Best NBA Point Guards in History

Five championships with the Lakers, three MVP awards, and three Finals MVPs, the first of those earned as a rookie who started Game 6 of the 1980 Finals at center and posted 42 points and 15 rebounds. His career average of 11.2 assists per game is still the highest in NBA history.

Stockton owns the career records for assists (15,806) and steals (3,265), both by margins that have held for decades. He led the NBA in assists nine straight seasons and spent all 19 years in Utah, reaching two Finals against Jordan's Bulls and losing both.

The first unanimous MVP in league history (2016) and the career leader in three-pointers made, a mark he took from Ray Allen in December 2021. His 402 threes in 2015-16 set the single-season record, and the four titles he won between 2015 and 2022 include a 2022 Finals MVP.

Robertson became the first player to average a triple-double for a full season in 1961-62, at 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists. The 1964 MVP won his title in 1971 alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Milwaukee, and no one matched that season-long feat for another 55 years.

Paul led the NBA in steals six times and in assists five times, and arrived as Rookie of the Year in 2006. The missing championship anchors every argument about his placement; Phoenix took a 2-0 lead in the 2021 Finals and then lost four straight to Milwaukee.

A career north of 12,000 assists and 2,600 steals puts Kidd among the most productive floor generals ever, and he shared Rookie of the Year honors with Grant Hill in 1995. He dragged the Nets to consecutive Finals in 2002 and 2003, then won his ring with Dallas in 2011.

Detroit's Bad Boys won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990 with Thomas running the offense, and he took Finals MVP in 1990. In Game 6 of the 1988 Finals he scored 25 points in the third quarter, much of it after badly spraining his ankle midway through the period.

Back-to-back MVP awards in 2005 and 2006 came while Nash was turning Phoenix into the league's fastest offense under Mike D'Antoni. He led the NBA in assists five times and posted four 50-40-90 shooting seasons, more than any other player, but never reached a Finals.

Seattle's Glove won Defensive Player of the Year in 1996, the only guard to take the award between Michael Jordan in 1988 and Marcus Smart in 2022. He made nine consecutive All-Defensive First Teams, pushed the Sonics to the Finals against the 72-win Bulls, and won a ring in 2006 with Miami.

San Antonio won four championships with Parker at the point (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), and his 2007 Finals MVP was the first taken by a European-born player. The teardrop floater was his counter to shot blockers who had learned to wall off the rim against smaller guards.

Six titles with the Celtics between 1957 and 1963, plus the 1957 MVP, from the guard who turned the behind-the-back pass into basketball convention rather than a stunt. Cousy led the NBA in assists eight straight seasons, from 1953 through 1960.

Westbrook cleared Oscar Robertson's 181 career triple-doubles in 2021 and has since moved past 200 of his own. The 2017 MVP came after he averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists, one of four seasons in which he averaged a triple-double.

Portland's all-time leading scorer built his case on series-enders, most famously the 37-footer over Paul George that eliminated Oklahoma City in 2019. Lillard also dropped 71 points on Houston in February 2023 and won Rookie of the Year in 2013.

Chicago's 2011 MVP was 22 years old, younger than any winner before him, and that Bulls team finished with the NBA's best record. A torn ACL in Game 1 of the 2012 playoffs redirected his career, though he later scored 50 for Minnesota on Halloween 2018.

Four scoring titles and the 2001 MVP from a listed six-footer who absorbed more contact than anyone in the league. Iverson carried a thin Philadelphia roster to the 2001 Finals and won Game 1 in Los Angeles, the only loss the Lakers took that entire postseason.

The go-ahead three over Stephen Curry with 53 seconds left in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals ended Cleveland's title drought against a 73-win Warriors team. Irving went first overall in 2011, took Rookie of the Year the next spring, and won All-Star Game MVP in 2014.

Clyde anchored the Knicks championship teams of 1970 and 1973, and his Game 7 line in 1970 (36 points, 19 assists) carried a night when Willis Reed could barely move. Seven All-Defensive First Team selections back the defensive reputation.

Two titles twelve years apart, with Boston in 2008 and the Lakers in 2020, plus three seasons leading the NBA in assists. Rondo's 44-point, 10-assist Game 2 against Miami in the 2012 conference finals is the scoring outlier on an otherwise pass-first career.

Tiny led the NBA in both scoring (34.0 per game) and assists (11.4) during 1972-73, the only player ever to top both categories in the same season. He later won a championship as the veteran floor leader of the 1981 Celtics.