I asked ChatGPT to list its top 10 all-time NBA players

[Wamu]

Greatest of all time simply has to be a great offensive player.

Too many guys have excelled on both ends to hype up a guy who was just okay on 1 side.

Read comment # 40.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Yeah no one is questioning the dynasty but there are a ton of other questions and why he doesn't belong in the top 10. Some not really his fault bc of the era he played in but others are real questions.

In 1956 through 1966 he played in an 8-9 team league.
In 1967 a 10 team league.
In 1968 a 12 team league.
In 1969 a 14 team league.

They had to win a total of 7 games to win it all in the playoffs (2 series).

So for 10 of his 13 seasons he played in a league that only had 8-9 teams and over that span he played with at least 4 other HOFr's every single year.
Some really good or even great offensive players-all-around players like Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinshohn, Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey, John Havlicek and Bailey Howell.
Some of the other teams in the league were lucky to have 2 HOFr's, while they have consistently 4-6 HOFr's. in a league with no depth and not much competition.
He had arguably the greatest coach ever.
Big men like Bill Pettit, Elgin Baylor (basically a big man back then) Wilt Chamberlain put up great stats against him even though every time they have the better team. One series Wilt had 30 and 30 against him but bc it was basically Wilt and Nate the Great vs a team full of HOFr's they lost in 5.

A lot of factors that suggest he isn't in the top 10. The greatest win ever and the greatest dynasty ever. A great defender and rebounder. That cannot be denied.

 

[tlance]

Yeah no one is questioning the dynasty but there are a ton of other questions and why he doesn't belong in the top 10. Some not really his fault bc of the era he played in but others are real questions.

In 1956 through 1966 he played in an 8-9 team league.
In 1967 a 10 team league.
In 1968 a 12 team league.
In 1969 a 14 team league.

They had to win a total of 7 games to win it all in the playoffs (2 series).

So for 10 of his 13 seasons he played in a league that only had 8-9 teams and over that span he played with at least 4 other HOFr's every single year.
Some really good or even great offensive players-all-around players like Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinshohn, Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey, John Havlicek and Bailey Howell.
Some of the other teams in the league were lucky to have 2 HOFr's, while they have consistently 4-6 HOFr's. in a league with no depth and not much competition.
He had arguably the greatest coach ever.
Big men like Bill Pettit, Elgin Baylor (basically a big man back then) Wilt Chamberlain put up great stats against him even though every time they have the better team. One series Wilt had 30 and 30 against him but bc it was basically Wilt and Nate the Great vs a team full of HOFr's they lost in 5.

A lot of factors that suggest he isn't in the top 10. The greatest win ever and the greatest dynasty ever. A great defender and rebounder. That cannot be denied.

And that doesn’t even touch the fact that the competition level to make an NBA roster was drastically inferior to what it is today.

Not nearly as many people playing basketball and there were players who chose other careers over NBA coming out of college.

It wasn’t the destination job it is today.

Any D1 role player today would have been good enough to play in the NBA in that era.

 

[Wamu]

Yeah no one is questioning the dynasty but there are a ton of other questions and why he doesn't belong in the top 10. Some not really his fault bc of the era he played in but others are real questions.

In 1956 through 1966 he played in an 8-9 team league.
In 1967 a 10 team league.
In 1968 a 12 team league.
In 1969 a 14 team league.

They had to win a total of 7 games to win it all in the playoffs (2 series).

So for 10 of his 13 seasons he played in a league that only had 8-9 teams and over that span he played with at least 4 other HOFr's every single year.
Some really good or even great offensive players-all-around players like Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinshohn, Sam Jones, Frank Ramsey, John Havlicek and Bailey Howell.
Some of the other teams in the league were lucky to have 2 HOFr's, while they have consistently 4-6 HOFr's. in a league with no depth and not much competition.
He had arguably the greatest coach ever.
Big men like Bill Pettit, Elgin Baylor (basically a big man back then) Wilt Chamberlain put up great stats against him even though every time they have the better team. One series Wilt had 30 and 30 against him but bc it was basically Wilt and Nate the Great vs a team full of HOFr's they lost in 5.

