Crowning Achievement for the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History

Back in 1996 with the 50th anniversary of the NBA, the league put together a panel of experts, former basketball players and members of the media to run down a list of the 50 greatest players in the history of the NBA.

There was some controversy with the list as there always is with those types of lists, but for the most part the panel got the top 50 right.

Now that another 15 seasons have passed, the list is dramatically different than it was back then with some players included in the 1996 version dropping out, and some players not originally in it, or that came into the league after the list was made have rocketed up the list.

There are new members of the top-50, top-25, and top-10 with some shuffling going on around in almost every spot.

So, for the new era, I've gone ahead and thrown my hat into the ring and thrown together a list of my top-50, and on top of that, I've dug out the best accomplishment of each player on the list.

50. Dominique Wilkins, 1986 Scoring Champion

One of the best scoring forwards of the 1980s, Dominique Wilkins never averaged fewer than 20 points a game up until his last three seasons.

He peaked in 1986 when he led the league with 30.3 points per game before he stepped forward with a more well-rounded game.

Wilkins never captured a championship in his years in the league, and never grabbed an MVP Award, although he had some great seasons alongside some of the greats of the '80s.

49. Billy Cunningham, ABA MVP

Billy Cunningham, the Kangaroo Kid, is one of the forgotten superstars of the 1970s, mostly because the ABA is so overlooked these days.

In 12 years in professional basketball, Cunningham averaged 21.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game, but it all came together in 1973, his first of two years in the ABA.

Cunningham led the Carolina Cougars with 24.1 points and 12 rebounds a game to go along with 6.3 assists, a huge number for a big man.

48. Nate Thurmond, First NBA Quadruple Double

The NBA didn't start recording blocks and steals until the 1973-74 season, so it's assumed that someone would have done this in nearly 30 years of basketball coming up to this point, but Nate Thurmond was still the first.

Nate Thurmond had a great career in the NBA, working as a defensive mastermind, but he will always be remembered for his quadruple-double.

On Oct. 18th, 1974, in his debut with the Bulls, Thurmond put up 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots.

47. James Worthy, 1988 Finals MVP

Throughout his long career, James Worthy was usually the third wheel on great teams, overshadowed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, but that wasn't the case in the 1988 Finals.

Abdul-Jabbar was on his last legs, so Worthy stood up and put up an impressive performance against the Detroit Pistons.

Worthy averaged 22 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists a game, but was really on in Game 7 when he put up the only triple-double of his career with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.

46. Hal Greer, 1967 Championship Run

The Boston Celtics dominated the late '50s and 1960s in the Eastern Conference, and really in the whole league, but 1967 was a different story.

The Philadelphia 76ers took down the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals with Hal Greer paired with Wilt Chamberlain.

Greer averaged 22.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists and led the team in the playoffs with 27.1 points a game.

45. Paul Arizin, 1956 NBA Championship

Paul Arizin spent more than a decade in the league, every one with the Philadelphia Warriors.

His dedication and loyalty paid off in 1956, when he led his team to the NBA Championship.

Arizin led his team with 24.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists during the regular seasons and ramped his output up to nearly 30 points a game in the playoffs, and if there would have been a Finals MVP Award back then, I'm sure he would have won it.

44. Dave Cowens, 1978 Season After Leave of Absence

Dave Cowens was a one-of-a-kind player in his generation of NBA players, and really there hasn't been a player like him since he was in the league.

He was an intense player, never taking a possession off.  He even ended up taking a leave of absence in 1977 because he needed to clear his head.  He was upset with the fact that he was the only person who took every game as seriously as he did, so he decided to be a taxi driver for the rest of the season.

He re-joined the league in 1978 and ended up leading his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, the only player in NBA history to have done that up to that point, and the only until Scottie Pippen in 1995.

43. Kevin McHale, 1986 Season

Kevin McHale was one of the best low-post players of all-time with a laundry list of moves that he could unleash from anywhere in the post.

However, McHale was stuck on the bench for the early portion of his career until the Celtics traded Cedric Maxwell and McHale went into the lineup in the 1986 season.

McHale made the First All-Defense team in that season, as the Celtics went on to beat the Lakers in the 1986 Finals.

