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While most teams' shooting guards are specialists, this list contains some of the greatest players in NBA history. In other words, their impact was simply more than anything expected from players in their positions. In NBA history, many shooting guards have been dynamic scorers and their team's engines in offense.
Top 10 shooting guards in the history of the NBA
There are no big surprises about the various players in this list, but the variety in their playing styles is definitely interesting.So, without further ado, let us have a look at the top 10 shooting guards in the history of the NBA.
#10 Manu Ginobili
Manu Ginobili was not only an NBA star, but he was also a legend in the international scene too, as he led Argentina to the gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
In the NBA as well, Ginobili had a tremendous career. A superstar with Hall of Fame potential since the outset, Ginobili adapted his game to what his San Antonio Spurs team needed. He spent his Hall of Fame career as the team's sixth man.
Ginobili won four NBA championships with the Spurs during his 16-year NBA career. As one of the best in the league in his role, Ginobili earned the Sixth Man Award in the 2007-08 season and two All-NBA selections and also went to two All-Star Games.
He averaged 13.3 points, four rebounds and four assists per game in his career, doing so on 45% shooting, 37% from the three and 82% from the FT line. Ginobili was too versatile a player and an impressive leader to not be considered as one of the ten best players in the history of the shooting guard position in the NBA.
#9 Tracy McGrady
Tracy McGrady's prime was one of the most explosive spells of scoring we have seen in the NBA.
He is ninth on this list, and his 14-year career is definitely deserving of it. McGrady averaged 20 points, six rebounds and four assists per game in his career.
Those numbers are good, but they do not tell the whole story. From 2000-01 to the 2006-07 NBA seasons, McGrady averaged 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game in 491 games.
He won two NBA scoring titles and was named in seven All-NBA teams and seven All-Star games. Injuries hindered him and his teams, but McGrady was a tremendous volume scorer.
#8 George Gervin
Iceman George Gervin played just ten NBA seasons, but his game truly made lots of noise in the league.
Gervin was a premier scorer who dominated the scoring championship during his prime. He played in the league from the 1976-77 season till the 1985-86 one, leading scoring champions during that span with four. Adrian Dantley was the only other player to win more than one scoring title during that period.
Gervin played for the San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls during his illustrious NBA career. He was named in the NBA All-Star game in each of his first nine years in the league.
During his career, Gervin averaged 26 points (ninth in NBA history) and five rebounds per game on 51% shooting from the field.
#7 Reggie Miller
He led a franchise for 18 years and took them to the NBA Playoffs on as many as 15 occasions. Reggie Miller is one of the ten greatest shooting guards of all time; he is arguably the most clutch shooter in NBA history as well.
Miller made a career of hitting big shots in the playoffs time and time again; he even helped the Indiana Pacers reach the NBA Finals in 2000. His teams usually ran into more talented rivals (Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls or the LA Lakers with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant), but Miller was always in the mix with the Pacers.
He was named in just five All-Star Games and three All-NBA teams, but his career transcended beyond numbers. Nevertheless, he averaged 18 points, three rebounds and three assists per game in the regular season.
Miller's career shooting splits of 47/40/89 are a testament to his unbelievable shooting prowess.
#6 Clyde Drexler
Clyde Drexler certainly deserves a spot in this ranking, as he was one of the premier shooting guards in the NBA during his career.
Drexler led the Portland Trail Blazers twice to the NBA Finals, where they lost to legendary teams like the 'Bad Boys' Pistons (1990) and Jordan's Chicago Bulls (1992).
Drexler, however, won the NBA title later in his career when he reunited with his former teammate at the University of Houston, Hakeem Olajuwon. The 1995 Rockets successfully defended their title (as the sixth seeds), with Drexler playing a key role in that title run.
His career averages were 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals per game on 47% shooting. In the Playoffs, Drexler averaged 20/7/6 in his career on 45% shooting.
Drexler was named ten times in the NBA All-Star Games and earned five All-NBA selections.
#5 James Harden
An NBA MVP and three-time scoring champion, James Harden has already earned legendary stature in his career. Even though he has not found a way to the NBA Finals as his team's leader, 'The Beard' is already among the elite in NBA history.
