Fans know that there are 5 positions in the basketball court, namely point guard, point guard, small forward, big forward, and center! These 5 positions have also given birth to many superstars in the history of the NBA, such as point guard Magic, Curry, point guard Jordan, Kobe, small forward James, Bird, big forward Duncan, Garnett, etc.!
Centers, as interior guardians, without exception, are all players with outstanding height, coupled with the NBA's higher shooting rate near the basket, which makes the center more favored by NBA teams, even in the era of small ball, the importance of the center cannot be ignored!
Now let's take a look at the NBA historical center pyramid: Yao Ming is only in the 6th pot, O'Neal is in the 2nd pot, and the top is only 1.
Gear 6!
The center in the 6th gear in NBA history is enough to be called a superstar center, at least in their time, they are all NBA super-first-class interior lines! And in the 6th gear, there are Yao Ming, Towns, Cousins, Horford, and Gasol Jr. that we are familiar with, which is enough to see their gold content.
Yao Ming is ranked in the 6th gear, not high, but not low! Yao Ming's honors in the NBA are not very many, coupled with his injuries, his dominance has also decreased a lot, but Yao Ming has played a huge role in promoting basketball, and after O'Neal's form declined, he briefly ascended to the position of the league's No. 1 center, ranking in the 6th gear, which is enough to qualify.
Gear 5!
We are familiar with many centers in the 5th gear, such as Mutombo, Mourning, McHale, Wallace, etc., who have also won important honors in the NBA.
Gear 4!
The center in the fourth gear, the gold content has been raised all of a sudden, the current Jokic, Embiid, as well as the famous Reid, Chiefs Parish, McCann, etc.!
Jokic is in the 4th gear, there is absolutely no problem, after all, he has now achieved a Grand Slam and is in the NBA, but in terms of Jokic's performance, he is definitely an epoch-making center, ranking him in the 4th gear, even a little low, and when Jokic retires, he is definitely qualified to hit the 2nd gear.
Embiid is playing well now, but he doesn't have too many hard accolades, and his playoff performance is lackluster, and if he can't win a championship in his career, he will be at the level of Pot 4.
Gear 3!
The center in the third gear, 5 should everyone know, they are: Robinson, Malone, McAdoo, Ewing, Howard!
The 5 centers ranked in the 3rd gear are well deserved, of course, Howard almost meant it! Howard did show a strong dominance when he was in the NBA, won the best defensive player many times, led the team to the finals, and was once known as the man who could replace James alone!
But Howard's career doesn't have too many hard honors, he won a championship, he is also a role player, and he has declined badly in the later stages of his career, at least in terms of his honor, compared with the current Jokic, ranking in the third gear, which is a bit overrated!
Gear 2!
The 4 super centers in the second gear, that really reached the center ceiling, are O'Neal, Olajuwon, Chamberlain, and Russell!
O'Neal is synonymous with a violent center, he is extremely talented, and he has won the only three consecutive championships in the post-Jordan era, and he has not broken it until now! Olajuwon is synonymous with all-round, with strong defense, all-round and changeable offense, and his organizational ability is not bad, and he has also won two championships! Russell is the master of defensive centers and the player with the most NBA championships! Chamberlain is the representative of offensive centers, with 100 points in a single game, and no one has broken it so far.
There is only 1 person at the spire!
Who can beat the center and dominate the top of the tower? That's right, Abdul-Jabbar!
Abdul-Jabbar's honors in the NBA are really countless, MVP, FMVP, championships, etc., his career can be described as soft, and he also ranks second on the NBA all-time scoring list, second only to James!