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Greatest basketball playerof all time?
Who's the greatest basketball player of all time? Stephen Curry leads Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by 85 points.
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The table
Rating ± certainty · updates live
| Pos | Contender | Rating | Win % | Week | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
Stephen Curry
Most 3-pointers ever, first unanimous MVP |
1,747 ±253 | 75% | ||
| 2 | 
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
6 MVPs, 6 titles |
1,662 ±290 | 67% | ||
| 3 | 
Kobe Bryant
5 titles, 81-point game |
1,662 ±290 | 67% | ||
| 4 | 
Michael Jordan
6 titles, 6 Finals MVPs, 5 MVPs |
1,500 ±253 | 50% | ||
| 5 | 
LeBron James
All-time leading scorer, 4 titles |
1,500 ±253 | 50% | ||
| 6 | 
Bill Russell
11 titles in 13 seasons |
1,500 ±350 | 50% | ||
| 7 | 
Wilt Chamberlain
100-point game |
1,500 ±253 | 50% | ||
| 8 | 
Magic Johnson
5 titles, 3 MVPs |
1,338 ±290 | 33% | ||
| 9 | 
Tim Duncan
5 titles, 2 MVPs |
1,338 ±290 | 33% | ||
| 10 | 
Larry Bird
3 straight MVPs (1984–86) |
1,253 ±253 | 25% |
Ratings use Glicko, a version of chess's Elo that also tracks how sure we are (the ± figure). Beat a higher-rated rival and you gain more, and the less sure we are about a contender, the more one vote moves them. On the real site the official table is recalculated from all votes every few minutes, so a matchup that gets voted on a lot doesn't count extra. Why a chess rating and not upvotes?
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