The Best Defensive NBA Players Of All Time (ABA Players Included)

Hakeem Olajuwon, is a Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and the Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame. Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest centers ever to play the game. He was nicknamed "The Dream" during his basketball career after he dunked so effortlessly that his college coach said it "looked like a dream."

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Olajuwon traveled from his home country to play for the University of Houston under head coach Guy Lewis. His college career for the Cougars included three trips to the Final Four. Olajuwon was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the first overall selection of the 1984 NBA draft, a draft that included Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton. He combined with the 7 ft 4 in (2.24 m) Ralph Sampson to form a duo dubbed the "Twin Towers". The two led the Rockets to the 1986 NBA Finals, where they lost in six games to the Boston Celtics. After Sampson was traded to the Warriors in 1988, Olajuwon became the Rockets' undisputed leader. He led the league in rebounding twice (1989, 1990) and blocks three times (1990, 1991, 1993).

Despite very nearly being traded during a bitter contract dispute before the 1992-93 season, he remained in Houston where in 1993-94, he became the only player in NBA history to win the NBA MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP awards in the same season. His Rockets won back-to-back championships against the New York Knicks (avenging his college championship loss to Patrick Ewing), and Shaquille O'Neal's Orlando Magic. In 1996, Olajuwon was a member of the Olympic gold-medal-winning United States national team, and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He ended his career as the league's all-time leader in blocks (3,830) and is one of four NBA players to record a quadruple-double.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a record six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), a record 19-time NBA All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two more as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar twice was voted NBA Finals MVP. In 1996, he was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

In 1975, he was traded to the Lakers, with whom he played the final 14 seasons of his career and won five additional NBA championships. Abdul-Jabbar's contributions were a key component in the "Showtime" era of Lakers basketball. Over his 20-year NBA career, his teams succeeded in making the playoffs 18 times and got past the first round 14 times; his teams reached the NBA Finals on 10 occasions.

At the time of his retirement at age 42 in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was the NBA's all-time leader in points scored (38,387), games played (1,560), minutes played (57,446), field goals made (15,837), field goal attempts (28,307), blocked shots (3,189), defensive rebounds (9,394), career wins (1,074), and personal fouls (4,657). In 2007, ESPN voted him the greatest center of all time, in 2008, they named him the "greatest player in college basketball history", and in 2016, they named him the second best player in NBA history (behind Michael Jordan). Abdul-Jabbar has also been an actor, a basketball coach, and a best-selling author.

Wilton Norman Chamberlain was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Olivia Ruth (Johnson), a domestic worker, and William Chamberlain, a welder, custodian, and handyman. Wilt didn't come from a race of giants as many thought. Both his parents were no bigger than 5-9, but as a young boy he began a growth spurt which would eventually stop when he reached 7-1. That height made him legendary in sports history as arguably the greatest basketball player ever. Chamberlain played at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, and collegiately at Kansas University, where he led the Jayhawks to the NCAA finals. Kansas lost in title game to North Carolina and that game haunted Chamberlain throughout his career and gave birth to the unfair image of him as a "loser." He left Kansas as an underclassman to play professionally for the Harlem Globetrotters, and after a year with them, signed to play with his hometown team in the NBA, the then-named Philadelphia Warriors. With the Warriors he performed some astonishing feats that no NBA player before or since accomplished.

David Robinson is an American former professional basketball player, who played center for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for his entire career. Based on his prior service as an officer in the United States Navy, Robinson earned the nickname "The Admiral".

Robinson is a 10-time NBA All-Star, the 1995 NBA MVP, a two-time NBA Champion (1999 and 2003), a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner (1992, 1996), a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2009 for his individual career, 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team), and a two-time U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame inductee (2008 individually, 2009 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team). He is widely considered one of the greatest centers in both college basketball and NBA history. Robinson is the only player from the Naval Academy to play in the NBA.

Robinson averaged 21.1 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, 3 blocks per game, and 2.5 assists per game over 987 games in his NBA career. Also, he is one of only a very small group of players to have scored over 20,000 career points in the NBA, as well as being one of only four players to have recorded a quadruple-double (with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks against the Detroit Pistons on February 17, 1994).

