10 Best Centers In NBA History, Ranked

The Center is arguably the most important position in basketball, as it is a key aspect defensively to block, steal and grab rebounds, but it is also pivotal on offense to score points and preserve possession of the ball. To be a Center, it is necessary to be tall to win the battle at heights and strong to prevail in the ground duel.

Throughout NBA history there have been many great Centers, but there are some who stand out, who played at a completely different level and became legends. With that being said, let's take a look at the 10 best Centers in NBA history.

Honorable mentions: Nate Thurmond, Robert Parish, Walt Bellamy, Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, Dwight Howard, Bob McAdoo, Dikembe Mutombo, and Bob Lanier.

10 Nikola Jokić

nikola jokic MVP — credit Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

It is impossible to make a list of the best Centers in NBA history without including Nikola Jokić. He is playing his eighth NBA season and has already proven that he is one of the most talented players of all time.

He is doing things never seen before, for example, he set the record for highest Player Efficiency Rating in a campaign, 32.8. The Joker has been named MVP the past two seasons, becoming the first Center to win back-to-back MVP awards since Moses Malone did it in 1982 and 1983.

9 Artis Gilmore

Artis Gilmore had a stellar 17-year career. He averaged 18.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.4 blocks per game, with a Player Efficiency Rating of 21.7.

Gilmore has the third-highest true shooting percentage among Centers of all time (64.3), behind only DeAndre Jordan (64.4) and Rudy Gobert (67.2). In addition, Gilmore is the third Center with the most Win Shares (189.6), behind only Wilt Chamberlain (247.2) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (273.4).

8 Patrick Ewing

Patrick Ewing never led the league in points, rebounds or blocks, but he was always among the best in each of those departments. Big Pat recorded 21 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game over 17 NBA seasons, with a Player Efficiency Rating of 21.0.

He made 11 All-Star game appearances, was named All-NBA seven times and received the Rookie of the Year award in the 1985-86 season. He is the sixth Center with the most points (24,815) and the sixth with the most blocks (2,894).

7 Moses Malone

Moses Malone was a beast, probably the best Center of the 1980s. This guy averaged 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks in 1455 games. He recorded a Player Efficiency Rating of 22.0 and 179.1 Win Shares.

"The Chairman of the Boards" led the Philadelphia 76ers to their third, and so far, last, NBA championship. Malone was a three-time MVP, six-time rebounding champion and 13-time All-Star.

6 David Robinson

David Robinson was a real threat both offensively and defensively, as he posted averages of 21.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 3.0 blocks per game, which is insane. His Value Over Replacement Player is 81.6, second highest among Centers (behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and his Player Efficiency Rating is 26.2, third highest among Centers (Nikola Jokić and Shaquille O’Neal).

The Admiral was scoring champion, rebounding champion, blocking champion, two-time NBA champion, was named MVP and Defensive Player of the Year as well.

5 Hakeem Olajuwon

Hakeem Olajuwon was the leader of the only team to stand in the way of the Chicago Bulls dynasty, the Houston Rockets. He was the Finals MVP in both 1994 and 1995 and was also the MVP of the 1993-94 season.

To top it off, Olajuwon was a three-time blocking champion, two-time rebounding champion, two-time Defensive Player of the Year and 12-time All-NBA. The Dream averaged 21.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. Olajuwon is the player with the most blocks in the history of the sport (3,830).

4 Shaquille O´Neal

Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most dominant players in basketball history. He averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game, with a 26.4 Player Efficiency Rating (second highest among Centers).

Shaq was a three-time NBA Finals MVP, no other Center has done something like that. Among Centers with at least 800 games played, he has the fifth-highest field goal percentage, with 58.2%. Also, O´Neal is the third Center with the most points, with 28,596.

3 Bill Russell

Bill Russell is the player with the most championship rings in the history of basketball and any professional sport in the United States, with 11. Certainly the Boston Celtics were a far superior team to the others, but Russell still gets a lot of credit for being the leader of that dynasty.

Russell averaged 15.1 points, 22.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Unfortunately at that time there were no records of steals and blocks, but players, referees and newspapers of the time often mentioned that he had five or six blocks per game.

2 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is so far the player with the most points in NBA history, with 38,387. He is also third all-time in rebounds (17,440) and blocks (3,189). Abdul-Jabbar also won six MVP awards, the most in history.

He was also a six-time NBA Champion and a 19-time All-Star. Big Fella averaged 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. He is also the all-time leader in Win Shares (273.4).

1 Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain rebound — Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Wilt Chamberlain is the best Center in NBA history, hands down. We are talking about the all-time leader in rebounds (23,924) and second in points per game (30.1). He was a seven-time consecutive scoring champion, something that surely no player will ever surpass.

"Wilt the Stilt" averaged 30.1 points, 22.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game and, like Russell, is believed to have five blocks per game. There are no words to describe the greatness of Wilt Chamberlain.