Kobe Bryant

Bryant rose to national prominence in 1996 when he became the first guard in league history to be drafted out of high school. Bryant led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. Kobe has become the cornerstone of the Lakers' franchise, and was the NBA scoring leader during the 2005-06 season. After years of steady improvement, Bryant had become one of the premier shooting guards in the league, a fact that was evidenced by his annual presence in the league's All-NBA, All-Star, and All-Defensive teams. The 2005-06 season included many spectacular individual performances including a game on December 20th in which Bryant scored 62 points despite playing only three quarters against the Dallas Mavericks. Entering the fourth quarter Bryant had, by himself, outscored the entire Mavericks team 62-61, the only time a player has done this through three quarters since the advent of the 24-second shot clock. On January 22, Bryant scored 81 points, in a 122-104 victory against the Toronto Raptors. In addition to breaking the previous franchise record of 71 set by Elgin Baylor, his point total in that game was the second highest in NBA history only to Wilt Chamberlain's legendary 100-point game in 1962.

LeBron James

Beginning in his junior year of high school, James was highly promoted by the national media in the United States as a future potential NBA star. He was selected with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers at the age of 18, becoming only the second high school player taken at the number one draft position. Since then, at a very rapid and notable progress for a player to come out directly from highschool (setting numerous "youngest player" records), he has gone on to become one of the more prominent players in the league. Winning Rookie of the Year and acheiving All-NBA and All-Star honors begining his second year. James is considered one of the few players in the league who can at times play three or more positions, combining the length and quickness of a small forward, the size of a power forward, court vision and ball-handling of a two guard or point guard.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player in NBA history. A remarkable force at both ends of the floor, "M.J." ended his 15 NBA season's with a regular-season scoring average of 30.12 points per game, the highest in NBA history. He won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls (during which he won all six NBA Finals MVP awards), won 10 scoring titles, and was league MVP five times. He was named to the All-NBA First Team 10 times, All-Defensive First Team nine times, and led the league in steals three times. He was elected to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and finished #2 on the list of Top Athletes of the 20th Century.