A lot of factors that suggest he isn't in the top 10. The greatest win ever and the greatest dynasty ever. A great defender and rebounder. That cannot be denied.

Odd Russell gets penalized for the era he played in but not Wilt.

I already mentioned Russell was lucky enough to play with many damn good players. Much more than any other of his era. Shows how great Red was at judging talent.

And Elgin Baylor's a bad example. He was a 6-5 SF. Not a PF or C.

If he's so overrated why has no player had his number retired?

 

[fightinfunbags]

Odd Russell gets penalized for the era he played in but not Wilt.

I already mentioned Russell was lucky enough to play with many damn good players. Much more than any other of his era. Shows how great Red was at judging talent.

And Elgin Baylor's a bad example. He was a 6-5 SF. Not a PF or C.

If he's so overrated why has no player had his number retired?

Because Wilt was graceful and gifted. Russell was just big.

 

[tlance]

Odd Russell gets penalized for the era he played in but not Wilt.

I already mentioned Russell was lucky enough to play with many damn good players. Much more than any other of his era. Shows how great Red was at judging talent.

And Elgin Baylor's a bad example. He was a 6-5 SF. Not a PF or C.

If he's so overrated why has no player had his number retired?

He does.

If anyone averaged 50 PPG today they would be GOAT for sure.

Wilt is viewed by most somewhere between 5 - 10

It is just clear that Wilt was the best player of the era even though Russell had all the rings.

And you already said that Russell doesn’t belong in the GOAT convo, yet quite a few try to insert him there.

So is most definitely overrated based on that alone.

 

[msgkings322]

Odd Russell gets penalized for the era he played in but not Wilt.

I already mentioned Russell was lucky enough to play with many damn good players. Much more than any other of his era. Shows how great Red was at judging talent.

And Elgin Baylor's a bad example. He was a 6-5 SF. Not a PF or C.

If he's so overrated why has no player had his number retired?

Because Wilt was an all time great offensive player, and would have been really good in any era. Russell today would be Rudy Gobert, but with leadership skills.

 

[CitySushi]

1. Jordan
2. Lebron
3. Kareem
4. Magic
5. Wilt
6. Bird
7. Kobe
8. Duncan
9. Shaq
10. Hakeem

11-15
Steph, Oscar, KD, Dr. J, Jerry West

Bill Russell is probably in the 20-25 range for me.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

1. Jordan
2. Lebron
3. Kareem
4. Magic
5. Wilt
6. Bird
7. Kobe
8. Duncan
9. Shaq
10. Hakeem

11-15
Steph, Oscar, KD, Dr. J, Jerry West

Bill Russell is probably in the 20-25 range for me.

Can't fault your top 10 in any single way. I think most people have your top 4 in that exact order.

I personally think KD is a little overrated too though and probably wouldn't make my top 15

 

[Mebert]

Can't fault your top 10 in any single way. I think most people have your top 4 in that exact order.

I personally think KD is a little overrated too though and probably wouldn't make my top 15

I think KD is an easy fit there on skill alone. He takes a hit in a lot of minds in his shameless ring chasing. It is not uncommon for an elite player to try joining a super team late in career, but KD started at 27 and has hopped several times looking for the next super team. I think if he stuck with the Thunder the entire time people would have a higher opinion, but he might have fewer rings.

Even with ring chasing, each ring came with a finals MVP award, that says a lot imo.

 

[CitySushi]

Can't fault your top 10 in any single way. I think most people have your top 4 in that exact order.

I personally think KD is a little overrated too though and probably wouldn't make my top 15

Honestly depending on the day I could flip any of Wilt, Bird, Kobe and Duncan. Also depending on the day I flip flop between Shaq and Hakeem.

But for me Hakeem gets the nod in the top 10 over Curry for the same reason I have Jordan over Lebron. Defense matters. Hakeem was one of the most dominant defensive center presences in the NBA, in addition to his excellence on offense. Jordan and Hakeem are the only players ever to win MVP and DPOY in the same season. That's pretty insane.

KD might be high, but I prefer him over the next tier of players like KG, Barkley, Dirk and Malone. Crazy how the next 4 players likely in my all time list are all PF's.

