Ranking the NBA's Top Hall of Fame Classes of All Time | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Karl Malone never won a ring, but most of that owed to sharing his prime with Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. For what it's worth, the Mailman scored more points and made more All-NBA teams than either of those two.

His two MVPs come with asterisks, as most agree Jordan should have been the winner in 1996-97, and the 1998-99 award came during a lockout-shortened 51-game season. That's not to say Malone was wildly undeserving in either case; he was almost certainly one of the five best players in the league in both of those years, and it's doubly impressive that he earned the NBA's highest individual awards during his age-33 and age-35 seasons. 

Malone's longevity, which allowed him to dominate long enough to finish with 234.6 win shares (fourth all time) was a testament to his unbelievable physical condition. He entered the league with superhero strength and only seemed to add muscle throughout his career. That bulk combined with craft to help Malone lead the league in made free throws eight different times. He also averaged at least 25.0 points and 10.0 boards in nine seasons, second most all time behind O'Neal and Abdul-Jabbar, who had 10. LeBron James will eventually catch him, but Malone is still second in points scored for now—ahead of everyone but Abdul-Jabbar.

It's appropriate that Scottie Pippen gets second billing behind a transcendent superstar. That's pretty much how he spent his criminally underrated career.

Arguably the best perimeter defender in league history, Pippen's length and quickness made him a nightmare on the ball and in the passing lanes. It often seemed like he could sense cross-court passes before they happened, pouncing on them like a cornerback picking off a throw he knew was coming from the moment the ball was snapped.

His 125.1 win shares, 41st in league history, would almost certainly have increased if Pippen had played a larger on-ball role. But with Jordan around, there was no chance of that—justifiably. That Pippen accepted second-fiddle status and found ways to dominate games without scoring (he averaged over 20.0 points just four times) is a testament to his team-first mentality.

And yes, we've conveniently decided to forget about Game 3 of the 1994 East semifinals. 

Dennis Johnson collected 82.6 win shares and was a key piece on three title teams—one with the Seattle Supersonics and two with the Boston Celtics. It's basically impossible to think of Johnson without hearing the gravelly tones of Johnny Most narrating the final seconds of Game 5 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.

Now there's a steal by Bird! Underneath to DJ, he lays it in!

Gus Johnson deserves a quick nod here for being one of the NBA's best defenders in the 1960s, but the real reason this group lands in the top five is the 1992 Olympic team.

The Dream Team dominated the international stage in Barcelona and was instrumental in expanding the popularity of the NBA throughout the world. We can't technically give credit to the 2010 class for inducting all the historic greats on that team, but with the fifth-ranked class somewhere near equal footing with this one, the Dream Team earns a tiebreaker and the No. 4 spot.