The Best All Time NBA Shooting Guards After MJ And Kobe

We rank the best shooting guards after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, using a consistent checklist built around two-way play, production, accolades, and era context. We land on Dwyane Wade at No 3 and walk through the full 3–14 list with the reasons behind every spot. 
• The criteria we use, why defense breaks ties, and why empty offense drops players 
• Why stats need context, including pace of play and era difficulty 
• The full candidate pool from Wade to Earl Monroe and why each name makes the cut 
• Why championships, MVPs, Finals MVPs, All-NBA, and All-Defense matter in tight debates 
• Our 14–11 segment, including Earl Monroe, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, and Klay Thompson 
• The two-way argument for Joe Dumars and how a Finals MVP changes the math 
• The T-Mac versus James Harden debate, including role, era, and defense concerns 
• Where George Gervin and Allen Iverson land and why their peaks still matter 
• The case for Clyde Drexler and the Jerry West position debate 
• Why Dwyane Wade earns No 3 behind MJ and Kobe 
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Transcript

Welcome And The Big Question

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What's up, everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show, get a bucket. I'm your host, Trey and as usual. Hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Now, today I want to talk about the third best shooting guard ever. Well, okay, I'm gonna say three through fourteen. Because one, I came up with a list of fourteen. And two, I'm saying we're starting at three, because we already know who one and two is, respectfully. Now keep in mind, the criteria for the best shooting guard, right, is I mean it's in the word shooting and guarding. So I'd prefer to see offense and defense out here, okay? A two-way player for me is better than just a solely offensive player. As long as that two-way player's offense is at minimum close to the offensive player's offense. Because again, the offensive player is not playing defense. So two-way player beats out a player who is offensive-minded. So again, there was a point in time, for example, where I thought DeJounte Murray might be better than Trey Young because DeJounte can give you the same offensive production as well as defend a lot better. So that just gives you context as to what I'm talking about. Next, you got to have solid stats in production, okay? Like your impact has to be pretty good. Stats don't tell the whole story, but you got to have some solid stats to look at off top. Like we're not bringing up Andre Robertson, even though he's a solid defender, his stats did not showcase for him to be in this list. And that's no slight to Andre. Because keep in mind, the buddy can move his puppies. Tony Allen can move his puppies, one of the best defenders we've seen. Stats don't look the shame. Production impact, they were great on the defensive end. Offensive, though, that's where you gotta also showcase some of these things. So if you just defensive minded, it's gonna hurt you a little bit. Also, we got to look at things like accolades. Again, if we're using someone like Tony Allen, a great shooting guard to have on your team, I personally wouldn't have minded having him on my squad personally. But he didn't get any chips, no MVPs, no all-NBAs. He was on the all-defensive teams for sure. But we didn't have the chips, the MVPs, the all-NBAs. You gotta have those up there. And then I'm also taking into I'm also taking into account things like pace of play. That's defined by the eras. And remember, when the games first started, right? Remember the 60s, the 70s, those were the fastest pace of play, meaning you have more opportunities to score, because you have more possessions during those periods of time. The 80s were the next highest pace of play era. After that, it goes to the current days, the 20s, 2020s, then the 2010s, then the 90s, and then the 2000s. That the 2000s are the lowest pace of play era. So when you're thinking about these eras, ladies and gentlemen, the pace of play matters. So I told y'all, we already know who number one and number two is. That's MJ, right? He's number one, and Kobe, he number two. Now, we gotta factor in, right? Because again, MJ, Kobe, they have similar stats, similar accomplishments and productions. They're both two elite two-way players. Jordan, of course, has six championships, six finals MVPs, five MVPs, a D-poy, 14-time All-Star, 11-time All-MBA, nine-time all-defense, three-time All-Star MVP, 10 time scoring champ, and three time Steals champ. Kobe, five-time champ, two-time finals MVP, an MVP, 18-time All-Star, 15-time All-MBA, 12-time all-defense, four-time All-Star MVP, and a two-time scoring champ. Keep in mind both of these players were averaging 25 plus, 6 or 5 plus rebounds, 5 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks plus. Like Jordan had 36, 5, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks. Just saying, alright? And the errors that they played were in respectable ones. Kobe was in what? The lower two? Jordan was in what the third highest, but then also the second lowest. He dabbled a little