NBA centers are some of the most physically imposing athletes on the planet. They usually stand at least 6 feet 10 inches tall with arms and legs that are longer than some teenagers’ entire bodies. Having a dominant center at the forefront of your team is a practice that has gotten less popular in today’s NBA, thanks to the rise of versatile power forwards and non-stop three-point shooting, but these giants are almost mythical in how they ruled the game in the league’s early years.
We’ve made our selections for the greatest centers to ever play in the NBA, using a combination of stats, career accomplishments, legacy and advanced metrics used by the NBA stat keepers at Basketball-Reference.com as of January 2019 to rank them in order of greatness. Where did your favorite big man end up?
4Dikembe Mutombo (1992-2009)
One of the most feared defenders in NBA history, regardless of position, Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year a record four times in his career. He stood at 7 feet 2 inches and was able to swat basically any ball that came anywhere near the basket. Mutombo averaged 4.3 blocks per 48 minutes played, which is sixth-best among all centers. While virtually everyone on this list could outscore him on any given night — he actually averaged more rebounds than points per game in his career — Mutombo would make them earn every basket.
