Ever wonder who chose the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players? As we know, this list was released in 1996 by then NBA Commissioner David Stern, so none of today’s greats are on it. Since it was released in 1996 we have seen ten new MVP award winners: Allen Iverson in 2001, Tim Duncan in 2002-2003, Kevin Garnett in 2004, Steve Nash in 2005-2006, Dirk Nowitzki in 2007, Kobe Bryant in 2008, LeBron James in 2009-2010 and 2012-2013, Derrick Rose in 2011, Kevin Durant in 2014, and the current MVP Stephen Curry for 2015.
The NBA’s 50 Greatest Players were selected by group of 50 panelists with significant connections to the NBA, a “blue-ribbon” group composed of former players, former coaches, general managers, team executives, and media. These 50 panelists were divided into the three categories of Players, Team Representatives, and Media Representatives. Panelists were asked to select the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, without regard to position, and did not rank their selections. Thirteen of the Team Representatives also played in the NBA (29 total played in the NBA). Twenty of these Panelists actually were included on the NBA’s 50 Greatest List; however, former players were not allowed to vote for themselves.
Several of the people who actually voted for this list are dead now and the list will be 19 years old this October. Perhaps we’ll see a new list six years from now, in 2021, on the NBA’s 75th birthday.
Panelists and Voters for the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History:
| Player Voters | Team Voters | Media Voters | |
| 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar *# | Al Attles * | Marv Albert |
| 2 | Dave Bing *# | Red Auerbach | Fran Blinebury |
| 3 | Bill Bradley * | Elgin Baylor *# | Mitch Chortkoff |
| 4 | Wilt Chamberlain *# | Larry Bird *# | David DuPree |
| 5 | Bob Cousy *# | Marty Blake | Joe Gilmartin |
| 6 | Julius Erving *# | Hubie Brown | Sam Goldaper |
| 7 | John Havlicek *# | Billy Cunningham *# | Chick Hearn |
| 8 | “Magic” Johnson *# | Chuck Daly | Phil Jasner |
| 9 | John Kerr * | Wayne Embry * | Leonard Koppet |
| 10 | Bob Lanier * | Alex Hannum * | Leonard Lewin |
| 11 | George Mikan *# | Lester Harrison | Jack McCallum |
| 12 | Bob Pettit *# | Red Holzman * | Bob Ryan |
| 13 | Oscar Robertson *# | Frank Layden | Peter Vecsey |
| 14 | Bill Russell *# | Dick McGuire * | |
| 15 | Dolph Schayes *# | Harvey Pollack | |
| 16 | Bill Sharman *# | Jack Ramsay | |
| 17 | Willis Reed *# | ||
| 18 | Gene Shue * | ||
| 19 | Isiah Thomas *# | ||
| 20 | Wes Unseld *# | ||
| 21 | Jerry West *# |
* Played in the NBA # Elected as one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players
The NBA’s 50 Greatest Players gather during the 1997 All-Star Game.
Brian Bahr/Allsport/NBAE via Getty Images
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BILL HARVEY, Call Sign “Stats”, is the Editor of Hoops Business. He is a former 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.