It started, as many great things did, with OG Anunoby's legendary, game-winning, potentially championship-altering tip-in in Game 4 of the NBA Finals -- a game-clinching play that happened exactly three months ago. I immediately wondered if it was the greatest play in New York Knicks history, which it almost certainly was. I then wondered where it ranked among the greatest plays in NBA Finals history, which would be very high.
But then my scope broadened. Where did it rank among the greatest rebounds in NBA history? Is there a definitive greatest rebound in NBA history? For that matter, is there a definitive "greatest" example of every notable statistic an NBA player can accumulate in a game?
I set out to find the answer. A traditional NBA box score covers the following statistics: points, field goals, 3-point field goals, free throws, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers and personal fouls. In most contexts, fouls and turnovers are bad things, so I ignored them. A minute is a unit of time, not a measure of basketball performance, so I can't exactly find the best possible example of a minute in an NBA context.
I elected to combine the two rebounding categories, as defensive rebounds rely on missed shots, so the biggest in NBA history would essentially be a measure of the most significant missed shots ever. I similarly elected to break the scoring categories up more cleanly into 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals and free throws.
This left me with seven notable categories. I wanted to find the best 2-pointer, 3-pointer, free throw, assist, steal, rebound and block in NBA history.
How did I do this? I sought a combination of historical significance and excellence of the play itself. A great pass in January means less than one in May or June, but at the same time, I didn't want to choose garden-variety plays just because they came at big moments. In short, if you could remember just one example of each statistic in NBA history, which would you pick? Below are my choices.
Greatest 2-pointer in NBA history: Kawhi Leonard, 2019 Eastern Conference semifinals
If I were solely measuring a play's iconic nature, I'd probably pick Michael Jordan's championship-clinching shot at the end of the 1998 NBA Finals. If I were solely measuring how cool a play looked, I'd pick "the shot," Jordan's 1989 series-winner against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Shocker: Jordan has made a lot of big shots over the years, and leaving him off this list entirely was agonizing. But the latter came in the first round, and the former, arguably because of a push off, was wide open.
My definition here is so broad that I could go in almost any direction. Every dunk in NBA history is available. The same goes for every layup (and shocker, Jordan going around the backboard gives him another contender here as well). Derek Fisher's game-winner against the San Antonio Spurs with 0.4 seconds remaining on the clock comes to mind. So does the "LeBronto" game winner in which LeBron James gave his Cavaliers a 3-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors in 2018. I could even technically give the nod to Jerry West for sending a Finals game to overtime with a 60-footer that only counted for two points because 3-pointers didn't exist yet in 1970. Alas, his Los Angeles Lakers lost that game and series.
They're all reasonable options, but I went with a high-stakes shot under difficult circumstances that has since become iconic. Kawhi Leonard's four-bouncer against the Philadelphia 76ers checks all three boxes. High stakes? It won Game 7 of a second-round series that led to Toronto's only championship. Difficult circumstances? Leonard began the play guarded by one All-Defense selection in Ben Simmons, was picked up by another in Joel Embiid, and was falling away on the move towards the baseline as time expired. Iconic? Come on, go listen to the audio. When a broadcaster as experienced as Greg Anthony is reduced to wordless screams of disbelief, you know a play is special.
As an aside, this shot led to what I believe to be the greatest "player returning to his former home arena" tribute in NBA history. No notes, 10 out of 10, Toronto:
Greatest 3-pointer in NBA history: Ray Allen, 2013 NBA Finals
This one is a bit easier. This is the only shot in NBA history to ever directly swing the outcome of a championship. If Ray Allen misses, and San Antonio gets the rebound, the Spurs are almost certainly the 2013 NBA champions. Instead, Allen's shot goes in, the Heat win in overtime, and Miami captures the championship in Game 7.
What always stands out about the shot is Allen's footwork. He starts the play in the corner, but goes inside to try to get the offensive rebound when LeBron James attempts to tie the game himself. When Chris Bosh gets that rebound, Allen has the presence of mind to start backpedaling into the corner. With a championship on the line, Allen manages to get behind the 3-point line without stepping out of bounds. It's a shot the notoriously meticulous Allen was known to practice, and sure enough, he fired it away with perfect mechanics. The rest is history.
Stephen Curry holds the distinction of the most iconic regular-season 3-pointer in league history, his pull-up game-winner against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016. He also probably holds the Olympic distinction for one of his many back-breakers against Serbia or France in 2024, but I'm not measuring that. Curry strangely lacks a signature playoff 3-pointer. James has his 2009 game-winner against the Orlando Magic, but that was in a series he lost. Jordan made six in the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1993 NBA Finals, but no single shot was as iconic as his shrug celebration.
Damian Lillard has two series-winning, walkoff shots, but both came in the first round. Kyrie Irving has a real claim for his series winner in the 2016 NBA Finals, but remember, Game 7 was tied at that point, and Golden State didn't score for the rest of the game. The Heat needed Allen's shot more than Cleveland needed Irving's. All in all, Allen is undeniable here.
Greatest free throw in NBA history: Klay Thompson, 2019 NBA Finals
The individual free throws that tend to be remembered most in NBA history belong to Kobe Bryant, who tore his Achilles late in the 2012-13 season but returned to the court to make his two free throws before departing. As regular-season plays go, it was certainly iconic and fit narratively within Bryant's reputation and holds up as the last moment of his prime as an NBA superstar. But still, it was a regular-season game, and this has more or less happened in the NBA Finals.
In 2019, Klay Thompson tore his ACL with his Warriors leading by three in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. He was helped off the court, but returned to make two free throws to push Golden State's lead to five. His series was over, but he wanted to give the Warriors the boost they would need to potentially even the series at three games apiece.
