Hard to compare eras. Look at Russell's rebounding stats, Wilt's scoring. Shaq was the most dominant player I've ever seen except for the foul line. That foul line problem, however, was a very big one. Hakeem was great, but #5 seems about right to me.
Marc Gasol? What the hell is he even doing here, what he acomplished in his career to be here as one of the best? There's no Sabonis, who was literally a legend as a Center, but this one is included?
Chamberlain absolutely dominated Russell. Russell shot less than 40% against him and averaged fewer rebounds and fewer assists. Russell just had the better teams.
I'd be sincerely interested in an actual rebuttal, if you have one. Russell had Cousy, Sam Jones, Heinsohn, Havlicek, etc. When Chamberlain had help (Greer, Cunningham, West, etc.) he won.
After finally winning an NBA championship in '82 with the Lakers, I recall one sportswriter summarizing Bob McAdoo's (pronounced MACK-uh-doo) roller coaster career, noting the criticism he'd endured:
"McAdoo, McA-don't. McA-will, McA-won't. This time, McA-did."
Dave Cowens is criminally underrated. MVP, 2 championships, 8x all-star, 3x all-NBA and 3x all-defense. At least 10 guys ranked above him don't have half of that hardware.
"McAdoo, McA-don't. McA-will, McA-won't. This time, McA-did."
Cowens is a 2x Finals MVP and a 1x regular season MVP. And he's below Bosh, Parish, Embiid, and Pau Gasol. JOKE.
Also, Ewing never won an MVP or a championship. How is he over Reed, Mikan, and Bill Walton?
Wilt over Hakeem and Jokic is a joke. I swear Jokic will go down as one of the more underrated players ever.
Moses Malone behind the Admiral? What are we doing? I'm a fan of the Admiral, but over Malone? C'mon now.