The term Dynasty might have never applied to Basketball had it not been for Bill Russell. In the History of professional sports there has never been an athlete who has more accolades or championships, in other words Bill Russell was not only a champion, but he was perhaps the definition of a champion. Russell did not create the first basketball dynasty, but to date, through Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Bill Russell has one more championship than any other basketball player.

Bill Russell was born in Monroe, Louisiana in 1934, to Katie and Charlie Louis Russell. . At the age of 9 he moved to Oakland. While in Oakland he was very poor but became a skillful basketball player. At 18 he went to college, at San Francisco, where he won two NCAA Championships in 1955 and 1956. In 1956 Bill Russell entered the NBA draft. He was drafted second overall, by the St. Louis Hawks, but was traded to the Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley, in a deal spearheaded by Red Auerbach, the coach of the Boston Celtics. Macauley was part of a solid offensive unit with Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, but the team had a missing piece to the puzzle.

As America would soon find out Bill Russell would be that missing piece. Although Bill Russell played less than 50 games, due to the fact he has won a gold medal for basketball in the Olympics, in his first NBA season he definitely made his presence felt. Russell brought an aspect to basketball that had rarely been explored before: defense. Bill Russell knew that basketball was not so much scoring, but keeping your opponent from scoring as well. Bill Russell viewed basketball as a science, and played the game with an analytical view as well as with an emotional intensity.

Russell played the game psychologically as well, defending his various opponents so well that many times he made those he defended feel like they could not score a basket. This intensity not only paid off in the Olympics, and in college, but it would have an immediate impact in the NBA. Bill Russell would lead the Boston Celtics to 9 straight NBA titles, many times over vaunted rivals the Philadelphia Warriors, and later the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell would lead these teams over some other among the greatest of all time, including Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Hal Greer, and his most famous rival Wilt Chamberlain.

While Russell was rewriting Boston sports history he faced immense racism from the most devout Celtics fan. His home was accosted on a few occasions, and he heard he would not get MVP because he was black from a reporter. Still yet Russell was without a doubt one of the finest players of his day. In the long line of dominance the Boston Celtics would exercise over the NBA the most legendary years were in his final years. In 1966 Wilt Chamberlain was traded from the Golden State warriors to his new hometown Philadelphia 76ers. For the first time in the Bill Russell- Wilt Chamberlain rivalry Chamberlain could not say he did not have the team to beat the Celtics, although many contend that the Celtics were evenly match if not inferior in talent to their many rivals. The Philadelphia 76ers did beat the Boston Celtics in 1967, but in 1966 and 1968 the Celtics, not quite to the level of the Sixers.

But in 1968 it was truly Russell that beat the Sixers, as he was not the heart and soul on the court, but was now it's head coach, which he became in 1967 after legend Red Auerbach retired. He would not let his defeat in 1967 keep him down. He would return and defeat the Sixers in 1968, in a hotly contested Conference Final series, and easily defeat the Lakers in the Finals. At the end of the season Wilt Chamberlain was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, taking Chamberlain to the other arch-rival of the Boston Celtics. In 1969 most of the fabled Celtics had long been gone or had recently retired. Only Russell remained of the fabled Boston Celtics, except for the emerging superstar John Havlichek, and aging star Sam Jones. Russell now had the daunting task of taking a bottom seed to defeat some of the best teams of all time, including a newly revamped Philadelphia after the Chamberlain trade, who they beat, and the New York Knickerbockers, led by Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy, and Walt Frazier, who they beat in 6, and set the match for the Los Angeles Lakers, which now had Chamberlain.

Chamberlain, as well as Jerry West and Elgin Baylor always fell short to the Celtics. This year, alongside Gail Goodrich and Happy Hairston, and a very deep bench, which included future Laker's Coach Pat Riley the Lakers looked to beat the Celtics for the first time in the Finals. After taking the first two at home the Lakers returned to the Boston Garden to lose the next two. The Celtics then lost to Los Angeles in the Forum in Game 5, and the Celtics returned to the Boston Garden in game 6 and won that contest. Game Seven in the Finals was one of the most legendary ever played in the history of American sports. First Laker's owner Jack Kent Cooke had filled the rafters with purple and yellow balloons balloons and intended to drop them after the Lakers won. When word of this got back to Bill Russell, he told his teammates something to the affect of "We're going to have to do something about that." Also at the end of the game Wilt Chamberlain was taken out of the game by unpopular coach Butch van Breda Kolff. An explanation van Breda Kolff gave to Chamberlain was "we're doing fine without you." Without Chamberlain and an injured Jerry West, it was not enough to defeat the Celtics, who won by only two points.

