Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes make NBA's list of 76 greatest players originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The NBA’s 75th season tipped off with a matchup between two of the league’s top 76 players of all time.
It was announced Tuesday ahead of the season opener between the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks that Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named to the NBA’s list of the greatest 75 players in league history as part of the celebration for the anniversary season. The league announced that 76 players made the list in all due to a tie in voting.
Here are the first 25 players from the list that were unveiled Tuesday, listed in alphabetical order:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nate Archibald
Charles Barkley
Bob Cousy
Dave Cowens
Kevin Durant
Julius Erving
George Gervin
Hal Greer
James Harden
Elvin Hayes
Jerry Lucas
Moses Malone
Kevin McHale
George Mikan
Steve Nash
Dirk Nowitzki
Hakeem Olajuwon
Bob Pettit
Willis Reed
Oscar Robertson
David Robinson
Bill Russell
John Stockton
The next 25 players were announced Wednesday. Here’s the second batch, in alphabetical order:
Paul Azirin
Rick Barry
Larry Bird
Wilt Chamberlain
Clyde Drexler
Tim Duncan
Patrick Ewing
Walt Frazier
Kevin Garnett
John Havlicek
Allen Iverson
Magic Johnson
Sam Jones
Michael Jordan
Karl Malone
Robert Parish
Chris Paul
Scottie Pippen
Bill Sharman
Isiah Thomas
Nate Thurmond
Wes Unseld
Bill Walton
Jerry West
James Worthy
The final 26 players were unveiled on Thursday. Here they are in alphabetical order:
Ray Allen
Carmelo Anthony
Elgin Baylor
Dave Bing
Kobe Bryant
Billy Cunningham
Stephen Curry
Anthony Davis
Dave DeBusschere
LeBron James
Jason Kidd
Kawhi Leonard
Damian Lillard
Pete Maravich
Bob McAdoo
Reggie Miller
Earl Monroe
Shaquille O’Neal
Gary Payton
Paul Pierce
Dennis Rodman
Dolph Schayes
Dwyane Wade
Russell Westbrook
Lenny Wilkens
Dominique Wilkins
The NBA last did a greatest players list during the 1996-1997 season, as the top 50 were honored at halftime of the NBA All-Star Game in Cleveland for the league’s 50th anniversary. All 50 players who were honored back then made the 75th anniversary team as well.
Durant, in an interview on TNT on Tuesday, recalled that ceremony while discussing the honor of being selected for the latest list.
“It means a lot,” Durant said. “It means everything, to be honest. You wanna leave your mark on this league, on the game of basketball itself. To be among the greatest that this game has ever seen, just to be in that same company is pretty sweet. As a kid I saw the 50th anniversary and always dreamed of having one of those jackets on, being amongst that group. So, it feels good to be part of it now.”