bit in the 2000s, but it's not enough for me to give him credit. But Buddy dominated across the board offensively and defensively. Easily one and two. So you might be wondering, well, who in the world are three through 14? Let me give you the names of the people who are on the list right now in no order, but we're going to see how this goes. Ready? Alright. So we got D. Wade, Allen Iverson, James Harden, Clyde Drexler, Jerry West, Klay Thompson, Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, George Gervin, Pete Meravich, Tracy McGrady, Joe Dumars, and Earl DePurl Monroe. I'm sorry, Earl Munro. I'm going to keep it simple because I didn't give everybody else's nickname. My bad, Earl. I didn't mean to slight everybody else. My apologies, fellas. Listen though, okay? Some of y'all might be wondering, well, why are some of these people on the list? Like T Mac, for example. Let's break it down because I'm going to go through everyone's name and talk about why I got them rated the way they are. So let's start it off with Earl Munro. Told y'all his name is Earl DeParl Monroe. Okay, I got you. 6'3 shooting guard. I say shooting guard because he played 10 of his seasons as a shooting guard, three as a point guard. He was a one-time champion, four-time all-star, and an all-NBA both. And he boasted 19 points, three rebounds, four assists, one steal. Like the man did quality numbers. All right. But I got him at 14 because, well, everybody else on this list I felt did a little bit better. And keep in mind the championship that he wins, I do give that credit. I do. And I'm sometimes torn between keeping him right where he is right now or moving him up. But championships aren't always based on one player. And keep in mind, I don't think Earl was necessarily the best player on that team. He might have had a little more help than some of the other players. But still want to keep him there at 14. If he moves up, we may talk about it. Reggie Miller is at number 13. Now keep in mind, Earl Pearl, like I say, 6'3 shooting guard. Reggie was a 6'7 shooting guard. Okay. Like one of the best shooters we've seen. 18 points, three rebounds, three assists, 1.1 steals, 0.2 blocks, 5-time All-Star, three-time All NBA. I have him higher than Earl DePearl personally. Because again, from a shooting perspective, from a scoring perspective, from a career standpoint, we probably remember Reggie a little bit more than we do Earl DeParl Monroe. Both good players for sure. Again, the championship might help out Earl's case in terms of Reggie Miller. I personally put Reggie ahead of Earl DeParl because, again, of what he did for the game, his points across the board shooting. We're talking about better, much better efficiency. And in kind of a tougher era, too. The era does help favor out Reggie Miller. So again, Reggie in the 88th through 05, Earl 68 to 80. I'm a slide Reggie. And he also played five more seasons. But that, you know, it's cool. Number 12, we got to talk about here Ray Allen. 6'5 shooting guard playing between 1997 and 2014. That's 18 years right there, ladies and gentlemen. And he boasted 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks. This is the two-time champion. Although he was not the lead player on his team, still a quality asset on the squad. 10-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA. And he gave 45, 40, 89 splits. I have him ahead of Reggie Miller because of the two-time champ. Again, Reggie had a good team. One of his teams did get hoaxed a little bit. I'll give you that. Ray Ray was a pivotal player on every championship team he was on. And to keep it a buck with you, he could have been there for, he could have had three championships if he went to game seven against my Lakers in 2010. So again, Ray Allen, the championships do help out. And he was a solid cog on those runs. Again, so was Earl. I'll give you that. But the longevity piece, the errors that they played in, I lean a little bit more with Ray personally. If you want to throw Earl a little higher, I'll hear you. But again, I probably wouldn't put him higher than Reggie myself personally. But let's talk about it, shall we? We got number 11, Klay Thompson. That's 6'5 shooting guard. Sometimes he plays small four, but he played more shooting guard than he did small four. Keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen. And that's from 2012 until present. So he's boasting 19 points, three rebounds, two assists, 0.8 steals, 0.5 blocks. Keep in mind, his defensive stats probably gonna be a little bit lower than what you might think because he was playing the best players all the time. He was usually guarding the best one. I vividly remember seeing him guard Kyrie Irving. That's quite a challenge. And on 45, 41, 86 splits, that's not bad at all. Four-time champ, five-time all-star, two-time All-NBA and all defense to boot. Keep in mind, too, he was kind of overshadowed by Steph Curry. Kind of overshadowed by KD. But we remember Klay Thompson for the player he was. Hooper. This the same cat that dropped, what, 61 points on 11 dribbles? Disgusting work. So again, I got Klay Thompson ahead of Ray Allen and Reggie Miller. If you want to put Klay a little bit below, I hear it off of his own accolades. But at the same time, that four-time championship, hey man, like that that sits volumes for me over Ray Allen, over Reggie Miller, and over Earl the Pearl. So again, y'all wanting to put him higher or lower, I'll hear it, but Klay Thompson, number 11 for me. Number 10, Joe Dumars. Also keep in mind too, Klay Thompson played better defense than Ray and Reggie. I don't want to say Earl, because it's not like I watched Earl play basketball, to be clear. But defense did help him out. That's the reason why I put him higher than Reggie and Ray. Number 10, Joe Dumars. Hence why I said defense. You know what I'm saying? 