Russell later said Chamberlain was week, and should have demanded to go back into the game. The two who were previous friends were now very distant. Russell knew that he had won, but he wanted to win over Chamberlain, and did not. No matter the game went to seven games when it should have been much shorter. The Celtics who were supposedly way past their prime were led by Bill Russell to their eleventh championship, they were only the third team to repeat a championship, the first were the Minneapolis Lakers, and the second were the Boston Celtics. Russell was truly nothing short of a champion.

Since his historic victory Russell has been active in broadcasting for NBA games, and occasionally coaching, including the Seattle Supersonics in the 1970s and the Sacramento Kings in the 1980s. He was not ready for the coaching job, and did an all around bad job, sadly enough. He is a best-selling author and thirty years after he won he remained a recognizable face and a legend. Until Michael Jordan he was almost unanimously acclaimed as the greatest player of all time, and some still think he is. But without Bill Russell there is no doubt the Boston Celtics would not be the rock-solid professional sports team they have become in their legendary run of championships.

One of the NBA's first superstars Julius Erving's high flying hard powered style brought the NBA and basketball to levels previously unheard of. Julius Erving was born in Hempstead New York in 1950. He grew up in a housing project, the son of a single mother, with two siblings. His father having left when he was three his mother remarried, and they moved to nearby Roosevelt, New York. His mother wanted his children to have a better life, and she realized that basketball might be a way out for his young son. Before going to high school Erving averaged 11 points a game with his Salvation Army team. At Roosevelt High school he began to flourish, competing in statewide tournaments, getting named on many occasions to various all Long Island teams, and receiving other different awards. Erving averages 26 points and 20 rebounds, one of the few players in NCAA History to average 20 of both statistics. In a time when few players left college early to join the Pros Julius Erving did just that. He signed with the ABA's Virginia Squires, a league which was not opposed to players entering professional basketball early. He signed with the Atlanta Hawks in 1973, but legal entanglements prevented him from playing with the team, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks, which also drafted him. By this time the ABA was talking about a merger with the NBA, but Oscar Robertson's player union was preventing this from taking place. The ABA was taking a lot of top flight players from college who would have had excellent careers in the NBA, as well as taking current NBA players and placing them on ABA rosters. For a time it seemed as though the NBA would submerge in favor of the ABA. However extremely lackluster ABA markets, unstable ownership, too many team moves, and lackluster ABA markets proved too much for the league. After starting with the Squires, Erving was traded to the Nets. He became an incredible scorer, an incredible talent, and considered to possibly be the most explosive basketball players period, he won a few championships, scoring titles, and was one of the all around best players in basketball. By 1976 the ABA was no longer a significant force, teams collapsed, owners and players were both disgruntled, and the ABA didn't have any significant talent to market, except for Dr. J. What is not clear is how he got his nickname, but it is thought that as a doctor he would cure anyone who thought they could take him on. It was a nickname he had since college. In a contractual dispute with his team he was bought by the Philadelphia, for a then record then 3 million. Erving had been a basketball icon for years, with his Afro, his intense style, and his in your face on the court manor. It played very well with his fans, and would become a staple in Philadelphia, joining a high flying spectacular team of Darryl Dawkins, Lloyd B. Free, and others. The team went to a 50-32 record, the undoubted leader of his team. However the spectacular team yet again fell to fundamentals. Erving advanced his team to the finals, winning the first two. Erving and his teammates has said the series was over before they started. However their opponents the Portland Trailblazers, led by Bill Walton. Walton led his team to four straight finals victories to win the teams first ever finals. For the next two years the Sixers became a fun team to watch, and they would go deep into the playoffs routinely, but they never could win. By 1979 the NBA was in crisis, ratings, and attendance were down. The NBA was perceived to be too black, too into drugs, and disco, and was viewed as too much for one part of society, no doubt a result of bigotry, as a large percentage of players in the NBA were black. But that year would be a watershed year for the NBA. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson entered, and Erving changed his image. He cut of his afro, made his image a little more clean, took the in your face element out of his game, but remained none-the-less spectacular. While he was a player with a lot of flair a lot of observers said his game was not nearly as flaring as it was in the ABA. But in 1980 Erving would rekindle an old rivalry, and start a new one. The old one came against arch-rival Boston, led by Larry Bird. That was a crucial match-up as both players were the undoubted leaders of their teams, and both were small forwards. But the Sixers were revamped as well, a little less spectacle, and a little more fundamental. This was obvious in new point guard Maurice Cheeks and defensive minded six man Bobby Jones. While the team beat Boston, they were no match for the Mgic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jamaal Wilkes, and the L.A. Lakers in the finals losing in six. Next year Philadelphia had the best record in the NBA, split with Boston. L.A. suffered that year and was eliminated in the first round, so everyone knew that Philadelphia and Boston would meet in the Conference finals, and more than likely would win the finals. The matchup was one of the classics. Philadelphia was now a much more fundamental team, while the Celtics were now revamped with new big men Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. In the Boston Garden the series was split in the first two games. The next two in Philadelphia's Spectrum Philly won. Boston won the next one in the Garden, then the next one in the Spectrum, the margins in most of these games were as low as 1 and as high as 3, Philadelphia in many of the game blowing leads. In Game 7 in Boston Garden it happened again. Philadelphia was up by as many as eleven, but in a very physical fourth quarter a Larry Bird field goal, the only field goal in the last two minutes stopped the Sixers yet again. The next year a hotly contested series with Boston went the Sixers way in seven but yet again they lost to the Lakers n the finals. In 1982 the Sixers realized they had a minor problem: they had great offense, and fair defense, a defense that really could not compete with the elite teams. The Sixers signed Moses Malone, getting rid of power forward Caldwell Jones to Houston. This team, led by Erving and Malone with a supporting cast of Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones, Mark Iavaroni, and an excellent bench, the team exploded and was considered one of the ten best ever. Moses Malone was MVP, Erving All Star MVP, both All NBA First Team, Bobby Jones was Sixth Man of the Year, leading the team to a 65-17 record. It was an NBA crowning achievement, proving to be the pride of Philadelphia, giving it's basketball team an elusive championship. But success proved fleeting for the Sixers. Next year the injured and aging Sixers lost in five in the first round to the upstart New Jersey Nets. While it was a sad way to go out it was obvious the Sixers especially Erving was older and not what he used to be. Despite that the team the next year would play the now stellar Boston Celtics in the conference finals, and lose in five. Afterward the Sixers never got to the conference finals again with Erving, despite acquiring emerging superstar, and legend Charles Barkley. He retired in 1987, a true legend in basketball, and in Philadelphia. He was considered an unofficial ambassador to the game, and also an avid philanthropist, helping the game reach heights of popularity never before seen. Since then Erving is on the board of directors of Coca Cola, a broadcaster for a short time, and always a legend who advertises and promotes the game.

Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945) is an American retired professional basketball player and radio analyst for his alma-mater Houston Cougars. He is a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, and an inductee in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In November 2007, Hayes became a City of Liberty Police Reserve Officer, fulfilling a childhood dream.

Anthony Davis is known for Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), Pierre the Pigeon-Hawk and House Party (2023). He has been married to Marlen P since 18 September 2021. They have one child.

Tim Duncan is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He spent his entire 19-year playing career with the Spurs.

In high school, he played basketball for St. Dunstan's Episcopal. In college, Duncan played for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and in his senior year, he earned the John Wooden Award as well as Naismith College Player of the Year.

After graduating from college, Duncan went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year after being selected by San Antonio with the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft. Widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time while also playing at center for the majority of his career he is considered one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history, he is a five-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA MVP, a three-time NBA Finals MVP, a 15-time NBA All-Star, and the only player to be selected to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams for 13 consecutive seasons.

Duncan was a member of five USA Basketball teams and played in 40 games.

Off the court, Duncan created the Tim Duncan Foundation to raise health awareness and to fund education and youth sports programs.

Patrick Ewing is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and head coach of the Georgetown University men's basketball team. He played most of his career as the starting center of the NBA's New York Knicks and also played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic.

