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Michael "Air" Jordan won a national championship with the North Carolina Tar Heels in 1982. He was later drafted in 1984 with the third pick in the first round by the Chicago Bulls and won rookie of the year. Michael Jordan went on to win 6 NBA Championships. He took 2 years off to pursue his baseball dreams and still scored 32,292 points. Michael Jordan led the league in scoring for a record of 10 times. He has 5 league MVP awards, a record 6 NBA Finals MVP awards, a defensive player of the year award, 2 Olympic gold medals, and he is a 14-time NBA All-Star with 3 All-Star MVP awards. Michael Jordan is tied for number one with Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain for averaging the most points per game throughout his career at 30.1. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Lebron "King" James skipped college and came straight to the NBA and was drafted first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 and won rookie of the year. He has since scored an astounding 40,474 points which is the NBA record. He led the league in scoring once. He has also won 4 NBA Championships. He has 3 Olympic gold medals, 4 league MVP awards, 4 NBA Finals MVP awards and has been named an All-Star for a record of 20 times and he has 3 All-Star MVP awards. Lebron James is currently still playing but will definitely be a first ballot Hall of Famer after his retirement.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar entered the NBA coming off of a stellar college career with the UCLA Bruins where he won 3 consecutive national championships. He was drafted first overall in 1969 by the Milwaukee Bucks and won rookie of the year. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 38,387 points which made him the number one scorer of all time until his record was broken by Lebron James in 2023. Kareem led the league in scoring twice. Kareem averaged 24.6 points per game and also averaged 11.2 rebounds per game which means he averaged a double-double. Kareem also blocked 3,189 shots and is number 3 all time. Kareem also won 6 NBA Championships, has 6 league MVP awards, two NBA Finals MVP awards and he is a 19-time NBA All-Star. Not to mention, he also has two additional NBA Championships as an assistant coach. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame twice! He was first enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1995 for his achievements as a player and again in 2007 for what he accomplished as a coach.
Kobe Bryant, The Black Mamba, also skipped college to begin his NBA career. He was drafted in 1996 with the 13th pick in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers. He once scored 81 points in a single game, only to be topped by Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain who scored 100 points in a single game. He went on to score a total of 33,643 points and led the league in scoring twice. Kobe also won 5 NBA Championships, 4 league MVP awards, 2 NBA Finals MVP awards, and has 2 Olympic gold medals. Kobe was an 18-time NBA All-Star with 4 All-Star MVP awards. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
Tim Duncan, the Big Fundamental, was selected first overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs and won rookie of the year. Tim Duncan scored 26,296 points during his career. He averaged 19 points per game and also averaged 10.8 rebounds per game which means he averaged a double-double. Tim Duncan also blocked 3,020 shots and is number 5 all time. Tim Duncan also won 5 NBA Championships, two league MVP awards, three NBA Finals MVP awards, and an Olympic bronze medal. Tim Duncan is a 15-time All-Star. Tim Duncan is the only player to be selected to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams for 13 seasons in a row. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.