NBA stars.
We love them.
We love to memorize their stats, admire their talent, and obsess over their personal lives.
The brightest among them end up with staggering endorsement deals, enormous mansions, and absurdly pimped-out rides.
Remember Shaq’s Rolls Royce Hummer? Oh yeah.
Sometimes their fame gets the best of themand we get to see embarrassing off-court behavior.
We thought it would be fascinating to takea closer look at the players who caught the public’s attention for reasons good, bad,and just amusing, in this episode of The Infographics Show, Top 10 Best NBA Players of all Time.
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Number 10.
Charles Barkley Barkley played in the NBA from 1984 – 2000, for the Philadelphia 76ers, the Phoenix Suns,and the Houston Rockets.
He earned global recognition as part of the 1992 U.S.
Olympic “Dream Team” famous for being the first American team featuring active NBA players.
In 1996, for the NBA’s 50th anniversary, he was anointed one of the game’s 50 greatest of all time.
He’s one of only four players in all of NBA history to score at least 20,000 points, collect 10,000 rebounds, and hand out 4,000 assists.
Throughout his career, he amassed 23,757 gamepoints.
Number 9.
Scottie Pippen Pippen, who played in the NBA from 1987 to 2004, mostly made the news for being the Robin to Michael Jordan’s epic Batman.
He scored 18,940 points throughout his career,with total salaries from playing alone reaching $109,192,430.
The NBA crowned him one of the 50 greatest of all time.
He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, but he did have some unpleasant moments off the court, mistakenly trusting a financial adviser who was later convicted of fraud.
Part of that fraudulent behavior included forging Pippen’s signature.
Pippen, dubbed “No Tippin’ Pippen,”was also featured in a Sports Illustrated article on celebs who tip poorly; his spendthriftreputation later popped up in other media outlets.
Number 8.
Dwyane WadeWade has been in the NBA since joining the Miami Heat in 2003.
He now plays for the Chicago Bulls, with acareer going strong.
He has, as of the end of last season, scored 21,317 points throughout his career, and counting this season, will tally $203,321,666 in player salary alone.
He is a three-time NBA champion, and was finals MVP in 2006.
But Wade gets knee deep in the news – we’ll skip the puns here – apart from his playing talent.
First, he gets name checked in song lyrics:Nicki Minaj’s Want Some More, Fetty Wap’s Rewind, Kendrick Lamar’s Blood Sport (Freestyle),Jay Z’s Empire State of Mind, and Kanye West’s The Glory.
Number 7.
Shaquille O’NealNicknamed Shaq, he’s a one-name wonder that occupies pop culture.
His size – 7 feet tall and 315 pounds whileplaying, probably more now – add to this presence and mystique.
In a game-dominating partnership with KobeBryant that later ironically resulted in his transfer to another team after friction grewbetween the two, Shaq had a major role in the Los Angeles Lakers’ three-peat in 2000,2001, and 2002.
In his post-NBA life, Shaq has taken a not-unexpected TV commentating gig, and in his heyday shilled for major brands, but in retirement select eda hodge podge range of endorsements: IcyHot, a line of men’s suits, and auto insurance.
He has also tried his hand at acting.
At the end of his NBA career, Shaq had scored28,596 game points and earned a total of about $286 million ($286,344,668) in player salaryalone.
So even though he’s not the top man fortop brands anymore, he’s probably still doing alright.
Number 6.
LeBron JamesThe Cleveland Cavaliers superstar is the only player to rank in the Top 10 in points, rebound sand assists in NBA playoff history.
He is also a three-time NBA Finals MVP andchampion from 2012, 2013, and 2016, and has scored 28,787 points in his NBA career.
It translates into dollars, too: he has so far earned about $200 million ($200,607,292), with about $31 million ($30,963,450) this season alone.
That puts James in the exclusive club of single-seasonsalaries over $30 million first created by Michael Jordan and later joined by Kobe Bryant.
Number 5.
Kobe BryantKobe Bryant famously skipped college, going straight from high school to the NBA.
He played his entire career with the Lakers,from 1996 to 2016.
Heading into his last game on April 13, 2016,he had won five championships with the Lakers and was an 18-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion.
Throughout his career, he scored 33,643 points and earned about $323 million ($323,312,307) in player salary alone.
Bryant also made the news not just for his playing, but for being famously testy with journalists, a feud with Shaq, an aloofness toward his Lakers teammates, and sexual assault allegations which he vehemently denied at the same time he acknowledged infidelity to his wife in an encounter with his accuser.
Number 4.
Kareem Abdul-JabaarA star player at UCLA, Abdul-Jabaar played professionally from 1969 to 1989.
A six-time MVP, he is the inventor of thefamous Sky Hook shot, and totaled 38,387 game points.
The NBA calls him one of the greatest centersof all time.
But Abdul-Jabaar’s star rose off the court,in film appearances with Bruce Lee in 1972’s Game of Death and the 1980 comedy classic Airplane.
More recently, Abdul-Jabaar involved himself in Los Angeles economic policy whenhe appeared in city council to push for the approval of a new sports stadium in 2012.
Number 3.
Magic JohnsonMagic Johnson is synonymous with the Los Angeles Lakers, for his playing career from 1979 to1996 with one year, 1994, as a coach.
In his stellar career, in which he scored 17,707 game points, he was a five-time NBA champion, three-time Finals MVP, and three-time Most Valuable Player.
His career playing salary totaled about $23million ($23,642,860).
In his post-NBA life, Johnson got involved in reviving urban areas through investment, opening a chain of movie theaters branded with his own name, then growing his investments to include holdings in Burger King, food service vendor Sodexo, more movie theaters, and Starbucks, which he later sold, all the under Magic Johnson Enterprises umbrella.
Number 2.
Wilt ChamberlainGroundbreaking player Wilt Chamberlain hasn’t racked up career earnings comparable to otherson our list because his career spanned an earlier era.
He was a big earner for the time, though.
Immediately the highest paid player in the NBA when he entered the league in 1959, Chamberlain made $100,000 that season.
Called Wilt the Stilt for his tall stature,the 7’1” center is still the only player to score 100 points in a game.
The closest second is Kobe Bryant, who scored81 points in a single game in 2006.
Chamberlain is also one of only two men towin MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year.
The NBA named him one of the 50 greatest players of all time, and called him “basketball’s unstoppable force, the most awesome offensive force the game has ever seen.
Asked to name the greatest players ever toplay basketball, most fans and aficionados would put Wilt Chamberlain at or near thetop of the list.
Number 1.
Michael Jordan Obviously, Michael Jordan.
The GOAT.
As in, the Greatest Of All Time.
He was a five–time NBA MVP, six-time NBA champion, six-time NBA Finals MVP, fourteen-time NBA All-Star, three-time NBA All-Star MVP,and more.
But Jordan’s legacy transcends the game and occupies pop culture, with the Air Jordan logo of him mid-air and pre-dunk a still-ubiquitous element of Nike products, and a major source of income for Jordan through his royalties deal with the behemoth brand.
Jordan was a top earner in his player salaries,too, investing well and today, worth an estimated $1 billion, and a model for wise celebritymoney management.
1 million in 1997 – 1998, still unsurpassed, though LeBron James is creeping up.
The closest second is James’, at about $31million ($30,963,450) this season.
To put the value of Jordan’s endorsementcontracts and branding royalties in context, in 2014 Nike earnings alone, Jordan earnedmore than the $94 million in player salaries that he collected throughout his entire careeron the court.
So, who do you think is the best NBA playerof all time? Let us know in the comments! And be sure to check out our other video,Bill Gates vs the Average American.
See you next time!.
