NBA All-Time Rank No. 1: Michael Jordan

Ranking the top 50 players in NBA history…

1. Michael Jordan

In the pantheon of basketball legends, Michael Jordan stands alone as the GOAT.

Jordan’s peak during the 1990s is unparalleled in the history of the NBA, and Bill Russell is the only all-time great with a comparable or better championship resumé from a team standpoint.

MJ is basketball’s greatest ambassador. He took what Magic Johnson and Larry Bird built in the 1980s and turned the NBA into a global product, the effects of which are still reverberating today.

Besides being the best offensive player and best defensive player in the world during his prime, Jordan was probably the most insane competitor the NBA has ever seen. Pair that with his natural charisma, eye-opening athleticism, and insatiable drive to improve, and it’s no wonder that Jordan is considered arguably the greatest athlete — not just basketball player — of all time.

MJ won five MVPs but deserved far more than that. He also bagged 10 scoring titles and a 1988 Defensive Player of the Year award.

Jordan’s clutch gene and killer instinct were off the charts, and we may never see an athlete again who combines all the elements of competitive greatness into one human being.

Jordan redefined what it meant to be an elite superstar. In some ways, NBA basketball as we know it can be historically divided into two eras — before Jordan, and after him.

Millions of basketball players have tried to emulate even a fraction of MJ’s greatness, and the one or two guys that have come “close” were still not very close at all.

MJ is the king, but what does the rest of the NBA All-Time Rank look like? Count down from the Top 50, starting here.