Big men are back. Honestly, if you told a basketball fan in 2012 that the NBA would eventually be ruled by 7-footers again, they’d have laughed in your face. Back then, it was all about the "death of the center." Everyone wanted to be the next Steph Curry. But look at the league now. Nikola Jokić, Joel Embiid, and Victor Wembanyama have made the paint relevant again.
Yet, when we talk about the best NBA centers ever, the conversation gets messy fast. You’ve got the old-school purists who swear by Bill Russell’s rings. You’ve got the stat-heads who worship at the altar of Wilt Chamberlain’s box scores. And then you’ve got the "eye test" crowd that says Shaq would have eaten everyone for breakfast.
It’s a debate that never ends. Mostly because the position has changed so much. A center in 1965 was basically a human pogo stick who blocked shots and stayed within five feet of the rim. Today? A center is a point guard in a giant's body.
The Unreachable Peak of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem is the standard. Period. People sometimes forget how absurd his resume actually is because he was so quiet and consistent. We’re talking about six MVP awards. Six. No one else has more than five. He played 20 seasons and was an All-Star in 19 of them.
The skyhook was basically a cheat code. It was the most unguardable shot in the history of the game. If you were a defender in the 70s or 80s, what were you even supposed to do? You couldn't block it. You couldn't really contest it without fouling.
Kareem’s longevity is what usually ends the debate for me. He won a championship in Milwaukee in 1971 as a dominant young force named Lew Alcindor. Then, 17 years later, he was still a key starter for the "Showtime" Lakers winning titles in 1988. That kind of sustained excellence is basically unheard of. He didn't just play a long time; he was elite for a long time.
Wilt vs. Russell: The Infinite Loop
You can’t mention one without the other. It’s like Batman and the Joker.
Wilt Chamberlain was a statistical anomaly. He once averaged 50.4 points per game for an entire season. Just think about that for a second. That isn't a typo. He also had a game where he grabbed 55 rebounds. In terms of raw physical dominance, Wilt was probably the most gifted athlete to ever step on a court.
But then there's Bill Russell.
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Russell had 11 rings. Eleven! He has more rings than he has fingers. While Wilt was hunting 100-point games, Russell was hunting wins. He transformed the way defense was played. He didn't just block shots; he directed them toward his teammates to start the fast break.
People argue about this constantly. Would you rather have the guy who puts up 50 and 25 (Wilt) or the guy who ensures your team wins the trophy every single year (Russell)? Honestly, there’s no right answer, but the scoreboard usually favors the guy from Boston.
The Most Dominant Force: Shaq and Hakeem
If we’re talking about the 90s and early 2000s, the best NBA centers ever discussion narrows down to two names: Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Shaq was a bulldozer. From 1999 to 2002, there was no player on earth who could stop him. He was 325 pounds of pure muscle and surprisingly quick feet. Teams used to sign "Shaq stoppers"—guys whose only job was to commit six fouls against him—just to survive. He’s the only player other than Michael Jordan to win three straight Finals MVPs.
Then you have Hakeem "The Dream."
If Shaq was a bulldozer, Hakeem was a surgeon. His footwork was legendary. The "Dream Shake" left the best defenders in the world looking like they were wearing roller skates. In 1994, Hakeem did something no one else has ever done: he won MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP in the same season.
I’ll never forget the 1995 Finals. A young Shaq went up against a prime Hakeem. Shaq actually played great, averaging 28 and 12, but Hakeem was on another planet. He swept the Magic and proved that skill and finesse could still overcome raw power.
The Modern Shift: Jokić and the New Guard
Where do the new guys fit in?
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Nikola Jokić is currently rewriting the book. He’s already a three-time MVP. He leads the break, he shoots threes, and he passes better than most Hall of Fame point guards. He’s basically a 7-foot Larry Bird.
Some people struggle to put him in the top tier because he doesn't look like a traditional athlete. He isn't jumping over the backboard or ripping rims down. But the efficiency is undeniable. When you look at advanced metrics like PER (Player Efficiency Rating) or Win Shares, Jokić isn't just "good"—he's statistically rubbing shoulders with Wilt and Jordan.
Joel Embiid is in the mix too. When he’s healthy, he might be the most talented scoring center we’ve ever seen. He has the post game of Hakeem and the shooting touch of a guard. The only thing holding him back from the "all-time" top five is postseason success and, unfortunately, his knees.
Why Moses Malone is Always Disrespected
It drives me crazy that people leave Moses Malone out of these conversations. The man won three MVPs! He was the "Chairman of the Boards."
In 1983, he joined a 76ers team that kept losing to the Lakers and told everyone they would go "Fo', Fo', Fo'" (meaning they'd sweep every round). They almost did it, losing only one game on their way to a title. Moses absolutely destroyed a prime Kareem in those Finals.
He wasn't flashy. He didn't have a signature shoe that everyone bought. He just went to work, grabbed every offensive rebound in sight, and put the ball in the hoop. If you're building a list of the best NBA centers ever and Moses isn't in your top seven, you're doing it wrong.
Breaking Down the "Greatest" Metrics
How do you actually rank these guys? It usually comes down to what you value most.
- Winning: Russell (11 titles), Kareem (6 titles).
- Raw Dominance: Wilt (50 PPG season), Shaq (3 straight Finals MVPs).
- Skill & Versatility: Hakeem (All-time blocks leader + steals), Jokić (The triple-double king).
- Longevity: Kareem (20 years of elite play).
The reality is that David Robinson or Patrick Ewing would be the best player in the league in almost any other era. But because they played at the same time as Hakeem and Shaq, they get pushed down the list. Robinson had a 71-point game and a quadruple-double. Ewing was the heart and soul of those gritty 90s Knicks. They’re legends, but the center position is just that deep.
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What’s Next for the Big Man?
The game is still evolving. Victor Wembanyama is a 7-foot-4 alien who can handle the ball like a wing and block shots at the perimeter. In ten years, we might be talking about him as the greatest to ever do it.
But for now, the throne belongs to the giants of the past.
If you want to understand the history of the league, start by watching old tape of Hakeem’s footwork or Kareem’s skyhook. It’s a masterclass.
To really settle your own "best centers" debate, try this: stop looking at just the rings or just the points. Look at how they changed the rules. The NBA widened the lane because of George Mikan and Wilt. They banned dunking for a while because of Kareem (then Lew Alcindor) in college. They changed the zone defense rules because of Shaq.
When a player is so good that the league has to change the literal rules of the game to stop them? That’s when you know you’re looking at an all-time great.
Go back and look at the head-to-head stats between these legends. Check out the 1995 Finals box scores or the 1971 Western Conference Finals. You'll see that even among the gods of the game, there were levels.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Watch the Footwork: Go to YouTube and search for "Hakeem Olajuwon post moves." Even if you don't play, seeing the "Dream Shake" in slow motion helps you understand why he’s ranked so high.
- Compare the Eras: Look at the pace of play in the 1960s versus the 1990s. Wilt's stats are inflated by a much faster pace, while the 90s were a slow-down, physical grind.
- Track the Modern Game: Follow the shooting percentages of Jokić and Embiid. They are doing things from the perimeter that Bill Russell couldn't have dreamed of, and it’s changing what we expect from a "center" in the future.