Patrick Ewing played center for Georgetown for four years, where he played in the NCAA Championship Game three times and was named as the 16th greatest college player of all time by ESPN. He had an eighteen-year NBA career, predominantly playing for the New York Knicks, where he was an eleven-time all-star and named to seven All-NBA teams. The Knicks appeared in the NBA Finals twice (1994 & 1999) during his tenure. He won Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball teams. In a 1996 poll celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NBA, Ewing was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He is a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts (in 2008 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 Olympic team). Additionally he was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame as a member of the "Dream Team" in 2009. His number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003.

Victor Wembanyama is known for FanDuel Sports Network (2021), Court of Gold (2025) and UN1QUE (2023).

Artis Gilmore was born on 21 September 1949 in Chipley, Florida, USA. He is an actor, known for The White Shadow (1978), NBA Hardwood Classics (1990) and Bulls Podcast (2018). He has been married to Enola Gay since 1 July 1972. They have five children.

Kevin Garnett is an American former professional basketball player who played for 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Known for his intensity, defensive ability, and versatility, Garnett is considered one of the greatest power forwards of all time. He is one of four NBA players to win both the Most Valuable Player and the Defensive Player of the Year awards. He entered the 1995 NBA draft, where he was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years.

Garnett made an immediate impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves, leading them to eight consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004, he led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals and won the NBA MVP Award. Garnett has been named to 15 All-Star Games, winning the All-Star MVP award in 2003, and is tied for third-most All-Star selections with 15. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2007-08, and has been selected nine times for All-NBA Teams and 12 times for All-Defensive Teams. Garnett holds several Timberwolves franchise records.

In 2007, after 12 seasons with the Timberwolves, Garnett joined the Boston Celtics in a blockbuster trade. In his first year with the Celtics, he helped lead them to the NBA championship, while finishing in third place for the MVP award. In 2013, Garnett was included in a second headline trade that sent him to the Brooklyn Nets with longtime Celtic Paul Pierce. In 2015, Garnett was traded back to Minnesota.

He announced his retirement from professional basketball in September 2016. Garnett made his feature film debut, playing a fictionalized version of himself, in the 2019 film Uncut Gems (2019).

Walt Bellamy was born on 24 July 1939 in New Bern, North Carolina, USA. He was married to Helen Hollie Ragland. He died on 2 November 2013 in the USA.

Dikembe Mutombo is a Congolese American retired professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has become well known for his humanitarian work.

The 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m), 260-pound (120 kg) center, who began his career with the Georgetown Hoyas, is regarded as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times; he was also an eight-time All-Star. On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second most prolific shot blocker in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. He averaged a double-double for most of his career, and is 12th all-time in career double-doubles, and tied for second all-time in career triple doubles involving points, rebounds and blocks.

At the conclusion of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo announced his retirement. On September 11, 2015, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He is the oldest player in NBA history to collect over 20 rebounds in a game (40 years old, March 2, 2007 vs. Denver Nuggets).

Nate Thurmond was born on 25 July 1941 in Akron, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for Troika (1969), The Cardiac Kids and 1984 NBA Oldtimer's Game (1984). He was married to Marci. He died on 16 July 2016 in San Francisco, California, USA.

John Stockton is an American retired professional basketball player. He spent his entire NBA career (1984-2003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz, and the team made the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons. In 1997 and 1998, together with his longtime teammate Karl Malone, Stockton led the Jazz to the franchise's only two NBA Finals appearances. Stockton is a ten-time NBA All-Star and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2009 for his individual career, and in 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team "Dream Team"). In 1996, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. Stockton holds the NBA records for most career assists and steals by wide margins and is regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time.

John Stockton, along with other NBA stars, played on the basketball team in Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The 1992 team was the first U.S. Olympic squad to feature NBA players. The team became known as the Dream Team; the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame called it "the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet". Stockton also played on the 1996 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team. Stockton won gold medals with both the 1992 and 1996 teams.

Following his retirement, Stockton started coaching in youth teams, being an assistant on eight teams at once in 2003.

In 2013, Stockton released an autobiography entitled Assisted.

Robert Parish is an American retired basketball center who played 21 seasons in the NBA, tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,611 regular season games in his career. Parish was known for his strong defense, high arcing jump shots, and clutch rebounding late in games.

