The top 25 NBA players of the past 25 years: 5-1

We’re here, folks.

The best five players of the past 25 years.

As mentioned in previous instalments, this list only accounts for a player's post-2000 season career. So, while Michael Jordan is the GOAT, his Wizards swansong isn’t going to cut it.

5. Shaquille O’Neal

Career Stats: 23.7 ppg; 10.9 rpg; 2.3 bpg; 

Accolades: Hall of Fame; 4x Champion; 3x Finals MVP; MVP; 14x All-NBA; 15x All-Star; 3x All-Defense; 2x Scoring Champion.

The single toughest man to assess for this list, given that his first eight seasons are ineligible, Shaq is perhaps the most damaging physical force since prime Wilt Chamberlain.

By the time the 2001 season came around, Shaq had made the conscious decision to sacrifice his unfair speed to bulk up in order to absorb the physical pounding he was subjected to each and every night. It would be interesting to chart every bang-average big who got paid simply to be six extra fouls to use against O’Neal.

For such a dominant player, it’s jarring to see a single MVP to Shaq’s name, but he wasn’t all that interested in regular season accolades, preferring to save himself for the playoffs. It didn’t help that he considered his holidays to be his time and used the regular season as his own training camp.

4. Kobe Bryant

Career Stats: 25 ppg; 5.2 rpg; 4.7 apg; 1.5 spg.

Accolades: Hall of Fame; 5x Champion; 2x Finals MVP; MVP; 15x All-NBA; 18x All-Star; 12x All-Defense; 2x Scoring Champion.

Kobe’s career never quite reached the peaks of the players ahead of him on this list; thus his ranking here; however, his consistency was astonishing.

It took Bryant a few years to really find his footing as a star, but those seasons fall outside of the remit of this piece. From his 2001 season onwards – discounting his final campaign and his Achilles-curtained 2014 season – Kobe never averaged less than 22 points a night.

Kobe’s drive and meticulous nature were his best and worst traits. He honed his craft to a sharpness few could match, but his competitive nature often led to clashes with teammates and coaches, as well as a litany of tough shots which, to his credit, he was able to make enough of.

3. Stephen Curry

Career Stats: 24.8 ppg; 4.7 rpg; 6.3 apg; 1.5 spg; 47/42/91 shooting splits. 

Accolades: 4x NBA Champion; Finals MVP; 2x MVP; 11x All-NBA; 12x All-Star; 2x Scoring Champion; Steals Champion.

Basketball, as we know it today, doesn’t exist without Stephen Curry. Gravity as a basketball concept was revolutionised by Steph. The amount of literature published about the pace-and-space era is astronomical. None of that happens without Curry.

He is the greatest jumpshooter the game has ever seen. Curry has used the attention he draws as a shooter to amplify his good-not-great passing and speed, allowing him to round out his offensive repertoire.

Defensively, Curry is better than advertised, though still grades out about average. His instincts and hands are brilliant, but his lightweight body presents obstacles.

2. Tim Duncan

Career Stats: 19.0 ppg;10.8 rpg; 3.1 apg; 2.2 bpg.

Accolades: Hall of Fame; 5x NBA Champion; 3x Finals MVP; 2x MVP; 15x All-NBA; 15x All-Star; 15x All-Defense; Steals Champion.

Tim Duncan’s low-key personality was the bedrock upon which the most successful franchise of the past 25 years has been built. TD’s willingness to accept coaching, defer to teammates and take lesser contracts to allow better team building set a standard that is being matched by today’s Spurs.

That lack of pizzazz also sees Duncan criminally underrated. A metronomic force on offense, defenders knew exactly what Duncan wanted to do, yet were generally powerless to stop it. Defensively, eight of his 15 All-Defense nods were 1^st team, yet he has exactly zero DPOY’s on his mantle.

1. LeBron James

Career Stats: 25.6 ppg; 7.1 rpg; 7.1 apg; 1.4 spg.

Accolades: 4x NBA Champion; 4x Finals MVP; 21x All-NBA; 22x All-Star; 6x All-Defense; Scoring Champion; Assist Champion.

 What? You thought that someone else was going to end up here?

At worst, James is the second greatest to ever lace them up. His sustained excellence has re-wired out expectations of ageing basketballers. We often talk about the decline of the Paul Georges, the Russell Westbrooks of the world, in comparison to the James’ ageing curve, which is patently unfair. What James has done since his age-35 season (25.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 7.7 apg, 1.1 spg, 52/36/75 shooting splits) is outrageous and something that we’ll likely never see again. Most superstars would be happy with those figures through their primes. For LeBron, that’s post-prime.

We have word limits, so you won’t get a full list of LeBron’s accolades here. Just know this: he has the second-greatest peak ever, behind Jordan, and arguably the greatest career of all time.