42. Wes Unseld, 1978 Finals MVP

Wes Unseld was one of the best defensive players of the 1970s and was stuck on Washington Bullets teams that couldn't get over playoff collapses until 1978.

Unseld wasn't a huge part of the team offensively, as he was never a big scorer, but he was as good a rebounder as he ever was, averaging nearly 12 boards a game.

He was so good defensively that he won the Finals MVP in the series, finally validating his career.

41. Allen Iverson, 2001 MVP Season

Allen Iverson is easily one of the best scoring shooting guards in NBA history with the sickest crossover in the history of the league, and he was at his best in the 2001 season.

It was the second time in his career that he led the league in scoring with 31.1 points a game, then he went ahead and added 2.5 steals, leading the league to go on top of that.

Plus, it was the last season before he started feuding with Larry Brown (the infamous "Practice" press conference happened in 2002) and his public image took a huge negative hit.

40. Steve Nash, Back-to-Back MVPs

Not many people out there think that Steve Nash deserved both MVP Awards that he won, but there aren't many people out there who would say Nash doesn't deserve either of them.

Both seasons, Nash led the league in assists with 11.5 in 2005 and 10.5 in 2006 and averaged 15.5 and 18.8 points, respectively.

The biggest reason Nash ended up with both awards is because media and fans alike recognized how much better he made his teammates, which he did. 

39. Jason Kidd, Finally Getting That Ring

Jason Kidd is probably the best point guard following John Stockton in the NBA history books as one of the smartest, most well-rounded players in the game.

Kidd made it to the NBA Finals as the leader of the New Jersey Nets in 2002 and 2003, but he never came away with a ring.

Finally, this season he found himself in a terrific situation as the point guard as one of the best teams in the West, and as it so happened he found himself in the Finals yet again, this time on the winning end.

It's always a point guard's best accomplishment to win a ring, because it shows that he ran his team, whether he was the best player on his team or not, as well as humanly possible.

38. Clyde Drexler, Six Months in 1992

For about six months back in 1992, Clyde Drexler was on top of the basketball world, save for a loss in the NBA Finals.

The '92 season was one of Drexler's best, leading the Blazers to the NBA Finals.  In the Finals, Drexler led his team in scoring all six games, but they couldn't pull off the wins to overtake the Bulls.

Drexler finished second in MVP voting that season and was rewarded with a selection to the Dream Team, where he and the US romped their way to the most dominant gold medal in Olympic history.

37. Dolph Schayes, 1955 Championship

Despite being named Adolph, Dolph Schayes had a great career in the NBA, all of it coming to a head in the 1955 season.

Dolph put up 18.5 points and 12.3 rebounds to lead his Syracuse Nationals to the NBA Finals, giving just about the same effort in the playoffs to put his team up over the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games.

36. Willis Reed, Most Memorable Four Points in NBA History

In the 1970 NBA Finals, after Willis Reed had won a regular season MVP Award, Reed tore a muscle in his thigh in game six, with little hope to play in game seven.

Well, we all know the rest of that story.

It may seem to easy to pick this moment as the most important moment in Willis Reed's career, but really it is the most iconic positive moment in New York Knicks history.

35. Walt Frazier, 1970 NBA Title Game Seven

While Willis Reed coming down from the stands to start game seven and score the first four points of the game, it was Walt Frazier that really won that game seven for the Knicks.

Frazier and the rest of the Knicks rallied around Reed and after Reed's four points, Frazier took over, leading the team with 36 points.

The Knicks won the game 113-99, and took the series form the Los Angeles Lakers for New York's first NBA Championships.

34. David Robinson, 1999 NBA Title

For the first seven years that David Robinson was in the NBA, he was pretty much universally admired.  He was an awe-inspiring sight and being fresh out of the Navy, it was kind of hard to dislike him.

However, once he and the Spurs came up against the Rockets in the 1995 Western Conference Finals, Hakeem Olajuwan absolutely dominated Robinson, despite his winning the MVP Award that season.

So, when Tim Duncan came along and helped Robinson and the Spurs to the 1999 title, it was  a relieving moment for Robinson who wouldn't end up like Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone as great big men from the 90s without a ring.

33. George Gervin, Three Straight Scoring Titles

For the 1970s and the early part of the '80s, George Gervin was one of the best scorers in the NBA, although he never ended up winning a title or an MVP Award.