Parish was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. In 1996, Parish, along with teammates Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. In 1998, the Celtics retired Parish's famous #00 jersey number at halftime of a Celtics-Pacers game.

Overall, in 1611 NBA games, Parish averaged 14.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, shooting 53.7%. Parish holds NBA records for total career defensive rebounds (10,117) and most offensive rebounds in the playoffs (571).

Ben Wallace is an American retired professional basketball player.

A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University and signed with the Washington Bullets (later Wizards) as an undrafted free agent in 1996. In his NBA career, Wallace played with the Washington Bullets/Wizards, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers.

He won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo. In nine seasons with the Pistons (2000-2006; 2009-2012), Wallace made two NBA Finals appearances (2004 and 2005) and won a championship with the Pistons in 2004.

He is the only player in NBA history to record 1,000 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 100 steals in 4 consecutive seasons (2001-2004).

LeBron James is an American basketball player and film producer who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He is one of the most accomplished basketball players of the 21st century. He played himself in Space Jam: A New Legacy and Trainwreck. He is the owner of a film production company called SpringHill Company.

Rick Barry will go down as one of the greatest, albeit misunderstood and controversial, stars in basketball history. He was born in New Jersey and, after a successful high school career, enrolled at the University of Miami (Florida). With a dead-eye outside shot, Barry put Hurricane basketball on the map by averaging 29 and 37 points in his two seasons there, leading the nation in scoring his senior season. Barry was then picked 4th in the 1965 NBA Draft by the San Francisco Warriors. He picked up right where he left off, averaging 28 points a game as a rookie and 35 the next season, leading the NBA in scoring. That season, the Warriors reached the NBA Finals, where they lost to Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia 76ers in six games. Barry left his mark on those Finals, averaging 41 points in the six games and scoring 55 in one game.

In 1967, a new fledgling league was starting, the American Basketball Association, and many NBA players wanted to defect for higher pay, including Barry. But, the Warriors balked, saying Barry still had to fulfill his contract with them. Barry's argument was that the Oakland Oaks, the team he wanted to sign with, were coached by Bruce Hale, his old college coach and father-in-law. The NBA and Barry were locked in a legal dispute that lasted close to a season and a half, and Barry was painted as selfish, money-hungry, and ego-driven, even though other NBA players were trying to do the same thing. Barry won out in the end, and was allowed to join the Oaks with 35 games left in the 1968-69 season, becoming the first big NBA star to jump leagues. The Oaks, however, by then were coached by Alex Hannum, who replaced the fired Hale in 1968. Barry played enough in 1968-69 with the Oaks to qualify for the league scoring title, which he won, thus making him the only player to lead both leagues in scoring. More importantly, he led the Oaks to the ABA title over the Indiana Pacers.

As with many ABA teams, the Oaks had trouble making financial ends meet and had to move from Oakland to Washington, D.C., which didn't suit too well with Rick, who was quoted as saying, "If I wanted to go to Washington, I'd run for President!" Barry was forced by the league to report to the team and played the final 52 games of the 1969-70 season. After that season, the financially-strapped team was forced to move again, this time to Norfolk, Virginia, and adopt the name of the Virginia Squires. Barry openly rebelled against playing in the South, both to friends and the press, going so far as to say, "I don't want my son coming home and saying 'Howdy, ya'll!'" He forced the club to deal him to the New York Nets, where he played for two seasons.

In 1972, the now-Golden State Warriors found a loophole in Barry's contract that would force him to return to the NBA and to the Warriors. Barry complied, and played with them for seven seasons, including the 1974-75 season, where he led the Warriors to a shocking four-game sweep in the NBA Finals over the Washington Bullets. The Warriors traded Barry after the 1977-78 season to the Houston Rockets for John Lucas. He played two seasons for the Rockets before retiring in 1980.

Shaquille O'Neal is a retired professional American basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT. He is considered one of the greatest players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. He was one of the tallest and heaviest players ever. O'Neal played for six teams over his 19-year career.

O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999-2000 MVP award, the 1992-93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998. Largely due to his ability to dunk the basketball, O'Neal ranks third all-time in field goal percentage (58.2%). O'Neal was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. He was elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2017.

