Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

There is still quite some time left before the 2022-23 NBA season begins. So it means that NBA fans currently have a lot of free time on their hands. This is obviously true for former NBA players as well.

Among them is also Metta World Peace, who now uses his free time to make appearances on podcasts. He recently did so for the "I Am Athlete" podcast, where he discussed a plethora of things.

One such thing, like most podcasts, was his take on the top five NBA players of all-time. Metta World Peace gave his unbiased opinion about the same. But his picks were quite controversial, and there is a huge chance that most fans won't agree with them.

(Starts at 27:48):

"My five are Bill Russell because you can’t beat him. He beat Wilt Chamberlain. I got Wilt Chamberlain number two, I just don’t know who could do what he could do. I got Wilt Chamberlain at number two, and they say he’s an older era, but it’s the same era that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was, and they played against each other. You know what I’m saying? So, Wilt Chamberlain. No one can stop Wilt.

And then I got, and this is my opinion, then I got MJ. Sometimes, I put Shaq number one. Shaq is like, Shaq don’t get enough credit for being one, he never get talked about as being one of the best players ever. Like, you know, I think he can make a case that nobody could stop me, you know what I’m saying? But he’s not in my top five. I got Kobe. I’m actually, there’s someone that I’m missing that’s not in my top five because Kobe and LeBron is always like tied at five.

As it turns out, World Peace ranks Bill Russell at the top, followed by Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. He concluded that he has Kobe Bryant and LeBron James tied at number 5.

Obviously, the former NBA star gave valid reasons for his picks, but his list is very controversial. Additionally, keeping Kobe and LeBron tied might be something that not many fans would like, as it doesn't provide a definitive answer to the question.

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