Top Five Power Forwards of All-Time

USA Basketball defines the power forward position as an excellent rebounder, careful with the ball, ability to hit open shots and a “spark who’s capable of making a big play for the team” (USA Basketball). The position has evolved from when William R. Chase scored the first and only basket in the inaugural game to Karl Malone scoring 36,928 career points to the stretch-fours in today’s NBA. Yet, with all of this evolution, the position has maintained those main components making it possible to rank the top five power forwards of all time.

In addition to defining the position, defining the metrics to compare players across generations is imperative. There will five main categories each player will be graded from – scoring, playmaking, defending, rebounding, and impact – with subset categories to attempt to give an all-encompassing evaluation. Of these subset categories, they will be split into the regular season and playoff statistics with the playoff statistics holding more weight due to the elevated play.

The Greatest Power Forwards of All-Time

Players Being Considered

Firstly, the players being considered for this are Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley, Kevin McHale, Dolph Schayes, Dave DeBusschere, Elvin Hayes, and Bob Pettit.

Top Scoring Power Forwards

Mastering the ability to put a ball into the hoop is an important skill. The difference in being a good scorer and an all-time great scorer often lies in the efficiency and different ways in doing so.

Karl Malone cemented himself as not only one of the best scoring power forwards, but as one of the best scoring players of all-time. Currently, he sits at second all-time with 36,928 points (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks first with 38,387). Malone scored it efficiently from the low block and from the free-throw line. The high-scoring Charles Barkley was more efficient (Barkley shot 54 percent overall, had a true shooting percentage of 61 and a 56 effective field goal percentage compared to Malone’s 52 percent, 58 percent, and 52 percent) but simply didn’t have the shot attempts nor the longevity. Barkley played 403 fewer games than Malone and took 10,605 fewer shots. If Barkley played as long as and took as many shots as Malone he would have finished his career with roughly 39,900 points, which would make him the highest-scoring player ever.

In complete contrast to Malone and Barkley, a seven-foot power forward from Germany revolutionized how a big could play offensively. Dirk Nowitzki mastered the ability to score at all three levels – meaning around the rim, in the midrange, and from the three-point line. His unique training style and pace of play made it a nightmare for defenders. His unique ability is what brings him to a close third to Malone and Barkley, with Tim Duncan in his sights.

Top Five Scoring Power Forwards

Karl Malone
Charles Barkley
Dirk Nowitzki
Tim Duncan
Bob Pettit/Kevin McHale

Top Five Playmaking Power Forwards

Scoring is typically the first place a fan will look to determine a player’s ability. However, the skill to make the players around you better can be a far more difficult skill to master. The evolution of the position has led to more playmaking opportunities, giving the more recently retired players the advantage.

Unsurprisingly, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan finished in the top three of playmakers. Garnett’s time with the Minnesota Timberwolves found him running the entire offense through him giving him plentiful opportunities to be a playmaker. Duncan landed in a continuity offense that is predicated on player movement and ball movement, which leads to a lot of assists from a lot of different players. Both Garnett and Duncan have very high basketball IQs to allow for such playmaking ability.

A somewhat of a surprise in the playmaking ranks was Charles Barkley. He led with a career average of 3.9 assists per game and second in assist rate (17 percent). Barkley built a reputation as a strong, powerful player that grabs every rebound and finishes with authority around the rim. In reality – all of that is true – he was a player that could make teammates better through his playmaking.

Top Five Playmaking Power Forwards

Kevin Garnett
Charles Barkley
Tim Duncan
Karl Malone
Dirk Nowitzki

Top Five Rebounding Power Forwards

The traditional staple to an effective power forward. Less of a skill and more of the desire to go get the ball. A couple names the casual basketball fan may not know but were dominated in rebounding, are Bob Pettit and Elvin Hayes. Pettit played from 1954 – 1965, where he accumulated 12,849 rebounds (18^th all-time) and ended with a career average of 16.2 rebounds per game. He was ahead of his time with size and athleticism, helping him dominate the glass.

Elvin Hayes’ longevity (16 seasons) and rarely ever missing a game (played in 82 games eight seasons and never played less than 80) assisted him in reaching 4^th all-time in total rebounds (16,279). His length and power dominated the 1970’s and early 80’s. Hayes finished his career having won rebounding champ twice and averaging 12.5 rebounds per game over 1,303 games.

Despite the dominance Pettit and Hayes showed during their respective eras, two names remain untouched in the ability to rebound the ball on both sides of the floor. Tim Duncan and Charles Barkley. Duncan rebounded 26.5 percent of available defensive rebounds in his career, meaning one out of every (less than) four shots were falling into Duncan’s hand in every game he’s ever played. Barkley dominated the offensive side of the glass, grabbing on average four offensive rebounds per game.

Top Five Rebound Power Forwards

Tim Duncan
Charles Barkley
Bob Pettit
Elvin Hayes
Karl Malone

Top Five Defensive Power Forwards

Starting in the 1973-74 season, blocks and steals were officially recorded as stats. Admittedly, with limited film and statistics, it is difficult to give a fair evaluation for Bob Pettit, Dave DeBusschere, Dolph Schayes, and to a lesser extent Elvin Hayes. Factoring in defensive win shares – a formula to credit a player’s defensive impact based on the team’s success with them on the court – defensive rebounds, and personal fouls, the top defensive power forwards are Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.

Duncan and Garnett anchored their respective teams on the defensive end. Both could protect the rim (Duncan – 3,020 career blocks, Garnett – 2,037 career blocks) and step out to the perimeter when called upon. Their ability to navigate ball-side action, while also creating a shot-blocking presence from the weak side puts them in a tier above every other power forward to play the game.

Top Five Defensive Power Forwards

Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Bob Pettit
Dave DeBusschere
Charles Barkley

Top Five Most Impactful Power Forwards

Quantifying impact through the lens of statistical analysis across seven decades is imperfect and difficult. However, the utilization of statistics like win shares, offensive win shares, defensive win shares, and win shares per 48 minutes allows for a consistent evaluation tool. The variation of the win share statistic measures how impactful a player was offensively, defensively, overall, and if they were to play an entire game. Offensively, it examines points produced through scoring or assisting in relation to possessions. Defensively, it examines points given up both while playing and not playing. Overall combines the two and win shares per 48 minutes extrapolates out their average minutes to 48.

As the theme has been throughout this article, Tim Duncan led in essentially each category and ranked first in every playoff category. His impact on both sides of the floor was transcendent. Karl Malone and Dirk Nowitzki weren’t far behind. Malone and Nowitzki’s greatness offensively made up for any average impact defensively.

Top Five Most Impactful Power Forwards

Tim Duncan
Karl Malone
Dirk Nowitzki
Charles Barkley
Kevin Garnett