In addition to his basketball career, O'Neal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. O'Neal is an electronic music producer, and touring DJ, known as Diesel. He has appeared in numerous films and has starred in his own reality shows.

Mark Eaton was born on 24 January 1957 in Inglewood, California, USA. He was married to Teri. He died on 28 May 2021 in Summit County, Utah, USA.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963. He was the fourth of five children born to James and Deloris. James Jordan was a mechanic and Deloris Jordan was a bank teller. Soon after Michael's birth, James and Deloris felt that the streets of Brooklyn were unsafe to raise a family, so they moved the family to Wilmington, North Carolina.

As a youngster, Michael immediately became interested in sports. However, it was baseball not basketball that was his first love. He would play catch in the yard with his father, who loved baseball. He soon started to play basketball to try and follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Larry, whom he idolized growing up.

At Laney High School, as a sophomore, he decided to try out for the varsity team but was cut because he was raw and undersized. The following summer, he grew four inches and practiced tirelessly. The hard work paid off as he averaged 25 points per game in his last two years and was selected to the McDonald's All-American Team as a senior.

Following high school, he earned a basketball scholarship from North Carolina University where he would play under legendary coach Dean Smith. In his first year, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year. He would help lead the Tarheels to the 1982 NCAA Championship, making the game-winning shot.

After winning the Naismith College Player of the Year award in 1984, Jordan decided to leave North Carolina to enter the NBA draft. Although he decided to leave college early, he would later return to the university in 1986 to complete his degree in geography.

In the 1984 NBA draft, he was selected with the third overall pick by the Chicago Bulls. As a rookie for the Bulls, he made an immediate impact, averaging an amazing 28.2 points a game, including six games where he scored 40+ points. He was selected to the NBA All-Star Game and named Rookie of the Year. This would just be the beginning of a career filled with awards and accolades. In the upcoming years, he would go on to win five regular season MVP awards, six NBA championships, six NBA finals MVP awards, three All-Star game MVP awards, and a defensive player of the year award.

In 1993, tragedy struck Jordan's seemingly perfect life. On July 23, 1993, his father, James, was murdered off Interstate 95 in North Carolina. Two locals had robbed him, shot him in the chest and threw his body in a swamp.

Three months later on October 6, 1993, following a run of three consecutive NBA championships, Jordan announced his retirement from basketball citing that "he no longer had the desire to play." Now "retired" at age 33, it was uncertain what Jordan would do next. Would he take a year off out of the public eye to grieve and then come back to the Bulls? Would he go out and look for a white collar job in the field of geography, his college major? Or would he take up a completely different hobby like golf?

In early 1994, Jordan decided to take up a new hobby alright. However, it wasn't golf. It was baseball. Despite not playing baseball since high school some 13 years ago, he signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox in 1994. He played one unspectacular season for the Double-A Birmingham Barons.

On March 18, 1995, Jordan, a man of few words since his retirement, sent two important words to media sources everywhere: "I'm Back". He celebrated his return to the NBA by doing what he always did best: winning. Although the Bulls would lose in the playoffs to the Orlando Magic, it was obvious that Jordan was still the same superstar player. He would go on to lead the Bulls to three more consecutive NBA championships and etch his place in the history as the "NBA's greatest player of all-time".

On January 13, 1999, Jordan re-announced his retirement, saying that "he was 99.9 percent sure that he would never play again". Soon after, Jordan became part owner of the Washington Wizards.

Near the start of the 2001-02 season, there were hints that Jordan may try another comeback to the NBA. On September 25, 2001, Jordan confirmed those rumors, announcing that he would once again return to the NBA as a member of the Wizards. His two seasons in Washington were mediocre at best. His statistics were solid and he showed some flashes of his old self but he could not lead the Wizards to the playoffs and missed several games due to injury. He retired for good following the 2002-03 season and was subsequently dismissed as president of the Washington Wizards.

In June 2006, he became part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Later that year, he filed for divorce from Juanita, his wife of 17 years. They have three children together.

Jerry West was born on 28 May 1938 in Chelyan, West Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Uncle Drew (2018), Vince's Places (2022) and Arli$$ (1996). He was married to Karen Christine Bua and Martha Jane Kane. He died on 12 June 2024 in Los Angeles, California, USA.