We are a week removed from the NBA Finals and its result shook the foundation of my Top 100 (and should have shaken everyone’s Top lists). So let’s look through my Top 100 and see what’s changed.

Dropped out: Mark Price
Unfortunately for Price a new player has joined the Top 100, and that means Price drops out. Perhaps next year I’ll expand to a Top 125.

100. Tom Chambers (-1)
99. Tim Hardaway (-1)
98. Manu Ginobili (-1) – Could be a big playoffs away from going up about 10 spots, but it looks like he’s done and may retire.
97. Alonzo Mourning (-1)
96. Dikembe Mutombo (-1)
95. Yao Ming (-1)
94. Vince Carter (-1) – I feel like I have to re-evaluate Carter in the future. Is he really better than Mutombo, Mourning, Yao?
93. Carmelo Anthony (-1) – Needs something to move up. Not making the playoffs in the East these days is inexcusable if you’re a top player.
92. Kevin Johnson (-1)
91. Shawn Kemp (-1)

Everyone in this group dropped a spot as the new entry is already in the 80s.

90. Robert Horry (-1)
89. Chris Mullin (-1)
88. Bob Dandridge (-1)
87. Paul Westphal (-1)
86. Dan Issel (-1)
85. Artis Gilmore (-1)
84. Russell Westbrook (NEW) – With his first NBA 1st Team selection, as well as being part of a dangerous 1-2 punch with Kevin Durant that almost beat the 73 win Warriors, it was impossible to deny Westbrook a Top 100 spot. I feel like he’s at the level of Tracy McGrady at the moment, but Westbrook is still young and will probably only trend upwards.
83. Tracy McGrady
82. Joe Dumars
81. Sidney Moncrief

Westbrook’s the only new player in the Top 100.
80. Lenny Wilkins
79. Earl Monroe
78. Tony Parker – Looking like he’s close to done as well. Will need a big season or playoffs to really move up at all.
77. Chris Webber
76. David Thompson
75. Jerry Lucas
74. Pete Maravich
73. Dwight Howard (-1) – Drops a spot to Bosh, will explain below.
72. Chris Bosh (+1) – Passes Howard, will explain below.
71. Dennis Rodman

Really liked how Chris Bosh played this year, even though he unfortunately was done after 53 games because of his heart (and his career might be over). While Dwight performed below expectations once again Bosh was the leader of a Heat team that I think could have given Cleveland a run for their money had he been healthy. Combine this with Bosh’s transformation as a top role player/third guy on the Heat title teams and I think his career is slightly more impressive than Howards. Yeah, Dwight had a better peak, but I’ll take Bosh’s overall career this time. Dwight SHOULD be better than what he is though.

70. Adrian Dantley
69. Alex English
68. Bob McAdoo
67. Tom Heihnson
66. Tiny Archibald
65. Pau Gasol – Impressive that Gasol keeps going, but I think I need to see one more good playoff run to consider putting him in the Top 60.
64. Reggie Miller
63. Bill Sharmin
62. Dave Debusschere
61. Robert Parish

No movement here. Only one that can change their legacy is Gasol.
60. Bernard King
59. Elvin Hayes
58. Dolph Schayes
57. Paul Arizin
56. Dominique Wilkins
55. Billy Cunningham (-1)
54. Hal Greer (-1)
53. Nate Thurmond (-1)
52. Wes Unseld (-1)
51. Chris Paul (+4)

CP3 is one of the toughest to rank. His advanced stats are incredible and he’s clearly a positive on his team. How much of it is his fault that he can’t get out of Round 2? Yes, he keeps running into the juggernauts of the West, but he should have at least been able to get by some of them, right? (He had home court vs. the Spurs in 2008 in Game 7 and was up 3-1 on the Rockets in 2015). I think in terms of success CP3 isn’t much different than Dominique. They just can’t get past those juggernauts of their respective conferences. This year injuries cost Paul a chance at a deep playoff run. But he’s running out of time. He’ll probably inch towards the top 40 with these continual great seasons, but unless there’s some playoff success that’s probably as far as he’d go.

