Since the NBA season is on hold right now due to health concerns, the majority of basketball debates taking place this month have revolved around people’s rankings for the greatest players of all-time. On Thursday, Bruce Bowen revealed his top five.
Bowen wasn’t happy that ESPN ranked Kobe Bryant No. 9 all-time in its latest rankings. The former San Antonio Spurs forward knows just how hard it was to guard the Los Angeles Lakers legend.
While it’s tough to say which lists are right and which are wrong because it’s all subjective, there’s no question that Bowen has put together a controversial list for the top five players in NBA history.
Michael Jordan is obviously in the No. 1 spot for Bowen, but he then put Bryant at second on his list. Rounding out the top five is Bill Russell, Magic Johnson and Tim Duncan.
There are two notable omissions from Bowen’s list.
LeBron James not being on this list of all-time greats is perhaps the biggest head-scratcher, but that’s not all. Fans are also curious as to where Bowen would rank Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
It’s also fair to say that Bowen’s friendship with Duncan played a factor in his rankings. After all, they won championships together in San Antonio.
One thing has been made very clear through all these lists, the majority of analysts still believe Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history.