA MVP (’05, ‘06), seven-time All-NBA, eight-time All-Star, Assists champ (‘05, ‘06, ‘07, ‘10, ‘11), Hall of Fame (’18), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Nash played four seasons, two for Phoenix and two for Dallas
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY Sports
By Fred Katz
Cameron Payne thought of himself as a hard worker — until someone dared him to meet Russell Westbrook’s intensity.
During Payne’s rookie year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Monty Williams, an assistant coach for OKC at the time, approached the rookie with a proposition. Williams noticed that Payne, the team’s recent first-round pick, was arriving to 11 a.m. practices at 8:30, a promising sign for a young player. So Williams challenged him to hit the next level.
“You want to be great?” Williams told Payne. “Beat that guy to practice.” He pointed at the famously punctual All-Star, Westbrook.
Payne didn’t know when Westbrook arrived at practices, so he showed up the next day at 7-something, which was too late. Westbrook was already enjoying breakfast in the rec room, which inspired Payne to get there at some obscene hour the next morning. And this time, Westbrook wasn’t there.
Payne was elated. He had beaten the undefeated worker, the man famous for a motor that never visited the repair shop. This feeling had to continue, so he showed up the next day at the same time. Once again, no Westbrook.
He did it again the following day. That’s where Payne’s momentum stopped.
Westbrook wasn’t just on the court upon Payne’s entrance; he’d already worked up a full sweat. The future Hall of Famer noticed a rookie beating him to practice and, with no knowledge they were even in competition, decided to put an end to it.
“Ain’t no telling how long he was up,” Payne told me.
With Westbrook, everything is a competition.
That is how he went from a lightly recruited high schooler to a UCLA freshman who didn’t play to a sophomore defensive menace to a No. 4 pick many said was drafted too high to an NBA starter who couldn’t shoot or pass well enough to an All-Star to an MVP. It’s how he grabs all those rebounds, cementing himself as one of the most ferocious loose-ball guards to ever touch the hardwood. It’s how he became the second player ever to accomplish a feat the basketball world once figured impossible: averaging a triple-double in a single season.
Westbrook has won an MVP; made nine All-Star teams and nine All-NBA teams; is a two-time scoring champion and three-time assist champion; and has averaged a triple-double in four different seasons when every other player in NBA history has combined for two.
His resume will start with the MVP and triple-doubles, but his legacy should hinge on the passion Payne witnessed.
“This is what you gotta do,” Payne once told me, “to be this good.”
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-19), Houston Rockets (2019-20), Washington Wizards (2020-21), Los Angeles Lakers (2021-23), LA Clippers (2023-24), Denver Nuggets (2024-25), Sacramento Kings (2025-present)
The Athletic panel points: 334
Achievements: NBA MVP (’17), nine-time All-NBA, nine-time All-Star, Scoring champ (’15, ‘17), Assists champ (‘18, ‘19, ‘21), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Steven Freeman / NBAE via Getty Images
By David Aldridge
From the moment Allen Iverson took the national stage — first, at Georgetown University, then for the 76ers, after being taken first in the celebrated 1996 NBA Draft — you couldn’t take your eyes off him. He was small by NBA standards, but utterly fearless. He came of age in the Jordan Era, but couldn’t be Less Like Mike. In a league that, at the time, still catered to the biggest men on the floor, he dominated games at 6-feet, 165 pounds.
The Association has handed out 70 league Most Valuable Player awards. Iverson is the shortest and smallest player ever to win one. No team ever built a championship contender around someone like him the way the 76ers did.
Iverson’s handle, which included one of the sickest crossovers you’ll ever (not) see, got him into cracks and crevices of defenses, allowing him to score where he shouldn’t have been able to do so. He didn’t shoot the ball well at all from the outside, but he didn’t have to; he averaged almost nine free-throw attempts per game, throwing himself into defenders with abandon, and crashing to the unforgiving floor, game after game. He clashed repeatedly with Larry Brown in Philly, but Brown was the first person he sought out after winning the MVP of the incredibly fun and competitive 2001 All-Star Game in Washington, D.C.
His style — cornrows and tattoos and chains showed up early in his pro career, and never left — made him a touchstone for a generation of ballers that came up behind him. He sold kicks at an astronomical rate around the world; Reebok signed him to a lifetime contract in 2001. He made just one NBA Finals, yet was a shoo-in Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee in 2016.