For three years in the late 70s, from 1978 to 1980 to be precise, George Gervin won three straight scoring titles with the Spurs.

Gervin averaged 27.2, 29.6 and 33.1 points a game in each of those seasons, then he went on to win another scoring title two years later in 1982 with 32.1 points per contest.

It really exemplified how great Gervin and his teams could be during the regular season, but just couldn't get anywhere once the playoffs rolled around.

32. Gary Payton, 1996 Defensive Player of the Year

Gary Payton made a name for himself in his time in the NBA by being a defensive mastermind and stealing every ball that came his way.

Payton was victimized by the dynasties of the Bulls, Lakers and Spurs until he finally won a ring in a minor role with the Heat in 2006.

However, when he was at his peak he was one of the best defensive guards in league history, culminating with his Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1996.

31. Dwyane Wade, 2006 NBA Championship

As one of the three transcendent players coming out of the 2003 NBA Draft, Dwyane Wade was also the first, and currently only one to get a ring.

This displayed Wade's prowess as a leader over his counterparts from that draft and really put him a step ahead of the game in terms of legacy.

Now, so long as he and LeBron James are on the same team from here on out, he will always have one more ring than LeBron, something he can always hold over his head.

30. Patrick Ewing, 145 Consecutive Games with a Blocked Shot

Patrick Ewing was nothing if not consistent.  He may have never won a ring and he may have never won an MVP Award, but he was great for a long, long time.

Ewing has two of the three longest streak of games in NBA history in which he recorded a blocked shot, the longest, in which he blocked a shot 145 games in a row and the third, in which he blocked a shot in 88 games in a row.

29. Scottie Pippen, Seasons Without Michael

Scottie Pippen was a great player, we all know that, but would he be remembered as highly as he is now if Michael Jordan never retired to play baseball?  We may never know, but I'm thinking that certainly helped his legacy.

The Bulls could have collapsed without MJ and nobody would have batted an eye, but Scottie kept them afloat.

In 1994, the Bulls made it to the semifinals in the East, but ended up losing the Knicks.  Still, the Bulls only won two fewer games than they did the year prior with Michael Jordan.

28. Isiah Thomas, 1990 Finals MVP

Throughout the 1980s, Isiah Thomas was kind of an outcast in the league.  He was a fiery player and had very few people that looked at him in a positive light, but it would all be worth it if he could win a title.

It all came together for Isiah and the Pistons in the late '80s, as they won the 1989 and 1990 Championships.

Isiah Thomas was the leader of both teams, but in 1990 he was outstanding in the Finals, averaging nearly 28 points, 5.2 rebounds and seven assists as the Pistons beat the Blazers.

27. Rick Barry, 1975 Season

Often a surly player on the court, and now a surly old man, Rick Barry was a hard superstar to like, but it was all worth it for the Warriors in 1975 when he had a golden season.

Barry's 30.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists, to go along with 2.9 steals which led the league led to an MVP Award in 1975.

Then, in the playoffs Barry did more of the same as the Warriors won the title for the third time in their franchise's history with a sweep over the Bullets.

26. Bill Walton, 1978 NBA MVP

Some don't consider Bill Walton to be one of the 50 best players in NBA history because of how often he was hurt, but if there is one thing that shows just how good he was it is his 1978 MVP Award.

In 1978, the year after Walton led the Blazers to a title in just his third year in the league, Walton played in just 65 games.  But, he played so well that voters decided that he was still deserving.

Walton averaged 18.9 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and an astounding (for a center) five assists a game.

25. John Stockton, All-Time Assists Leader

John Stockton is known for three things in his long NBA career.  His ability to pass the ball, his not-so-secret dirty play and his longevity.

One testament to his longevity is his place atop the all-time assists lists, from which he may never be knocked from atop.

Stockton has 15,806 assists, more than 4000 ahead of second-place Jason Kidd, who would have to play until he turns 47 to break Stockton's record.

24. Elgin Baylor, 61 Points Game Five 1962 NBA Finals

Elgin Baylor is one of the forgotten great Lakers, and as a Laker it's easy to be forgotten when competing against the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but Elgin still deserves the love that the other guys get.

