NBA 75: Which players are assured a spot in the Top 75 of NBA history?

Juan Estevez

NBA 75: Which players are assured a spot in the Top 75 of NBA history? image

As part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, the NBA will announce the 75 greatest players in league history in October, which will be voted on by a select group of players and media.

The limited number of spots will undoubtedly lead to heated debates when it comes to which players meet the necessary requirements to be considered for the exclusive list. While there are several vacancies, it is already quite full with a few no-brainers such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

Who and how many players can we go ahead and consider locks? To find out, we asked 10 NBA.com Global staff members. 

The 37 unanimous picks

Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain, NBA at 50 Celebration

Our staff agreed on 37 players who should absolutely be part of the Top 75.

Who are those players, you ask? In no particular order...

Bill Russell Bill Walton Bob Cousy Bob Pettit
Charles Barkley Chris Paul Clyde Drexler David Robinson
Dirk Nowitzki Dwyane Wade Elgin Baylor Giannis Antetokounmpo
Hakeem Olajuwon Isaiah Thomas Jerry West John Havlicek
John Stockton Julius Erving Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Karl Malone
Kevin Durant Kevin Garnett Kobe Bryant Larry Bird
LeBron James Magic Johnson Michael Jordan Moses Malone
Oscar Robertson Patrick Ewing Rick Barry Scottie Pippen
Shaquille O'Neal Stephen Curry Steve Nash Tim Duncan
Wilt Chamberlain      

There are five active names among the 37: LeBron James, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo. On the flip side, there are five players on the list who made their debut in the 1950s: Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain - with Cousy, who made his debut during the 1950-51 season, being the most experienced.

Comparing these 37 to the 50 Greatest Players announced in 1996, there are 26 overlaps and 11 new names in Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Steve Nash and Tim Duncan.

Nearly consensus 

#Iverson

There were seven players who just missed out on being consensus picks by receiving votes from nine of the 10 voters.

Of the seven, there were three current players in James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook. The other four were Allen Iverson, George Gervin, George Mikan and Willis Reed. Surely, the seven of them will make it to the Top 75 despite not being unanimous picks among our staff. 

Additionally, Carmelo Anthony and Ray Allen received seven out of a possible 10 votes.

Other players to receive votes

Dominique Wilkins

In total, there were 71 different players who received at least one vote and 56 who received at least two. 

Here's the full list of players who received at least two votes:

Bill Russell Bill Walton Bob Cousy Bob Pettit
Charles Barkley Chris Paul Clyde Drexler David Robinson
Dirk Nowitzki Dwyane Wade Elgin Baylor Giannis Antetokounmpo
Hakeem Olajuwon Isaiah Thomas Jerry West John Havlicek
John Stockton Julius Erving Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Karl Malone
Kevin Durant Kevin Garnett Kobe Bryant Larry Bird
LeBron James Magic Johnson Michael Jordan Moses Malone
Oscar Robertson Patrick Ewing Rick Barry Scottie Pippen
Shaquille O'Neal Stephen Curry Steve Nash Tim Duncan
Wilt Chamberlain Allen Iverson George Gervin George Mikan
James Harden Kawhi Leonard Russell Westbrook Willis Reed
Carmelo Anthony Ray Allen Dominique Wilkens Dwight Howard
Elvin Hayes Paul Pierce  Pete Maravich Walt Frazier
Wes Unseld Bob McAdoo Kevin McHale Vince Carter

Once again, it's important to remember that this is a list of players our staff consider as locks to make the 75th anniversary team, so there will be many other legends in the mix. 

Some players who will almost certainly be considered: Alex English, Bob Lanier, Connie Hawkins, Dave Debusschere, David Thompson, Dolph Schayes, Gail Goodrich, Gary Payton, Hal Greer, Nate Thurmond, Pau Gasol, Reggie Miller, Tiny Archibald, Tom Heinsohn, Tony Parker, Artis Gilmore, Dave Cowens, Earl Monroe and James Worthy.

We will continue to analyze candidates for the Top 75 in the coming weeks.

The voters: Agustín Aboy, Alex Novick, Benyam Kidané, Gilbert McGregor, Juan Estévez, Kyle Irving, Leandro Fernández, Scott Rafferty, Sergio Rabinal and Yash Matange.

The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.

Juan Estevez

Juan Estevez Photo

Graduado de DeporTEA en 2011, Juan Estévez se sumó al equipo de NBA Global en 2019, luego de trabajar en otros sitios argentinos ligados al básquet como Pick and Roll y Básquet Plus. Desde 2022 forma parte del staff de Sporting News en español, cubriendo principalmente NBA, fútbol y NFL.