Here was a guy from Newport News, Va., who grew up in searing poverty, but who never, ever wavered in who he was, where he came from or who his friends were. That fierce loyalty and willingness to live unapologetically, often profanely, endeared him to hoopheads everywhere, even as it often got him in trouble with the league. (The NBA, in one of its lowest points as a company, airbrushed his tats from a cover photo on one of its publications, to make him more palatable to its White fans.)
But you can’t erase The Answer, and his hoops and cultural impact, no matter how hard you try. How they did try.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Philadelphia 76ers (1996-2006, ‘09-10), Denver Nuggets (2006-08), Detroit Pistons (2008-09), Memphis Grizzlies (2009)
The Athletic panel points: 269
Achievements: NBA MVP (’01), five-time All-NBA, 10-time All-Star, Scoring champ (’01, ‘02, ‘05), steals champ (‘01, ‘02, ‘03), Hall of Fame (’16), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Iverson won Rookie of the Year in 1997, was named to two All-NBA teams and played in one All-Star game
Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images
By Josh Robbins
If you only remember the final eight years of Dwight Howard’s NBA career, then you don’t know Howard at his best.
Over a five-year stretch from the 2007-08 season through the end of the 2011-12 season, Howard earned All-NBA First Team honors in five consecutive seasons, won the Defensive Player of the Year award three straight years and finished in the top five of the league MVP voting four years in a row.
Howard reached the height of his career during the 2009 playoffs, leading the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals, beating Paul Pierce’s Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals and upsetting LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers in the East finals. The only team that could stop the Magic that year was Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers, at a time when Kobe himself was at the top of his game.
You’d be hard-pressed to find any center over the last three decades who was a better rim deterrent than Howard was. For all the talk about his happy-go-lucky, smile-first approach to the game and his supernatural athletic gifts — and all of that talk was deserved, by the way — few NBA bigs had a better feel for team defense than Howard did. As a defensive center, Howard ranks right up there alongside Ben Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and Hakeem Olajuwon.
The tragedy of Howard’s career is that he was never the same after he suffered a severe back injury during the 2011-12 season. That same season, he and the Magic went through a protracted divorce that ultimately led to the Magic trading Howard to the Lakers. Howard’s athleticism was never the same after that injury, and his reputation across the league never recovered.
He managed to remain in the league through the 2021-22 season, but toward the end, he had become a role player, obscuring his true greatness. And that’s a shame. Just how great an achievement was it to be named to five consecutive All-NBA First Teams as a center? Not even Nikola Jokić has accomplished that feat.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Orlando Magic (2004-12), Los Angeles Lakers (2012-13, 2019-20, 2021-22), Houston Rockets (2013-16), Atlanta Hawks (2016-17), Charlotte Hornets (2017-18), Washington Wizards (2018-19), Philadelphia 76ers (2020-21)
The Athletic panel points: 265
Achievements: Eight-time All-NBA, eight-time All-Star, NBA champ (‘20), Defensive Player of the Year (‘09, ‘10, ‘11), Rebounding champ (‘08, ‘09, ‘10, ‘12, ‘13), Blocks champ (‘09, ‘10), Olympic gold (‘08), Hall of Fame (’25)
Photo: Issac Baldizon / NBAE via Getty Images
By Christian Clark
“Luka Magic.”
In Luka Dončić’s rookie season, it became clear he could make any shot, from any angle, from anywhere on the floor. While most players were fortunate if their falling-out-of-bounds 3-point attempt drew iron, Dončić seemed to make them with hilarious regularity.
Take his overtime-forcing trey from the right corner in December 2018. The Dallas Mavericks, down three to the Portland Trail Blazers with 0.6 seconds left, inbounded the ball to a cutting Dončić, who launched the ball toward Moda Center’s ceiling. Dončić was several feet out of bounds by the time the ball returned to orbit and fell into the basket.
“How did he do it?” Mavericks play-by-play announcer Mark Followill asked. “That is ‘LUKA MAGIC!’”
Dončić, who’s still only 26 years old, is one of the most gifted offensive players in NBA history. Already, he has averaged 33.9 points per game in a season and went for 73 points in a single game. Last year, veteran coach and TV analyst Stan Van Gundy declared Dončić “the best offensive player now that I’ve ever seen.”
