Tonight let’s look at the NBA’s Fifty Greatest Players from two more perspectives – NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards won and NBA Championships (Rings) won. Remember, this list was released by then NBA Commissioner David Stern in 1996, so none of today’s greats are on this list. These two categories are highly subjective, even intangible. Both categories, however, are outstanding indicators of the relative value of an athlete.
Some statistical and general comments on the list (my call sign is Stats, after all) follow. Remember, the left side of the table shows career “Rings” won while the right side of the table shows career MVP awards won.
- In the Rings category, Bill Russell is the “Lord of the Rings” with 11 Rings in 13 NBA seasons from 1957 through 1969 for an astounding 84.6% winning percentage. The next three “Ring Bearers” are also Celtics – Sam Jones (10), John Havlicek (8), and Bob Cousy (6) – who played most of their careers on the Russell led Celtics. Cousy and Jones won all of their rings playing on the Russell led Celtics while Havlicek won 6 of his 8 rings on the Russell era Celtics. While Jones and Havlicek were great players, there is no doubt that the primary reason the Celtics won 11 NBA championships in 13 seasons was Bill Russell. Without number 6 patrolling the lane, the Celtics do not win as many, or maybe even any, of those 11 Rings.
- In the MVPs won category, Kareem leads followed closely by Jordan and Russell. Kareem won 6 MVP awards (1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1977, and 1980) while Jordan (1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, and 1998) and Russell (1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1965) each won 5 MVP awards.
- There are a significant amount of great players on this list (30 of 50, or 60.0% to be precise) who did not win an MVP award.
- There are nine great players on this list (18.0%) who did not win a Ring during their NBA career.
| Name and Position | “Rings” | Name and Position | “MVPs” | |||||
| 1 | Bill Russell | C | 11 | 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | C | 6 | |
| 2 | Sam Jones | G | 10 | 2 | Bill Russell | C | 5 | |
| 3 | John Havlicek | F | 8 | 3 | Michael Jordan | G | 5 | |
| 4 | Bob Cousy | G | 6 | 4 | Wilt Chamberlain | C | 4 | |
| 5 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | C | 6 | 5 | Larry Bird | F | 3 | |
| 6 | Michael Jordan | G | 6 | 6 | Magic Johnson | G | 3 | |
| 7 | Scottie Pippen | F | 6 | 7 | Moses Malone | C | 3 | |
| 8 | George Mikan | C | 5 | 8 | Bob Pettit | F | 2 | |
| 9 | Magic Johnson | G | 5 | 9 | Karl Malone | F | 2 | |
| 10 | Bill Sharman | G | 4 | 10 | Bill Walton | C | 1 | |
| 11 | Robert Parish | C | 4 | 11 | Bob Cousy | G | 1 | |
| 12 | Shaquille O’Neal | C | 4 | 12 | Charles Barkley | F | 1 | |
| 13 | James Worthy | F | 3 | 13 | Dave Cowens | C | 1 | |
| 14 | Kevin McHale | F | 3 | 14 | David Robinson | C | 1 | |
| 15 | Larry Bird | F | 3 | 15 | Hakeem Olajuwon | C | 1 | |
| 16 | Bill Walton | C | 2 | 16 | Julius Erving | F | 1 | |
| 17 | Billy Cunningham | F | 2 | 17 | Oscar Robertson | G | 1 | |
| 18 | Dave Cowens | C | 2 | 18 | Shaquille O’Neal | C | 1 | |
| 19 | Dave DeBusschere | F | 2 | 19 | Wes Unseld | C | 1 | |
| 20 | David Robinson | C | 2 | 20 | Willis Reed | C | 1 | |
| 21 | Hakeem Olajuwon | C | 2 | 21 | Bill Sharman | G | None | |
| 22 | Isiah Thomas | G | 2 | 22 | Billy Cunningham | F | None | |
| 23 | Walt Frazier | G | 2 | 23 | Clyde Drexler | G | None | |
| 24 | Willis Reed | C | 2 | 24 | Dave Bing | G | None | |
| 25 | Wilt Chamberlain | C | 2 | 25 | Dave DeBusschere | F | None | |
| 26 | Bob Pettit | F | 1 | 26 | Dolph Schayes | F | None | |
| 27 | Clyde Drexler | G | 1 | 27 | Earl Monroe | G | None | |
| 28 | Dolph Schayes | F | 1 | 28 | Elgin Baylor | F | None | |
| 29 | Earl Monroe | G | 1 | 29 | Elvin Hayes | F | None | |
| 30 | Elvin Hayes | F | 1 | 30 | George Gervin | G | None | |
| 31 | Hal Greer | G | 1 | 31 | George Mikan | C | None | |
| 32 | Jerry Lucas | F | 1 | 32 | Hal Greer | G | None | |
| 33 | Jerry West | G | 1 | 33 | Isiah Thomas | G | None | |
| 34 | Julius Erving | F | 1 | 34 | James Worthy | F | None | |
| 35 | Lenny Wilkens | G | 1 | 35 | Jerry Lucas | F | None | |
| 36 | Moses Malone | C | 1 | 36 | Jerry West | G | None | |
| 37 | Nate Archibald | G | 1 | 37 | John Havlicek | F | None | |
| 38 | Oscar Robertson | G | 1 | 38 | John Stockton | G | None | |
| 39 | Paul Arizin | F | 1 | 39 | Kevin McHale | F | None | |
| 40 | Rick Barry | F | 1 | 40 | Lenny Wilkens | G | None | |
| 41 | Wes Unseld | C | 1 | 41 | Nate Archibald | G | None | |
| 42 | Charles Barkley | F | None | 42 | Nate Thurmond | C | None | |
| 43 | Dave Bing | G | None | 43 | Patrick Ewing | C | None | |
| 44 | Elgin Baylor | F | None | 44 | Paul Arizin | F | None | |
| 45 | George Gervin | G | None | 45 | Pete Maravich | G | None | |
| 46 | John Stockton | G | None | 46 | Rick Barry | F | None | |
| 47 | Karl Malone | F | None | 47 | Robert Parish | C | None | |
| 48 | Nate Thurmond | C | None | 48 | Sam Jones | G | None | |
| 49 | Patrick Ewing | C | None | 49 | Scottie Pippen | F | None | |
| 50 | Pete Maravich | G | None | 50 | Walt Frazier | G | None |
BILL HARVEY, Call Sign “Stats”, is the Editor of Hoops Business. He is a former college basketball player, basketball referee, Army officer, and college instructor in technical writing with a public relations and journalism background. He is also the editor of the Net Set blog at http://thenetsetblog.com. BA degree from Xavier University and MA degree in Information Management.