NBA: Top five forwards of all time

Making a list of the top 5 forwards was harder than I imagined. Ranking the top 5 guards on the other hand, was easy, because guards, in general, either facilitate or score. They styles of play are remarkably similar. They’re quick, agile and are generally good shooters.

Forwards though are more complex. They are versatile players by nature and this makes it all the more harder to rank them. Almost every top notch forward scores, assists, rebounds, defends – in short, does pretty much everything which can be done in Basketball.

Also, each forward has a unique style. Some are scoring, some are athletic, some are defensive, you get the gist.

5. Larry Bird; 1979-1992, Boston Celtics

Career Averages: 24.3 ppg; 10.0 rebounds; 6.3 assists; 1.7 steals

Larry Legend was one of the sharpest shooters to have ever played in this position. He played for the Celtics his entire career and was part of one of the most dominant frontcourts of all time along with Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.

He is a 3 time NBA Champion, 2 time NBA Finals MVP and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998, six years after his retirement in 1992. Bird was one of the best free throw shooters of all time. He led the league in free throw shooting %  4 times.

Since retiring, Bird was the head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997-2000. He then took over the post of the President of Basketball operations of the Pacers team in 2003.

Bird is the only player in NBA History to have been named the MVP, Coach of the year and Executive of the year.