Before the Mavericks acquired him in a draft-night trade in 2018, Dončić had become the youngest player ever to win EuroLeague MVP and helped Slovenia win EuroBasket. Dončić led the Mavericks to a Western Conference finals appearance in 2022 and the NBA Finals in 2024.
All signs pointed toward the stepback 3-shooting Slovenian spending most — if not all — of his career in Dallas. But in February, Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made the shocking decision to trade Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.
Dončić looked shellshocked when he was formally introduced in Los Angeles. In a relatively short amount of time, he’s managed to regroup. He dropped 45 points on the Mavericks in his return to Dallas in April. Over the summer, he spent his time getting svelte.
Dončić is talented enough to be the best player on a team that wins championships, plural. But realizing that potential means he must continue putting the work in.
When Dončić is rolling, there’s no shot he can’t make, and there’s no pass he can’t pull off. Those “Luka Magic” moments are what make him a must-see player.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Dallas Mavericks (2018-24), Los Angeles Lakers (2024-present)
The Athletic panel points: 247
Achievements: Five-time All-NBA, five-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year (’19), Western Conference Finals MVP (’24), Scoring champ (‘24)
Photo: Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images
By Jay King
Nobody has ever waited for the last shot quite like Paul Pierce did during a 2003 playoff game against the Indiana Pacers. For almost 15 seconds, Pierce dribbled in place, spitting nonstop trash talk at defender Al Harrington. Pierce was so animated throughout the exchange that his neck cocked to one side and then the other, moving back and forth like it belonged to a bobblehead. After he had wasted a sufficient amount of time, he stepped back to his left and splashed home a 3-pointer to put the Celtics ahead by 11 points going into the fourth quarter.
Pierce had plenty of bigger moments throughout his career, but none of them characterized his brand of greatness quite like that one. The brashness. The competitiveness. The ability to get to his spot, on his timeline, even against defenders desperate to shut him down. Harrington was at Pierce’s mercy. And Pierce had none.
Even before winning the 2008 championship, Pierce restored pride to Celtics basketball after a bleak era before he arrived. Boston will always hold him dear not just for the title he won after Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined his side, but for the challenges he persevered through to reach that point. Pierce was stabbed 11 times in September 2000, and still played in all 82 games the following season. He butted heads with Doc Rivers and had moments of immaturity early in his career, but grew into a Finals MVP who took down LeBron James and Kobe Bryant on the way to his only ring.
It was unfortunate for Pierce that he didn’t team up with players like Garnett and Allen until so late in his career. But Pierce was always a gamer.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Boston Celtics (1998-2013), Brooklyn Nets (2013-14), Washington Wizards (2014-15), LA Clippers (2015-17)
The Athletic panel points: 233
Achievements: Four-time All-NBA, 10-time All-Star, NBA champ (’08), Finals MVP (’08), Hall of Fame (’21), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Pierce won an Olympic gold medal in 2000
Photo: Gabriel Bouys / AFP via Getty Images
By Dan Woike
It’s unfair that the biggest shot of Anthony Davis’ NBA career, a buzzer-beating 3 from the wing over Nikola Jokić, happened like this. It might also be perfect.
Here was Davis, rising and controlling his near 7-foot frame in ways players his size rarely have been able to do. Here was Davis, wearing the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant-themed jerseys, hitting the “Mamba Shot.”
And here was a mostly empty gymnasium — pumped-in crowd noise, digital fans and a video board reading “Make Noise.”
Davis’ defining moment came at a time in history that most people would like to forget, during a global pandemic that had forced the NBA into a sterile environment. It happened on a big stage – but in the most literal sense, the league turning a small arena into a TV studio.
It was greatness – but with a catch.
By any numerical measure, Davis is simply one of the best big men ever. He’s made 10 All-Star teams, five All-NBA teams and five All-Defensive teams. He was named to the league’s 75th Anniversary team.
Davis entered this season averaging 24.1 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks. One other player in league history has those averages – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The shot against Denver in the bubble was a perfect encapsulation of everything Davis is capable of as an offensive player. The defensive game-wrecking is obvious. He’s the rare talent on that end of the floor that teams game plan for, someone who gets steals and blocks but who also turns away potential scorers simply by entering their sightline.
But just one title? And one that came in the bubble at that?
The on-court triumphs have never quite been able to erase the disappointments, the pained winces or the slow walks back to the locker room. The heights Davis reached, to his critics, only led to more questions about why he didn’t get there more frequently enough.
