Feb 20, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball (2) reacts to a call on the court during overtime against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Top 10 NBA Players List Gets Contribution From Lonzo Ball

Originally posted on Fastbreak on SI | By Justin Grasso | Last updated Sep 26, 2025 8:34 AM ET

Ranking the top players the NBA has seen is a common exercise for current and former players. Recently, Lonzo Ball and LiAngelo Ball put together a quick list of their 10 best, noting that it isn’t in any particular order.

As expected, the first two fired off were LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

When LeBron reached the later years of his career, he was often considered the greatest of all time, or second to Jordan. In this case, the Ball brothers mentioned James first, but Jordan came quickly after, followed by the legendary Kobe Bryant.

The fourth and fifth spots included Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson. With that, four our of the top five were all members of the Lakers, a quality that Lonzo Ball shares.

Back in 2017, Ball wrapped up his run at UCLA by becoming the second-overall pick in the NBA Draft. He was selected by the Lakers, and played with them for two seasons. During the 2019 NBA season, Ball was a key piece in the deal, which netted the Lakers Anthony Davis.

Clearly, an early-career trade from the team that drafted him hasn’t swayed Ball’s opinion on the legends that suited up for the purple and gold.

As for the other five, the current Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant was tossed in before Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Former Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson was quickly mentioned by LiAngelo, who dropped a “pound-for-pound” quote that tends to follow AI’s name in every conversation about what he brought to the table during his run.

Lonzo & Gelo Ball drop their Top 10 NBA Players of All-Time pic.twitter.com/afjNRWq3z1
— betr (@betr) September 25, 2025

Larry Bird was dropped in as the ninth player added to the list, before the Ball brothers quickly realized they had almost missed the Golden State Warriors guard, Steph Curry. Like LeBron and KD, Curry is still building on his NBA legacy, but it’s certainly strong enough to know he will be one of the greats.

Considering all of the players that suited up in history, it’s difficult to name 10 without catching pushback from others with different suggestions. Either way, the Ball brothers didn’t make any controversial picks.

New Beginnings for Lonzo Ball

After runs with the Lakers, Pelicans, and the Chicago Bulls, Ball is gearing up for new beginnings in the NBA this year.

Despite signing an extension with the Bulls back in February, Ball was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in July. He was swapped out for Isaac Okoro.

Last year, Ball appeared in 35 games for the Bulls, seeing the court as a starter in 14 matchups. He averaged 22 minutes on the court, scoring 7.6 points per game, with 34 percent shooting from beyond the arc. He now goes from a borderline rebuilding squad to joining an Eastern Conference contender in Cleveland.