I gotta go with the rebound beast Dennis Rodman he didn't care about points he wanted every rebound and he worked for every single one of them. This is why I am a huge fan of Ben Wallace also.

As much as I appreciate the Mikans, Wests, Maravichs to the Kareem, Magic, Birds and such. I haven't seen them play extensively. When I first started following the NBA properly the biggest superstars were Shaq and Kobe at the Lakers and a personal level - T-Mac at Orlando. Orlando games were the first ones I ever watched. So Kobe and Shaq has always been favourites of mine (T-Mac not that much, I was more a fan of the team). Of course, being young I gravitated towards the stars and winners being Shaq and Kobe.

Though the first players I actually followed through high school/college (though neither went) were Dwight Howard and LeBron James. I follwed them through to their NBA drafts (both went #1) and Dwight went to what was emerging more and more as my favourite team. So LeBron and Dwight are up there as well as these are the first guys I got to follow from High School/College to the Draft. Even though I didn't see them play until they hit the NBA.

The first player I *really* extensively followed at college (the first season I really, really paid attention to college basketball) was when Oden was at OSU (Ohio State) and Durant at Texas. I wasn't really an Oden guy though - I really, really liked Durant however.

Durant was so exciting and a very high volume scorer, and when he was drafted by the soon-to-be Thunder, I instantly became a fan of the team (though Magic were still my #1 team.) Durant became 'the man' for the Thunder instantly (Sonics during his rookie season) and it was exciting to see. The following years saw GM Sam Presti making a raft of really, really good moves that saw the Thunder develop (undoubtedly in my mind) the best young core in the NBA. This season I predicted them 8 or 9, but their play has exceeded my expectations - as has the overall depth as the west in general.

So my favourite players are all modern players Kobe, Shaq, LeBron, Dwight and Durant.

Sean Marks being the only New Zealander in the league and a player that went to my High School is obviously one of my favourites as well, though he is a lot harder to follow.

Nathan Jawai (40th pick in draft, played for Toronto in his rookie season, traded to Dallas and swiftly traded to Minnesota for this season) is another one of my favourites. I've seen him play a lot and he dominated like a beast (earning the nickname "Baby Shaq" in the Australian National Basketball League. He was absolutely crazy, obvious rookie of the year for the season he played and hell, I thought he could've contended for MVP. He's just outstanding. The fact that he plays very, very, very little per match just shows the class of the NBA and makes Kobe, Shaq, Dwight, LeBron and Durant even more impressive in my mind.

Kevin Garnett. Do I need to explain why? I mean, look at my website...

Around the time I was first getting into the NBA all of my friends were pretty much Showtime Lakers fans or Sixers fan because of Dr J. Not me. For me, there was only the Celtics and it was mostly because of Larry Bird. Larry Legend could do everything and he had a hard, ruthless streak that wasn't quite matched until Michael Jordan came along. Magic was flashy, but Larry was hardworking, blue collar substance. No one has ever matched him for me in Celtic green.

This is tough to answer, as most of the players I follow now are because of being a fan of Wake Forest.

So from that, I'd say that Tim Duncan and Chris Paul are two of my favorites. CP3 is just ridiculous to watch handling the ball. Honestly, I would say magical isn't too far from the truth in some cases. Though many people find Tim Duncan boring to watch because of his fundamental style, I find it rather refreshing. He's amazingly consistent because of his fundamentals, and is a consistent 20 and 10 player every year of his career so far.

I find I have a strong affinity to both also because of how they make their teammates better. Both (oddly for Duncan I suppose) have a great passing ability which considerably affect the play of the rest of the team.

Outside of my Wake Forest base, I'd say for some reason, I've always liked Michael Finley a lot. Not really sure why, but just something about the way he plays has always made me like.

I can't really think of a favorite from the older times of the NBA, though I like Pippen, Jordan, Bird, Kareem, and Magic, but someone not playing anymore that I really like is Robert Horry. He was always Mr. Clutch whenever I watched games and I always wanted him taking the last shot (or didn't want him to if I was rooting against his team).

There are probably a few other guys that I really like that I can't think of right now, given the time, but I'd say these four are the main players who I have always followed.

My favorite player is and always will be Alonzo Mourning. I really got into the NBA when I was about seven years old right before the 1993 Draft. Everyone was talking about Shaq, but I was immediately drawn to Alonzo Mourning because of his tenacity.

My admiration for 'Zo only grew throughout his career with Charlotte when he, Mugsy Bogues, and Larry Johnson took them to the playoffs.

Then as I got older, I was able to appreciate Mourning even more when I learned about his charitable works and then his perseverance coming back from his kidney surgery.

Hakeem is the greatest player ever.

Mainly because of him getting quadruple doubles.

As a kid, I first got exposed to the NBA during the Los Angeles Lakers 6-pack years. I forgot who I asked, but when I pointed out a specific player and said "Who's that?", the response had me enthralled.

What kid would not be enamored by an individual whose name was "Magic"? ... and so I began to watch him play and quickly saw why they called him that.

He was bigger than the other guys trying to stop him from bringing the ball to where his team was supposed to put it through some little ring high up in the air. He threw it up from very, very far; sometime straight into that ring and sometimes into the hands of a friend who was already UP IN THE AIR waiting to catch it and put it in. When he was running very fast towards their side, he would find a way to give another friend the ball so quickly, and without even looking! I guess so it was that the little guy trying to stop asked HIS bigger friend for some help. It's a good thing MAGIC gave the ball to his friend, because he was able to help him put the ball in the ring easily.

That was my perspective as a kid. I continued to watch the Lakers and became a fan until the "6 Pack" broke up. It's hard to detach my loving MAGIC Johnson as my favorite player, especially since I grew up on SHOWTIME...

I am an admitted non-Celtics fan (current era), but hands down Nate Archibald is my favorite player of all time. Stop laughing, seriously. I just grew up watching him cutting to the basket, dishing it off ... his speed and ability were absolutely next level in my opinion.

I guess that my favorite NBA player of all-time would also have to be my favorite college player too, current Memphis Grizzlie(y?) Rudy Gay.

Since most of you who probably don't watch much Grizzlies basketball, Gay is one of the most freakishly gifted players in the league, a combination of raw athleticism, strength and an incredibly soft touch for a guy his size.

The real reason he's my favorite though, is that he was at UConn the same time I was. And I can tell you unequivocally that every time you read a gushing article in your local paper about what a nice guy he is, it is absolutely true.

I can tell you five or 10 personal Rudy Gay experiences I've had in my life, every one of them great. And for a guy with millions of dollars in his bank account, he's just about the most humble guy you'll ever meet.

Which is a big reason why the Grizzlies are playing so well this year, because the "star," of their team, doesn't feel the need to act like one.

@Aaron - I love it when people's favorite players are based on personal experiences.

That's one reason why Chipper Jones will always be one of my favorite players. When I was 7 or 8 (in 1992 or 1993), I went to a baseball card show where John Smoltz, Steve Avery, Tom Glavine and Jones were signing. My dad paid for me to get Glavine and Avery's autograph, but didn't have enough for the other two. With a long line for Smoltz and no line for Chipper since he either wasn't in the majors or had only played a half season, my dad told me to just go up and ask if he would sign a card for me.

When I walked up the two security guys that were at the table asked for my ticket, but Jones brushed them aside telling them I didn't need to have any ticket. Since then I have always rooted for Chipper.