NBA Player Rankings: Where Current Superstars Rank Against the All-Time Greats

How do current NBA players stack up against the Hall of Fame players that have gone before them?

Unfortunately there is not a way to actually see dream matchups take place, and we can't watch teams from 20 or 30 years ago take the floor against the teams we have now.

Over the years there have been countless hours of speculation and argument about which player is better, who is the best all-time and how certain players would fit in different eras.

While the arguments will go on, this list will look at where some of the current NBA players rank in the all-time lists of several different categories.

In order to be ranked in the top 25 of any of these areas, players need to have played for a long time in the NBA. Most of these guys have been in the league for many years and are at the tail end of their careers.

With the younger talent that is currently in the league, these all-time lists will look very different in 10 to 15 years.

Where do you think players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Derrick Rose will rank and in which categories?

Games Played

After being the second overall selection of the 1994 NBA draft, Jason Kidd has gone on to play 17 seasons and appear in 1,267 games.

Currently he is in 18th place on the all-time list but only needs four games to pass John Havlicek for 17th.

If Kidd were to play in 69 games next season, he would pass players like Gary Payton, Moses Malone, Sam Perkins and Elvin Hayes for eighth place.

Kidd will need to play for a little more than four full seasons to catch Robert Parish, who leads all players with 1,611 total games played.

Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is the next closest active player. He needs only five more games to reach 1,200 for his career. If he plays a couple more seasons, he will be in the top 10 as well.

Field Goals Made

Kobe Bryant is currently in the 11th spot among all players with 9,712 field goals made over his career.

At age 33, Bryant should have several years left to play in the league, but it is not likely that he will be able to take over the top overall position.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played 20 seasons in the league, is the current leader with 15,837 field goals.

Bryant needs 6,126 made baskets to catch up to and pass Abdul-Jabbar.

If Bryant were to keep up the pace of 752 field goals that he has averaged over the last three seasons, it would take him a little more than eight full seasons to make up the difference.

In a little more than three seasons, Bryant will likely pass Michael Jordan and could be in the second position in about five years.

Other active players who are moving up the list of all-time field goals made include Kevin Garnett, who is currently in 16th place with 9,338, and San Antonio Spur Tim Duncan, who is ranked 24th with 8,356.

All three of these current players should move up considerably before ending their careers.

Three-Point Field Goals Made

Although other leagues had already incorporated it, the NBA did not begin using the three-point shot until the 1979-1980 season.

Due to a long-distance shot not being worth three points until this time, it is no surprise that the leaders in three-point shots made are mostly those who have played in the modern era.

In addition to all-time leader Ray Allen, who has made 2,612, four of the top five, eight of the top 10 and 14 of the top 25 on this list are still active players.

Jason Kidd, Peja Stojakovic, Chauncey Billups, Rashard Lewis, Jason Terry, Paul Pierce and Steve Nash are all currently in the top 10.

Free Throws Made

Kobe Bryant also leads this list among active players and is sixth all-time with 7,026.

If Bryant were to remain at the pace he has over the last three seasons with an average of 468 free throws made, it would take him nearly six seasons to surpass Karl Malone for first place.

Malone made 9,787 during the course of his career.

Other active players who are in the top 25 of this category include Paul Pierce at 17th with 5,808 and Dirk Nowitzki in 20th place with 5,679.

Both players should move up the list considerably before they end their careers.

Offensive Rebounds

Detroit Piston Ben Wallace is the active player who ranks highest on the list of most offensive rebounds.

Over his 15-year career, Wallace has grabbed 3,363 offensive rebounds. He is currently in 15th place, needing only 39 more to move up a spot.

To put that into perspective, he trails the leader of this category, Moses Malone, by five more rebounds than Wallace has for his career.

Malone grabbed an NBA-record 6,731 for a record that will likely not be broken.

Wallace may pass a couple of more players but should end up in the 12-15 range of this category.

Another active player, Tim Duncan, currently sits in the 20th spot, needing only two to pass Terry Cummings for 19th.