50. James Worthy
49. Dennis Johnson
48. Bill Walton (-1)
47. Ray Allen (-1)
46. Chauncey Billups (-1)
45. George Gervin (-1)
44. Sam Jones (-1)
43. Clyde Drexler (-1)
42. George Mikan (-1)
41. Jason Kidd (-1)

We had one player move up…we’ll get there eventually.
40. Paul Pierce (-1)
39. Allen Iverson (-1)
38. Gary Payton (-1)
37. Patrick Ewing (-1)
36. Dave Cowens (-2)
35. Steve Nash (-2)
34. Kevin Durant (+1) – It seems like a minimal move for Durant. On one hand I was super impressed that he got past the Spurs. On the other hand, he needed one more really big performance to get past Golden State and didn’t get it done. His career is impressive no doubt, but I’m going to need more for him to break into the Top 30.
33. Kevin McHale (-1)
32. Walt Frazier (-1)
31. Willis Reed (-1)

All of these drops are because of the player who went up from the 40s. Durant obviously has potential to move up a lot depending on how things go from here.

30. Rick Barry (-1)
29. Bob Cousy (-1)
28. John Stockon (-1)
27. Stephen Curry (+20) – I was ready to put him into the Top 15 until the collapse against the Spurs happened. Despite an incredible year (.318 WS/48!) and a unanimous MVP, we’re left at the end of the season wonder if he’s even the league’s best player (he’s not). He’s failed to dominate in two straight Finals now, winning the first one arguably because the 2015 Cavs were decimated by injuries and simply overmatched. He’s still headed to the Top 20 (and maybe Top 10), but the train definitely slowed down in the Finals.
26. David Robinson
25. Elgin Baylor
24. John Havlicek
23. Bob Pettit
22. Scottie Pippen
21. Isiah Thomas

Only change here is the addition of Curry.

20. Dwyane Wade – Had a chance to add onto his legacy but couldn’t get it done. His best days are past him, but a surprisingly good run could get him to the Top 15.
19. Karl Malone
18. Charles Barkley
17. Julius Erving
16. Oscar Robertson
15. Wilt Chamberlain
14. Kevin Garnett
13. Dirk Nowitzki – As impressive that he’s still the key member of some solid playoff teams, any shot at the Top 10 is probably dead.
12. Jerry West
11. Moses Malone

No changes here. Only Wade and Nowitzki can change their legacies (and perhaps Garnett?)

10. Kobe Bryant – These last three seasons did nothing for me to think he deserves to go any higher. This past season was especially embarrassing and held back the Laker future.
9. Hakeem Olajuwon
8. Shaquille O’Neal
7. Larry Bird
6. Tim Duncan (-1) – Looks like he’s run out of gas, which is a shame. While I wouldn’t rule him out of being an elite role player next year I don’t know if that’s going to be enough to get back into the Top 5.
5. Magic Johnson (-1)
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (-1)
3. LeBron James (+3) – We’ll get to the Kareem vs. LeBron vs. Russell arguments shortly.
2. Bill Russell
1. Michael Jordan

LeBron James obviously put himself into GOAT discussion with his 2016 NBA Finals performance. I still think he has a bit to go to get to MJ (but at least it’s a discussion. That wasn’t guaranteed at all at this point), but he CAN get there. I think he clearly gets to jump Duncan and Magic here. Kareem was a tough choice, but I think LeBron’s been more impressive against better average talent than Kareem was in the 70s (not to say Kareem wasn’t impressive against good teams, it’s just that I find LeBron to be better). Lebron vs. Russell you can go back and forth with all day and I thought about it for a few days. For me it becomes a bit of a hardware argument. It’s not to say LeBron needs 11 rings, but I’d like to see #4 or #5 before I’m taking him over the best winner in NBA history.