Debate about whether the Lakers’ 2020 championship truly counts has largely disappeared. Asterisk chatter has been rebuked. And instead of trying to gauge whether the title means more or less, most people with common sense understand that it was neither. It was just different.
Maybe, a generation from now, discussions about Davis will go the same way. They’ll divorce from the expectations he didn’t meet often enough to satisfy some people. Instead of dwelling on what Davis wasn’t, they’ll appreciate the player he was.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (2012-19), Los Angeles Lakers (2019-2024), Dallas Mavericks (2024-present)
The Athletic panel points: 205
Achievements: Five-time All-NBA, 10-time All-Star, NBA champ (’20), Blocks champ (‘14, ‘15, ‘18), Olympic gold (‘12, ‘24), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
By Jason Jones
Try naming Jason Kidd’s best skill: Passing? Defending? Rebounding? Maybe his ability to control the flow of a game?
Kidd, along with perhaps his former teammate and career-long rival Steve Nash, might be the only player on this list whose top talent was his ability to lead and connect teams. It’s how, in the twilight of his career, he was still a key member of the 2008 Olympic team and helped the Dallas Mavericks win the 2011 NBA Championship at age 38. He was the oldest starting point guard to lead a team to a title. Kidd wasn’t the best player on the Mavs at that point, but do they win it all without his steady influence? It’s hard to imagine.
His statistics won’t be the gaudiest, but his impact cannot be overstated. Kidd’s leadership and ability to impact games in multiple ways, leading the Nets to Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003 and later a title in Dallas, show greatness can be measured beyond simple numbers.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Dallas Mavericks (1994-96, 2008-12), Phoenix Suns (1996-2001), New Jersey Nets (2001-2008), New York Knicks (2012-13)
The Athletic panel points: 183
Achievements: Four-time All-NBA, seven-time All-Star, Assists champ (’01, ‘03, ‘04), Olympic gold (‘08), Hall of Fame (’18), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Notes: Prior to the 2000-01 season, Kidd was co-Rookie of the Year in 1994, made two All-NBA teams, three All-Star teams and won a Gold medal in 2000
Photo: Lou Capozzola / USA Today Network
By Jay King
It’s hard to believe that Jayson Tatum planned it all.
Even when he was in middle school, he envisioned himself not only reaching the NBA, but also becoming a star. Many kids probably have that same dream, but it was more than a dream to Tatum. He mapped out the details of his journey, practicing everything from the moves he would need to master on the court to the press conferences he would need to give to reporters. He didn’t just seek to learn every skill he would need to reach the NBA, but the way he would need to carry himself – on and off the court – to handle everything that would come with playing in the league.
Given how carefully he approached his preparation, he wasn’t like most 19-year-olds when the Celtics drafted him in 2017. He was ready to help them win immediately. And they won from the start. During his rookie season, they nearly knocked off LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals despite injuries to Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. In the fourth quarter of Game 7 of that series, Tatum dunked on James then chest bumped him on his way back down the court. Though Boston didn’t close out the game, the moment served notice. Tatum and the Celtics would have staying power.
They have done little but win since, reaching the conference finals four more times, the Finals twice and winning the 2024 championship, with Tatum keying all those runs. On the court, his biggest strength might be that he has no weaknesses. He is big enough to guard centers and skilled enough to handle the point guard position. He can punish an opponent in the post, on the perimeter or at the basket. He wants the ball in the biggest moments, but has learned how to commit to all the boring parts of basketball, too.
Everything went according to plan until Tatum tore his Achilles in May. Now, he’s looking at the challenge of his basketball life. It should be no surprise that he’s approaching his rehabilitation with the same diligence and discipline that has prepared him so well for everything else.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Boston Celtics (2018-present)
The Athletic panel points: 162
Achievements: Five-time All-NBA, six-time All-Star, NBA champ (’24), Eastern Conference finals MVP (‘22), Olympic gold (‘20, ‘24)
Photo: Elsa / Pool Photo / USA TODAY Sports
By Jason Jones
Could one of the best scorers in NBA history be underrated?
I believe the only reason Carmelo Anthony isn’t higher is because so many expected more from his Hall of Fame career that has a few poignant what ifs. He entered the NBA as the third pick in the 2003 draft after leading Syracuse to a national championship. If he’d been selected second by Detroit, he might have won an NBA championship and his legacy would be even greater.