Part of the problem is that the Lakers lost in the Finals eight times while Baylor was on the team, although it wasn't for a lack of trying.

In 1962, matched up against familiar foes the Boston Celtics in the Finals, Baylor gave it his all to get the Lakers to win the series, putting up 61 points in game five, still an NBA record for the NBA Finals.

Unfortunately for Elgin and the Lakers, Boston pulled off a heartbreaking win in game seven 110-107 in overtime.  If Frank Selvy would have sank a 12-footer at the end of regulation, the Lakers would have won and history may be different, but the shot rimmed out and the Celtics won.

23. Dr. J, 1983 Championship

Dr. J will always and forever be known as the greatest dunker of all-time up until about the time of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins (although he can still be the best of all-time depending on who you talk to).  He, along with the Harlem Globetrotters made basketball a spectacle of entertainment that had to be seen live to believe, and I still think it is.

However, without the hardware, without a ring and without some sort of validation, his career would seem to be a gimmick if all he was known for was dunking.

Alas, in 1983 as a part of one of the greatest teams ever and paired with Moses Malone, the Doctor finally won his ring.

22. George Mikan, Greatest Player of the First Half Century Award

George Mikan was widely regarded as the first superstar of basketball, even if he's not necessarily the greatest player in the dark ages of basketball (Bob Pettit outshines him by miles).

Still, there is some validation in being named the greatest anything, and he was named just that in 1959.

Up against no-names, wannabes and guys history has long forgotten, George Mikan was named the greatest basketball player of the first half century in 1959 by the Associated Press.

21. Kevin Garnett, 2008 Championship

Kevin Garnett was loyal to the Minnesota Timberwolves for 12 long seasons before the Timberwovlves finally realized they needed to trade their franchise player.

Minnesota shipped him to Boston in 2007 after the NBA Draft where he was teamed with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.  The team was an immediate success.

They made it all the way to the NBA Finals, beating the Lakers in six games, at which point he unleashed the most famous roar of the decade.

20. LeBron James, Second MVP Award

LeBron James has the most critics of anyone in the NBA (I refuse to use the word haters, it's thrown around far too often as a dismissal to criticism), but he does has some bombs to defend himself from this fodder.

James may not have won a title so far, and he may have collapsed in the fourth quarter of just about every finals game this season, and he may (or may not, depending on who you talk to) have quit on the Cleveland Cavaliers in his final two games with them, but he does have two nice trophies on his shelf.

He won two straight MVP Awards in 2009 and 2010, joining the likes of 11 other players to win multiple MVP Awards.

19. Dirk Nowitzki, 2011 Championship Redemption

Dirk Nowitzki already had two things before this season.  He had an MVP Award from back in 2007 and he had the title of best European basketball player of all-time.

Unfortunately, he was also thought of as a softy and a player who choked when the spotlight was on him.

He erased all of that in just a few short months this season.

Dirk played a hard-nosed style of basketball that we haven't seen him display before, and he ended up leading his team to a title over the much-despised Miami Heat.

18. Bob Cousy, 1957 NBA MVP

Bob Cousy was a man ahead of his time.  He had the ball handling skills that very few of his counterparts had in his day, he was more like a point guard of today than a point guard of the 1950s and '60s.

A six-time NBA Champion, Bob Cousy was the NBA MVP in the first year that his (and Bill Russell's) Boston Celtics won a title.

1957 saw Cousy lead the league in assists (7.5) for the fifth of eight straight seasons to go along with 20.6 points a game.

17. John Havlicek, 1974 Finals MVP

Jeff Havlicek, the great forward for the Boston Celtics of the 1960s and '70s saw many a great player in his day, but he was perhaps the greatest of any that he played with (besides Bill Russell).

Hondo had one of his best seasons in 1974 when he averaged 22.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists a game as he went on to be the Finals MVP Award winner as the Celtics knocked off the Milwaukee Bucks to win yet another title.

16. Charles Barkley, 1993 MVP Award

The Round Mound of Rebound may have been a pissy, ornery and at times hard to stand superstar in his heyday, but there is no denying he was one of the greatest players of all-time.

Charles Barkley won his first and only MVP Award in 1993 as he led the Phoenix Suns with 25.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists, a block and a steal a game.

