What is the Best Position in Basketball?

It is hard to say what the best position in basketball is, because people like different basketball positions 1-5 for different reasons. But the question has a better answer than “it depends”.

For most of the last 40 years the answer was a perimeter player: Magic and Bird, then Jordan, then Kobe and LeBron, then Curry. The league’s rules and its love of the three-point shot kept pushing the game away from the basket.

Then it swung back. Centers won the MVP award four years in a row from 2021 to 2024 (Nikola Jokic three times and Joel Embiid once), and the most valuable young player in the league, Victor Wembanyama, is 7’4″. If you are asking which position has the most influence on winning right now, the honest answer is a big man who can pass and shoot. This site is biased, of course.

In terms of which position is best for you, here is everyone’s favorite reason for playing each position:

1. Point Guard: You get to dribble the most.
2. Shooting Guard: You get to shoot or score the most.
3. Small Forward: You get to wander around on defense.
4. Power Forward: You get to shoot outside or be under the basket.
5. Center: You have the privilege of battling for the boards.

The case for each basketball position:

1. Point Guard. The ball is in your hands on almost every possession, so you decide who shoots. A great point guard makes average teammates look good. The downside: you are usually the smallest player on the floor, and everyone attacks you on defense.

2. Shooting Guard. The glamour position. You run off screens, you take the big shots, and the best ones (Jordan, Kobe) also guarded the other team’s best scorer. The downside: if your shot isn’t falling, there is not much else for you to do.

3. Small Forward. The most flexible job. You are big enough to rebound and guard forwards, and quick enough to handle the ball. LeBron James, Larry Bird and Kevin Durant all played here. The downside: you are expected to do a bit of everything every night.

4. Power Forward. It used to mean rebounding and setting screens. Now most power forwards also shoot threes, which makes it one of the most valuable spots on the floor. Tim Duncan and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the two models, the old one and the new one.

5. Center. You protect the rim on defense and you are the easiest player to score with on offense, because you are closest to the basket. Height is the one thing nobody can coach. The downside: you get hit on every possession, and big bodies break down more often.