His choice not to sign a contract similar to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade after their rookie deals meant he wasn’t a free agent in 2010 to form the Big Three with them, a role ultimately filled by Chris Bosh.
Anthony’s impact is undeniable and his effect on style off-the-court was big, too. He helped make Jordan Brand shoes cool and only Allen Iverson’s cornrows rivaled Melo’s in popularity.
But most importantly, Melo produced. From his rookie season in 2003-04 to his final one with the Knicks in 2016-17, Anthony averaged at least 20 points per game, including a league-leading 28.7 in 2012-13 and finished third in MVP voting. That’s 14 seasons. That’s as many as Shaq and Steph and only less than some of the game’s greatest scorers: LeBron, Durant, Karl Malone, Kareem, Kobe and MJ.
A bully of a small forward with a sweet shooting touch, Anthony was a premier scorer who flustered defenses.
He was just as productive on the international stage as he was the first men’s player to win three Olympic gold medals in basketball.
In 2025, Anthony made the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice, first for his career as an player and again for being a member of the 2008 USA Men’s “Redeem Team.”
“I mean, it sounds good to say you’re going into the Hall of Fame twice,” he at the news event the day before he was inducted. “That’s a hell of a thing.”
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: Denver Nuggets (2003-2011), New York Knicks (2011-17), Oklahoma City Thunder (2017-18), Houston Rockets (2018-19), Portland Trail Blazers (2019-21), Los Angeles Lakers (2021-22)
The Athletic panel points: 128
Achievements: Six-time All-NBA, 10-time All-Star, Scoring champ (’13), Olympic gold (‘08, ‘12, ‘16), Hall of Fame (’25), NBA 75th Anniversary Team (’21)
Photo: Brad Penner / USA Today Sports
By Joel Lorenzi
As a Thunder beat reporter in Oklahoma City, I was curious about an obscure anecdote from an old friend of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s.
Dallas forward P.J. Washington, once roommates at Kentucky with SGA, mused about how the reigning MVP maniacally slept without pillows or blankets — “He was all about his clothes and his game,” Washington said — habits he retold as if describing a serial killer.
I sought to uncover as much as possible for a superstar shrouded in such mystique, especially relative to his contemporaries. When I asked SGA about it back in early 2024, he debunked the hyperbole in Washington’s storytelling, propping up the ordinariness that he’d prefer to define him. He noted he had pillows and that his lack of covers was a matter of the Canadian’s comfort. But he didn’t walk away without outlining the part of that narrative he let live.
“I am a killer, though,” he said, which was oddly assertive for him.
No debate there.
The determination of an assassin certainly rages on in the game’s most lethal scorer, even if he doesn’t always vocalize it. There is not a lot of bark to SGA’s in-game dialogue; his rebuttals come in midrange jumpers, in pursed lips, in subtle nods of his head. His game similarly isn’t dependent on explosion. He’s mellow with a ball in his hands. He is somehow perpetually 30 minutes away from posting 30 points or more.
It’s meant that, despite his rapid ascension from an unsuspecting prospect — Thunder general manager Sam Presti hardly pinned him as a future All-Star — involved in the blockbuster 2019 trade that saw Paul George join Kawhi Leonard in L.A to a Finals MVP who’s leapfrogged every asset involved, he’s left viewers craving more.
He’s left his critics standing in the rain, not so reactionary to those who cling to his widely debated penchant for free-throw attempts. He won’t spew bulletin board material. He sticks to his devices, always clad in amounts of leather that rival Prince, and dedicating his life to his family, his closet and hooping.
A simple life, really. Constants. Drop 40, throw on the trench coat, bounce.
A level of consistency he’s leaned on through his climb, which at the ripe age of 27 does not seem close to de-escalating.
What SGA has provided is an image: the unmatched change of gears, surgically knifing his way into the teeth of the defense. The routine rise into automatic jumpers. The indifference toward double and triple teams. The lull of a hypnotizing dribble. The kind of inevitability as a scorer we’ve only seen so many times throughout history.
The makings of a killer.
Stats (2000-01 to ’24-25)
Teams: LA Clippers (2018-19); Oklahoma City Thunder (2019-present)
The Athletic panel points: 119
Achievements: NBA MVP (’25), three-time All-NBA, three-time All-Star, NBA champ (’25), Finals MVP (’25), Western Conference Finals MVP (‘25), Scoring champ (’25)
Photo: Cary Edmondson / Imagn Images
