Who was the best NBA player of the 1960s?

The decade of the Celtics dynasty, the 100-point game and the first triple-double season. Ten years, one league, and a dozen men with a case.

1. 1
   Bill Russell

   Won nine championships in the decade and coached the last two of them himself.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Wilt Chamberlain

   Scored 100 points in a game, averaged 50.4 a night for a season, and led the league in rebounding almost every year.
   848pts
3. 3
   Jerry West

   The Finals scorer whose silhouette became the league logo, and the only player named Finals MVP in a losing series.
   597pts
4. 4
   Walt Bellamy

   Averaged 31.6 points and 19 rebounds as a rookie, numbers no first-year player has matched since.
   546pts
5. 5
   Bob Cousy

   Opened the decade running the Celtics' offence and left it as the standard for a point guard.
   488pts
6. 6
   Lenny Wilkens

   A guard good enough to make nine All-Star teams while carrying weak rosters.
   488pts
7. 7
   Bob Pettit

   Carried St. Louis through the start of the decade as the league's most reliable scorer-rebounder.
   488pts
8. 8
   Nate Thurmond

   The defensive centre who guarded Chamberlain and Russell in their own conference and held up.
   423pts
9. 9
   Oscar Robertson

   Averaged a triple-double across the 1961-62 season and nearly did it again across the decade's first five years.
   423pts
10. 10
    John Havlicek

    Came off the bench for Boston and outran everyone in the fourth quarter of the decade's biggest games.
    423pts
11. 11
    Billy Cunningham

    The Kangaroo Kid, whose athleticism off the Philadelphia bench pointed at the game's next decade.
    349pts
12. 12
    Elgin Baylor

    Brought the game above the rim and once scored 61 in a Finals game.
    263pts
13. 13
    Rick Barry

    Rookie of the Year in 1966 and the league's scoring champion a year later, before jumping to the ABA.
    263pts
14. 14
    Willis Reed

    Rookie of the Year in 1965 and the frontcourt that made New York a contender.
    263pts
15. 15
    Dave Bing

    Arrived in 1966 and immediately led the league in scoring for a struggling Detroit team.
    263pts
16. 16
    Hal Greer

    Philadelphia's most consistent scorer and a starter on the 1967 team that ended Boston's run.
    163pts