 

[Mebert]

Honestly depending on the day I could flip any of Wilt, Bird, Kobe and Duncan. Also depending on the day I flip flop between Shaq and Hakeem.

But for me Hakeem gets the nod in the top 10 over Curry for the same reason I have Jordan over Lebron. Defense matters. Hakeem was one of the most dominant defensive center presences in the NBA, in addition to his excellence on offense. Jordan and Hakeem are the only players ever to win MVP and DPOY in the same season. That's pretty insane.

KD might be high, but I prefer him over the next tier of players like KG, Barkley, Dirk and Malone. Crazy how the next 4 players likely in my all time list are all PF's.

I even like the order you have the PF in. My love of KG probably weighs heavy into how high I put Hakeem. That and once the playoffs started Hakeem was just a different level. He humiliated a lot of all time greats.

 

[CitySushi]

I even like the order you have the PF in. My love of KG probably weighs heavy into how high I put Hakeem. That and once the playoffs started Hakeem was just a different level. He humiliated a lot of all time greats.

For me it's a shame that David Robinson had to play in an era of the all-time great centers. He's vastly underappreciated for his skills. One of the biggest highlights he's in is where he's on the receiving end of the Dream Shake. The Admiral, imo, was awesome.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

I think KD is an easy fit there on skill alone. He takes a hit in a lot of minds in his shameless ring chasing. It is not uncommon for an elite player to try joining a super team late in career, but KD started at 27 and has hopped several times looking for the next super team. I think if he stuck with the Thunder the entire time people would have a higher opinion, but he might have fewer rings.

Even with ring chasing, each ring came with a finals MVP award, that says a lot imo.

His championships with Golden State get a HUGE asterisk next to it IMO. He joined a championship team.

It would be like Shaq or Karl Malone jumping on the 1997 Chicago Bulls team

 

[HuskerPower52]

Needs to be more inclusive and diverse. Racist.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

For me it's a shame that David Robinson had to play in an era of the all-time great centers. He's vastly underappreciated for his skills. One of the biggest highlights he's in is where he's on the receiving end of the Dream Shake. The Admiral, imo, was awesome.

Same with Alonzo Mourning

 

[Mebert]

His championships with Golden State get a HUGE asterisk next to it IMO. He joined a championship team.

It would be like Shaq or Karl Malone jumping on the 1997 Chicago Bulls team

Malone did join a Lakers super team with Gary Payton. He just Maloned hard in the playoffs.

 

[Mebert]

For me it's a shame that David Robinson had to play in an era of the all-time great centers. He's vastly underappreciated for his skills. One of the biggest highlights he's in is where he's on the receiving end of the Dream Shake. The Admiral, imo, was awesome.

It wasn't just that dream shake. That entire series was making a point on who the real MVP was. He destroyed him. He also destroyed Shaq and Ewing in the playoffs on that 2 year stretch. Early 90s was a bad time to be in the playoffs as an elite center.

 

[eaglesnut]

Even AI can't see it

But my point was all ChatGPT does is aggregate all the data out there on this topic, so it reflects the 'average fan's' take. And most fans put Russell up there (incorrectly, I agree)

Ask it where it sourced its list from...

 

[Mebert]

No.

Hakeem’s peak was awesome. As good as any center on the list.

But it was short lived.

He was an athletic freak who lacked refined skill when he entered the league. Once he acquired enough skill to be a dominant force on both ends, his prime was relative short as injuries started to take their toll on the back end.

Hakeem won MVP once. He finished 2nd once. 4th twice and 5th twice.

Jordan was not the reason Hakeem wasn’t the best player in the league for more than a couple seasons.

Kareem won MVP 6 times and finished top 5 9 more.

It isn’t a fair fight.

And for that reason, it is a mistake to rank Hakeem above guys like Shaq and Wilt also.

Lacked refined skill? He carried a Rockets team to the finals in his second year. After that Sampsons body disintegrated and he spent so many years under horrible rosters that KG would blush at the thought.

Olajuwan had an elite 13 year run that was for the most part squandered on bad teams.