6'3, shooting guard. He played point guard, but that was only for one year. 86 through 99. Okay, that's a solid little era. He gave 16 points, two assists, or two rebounds, five assists, 0.9 steals, 0.1 blocks on 46, 38, 84 splits. Here's the thing: two-time champion as the second option. Six-time All-Star, three-time all-NBA, five-time all defense, and a finals MVP. That finals MVP sits like it weighs volumes for me, ladies and gentlemen. Also the five-time defense, again, similar production to everybody else that I listed off. Did the others score more? Certainly did. But from an all-defense perspective, defensively, yes, the stats are maybe higher than the others, but to be clear, Joe Dumars is guarding the better players. Similar to Kate Klay Thompson, if they were guarding weaker opponents plus with their defensive skill set, their defensive stats would be a little higher. So again, when offense is close to defense, well, I'm sorry, when the when the two-way players' offense is close to the offensive-minded offensive players, offensively, right? I got to give the nod, the edge, to the two-way player. And that's what Joe Dumarz was. And keep in mind, too, he's 6'3, so he's he's kind of technically undersized for a shooting guard. But that's neither here nor there. It's another discussion for another day. So again, Joe Dumars, number 10 for me. I personally feel like that's fair. But let's move on up, right? We're gonna talk about number nine. This one could be controversial, because ladies and gentlemen, I understand. I personally used to view him as a small four myself, but again, I understand it. Tracy McGrady, now he played 10 seasons, 10 seasons as a shooting guard. Might even be 11. Keep it a buck with you. We'll talk about it, though. But at 6'8, the man was solid. Giving you 20 points a game, six rebounds, four assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks. Again, that height and athleticism helps out, and that allows him to do what he did. All right, now, seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, and a two-time scoring champ. I hear you. Why is T Mac ahead of someone like Joe Dumas, who has a finals MVP, five times all defense? Well, again, I saw T-Mac defend a little bit. It was good enough. Now he went on the all defensive teams, but he was a better defender than Reggie Miller. He was a better defender than Ray Allen. He was more offensively productive than Klay Thompson, and I think he did a little bit more on the offensive end than Joe Dumar to the point that I'm like, eh, you know what? I'm gonna give it to Tracy McGrady. Keep in mind, too, his defensive stats weren't bad. And it's not like he was guarding against trash players. So, and I took that into consideration. Also, the era he played in was fairly tough. So was Joe, don't get me wrong. I just thought T Mac had a little bit more of the 2000s, which again, if y'all remember, that is the lowest pace of play. So the fact that he was able to get a higher offensive production in a lower pace of play, that that speaks volumes to me personally, ladies and gentlemen. Some of y'all might think he should be a small forward. I hear it. But again, he played 10 years as a shooting guard and 5-6 as a small forward. I'm a lean shooting guard for this one. But let's move on up because we got to talk about number eight, because this one could be controversial for some players. James Harden. All right, 6'5, and this is the point guard slash shooting guard. Here's the thing. Over 17 years, right? He's played nine as a shooting guard, eight as a point guard. Okay? So that's kind of controversial. It's very close. He could be a point guard. I got him on the shooting guard list. That's what he also started out with. Keep it a stack with you. But he's averaging 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists, 1.5 steals, 0.6 blocks. Here's the thing 11-time All-Star, 8-time All-NBA, an MVP, a sixth man of the year, three-time scoring champ, two-time assist champ. The ISO game he produced, very solid. And let's be clear too. He's one of only two people to win both sixth man of the year and MVP. All right. So that again, you have to take into consideration. That's a hard feat to accomplish. We've seen Lou Williams be sixth man in the year and ain't sniff MVP. Shout out to Bill Walton for being the other person to win that one. I want to say that was '86 he won sixth man of the year, and then 78 he won MVP, which is crazy when you think about it. Because James Harden won his sixth man of the year first, then his MVP. So that's kind of interesting. It's kind of interesting. But James Harden, again, no real