Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is an American former 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. NBA coach Pat Riley and players Isiah Thomas and Julius Erving called him the greatest basketball player of all time.
Michael Jeffrey Jordan, also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and businessman. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He was integral in helping to popularize the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s, becoming a global cultural icon in the process. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. He is the principal owner and chairman of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and of 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series.
LeBron Raymone James Sr. is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest players in NBA history and is frequently compared to Michael Jordan in debates over the greatest basketball player ever. The only player to have won NBA championships with three franchises as NBA Finals MVP, James has competed in ten NBA Finals, eight of them consecutively with the Heat and the Cavaliers from 2011 to 2018. His accomplishments include four NBA championships, four NBA MVP awards, four NBA Finals MVP awards, and two Olympic gold medals. During his 18-year career, James holds the record for all-time playoffs points, is third in all-time points, and eighth in career assists. James has been selected to the All-NBA Team a record 17 times, made the NBA All-Defensive First Team five times, and has been named an All-Star 17 times, including three All-Star MVP selections. In 2021, he was selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo is a Congolese-American former professional basketball player. Mutombo played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Outside basketball, he has become well known for his humanitarian work.
Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played both Major League Baseball and in the National Basketball Association. With a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for his five-year role as Lucas McCain in the highly rated ABC series The Rifleman (1958–63).
Carmelo Kyam Anthony is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been named an NBA All-Star ten times and an All-NBA Team member six times. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange, winning a national championship as a freshman in 2003 while being named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player. During the NBA's 75th anniversary, he was named one of the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Paul Anthony Pierce is an American former professional basketball player who played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), predominantly with the Boston Celtics. He was most recently an analyst on ESPN's basketball programs The Jump and NBA Countdown.
Kenneth Bernard Faried Lewis is an American professional basketball player for CSKA Moscow of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague. Known as The Manimal due to his defense and dreadlocks, he attended Morehead State University for four years, twice being named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. He finished his collegiate career as the NCAA all-time leading rebounder in the post-1973 era with 1,673 rebounds. He was selected 22nd overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets.
Tristan Trevor James Thompson is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas Longhorns before being drafted fourth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA draft. He has also played for the Canadian national team. Thompson won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016.
Jabari Ali Parker is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, after one season of playing for Duke University. Parker was a standout high school athlete, helping his team win four straight Illinois state championships for Simeon Career Academy, and was named the National High School Player of the Year by Gatorade and McDonald's. In his freshman year for the 2013–14 Duke Blue Devils, he was named a consensus first-team All-American, the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, and the runner-up for the John R. Wooden Award. Despite being among the most accomplished high school basketball players in American history, Parker has been often referred to as a draft bust due to his lack of success in the NBA.
Jahlil Obika Okafor is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player. He played his freshman season of college for the 2014–15 Duke national championship team. He was selected with the third overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He has previously played in the NBA for the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans and the Detroit Pistons.
Andrew Christian Wiggins is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
Kiefer Isaac Crisologo Ravena is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Shiga Lakestars of the Japanese B.League. Ravena played for the Ateneo Blue Eagles of the UAAP during his college days. He plays the point guard position.
Benjamin David Simmons is an Australian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the Louisiana State University (LSU) Tigers, after which he was named a consensus first-team All-American and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year. Simmons was selected with the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the 76ers. After sitting out a year due to an injured right foot, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and was selected three times to the NBA All-Star Game.
Lauri Elias Markkanen is a Finnish professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In the 2017 NBA draft, he was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the seventh overall pick before being included in a trade to the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler. He is the son of Finnish basketball players Pekka and Riikka Markkanen, and the younger brother of footballer Eero Markkanen.
Deandre Edoneille Chidike Ayton is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 Conference in the 2017–18 season and was a consensus five-star prospect in the Class of 2017, as well as a McDonald's All-American. Ayton was selected with the first overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft by the Suns. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2019. In 2021, Ayton helped lead the Phoenix Suns to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1993 after breaking out as one of the best centers in the league in the playoffs.
Pascal Siakam is a Cameroonian professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Siakam played college basketball for the New Mexico State Aggies and was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2016. Nicknamed "Spicy P", he was selected by Toronto with the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NBA draft. After being assigned to the NBA Development League as a rookie in 2017, he led Toronto’s affiliate team to a league championship and picked up Finals Most Valuable Player honors in the process. Siakam would later help the Raptors claim an NBA championship in 2019 while winning the league's Most Improved Player Award in the same season, the first player to win both during the same season. He was named an NBA All-Star for the first time as a starter in the 2019–20 season. He made his first All-NBA Team in 2020.
Lonzo Anderson Ball is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, he played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins, earning consensus first-team All-American honors before the Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the second overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2018.
LaMelo LaFrance Ball is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft.
Rayford Trae Young is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2017, he tied the then-record in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I single-game assists with 22. Young became the only player to ever lead the NCAA in both points and assists in a single season. He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA draft with the fifth pick, and later traded to the Atlanta Hawks, along with a future first-round pick, for the draft rights to Luka Dončić. He joined Dončić in a unanimous selection to the 2019 NBA All-Rookie First Team.
