Bill Russell
Stephen Curry
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Bill Russell leads 3 of 3 categories. Our all-time ranking places Bill Russell at #4 and Stephen Curry at #11.
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The case for Bill Russell
The greatest winner in the history of North American team sports, and the player who invented modern defense. Russell won 11 championships in 13 seasons, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966, and captured the last two, 1968 and 1969, as a player-coach — having become the first Black head coach in major US professional sports in 1966. His five MVPs trail only Kareem and tie Jordan, and his career averages of 22.5 rebounds against 15.1 points describe a superstar whose dominance ran entirely through defense, rebounding and outlet passing — shot-blocking as a tactical system rather than a highlight. In winner-take-all games, Game 5s and Game 7s combined, his record was a flawless 10–0. He arrived in Boston already a serial winner: back-to-back NCAA titles at San Francisco amid a 55-game winning streak, plus 1956 Olympic gold, meaning he won 13 championships in his final 15 seasons of organized basketball. His head-to-head playoff record against Wilt Chamberlain's teams, 7 series to 1, is the debate's ultimate trump card.
The case for Stephen Curry
The most influential player of the modern era and the man who repriced the sport. Curry has won four championships with Golden State (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022), two regular-season MVPs — including the first unanimous MVP in league history in 2016 — and the 2022 Finals MVP that answered the last question about his resume. He is the greatest shooter who has ever lived by a wide margin: the all-time leader in three-pointers made, past 4,000 and climbing, having broken Ray Allen's career record in December 2021 with hundreds of games in hand. His 2015–16 season paired 30.1 points per game with a then-record 402 threes and powered a 73–9 team that broke the 1996 Bulls' win record. The deeper case is systemic — his off-ball movement and 30-foot range force defenses to guard the entire halfcourt, warping coverages without the ball and accelerating the three-point revolution more than any player since the shot clock. Rankings that omitted him a decade ago now routinely seat him among the ten greatest ever.