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Best NBA Centers of All-Time

Can you name the best NBA players who played mostly center during their careers?
According to an NBA poll of experts. Full list of top players here.
Active players in bold.
Team = team with which they played the most games.
Quiz by AlexC99
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Last updated: October 5, 2019
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First submittedOctober 24, 2014
Times taken41,725
Average score60.0%
Rating4.00
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#
Team
Player
1
Lakers
Kareem-Abdul Jabbar
2
Warriors
Wilt Chamberlain
3
Celtics
Bill Russell
4
Lakers
Shaquille O'Neal
5
Rockets
Hakeem Olajuwon
6
Rockets
Moses Malone
7
Spurs
David Robinson
8
Knicks
Patrick Ewing
9
Lakers
George Mikan
10
Trail Blazers
Bill Walton
11
Knicks`
Willis Reed
12
Braves
Bob McAdoo
13
Bullets
Wes Unseld
#
Team
Player
14
Celtics
Dave Cowens
15
Grizzlies
Pau Gasol
16
Celtics
Robert Parish
17
Heat
Alonzo Mourning
18
Magic
Dwight Howard
19
Pistons
Bob Lanier
20
Bulls
Artis Gilmore
21
Nuggets
Dikembe Mutombo
22
Raptors
Chris Bosh
23
Rockets
Yao Ming
24
Warriors
Nate Thurmond
25
Grizzlies
Marc Gasol
28 Comments
+2
Level 61
Oct 13, 2019
very nice list, agree with most of them, though I think Hakeem and Shaq are better than Bill and maybe Wilt
+3
Level 77
Dec 3, 2019
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.
+1
Level ∞
Dec 3, 2019
Wilt was actually worse than Shaq at free throws. Russell was extremely bad as well.
+2
Level 58
Dec 10, 2019
Hakeem dominated Shaq in every head to head matchup.
+1
Level 44
May 10, 2021
dude better than Wilt go look up records, Wilt holds bout half
+2
Level 65
Dec 3, 2019
Placing Wilt Chamberlain above Bill Russell is an insult to the sport of basketball. Does 11 championships mean nothing to these "experts?"
+4
Level 64
Dec 3, 2019
If they'd played horse, Wilt would have killed him. It takes a team.
+5
Level 71
Dec 4, 2019
Player-wise Wilt is by far the superior player, Bill Russel had the best team in the league for 13 seasons
+2
Level 82
Dec 4, 2019
Russell is a winner, it doesn't mean he is the best individual player. Chamberlain just wasn't a winner.
+3
Level 78
Oct 6, 2020
True...I'm a big fan of including Robert Horry in my list of greatest players of all time. He's got 7 championships after all. These experts clearly know nothing.
+1
Level 20
Mar 5, 2021
Russell had 7 other Hall of Famers with him at the time. If Wilt was in his situation he would've done just as well if not better. The fact that Wilt even managed to beat that intensely stacked team even once is insane by itself.
+1
Level 42
May 17, 2022
Bro wilt scored a hundred points, won the scoring title a bunch of times, but didn’t win any championships but who cares. Bill russells ppg average was 15.1 and wilts was 30.1. Do u guys not imagine how much wilt would destroy bill with just one shot?
+2
Level 29
Feb 1, 2020
Bosh was a power forward
+2
Level 24
Apr 16, 2020
Played center on the Raptors
+1
Level 29
Mar 18, 2020
You should add Hawks for Mutombo because that's where a lot of people remember him
+1
Level 35
Jun 1, 2020
Half of these aren’t centers
+1
Level 19
Apr 25, 2021
hakeem needs to be much higher...
+1
Level 46
Jan 28, 2022
bosh isn't a center
+1
Level 42
May 17, 2022
He kinda played center when he was on the heat but played center on the raptors
+1
Level 23
Jun 27, 2022
Ben F***** Wallace!
+2
Level 60
Jan 6, 2023
The Elder Gasol is retired
+1
Level 72
Sep 7, 2023
Hard to take a list of centers seriously that excludes Karl Malone and Ben Wallace.
+1
Level 60
Feb 8, 2024
Malone wasn't a center. Idk why Ben Wallace was excluded though.
+3
Level 64
Nov 21, 2023
It's funny coming back to this quiz in 2023 and thinking how high Jokic and Embiid have quickly climbed up this list in just 3-4 years
+1
Level 39
Jun 3, 2024
No Tim Duncan?
+1
Level 19
Oct 2, 2024
he's a pf
+1
Level 76
Sep 10, 2024
update pls
+1
Level 65
Oct 15, 2024
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?