Defensive Rebounds

Kevin Garnett is in good company in this category, as he sits in the third position behind only Karl Malone and Robert Parish.

With 9,874 defensive rebounds in his career, Garnett needs only 244 to surpass Parish and 1,533 to beat Malone for the top spot.

Last season, Garnett grabbed 548 defensive rebounds for the Celtics. If he is able to maintain that pace, he will be the all-time leader in a little less than three seasons.

At age 35, it is likely that he will make it to that milestone.

Other active players in the top 25 include Tim Duncan in ninth place, Dirk Nowitzki in the 20th spot and Ben Wallace at 23rd.

Point guard Jason Kidd is ranked 25th with just over 6,500 defensive rebounds of his own.

Total Rebounds

With as many defensive rebounds as Kevin Garnett has, it should be of no surprise that he is also the active player with the most total rebounds.

He and San Antonio Spur Tim Duncan are the only active players currently in the top 25.

Garnett is in the 16th overall position with 12,819, and Duncan is in 21st with 12,013.

Both players will surely continue to rise in this category, and with a few more good seasons, Garnett could jump into the top 10 all-time.

Assists

Former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton holds the all-time lead in this category with an assist number that will never be reached.

While there are three current players who are in the top 25 here, none will get close to Stockton.

Jason Kidd is in second place with 11,578 but trails the first spot by 4,229. Last season Kidd dished out 655 assists. At that same rate, it would take him about six-and-a-half more seasons to catch Stockton.

After 17 seasons in the league and at 38 years old, Kidd is not likely to play until he is almost 45 years old.

Steve Nash and Andre Miller are the other active players in the top 25. Nash is currently sixth, and Miller is 14th.

Nash trails Oscar Robertson by 636 for fifth and will probably end his career in the top three with Stockton and Kidd.

Steals

Steals is another category where Jason Kidd is on track to end up in the second overall spot behind John Stockton.

With 2,477 career thefts, Kidd is currently in the third spot behind Stockton and Michael Jordan.

Kidd trails Jordan by only 38 steals and will pass him next season. Getting to first place will be a different story.

Stockton stole the ball a record 3,265 times, and Kidd trails him by 788 steals. It would take Kidd just less than six seasons to catch Stockton if Kidd matches last season's steal total of 134.

Also in the top 25 of this list are Kobe Bryant in 16th place with 1,653 and Kevin Garnett, who is tied for 24th with Mark Jackson, each with 1,608 steals.

Blocked Shots

Tim Duncan leads all active players in blocked shots, but Marcus Camby is a close second to him.

Among all players, Duncan is in the ninth spot with 2,381 and Camby is in 12th with 2,232.

Both players will likely move up at least one spot before their careers are through.

Duncan needs 162 to pass Tree Rollins, and Camby trails Alonzo Mourning by 125.

The leader of this category is former Houston Rocket center Hakeem Olajuwon, who swatted away 3,380 shots during his career.

Other current players in the top 25 include Ben Wallace in 14th, Theo Ratliff in 18th and Kevin Garnett in 19th.

It should be noted that blocked shots were not kept as a statistic until just before the 1973-1974 season.

Points Scored

It should come as no surprise that Kobe Bryant is the active player with the most career points.

He currently sits in the sixth position on the all-time list with 27,868 points scored in his career. He trails his former teammate Shaquille O'Neal by 729 for a spot in the top five.

Bryant trails overall leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by 10,519 points. Abdul-Jabbar totaled 38,387 during his career.

Last season Bryant scored 2,078 points, which matched his career average of 25.3 points per game.

If Bryant can keep the same pace he scored at last season, he could surpass Abdul-Jabbar in a little more than five seasons.

If Bryant does not pass Abdul-Jabbar, he is on pace to pass Michael Jordan for third in a couple of seasons and may get to Karl Malone for second place in just over four.

Other players who are in the top 25 in points scored include Kevin Garnett in 20th, Dirk Nowitzki in 23rd and Ray Allen in 24th.

Depending on how many seasons each of these guys plays, they all can move up the list several positions.

Statistics found at wwww.basketball-reference.com

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