In the midst of his 13th NBA season, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James is already one of the best to ever play the game. On Wednesday, James was named the third-best player in NBA history, according to ESPN’s all-time NBA rankings, finishing behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (No. 2) and Michael Jordan.
To create All-Time #NBArank, we put together a ballot with the 150 greatest players ever. Then our ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups, with voting based on both peak performance and career value.
The Akron native was unsurprisingly the top Cavalier on the list. Since coming into the league at 19 years old, James has averaged 25.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game in 962 games with both Cleveland and Miami. James has averaged 27.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game in 668 games with the Cavs.
In the playoffs, the future Hall of Famer has averaged 28.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 178 games. In the wine and gold, James has averaged 29.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks in 91 playoff games.
Since jumping to the NBA in 2003 directly from high school, the St. Vincent-St. Mary graduate has earned four regular season MVPs (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) and is a 12-time All-Star, two-time All-Star Game MVP (2006, 2008), and two-time NBA Finals MVP (2012, 2013).
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, who has covered James since he was a star in high school, had high praise for his fellow SVSM alum.
Nitpick his game, mock his receding headband, criticize his free-agency choices, start comparing rings. But never before had the game seen a teenager like him. By the time he was in his mid-20s he was no longer chasing opponents but chasing ghosts, the greats who’d come before.
Now he’s trying to end a 50-year-old title drought for a city where he’s one of the most treasured residents in its two centuries of existence.
The top 10:
- Michael Jordan
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- LeBron James
- Magic Johnson
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Larry Bird
- Bill Russell
- Tim Duncan
- Shaquille O’Neal
- Hakeem Olajuwon