Harden has led the league in scoring in the last three years and had previously been the assist champion in the 2016-17 NBA campaign.
He is a versatile scorer who has the ability to find his teammates in the right spots. Granted, Mike D'Antoni's offensive scheme helped him add that to his attacking game, but Harden was the one executing on the floor.
Harden has a career average of 25 points per game while also averaging five rebounds and six assists per game. He is a 44% shooter from the field, but he shoots well from the three (36%) and is incredible at getting to the FT line.
He has led the league in free throws made in the last six years while shooting 86% from the line in his career. Harden also has eight All-Star appearances and, most importantly, seven All-NBA selections in his career.
#4 Allen Iverson
Though there will always be a discussion about Allen Iverson's position in the NBA, shooting goes better with the game of this HOF guard than anything else.
Iverson was a game-changer on the court and off it too. His NBA career was great; he did not win an NBA title, but that was not a shame, as his team went down to the 2001 LA Lakers.
Iverson averaged 27 points, four rebounds and six assists per game during his 14-year NBA career. For a 6' tall player, his numbers and style of play were unique. He was a fearless penetrator who did not back down from any defender.
Iverson's best campaign was in the 2000-01 season when he won the NBA MVP award and led his team, the Philadelphia 76ers, to the NBA Finals.
In the Finals, Iverson gave the 2001 Lakers their only loss of the Playoffs with 48 points, five rebounds, six assists and five steals, but Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were eventually too much for Iverson and co. to handle.
#3 Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Wade had the third-best NBA career of any shooting guard in the league's history.
Wade won three NBA titles with the Miami Heat while also earning Finals MVP recognition in 2006 after a stellar run in the NBA Playoffs. He averaged 35 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in a six-game finals series to help Miami win its first NBA title.
He is a 13-time NBA All-Star and has earned All-NBA distinction on eight occasions during his career. For the Big-Three era at Miami with LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Wade took a back seat to James, but the team won two straight titles in 2012 and 2013.
Wade averaged 22 points, five rebounds and five assists during his career, and his 23.5 PER ranks third in NBA history among all shooting guards.
#2 Kobe Bryant
Winning five titles as the best or second-best player in your team will usually help you in any ranking.
The late great Kobe Bryant's career was close to perfection, and he earned his spot among the greatest players in the history of the game. In fact, Kobe Bryant is considered the greatest in history by many.
During his glorious 20-year career with the LA Lakers, Bryant helped the team build two different dynasties.
In his early years, Bryant formed a unique duo with Shaquille O'Neal that helped the Lakers land three straight championships from 2000 to 2002.
After a few less prolific seasons for the Lakers (but with impressive individual performances from Bryant), the player reached the NBA Finals after winning the 2007-08 NBA MVP but lost to the Boston Celtics in six games.
However, in the next two years, Bryant and the Lakers were unstoppable. The team won consecutive championships by beating the Orlando Magic and Boston respectively in the Finals.
Bryant was named the Finals MVP on each occasion as he completed a winning legacy that is only rivaled by a few other players in NBA history.
Bryant retired in 2016 in style, scoring 60 points in the final game of his all-time great career. He scored 33,643 points in his career and will forever be remembered as a unique player and a great man.
#1 Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is the undisputed greatest shooting guard in NBA history and is the undisputed greatest player of all time for many.
Jordan had one of the most glorious NBA careers ever. He is the all-time leader in PER, career points per game average and Finals MVPs, winning a whopping six in as many NBA Finals appearances.
He is also one of three players to have won the NBA MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season (Hakeem Olajuwon and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the others).
Jordan also holds the record for most points scored in a single NBA Playoffs game, scoring 63 in game two of the first-round series between Chicago Bulls and the 'unbeatable' 1986 Boston Celtics.
The player averaged 30 points, six rebounds and five assists per game during his legendary career. He won a record ten scoring titles, went to 14 All-Stars, made the All-NBA teams 11 times and the All-Defensive teams on nine occasions.
Apart from his six Finals MVP awards, Jordan was also a five-time regular-season MVP winner.
Also read: NBA Free Agency: Paul George an ambitious target for Miami Heat in 2021.
