"Greatness" is measured by the ability to lead a team to a championship. A guy can't be considered great just because he can score 50 points every game without a championship. My list of people are very good players in their own right, but also they must have the minimum requirement of at least 1 ring. Guys like Iverson, Lebron, Carter, Malone, Barkley, etc. are all amazing players with maybe better skill than some of the players in my list, but they cannot be considered great without a ring. Skill and statistics are secondary to winning.

1. Bill Russell - 11 rings, 5 mvps (finals mvp not invented yet, probably most of the 11)
2. Michael Jordan - 6 rings, 5 mvps, 6 finals mvps
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 6 rings, 6 mvps, 2 finals mvps
4. Magic Johnson - 5 rings, 3 mvps, 3 finals mvps
5. Kobe Bryant - 5 rings, 1 mvp, 2 finals mvps
6. Tim Duncan - 4 rings, 2 mvps, 3 finals mvps
7. Shaquille O'Neal - 4 rings, 1 mvp, 3 finals mvps
8. Larry Bird - 3 rings, 3 mvps, 2 finals mvps
9. Wilt Chamberlain - 2 rings, 4 mvps, 1 finals mvp
10. Hakeem Olajuwon - 2 rings, 1 mvp, 2 finals mvps

*Rank is based on priority: rings, mvps, then finals mvps.
*Russell only Celtic in the 11 championship run because he was the leader of all those teams.
*Michael above Kareem despite more mvps because Kareem played for 20 years, and some of those championships were from a Magic Johnson led team.
*Many players have more championships (i.e., Scottie Pippen with 6, Robert Horry with 7) but they didn't lead the team when they won.
*George Mikan not on the list despite 5 rings because he had very little competition in height and the mvp or finals mvp awards were not invented yet in his time, making it difficult to speculate his real value as compared to other players.

Shaquille O'Neal ranks above Kobe in my book. Shaq has three finals MVP compared to Kobe's 2 and finals MVP's are more important then regular season MVP's IMHO. Also without Shaq, Kobe would not have five rings probably only three at the most.

Michael Jordan is the best

Nice to see Hakeem on your list, one of the most underrated greats of all-time IMO. Had the nastiest post moves and the best footwork i've ever seen from a big man. His greatness even shows today with Kobe and Dwight Howard working with him on their post games and showing huge improvements.

Saying that Bryant is better than Bird single-handedly discredits your list. Then you say Shaq was better than him and it gets even worse. You have the right people, just a completelu fucked order.

Also, while I understand your reasoning on greatness I dont agree with it. A player can be great without ever winning a title. Iverson for one was never on a team that had any business winning a title, let alone getting to the finals the one year they did. Dominique Wilkins is another one that never played on a championship worthy team. Barkley and Malone are all-time greats as well, although I do feel they had very good opportunities to win titles themselves. Your list is very solid though, not saying I would take anyone off of it. Maybe throw Oscar Robertson in there, though i'm not sure who he would replace.

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I think you misread/don't understand this discussion. Obviously you can't compare Kobe Bryant to Larry Bird because they played different positions and played in completely different eras. In your context, I would call him stupid for ranking Tim Duncan over Wilt Chamerlain. And once again, same thing with Bird and O'Neal, you can't compare them. They all have different levels of skill, but this ranking is in terms of who lead his team the best. Obviously, I think Kobe is a little high because he won 3 rings with Shaq, but the same could be said about Kareem. Honestly, I think number 1 should be Michael Jordan simply because he was the true leader of a franchise that fought grueling losses to the late 80s to mid 90s Pistons, Lakers and Celtics (not trying to discredit Pippen). Basketball was in its most physical state during that era and Michael lead the team to 2 three-peats despite 7 years of heart breaking losses.

I don't know much about Bill Russell, but 11 rings is a lot so he probably deserves number 1 just for the sheer amount of rings he has lol.

And boy, I think Dirk Nowitzki deserves an honorable mention on this list :P

this list is NOT about skill. this list is about the ability to LEAD a team to a championship. bird did it three times. kobe did it five times. who was the better leader? there's no point comparing who has better skill. it's impossible to know that. what we can know is the number of rings that someone has.

I agree with this list not cause I'm a Boston fan O wait no that's the exact reason why i agree with this list. Larry Bird should be higher at least over Magic.