Barkley may have never won a title, and he may have alienated many fans in his time, but he was one of the greatest rebounders the game has ever seen standing at just 6'6".

15. Bob Pettit, Game Six 1958 Finals

Bob Pettit is perhaps the greatest Hawk in the history of the franchise, and up until the late 90s he was widely considered the best power forward in league history, it was moments like this one that made him famous.

In 1957 the Hawks suffered a heartbreaking seven-game loss to the Boston Celtics, but Pettit was determined to avenge the loss in '58.

Against a hobbled Bill Russell, who had a severe ankle sprain, Pettit put up 19 points in the first half to a five point lead.

With the Celtics clinging to a small lead in the fourth, Pettit made shot after shot to put the Hawks ahead, even while double or triple-teamed.  He sank a shot over Russell to put the Hawks up 108-105.  Up 108-107 on the next play, Slater Martin put up a shot that was off but Pettit muscled his way into the lane to tap the ball in and clinch the game for the Hawks.

14. Karl Malone, Second on All-Time Scoring List

Like his teammate John Stockton, Karl Malone was known for his longevity, playing 19 seasons in the league, 18 of which came in a Jazz uniform.

He topped 20 points a game 16 times in 18 years, 25 a game 12 times and 30 a game once.

Because of his scoring prowess, and his ability on the boards, Malone ended up with two MVP Awards, one in 1997 and one in 1999.

13. Moses Malone, 1983 Finals MVP

Moses Malone, the guy with the robust backside that allowed him to back his way into the lane and rebound any ball that caromed off the rim led the league in rebounds six times and offensive boards nine times.

He finally got the ring he deserved in 1983 as a part of the Fo' Fo' Fo' 76ers.  He had already won three MVP Awards, but he had yet to win a championship.

Malone paired with Dr. J to win the 1983 Championship and he was given the Finals MVP Award for his efforts (and his 18 rebounds a game didn't hurt).

12. Hakeem Olajuwon, Second Title

When Michael Jordan left the NBA for baseball in 1993, an obvious power vacuum was left in his wake.  That was quickly filled by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets won not one, but two titles in Jordan's absence (he came back in the latter half of 1995, but he wasn't "really" back).

If he and the Rockets would have won just one of the titles when Jordan was gone, those two years would have just been those years that the Bulls didn't win championships.

Instead, Hakeem showed that perhaps if Michael Jordan didn't exist, it would have been his teams that would have won not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven...(was that enough to make fun of LeBron here? Yea, okay, good, I'm done then).

11. Shaquille O'Neal, Fourth Ring

If you don't think that Shaq and Kobe seriously disliked each other upon their break-up then you need to stop being so short-minded.

Shaq winning his fourth title was a victory for him over Kobe Bryant as evidenced by his "Tell me how my ass tastes" freestyle after the 2006 Finals, which for me was like the ghetto version of Mark Madsen dancing after the 2002 Finals.

Still, we all know who won that battle in the end, don't we?

10. Kobe Bryant, Fifth Ring...for Now

Kobe's goal for his fifth ring was to outpace Shaq's four (How does his ass taste, Shaq?), which he accomplished in 2010.  However, there is a goal still looming for Kobe.

It seems that for Bryant, he would value nothing more than getting that sixth championship to at least match Michael Jordan in terms of rings.

Once (if) that happens, that will be his crowning achievement, until then, it's his fifth.

9. Jerry West, 1969 Finals MVP

Jerry West winning the 1969 Finals MVP was pretty exemplary of his entire career.  He had great performances only to see his team fall short in the end.

West and the Lakers battled who else but the Celtics in 1969 as the series was pushed to seven games.  Boston won the series and the title, but the Finals MVP Award ended up going to Jerry West, the only time this award has been given to a player on the losing team.

He averaged an amazing 38 points in the seven-game series including a 42-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist triple-double in game seven.

8. Oscar Robertson, Triple-Double Season

The first thing that anyone thinks of when they hear the name Oscar Robertson is the phrase "triple-double."

Of course, Robertson is famous for averaging a triple-double for the entire 1962 season, just his second in the league with 30.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.4 assists.

The crazy part about Robertson's career is that he nearly did this three other times, falling just 20 assists short in his rookie season, 42 assists short in 1963 and seven rebounds short in 1964.

