Throughout the year, the NBA has graced us with some of the most iconic players ever to live on this planet, and they were not just in basketball. We are talking about the overall best sports players of all time. These iconic players helped shape the image of how a basketball player should be and lifted the standards for any future generations.
The players also helped the USA to become the world’s undisputed champion in basketball. It is interesting to mention that the national team suffered its last defeat in 2006. In the period from 1984-2016, USA has received medals on every single Olympic Games tournament. All of them were gold medals, except two.
Next Season NBA MVP Odds
Many players are eager to prove themselves in the upcoming season. The standards are reaching extreme heights, and the interesting thing is that the players are stepping their game up and living up to every expectation.
Last year’s MVP winner was Giannis Antetokounmpo, so we’ll start with him. Giannis Antetokounmpo has tremendous odds to win the MVP award, with odds coming in at +280. Right behind him is Stephen Curry with +400. James Harden, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard complete the top 5 list with +600, +750, and +800.
At some betting sites, players like Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, and Russel Westbrook have lower odds to win MVP, compared to previous years. Kyrie has a +4000 chance, Luka Doncic has a +5000 odds to win it, and Russel Westbrook has +1700.
And when we see the Eastern and Western Conferences, Milwaukee Bucks have the smallest odds of winning the Eastern Conference with +150, and Golden State has the biggest chance at the Western Conference, with odds coming at -300.
If you want to make the game even more interesting, there are a lot of sites who can give you advice on how and where to place your bets and sites such as freebets.com offer enhanced odds offers for UK customers who want to try their luck.
Let’s head over to the top 5 list of all-time best players in the league. It goes without saying that all of them have won multiple MVP awards during their careers. The list is based on personal opinion, and it can always be amended.
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Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq played as a center and graced the NBA by playing for nearly 20 years. Even though some people did not like him very much because he was sometimes criticized as someone who disrespects his teammates, there is no doubt that he is one of the greatest players ever to play court. There are countless awards that he won throughout his career as proof of why he is on this list.
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
After winning 71 consecutive games in his high school team, Kareem was recruited by Jerry Norman and went on to be a record three-time MVP of the NCAA Tournament. He played for Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers and had a beautiful career that spanned for 20 years. Truly, one of the greats in the NBA.
Tim Duncan
Currently serving as an assistant coach at Spurs, Tim Duncan played for the same team during his entire career. Standing at 6’ 11’’ this legend collected over 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds, and 4,200 assists. Off the court, he created his foundation to raise health awareness and to fund education and sports programs. A great player during his time on the court, and an amazing visionary off the court.
LeBron James
Never forget that we are so lucky to watch one of the greatest players ever live on TV. Every generation has its hero, and for this generation, that hero is LeBron James. Even though he is getting close to retirement, he is not showing any signs of slowing down. He continues to rumble the NBA during every game and that is why he proved countless times that he is not someone that you should mess with. He is currently playing for Los Angeles Lakers.
Michael Jordan
Everybody will argue about who should be in the top 5, and everyone will have different players and idols. But one thing that everybody will select is Michael Jordan at the number 1 spot. He is one of the rare players that went on to be successful in the business is after he retired. To this day, every kid’s dream is to wear at least one or two pairs of Nike Jordan shoes. He is the undisputed king without a doubt.
This is a decent top 5. I’d probably trade Shaq for Magic and Duncan for Kobe personally. Duncan wasn’t even the best player on his own team on the last two rings he won. Shaq also dominated him and Duncan wasn’t ever really a dominate scorer, I mean it took him 37 mins a game to average 20 pts per game for his career. Most all time greats can do tha tin about 33 or 35 minutes a game. Kobe is argueabley better than Shaq due to longjevity and number of rings.
Bad list. Magic had a more successful career than LeBron. Won more with less help and meltdowns in a shorter career. LeBron is a legend though. Just not top 5. Shaq is borderline. I’d take Hakeem or Bill Russell over Shaq because they dominated in pure skills and winning more as top option most of their careers than Shaq.
Magic Johnson played nearly his entire career with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Two HOFers. LeBron played four years with 2 HOFers. Magic had far more “help” for far longer.