defense. Outside, don't get me wrong, on OKC, he was defending. He was moving them puppies. Now, when he was after he left and he went to Houston, he won't defend in as much. That's the knock on James, personally. Because again, he was he he did a little better than T Mac. I'll give you that. The longevity favors him over T Matt. Actually, they're tied right now in the same amount of years. But the offensive production that James gives a little bit more than what T Matt gave. And again, neither one of them were really stellar, not locked down, on defense. So because of that, I do favor James at number eight. But if you have a gripe with that, I hear you. But we're gonna move on up. We're gonna keep this thing pushing. Number seven. George Gervin. All right. Oh, and keep in mind too, James Harden played in a much easier era. So I may even want to switch him with T Mac. The problem is though, James's offense was a little bit better than T Macs. I I'm not I'm not saying T-Mac's not the better scorer. I view T Mac as the better scorer, personally. Like if I want to give someone the ball on offense, I'm giving it T Mac. But James Harden has showcased that he's a pretty daggone good scorer. And also he won an MVP. T Mac didn't. And James Harden was the lead player on his team. He would have gone to the finals if it won't for Chris Paul's injury. But again, it didn't happen. Ergo, he had number eight. Number seven, George Gervin. Okay. This is another one that was a little controversial because some people might have him as a small forward. I got him as a shooting guard because in 14 seasons, guess what? He played 10 of them as a shooting guard, giving you 25 points, five rebounds, three assists, 1.2 steals, and a block. Solid splits as well, too. But here's where it got me 12 assists, nine all-time, or nine all-NBAs, four-time scoring champ, and an all-star MVP. No, he was not an MVP, ladies and gentlemen. But again, I think he's a better player when it comes to overall ability. Now, he didn't get the defensive numbers. He wasn't a D-poy. But if we're going solely off numbers, right, he had better numbers than James Harden. I do think he gave a little bit more effort on the defensive end than James Harden did. Because James Harden has been known to do that Olay defense. Now I think George Gervin's defense is a little closer to T-Mac's. So if T-Mac had a slightly better defensive stats, maybe I bring him up over James Harden. Maybe. Or maybe if T-Mac's numbers offensively rose up, like if his scoring was closer to 25, I'm putting T-Mac ahead of James Harden. But we're talking about careers right now. And maybe as time moves on, maybe James Harden's scoring dips. So maybe his number drops, and maybe we need to drop James Harden. But until that time, he's ahead of T-Mac, but below George Gervin. Because again, George Gervin can move them puppies. And George Gervin was a solid offensive player. And that's why I have him at number seven. 6'7 shooting guard between 70s and 80s. Yes, we're talking about the second and third, third highest pace of play era. He did his thing in both eras, though. I'm just saying. So again, George Gervin, I got a number seven. He did his thing across the board. Now, number six, this is where it could get a little more controversial as well. Because I got Allen Iverson as my number six shooting guard. Six foot, and we may be giving him that six foot because he he he might be shorter than that. Played during 97 to 2011. So he played in one of the tougher eras, averaging 27 points, four rebounds, six assists, 2.2 steals, and two and 0.2 blocks. Ladies and gentlemen, everybody on this list is literally taller than Allen Iverson. And Allen Iverson has come close to blocking at the same rate. Actually, he tied Ray Allen's rate, Reggie Miller's rate. And keep in mind, Ray Ray is 6'5. Reggie is 6'7. Pete Meravich, 6'5, giving 0.3 blocks. Joe Dumar's 6'3, 0.1 block. Earl DeParl Monroe's 0.3 on six, and he's 6'3. AI is under 6'. We'll give him 6' though, 0.2 blocks. And keep in mind his accomplishments, because we already know what his offense did and his defense did. Accomplishments, 11-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, MVP, two-time All-Star MVP, three, three-time Steels champ, four-time scoring champ. And the big thing is he led his team to the finals. As a six-foot guard. We don't see that happening too often, to be honest with you. What was it? Isaiah Thomas is the only one under 6'3 that has, actually, yeah, under 6'3, meaning 6'2 and below, that has led his team to a championship. Alan Iverson could have been that other player. So if he did win, we got to bring AI up. But because he did not, it's the only reason why he's that low. Now, y'all may be wondering well, who's ahead of Allen Iverson? Pay attention. Because we got Clyde to Glide Drexel at number five. 6'7 shooting guard. Played between 84 and 98. Ladies and gentlemen. The man didn't score but 20 points a game. He gave six rebounds, six assists, two steals, 0.7 blocks. And he was a one-he was a champion, a 10-time All-Stars, five-time all-NBA. And let's not forget, ladies and gentlemen, he led his team to the finals. He would be a two-time champ, finals MVP, if it was not for Michael Jeffrey Jordan. MJ has