7. Tim Duncan, All-NBA Selections

Up until this season, Tim Duncan has made an All-NBA Team (either first, second or third) since 1998, also known as his rookie season.

The only players selected to All-NBA Teams more time than Duncan are Shaq, Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabar, each of whom have played in 18, 19 and 20 seasons respectively, compared to Duncan's 13.

Nine times he has made the first team, three times the second team and once the third team, and on top of that he has made 13 All-Defensive Teams, the most by any player in league history (Kareem is second with 11).

Even more impressive, Duncan had to battle with Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Chris Weber, Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Kevin Durant and countless other forwards in his time in the league.

6. Larry Bird, Three Straight MVP Awards

The Hick From French Lick is one of the most impressive players to ever play the game, and easily wins the coveted Best White Basketball Player Award, he can put that in his trophy case along with his MVPs.

Bird was never one to gloat over individual accolades, and that's part of what made him great, but one of his best achievements was his three MVP Awards.

From 1984 to 1986, Bird averaged between 24.2 and 28.7 points to go along with anywhere between 9.8 and 10.5 rebounds.  Even better, the Celtics won titles in two of the three years that Bird won MVP Awards, and in both of those championship years Bird won Finals MVP Awards.

That's five MVP Awards in three years for you kiddies keeping score at home.

5. Magic Johnson, Three MVP Awards

Magic Johnson as a part of the greatest Lakers dynasty in a long history of Lakers dynasties was the centerpiece for the Showtime Lakers.

Johnson took over in 1987 after Larry Bird had won three straight MVP Awards with one of his own, taking a year off and then winning back-to-back MVPs in 1989 and 1990.

On top of that, Johnson also won three Finals MVP Awards in 1980, 1982 and 1987.

4. Kareem Abdul-Jabar, All-Time Scoring Leader

Whenever some nimrod tries to convince me that Kareem Abdul-Jabar is the greatest player of all-time, they always bring up the fact that he is the all-time scoring leader.

That's all well and good, and I'm not taking anything away from him, but the dude played for two full decades.

Still, as much as I have grown to dislike Kareem fan-boys (they're so much worse than Kobe's fan club to me) over the years, I can't deny that 38,387 points is nothing to shake a stick at.

3. Wilt Chamberlain, 1967 Playoffs

Bill Russell dominated Wilt Chamberlain for so long that getting this monkey off his back was necessary for his legacy.  Sure, you can look at the stats and see that Wilt outscored Russell regularly, but Russell always shut Wilt down late in important games, allowing his Celtics to win 11 rings to Wilt's 76ers/Lakers just two.

No matter what his stats were, the most impressive thing that Wilt did in 1967 was finally take down Russell's Celtics.

Just for knowledge's sake, Wilt averaged 21.7 points and a ho-hum 29.1 rebounds in the 1967 playoffs to go along with nine assists a game.

2. Bill Russell, 1966 NBA Championship

Bill Russell was many things in his NBA career.  From player to coach to a big figure in race relations, Russell is arguably the most important player, socially, in NBA history.

That's why in 1966 when Bill Russell was named the player-coach of the Boston Celtics, his winning a title was so sweet.

When he succeeded Red Auerbach as the head coach, he became the first black head coach in all of professional sports, and winning that title was much more than just a victory for Russell and the Celtics.

1. Michael Jordan, Six-Time Finals MVP

Every time Michael Jordan stepped onto the floor in the NBA Finals he was the best player, and he made sure of it.

Six times Jordan went to the Finals, six times he walked away with a ring, and six times he walked away with a Finals MVP Award.

Only once did Jordan average fewer than 30 points a game in the finals (a putrid 27.3 in 1996, step it up, man) and he maxed out a ridiculous 41 points a game (to go along with 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists I might add).

Amid his 10 scoring titles, six championships, five MVP Awards, 14 All-Star selections, 10 All-NBA First Team and 9 All-Defensive First Team Selections, three times leading the league in steals, three All-Star MVPs and two Slam Dunk Competition titles, it's the Finals MVPs that get it for me.

Jordan was the best closer in the history of the game, and he would never let a title slip through his fingers.  This proves it.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me at @JDorsey33.