They lost that game and series, but Thompson making such clutch shots on one leg in the NBA Finals is the clear winner here.
The tricky thing about free throws is that they all look the same. They're hard to distinguish, so I'm really judging almost entirely on the shot's historical stakes. Plenty of free throws have swung Finals games, but we've never had, say, a player make a free throw with no time remaining on the clock to clinch a championship. That makes the gravity of Thompson's feat stand out even more.
Greatest assist in NBA history: Kobe Bryant, 2000 Western Conference Finals
The tricky thing about coining the greatest assist in NBA history is that there is no statistic in which a play's cool factor and its functionality in the sport's biggest moments are more separated. This is essentially the thesis of Jason "White Chocolate" Williams' entire career. He has a dozen passes that look better on a highlight reel than anything in playoff history. So does Nikola Jokić and Magic Johnson and any number of other legendary passers. You want a cool pass? Watch those guys in January. In the biggest moments, the sport slows down to such a degree that the cool passes mostly disappear and players create big shots independently.
Picking the coolest pass in NBA history would be entirely too subjective. The most iconic? That's a more interesting question, and one with a clearer answer. The Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal duo is known in large part for the rift that developed between the two over time. They won three championships together while often at one another's throats. That's what makes Bryant's lob to O'Neal to essentially clinch the duo's first trip to the Finals so narratively satisfying.
Two players who seemingly preferred doing things on their own came together for one glorious play to set up their first championship. Bryant, especially, was at points a notorious ball hog, but when the time came for him to win a title, he made the right play and set up the teammate he so frequently fought to score the biggest points of the season. It was a testament to what this duo was capable of doing together -- even if we didn't get nearly as much of it as we probably should have.
Greatest rebound in NBA history: OG Anunoby, 2026 NBA Finals
There were two candidates here, and they were both doozies. I already covered Allen's game-winning 3-pointer in 2013. Well, that shot was only possible because of Bosh's offensive rebound. Just as Allen has the only shot to directly swing an NBA Finals, Bosh has the only rebound to do so. Anunoby's rebound in Game 4 of the 2026 Finals swung a game, but even if New York had lost, it would have simply tied the series at 2-2. We can't predict the butterfly effect of such an outcome, but it's worth noting that the Knicks won Game 5 and the championship, so if things play out similarly, they'd still be hosting Game 6 with a championship on the line even if they'd lost Game 4.
But Anunoby beats out Bosh for one reason: degree of difficulty. The Spurs infamously removed Tim Duncan from the game before the possession that ended in Allen's triple so they'd have an easier time switching screens against a Heat offense that needed a triple. That left Bosh as the biggest player on the floor against a small lineup, and since he screened for James ahead of his missed 3-pointer to start the sequence, he was slightly better-positioned to set himself up for a rebound.
Anunoby was the inbound passer for his play. Victor Wembanyama was nowhere near rebounding position, but he was at least on the floor. Anunoby had to make a mad scramble for the rim when Jalen Brunson put up his game-winning attempt, and remember, Bosh merely secured the ball. Anunoby actually scored it.
The degree of difficulty in making that tip on the move gives him the slimmest of edges over Bosh in the battle of plays that broke San Antonio's heart.
Greatest steal in NBA history: Larry Bird, 1987 Eastern Conference Finals
Michael Jordan has a real case here for his strip of Karl Malone to set up his 1998 Finals winner. A quieter one belongs to Jrue Holiday, who swung the NBA Finals in 2021 with his steal on Devin Booker, which immediately turned into an iconic assist when he lobbed a pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo for one of the greatest alley-oops in league history. With apologies to both, the answer here belongs to the Boston Celtics. It's just a matter of which one.
"Havlicek stole the ball" is perhaps the most iconic call in NBA history. It also directly ended a conference finals series (or, well, at the time, a division finals series). But remember, Boston was leading Game 7 against the 76ers, and the inbound pass on that play was under the basket, an extremely difficult pass to make.
When Larry Bird made his iconic steal against the Detroit Pistons in 1987, the Celtics were trailing, and the Pistons were inbounding from the sideline. Also notable here: Isiah Thomas makes a point of inbounding the ball quickly. This was not a case of a panicked pass. He was trying to catch the Celtics napping, but Bird saw right through him and made the correct decision to leave Joe Dumars to try to get in front of Bill Laimbeer. Throw in the game-winning assist from Bird to Dennis Johnson and this one just stands out as the slightly more impressive play.
Greatest block in NBA history: LeBron James, 2016 NBA Finals
We end on an easy one. With apologies to Tayshaun Prince, Bam Adebayo, Hakeem Olajuwon and even LeBron James himself (whose 2013 rejection of Tiago Splitter bears mentioning), the answer here is obvious.
The greatest defensive play in the history of basketball and perhaps all of sports belongs to James for his chase-down rejection of Andre Iguodala with the score tied in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals.
The play has everything. James was known for his chase-down blocks even before this moment, so it was a signature version of a signature play. Iguodala started the play with a pretty significant lead on James, but James was so thoroughly prepared to challenge him that he also raised his left hand in case Iguodala had attempted to lay the ball off the left side of the glass. The historical stakes of that specific game were off the charts. Arguably the greatest player faced arguably the greatest team after overcoming a 3-1 series deficit, setting up a winner-take-all Game 7 with James attempting to finally win a championship for Cleveland.
I feel relatively comfortable saying this block will never be topped. We might see a greater steal than Bird's or a greater rebound than Anunoby's. Challengers for any of the "best shot" titles are frequent. We'll never see a block that means quite as much as this one did. It's the only true no-brainer on the list.
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