messed up a few players' careers, keep it in mind. I mean, AI did go up against Shaq and Kobe. I hear you. I give you that. Both of these players are kind of close for me. If you want to interchange them, cool. I hear you. I personally have Clyde above AI. Because again, the defense for me on Clyde, pretty stellar. Like it was pretty stellar. I'm not going to lie to you. Like he was moving them puppies. And offensively, I hear you. I hear you. He got the same scorer that AI was. But keep in mind, AI was more of a jack than Clyde was. So if we're looking at it, again, I do favor Clyde in this scenario. He's the taller player. He got the more athleticism. Offense was stellar. Defense was probably better for me. So I personally put Clyde at number five. But if you got him higher, I hear it. But let's move on, shall we? Because we got some other people to talk about. Because I know you're probably wondering who else is up here. Number four. This one could be a little controversial. Because Jerry West, keep in mind, right? He's in my basketball guard's ranking, right? I don't put him in my top 10. You could consider Jerry West in the top 10 all time. And as a position, he's played more point guard than shooting guard. But sometimes people classify him as a shooting guard. And I mean, it's tough. Because I look at him as a shooting guard. 27 points, six rebounds, seven assists, 2.6 steals, and 0.7 blocks. Yikes. Now he's a one-time champ, 14-time all-star, 12-time all-NBA, five-time all defense, scoring title, finals MVP, All-Star MVP. Now we're starting to get up on them accolades. So if you count him as a shooting guard over a point guard, which I hear it if you classify him more as a point guard, I kind of view him more as the two. I hear you though, 6'3. That might be point guard height, undersized, two guard. But again, Joe Dumas was 6'2. 6'3, I mean, shooting guard. AI was 6' as a shooting guard. But again, I hear you because of the years that he played point guard, favor that one as opposed to shooting guard. But if you keep him at shooting guard, he gotta be number four. If you take him off the list and we can keep moving some people up. But again, number four, Jerry West. And if you keep him at shooting guard, he gotta be number four. Because the third best shooting guard of all time is in fact Dwayne Wade. 6'4 shooting guard. He played a little point at times, but again, played during one of the tougher eras, gave you 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, one point five steals, point eight blocks, solid splits. Here's the thing, though three time champion. We already know he had a finals MVP at one of the best final performances that we've seen. 13 time all All-star, eight-time All-NBA, all-star MVP, scoring champ, and a three-time all-defense. He's the best shot blocking guard. I think he has more blocks than Jordan. That's kind of crazy. So again, ladies and gentlemen, offense and defense combined. Plus the accolades, stats in production, pace of play, because he came in in 04, left 2019, so he played in one of the lower eras, pace-wise, and he was still hooping. During that time, he was really stellar. He only dropped in production because of the later years. So again, ladies and gentlemen, I got D-Wade number three. And when you compare D-Wade to Kobe, they're kind of close. Right? Again, Kobe five-time champ. D-Wade three-time champ. Both of them got a finals MVP. D-Wade don't have an MVP. If he had an MVP, this may make things consider like a little tougher. Especially if you up them championships just a little bit. But the longevity piece, too, for D-Wade, Kobe played a little longer. Kobe played a little longer. And he had a little bit more accolades. Offense was slightly better. We can argue whose defense was better, but again, the defensive accolades favor Kobe more so than D Wade. So again, there was a world where I thought D. Wade could challenge Kobe. There was a world I thought that T-Mac could challenge Kobe. There are some players that have looked during some times, and I'm like, they might be able to challenge some of these boys. But overall, we already have a defendative lock on one and two. Three through 14, ladies and gentlemen. We can talk about a little bit. So again, number three, D. Wade. Number four, Jerry West. If you have Jerry West as a point guard, all right, cool. You can take him off your list. I like him right there, personally. But I also may see what the point guards are looking like. Maybe I can add them up there. Number five, Clyde DeGlyde Drexler. Number six, Allen Iverson. Number seven, George Gervin. Number eight, James Harden. Number nine, Tracy McGrady. Number ten, Joe Dumas. Number 11, Klay Thompson. Number 12, Ray Allen. Number 13, Reggie Miller. Number 14, Earl Monroe. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, that does conclude the end of the episode. But I am curious who are y'all's best shooting guards. We already know who one and two is. So give me your top 10. If you want to give me four extras, that's cool too. But I'm definitely curious who y'all think are the next iterations after MJ and Kobe, of course. But ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. I hope you are all having a good one. Take care.