Coming in October: Top 50 NBA Players of the 21st Century
Ten years ago, just like any other well-adjusted 24 year old would, I spent the entirety of my summer relentlessly deep-diving the first 17 NBA seasons of the 21st Century in order to put together a list of the Top 50 basketball players of that very same time period. The exercise itself was deliriously fun, wildly informative, only slightly frustrating in retrospect — there are more than a handful of rankings that I look back on with some semblance of regret — and a perfect jumping off point for the next version of this list… a version that will exist in perpetuity right here on NBA Campfire.
The 2026 update of the Top 50 NBA Players of the 21st Century list will be published on October 1st, and unlike version 1.0, which was a stagnant compilation of 50 player-specific editorials, the NBA Campfire version of the list will be one single living, breathing document that will be revised on the 1st day of each month with fresh stats and amended rankings as I see fit. For the sake of transparency, below is the criteria I will be using to evaluate every player considered for a spot on this elaborate list.
Status– What kind of role did he occupy on his teams? Was he the alpha dog? A second option? A third banana? A role player? How well did he fill this respective role? Think of it like this: If we’re exploring the Christopher Nolan cinematic universe, measuring characters against one another, I’d have Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight ranked higher than Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb in Inception, even though Leo was the lead in Inception and Ledger got second-billing behind Christian Bale in The Dark Knight. It’s a similar to the way we would think when comparing Scottie Pippen, the second option in Chicago for years behind Michael Jordan, to Clyde Drexler, the number one guy on very good but not quite great Portland Trail Blazers teams for a decade. Pippen will rank higher than Drexler on virtually any all-time list even though he was only cast as The Guy in Chicago for a season-and-a-half, and that is in part due to the fact that Pippen was arguably one of the highest level number two guys in league history, while Drexler provided only about 80 percent of what a team would want out of their number one guy.
Team Success - How successful were the teams that this player played for? How often was his team a title contender? How much help did he have? How much of an individual impact did he have on the win/loss record of his team?
Big Moment Chops - Did he rise to the occasion in big games? Does he have a track record of coming through down the stretch? Was he considered clutch? Actually, let’s disregard that last question. For a period of time that lasted for so long that it now seems incomprehensible, the general consensus was that LeBron James was not clutch. So whether or not a player was “considered” clutch is irrelevant. Allow me to try that again … was he actually clutch?
Longevity – Did he have an impact for a long period of time? What kind of player was he before, during and after his prime? Did he stay relatively healthy throughout his career? This point in the criteria is closely related to …
Power at his Peak – At his absolute apex, where did this player rank in the league? Where does that peak rank among the best peaks of the 21st Century? How long did that peak last? Does a significant peak make up for lack of longevity?
Numbers and Accolades– What were the players’ averages in the major statistical categories? Did he win any individual awards? Did he make an All-NBA team, All-Defensive Team, or any teams that I made up on my own but seemed relevant during this process?
Talent – Forget about the amount of success this player achieved during his career, because that’s occasionally dependent on the situation he finds himself in… simply put, how skilled at the game of basketball was he?
Reputation – How do fans feel about his career? How well received was he when he was in the league? Did guys want to play with him? Did he do little things that made his team better or was he out for himself? Was he known as a hard worker and leader, or someone who didn’t care as much about the right stuff as he should’ve?
How Does He Stand Out– Was he fun to watch? Was he ever considered must watch television for otherwise unbiased basketball junkies? Were there elements or aspects of his game that made him completely unique from anyone else in the league? Did he change the game of basketball or how we think about basketball in any way?
Make sure to check back on October 1st to take a look at the first edition of the NBA Campfire Top 50 Players of the 21st Century rankings!
