NBA: 50 Players Better Than Chris Paul III

By Staff First Posted: Aug 08, 2015 12:10 PM EDT

About a week ago, I got into a NBA debate with a few friends.

A couple of them were claiming that Chris Paul III is already an all-time great player, while the rest of us disagreed. They even went as far as to say that Paul was a "top 50 player ever." I quickly disagreed claiming that Paul still has much more work to do to be in that elite company.

The other side fired back with Paul's incredible passing skills and his high assist numbers, but I reminded them of his playoff slip-ups and disappointments. Who could of course forget about that Stephen Curry ankle breaker last year?

When it's all said and done, Paul may very well make the exclusive top 50 ever, but I don't think hes there just yet. For one, Paul has never once made it out of the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Paul is widely considered the best point guard in the NBA today, but there are just too many all-time great players across the board for him to make the list. Naturally, the opposing side wanted me to name 50 players in NBA history I thought were better than Paul.

I couldn't list and keep count of 50 players right off the top of my head, so I later started writing them down. Here are 50 players better than Chris Paul. Keep in mind, this list isn't in order.

1. Michael Jordan

2. Magic Johnson

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

4. Patrick Ewing

5. Hakeem Olajuwon

6. Larry Bird

7. Karl Malone

8. John Stockton

9. Kobe Bryant

10. David Robinson

11. Wilt Chamberlain

12. Bill Russell