The Best 6’4″ NBA Players of ALL TIME

There have been a ton of great players in NBA history that were 6’4″ tall (approximately 1.93m).

The list includes multiple former MVPs (regular season or Finals); defensive player of the year winners; and plenty of NBA champions.

In order by seasons played, the eleven best 6 foot 4 inch NBA players of ALL TIME are:

• Jason Kidd
• Gary Payton
• Dwyane Wade
• Dennis Johnson
• Russell Westbrook*
• Walt Frazier
• Sidney Moncrief
• Paul Arizin
• Paul Westphal
• Sam Jones
• David Thompson

(* indicates currently active player)

Read on for a detailed description of each player, and more:

Jason Kidd, PG

Jason Kidd, a.k.a. “J-Kidd“, is widely regarded as one of the top point guards of all time.

He is best remembered for his amazing passing / playmaking skills, high basketball IQ, and excellent defensive ability. He is currently ranked second all-time in both assists and steals (only John Stockton is ahead of him).

Kidd played a total of 19 seasons in the NBA (1994-2013) for four different teams — Dallas, Phoenix, New Jersey (currently Brooklyn), and New York. His prime years were in Phoenix and New Jersey, where he was a multiple-time All-Star and All-NBA First Team player.

A list of Kidd’s NBA achievements include: NBA Champion; 6x All-NBA (5x First, 1x Second); 9x All-Defensive Team (4x First, 5x Second); 10x All-Star; Rookie of the Year; All-Rookie First Team; 5x Assists leader; 2x Sportsmanship award; and member of NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

He also won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Kidd is also one of the greatest rebounding point guards of all-time, averaging over 6 rebounds per game for his entire career. He currently has the most rebounds in NBA history for a point guard (8,402), slightly ahead of Russell Westbrook (listed below).

🅰️son Kidd: Early in his career, Kidd was jokingly called “A”son Kidd, because he was not a good shooter (i.e. he had no J, as in jumpshot). Kidd worked on his shooting throughout his career and became a reliable 3-point shooter. When he retired, he was third all-time in 3-pointers made (currently 17th all-time).

Gary Payton, PG

Gary Payton, a.k.a. “The Glove“, is regarded by many as the best defensive point guard of all time.

Apart from his defense, Payton was a superb all-around player that was able to score, pass, and rebound with the best of them.

Payton is best remembered for his time with the Seattle SuperSonics, where he was a multiple time All-NBA, and All-Defensive Team player. Payton and teammate Shawn Kemp were also one of the most memorable duos of the 90s.

The Glove played a total of 17 NBA seasons (1990-2007), for five teams (Seattle, Milwaukee, LA Lakers, Boston, Miami).

A list of Payton’s NBA achievements include: NBA champion; 9x All-NBA Team (2x First, 5x Second, 2x Third); Defensive Player of the Year; 9x All-Defensive First Team; 9x All-Star; Steals leader; All-Rookie Second Team; and member of NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

He averaged double-digit scoring in 14 straight seasons, including 7 seasons of over 20 points per game. He finished with impressive career averages of 16.3 points, 6.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game.

Payton also won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA (1996 Atlanta Olympics, and 2000 Sydney Olympics).

Payton was a mentor to Jason Kidd (listed above), as they both grew up in the same neighborhood in Oakland.

🗣Trash Talk: Payton was also known for his constant trash-talking on the court. He is currently fourth all-time in technical fouls.

Dwayne Wade, SG

Dwayne Wade, a.k.a. “Flash”, a.k.a. “D-Wade“, was one of the best players of the 2000s and 2010s. He is arguably the third best shooting guard of all time, behind only Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

At his peak, Wade was best known for his explosive offensive playing style, where he would use his quickness and athleticism to slash through the lane and finish at the rim. He was too big and strong for most guards, and too fast for bigger players.

As he got older, Wade also developed a lethal post game and was one of the best mid-range shooters in the league.

Wade was more than just an offensive player. He averaged 1.5 steals per game for his entire career, and has the most blocks by a guard in NBA history.

D-Wade played a total of 16 NBA seasons (2004-2019) for three teams (Miami, Chicago, Cleveland). He is best remembered for his time in Miami, where he won 3 championships, and is widely considered the greatest player in franchise history.

A list of his NBA achievements include: 3x NBA champion; Finals MVP; 8x All-NBA Team (2x First, 3x Second, 3x Third); 3x All-Defensive Second Team; 13x All-Star; All-Star Game MVP; Scoring champ; All-Rookie First Team; and member of NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

He averaged double-digit scoring his entire career, including 10 seasons of over 20 points per game. Wade has impressive career averages of 22 points, 5.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.

Wade also has an Olympic gold medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and a bronze medal from 2004 Athens Olympics.

🔥 Disrespectful Dunking: Wade has one of the best in-game dunks of all time. In 2009 he grabbed a rebound, took the ball the full length of the court, dunked all over Anderson Varejao, then stepped over his sprawled out body. 😂 Check out the clip.

Dennis Johnson, SG

Dennis Johnson, a.k.a. “DJ“, is one of the best defensive guards ever, as well as one of the most underrated players of all time.

He was a great all-around player, known for making clutch plays, and being the ultimate team player — i.e. doing whatever was needed for the team to win.

Johnson played a total of 14 NBA seasons (1976-1990) for three teams (Seattle, Phoenix, Boston). He is probably best remembered for his time with the Boston Celtics, where he won multiple championships, and was part of one of the most memorable plays in NBA history.

DJ’s list of NBA achievements include: 3x NBA champion; Finals MVP; 2x All-NBA Team (1x First, 1x Second); 9x All-Defensive Team (6x First, 3x Second); and 5x All-Star.

He averaged double digit scoring in 12 of his 14 seasons, and finished his career averaging 14 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game.

DJ is also one of the most durable players of all time, never playing less than 72 games in any of his seasons.

🚚 Forklift driver to the NBA: DJ wasn’t recruited out of high school. After high school, he worked as a forklift driver, played in a rec league, then junior college, before being discovered by a Division 1 school, and eventually getting drafted to the NBA.

Russell Westbrook, PG/SG

Russell Westbrook is the only current player on this list, and the only MVP winner (regular season). He is widely regarded as one of the best NBA players ever.

Westbrook is best known for averaging a “triple-double” (i.e. double digit points, rebounds, and assists) for an entire season. Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson is the only other player in NBA history to achieve this feat (once). Westbrook has done it an incredible four times (2016-2019, 2020-2021)!

He is one of the most athletic guards of all-time, and known for his ferocious, high speed, high intensity playing style. Despite his all-out playing style, Westbrook is also extremely durable, rarely missing games (only played less than 60 games twice in past 16 seasons).

Westbrook is currently in his 16th NBA season, and 5th team (OKC Thunder, Houston Rockets, Washington Wizards, LA Lakers, LA Clippers).

Some of his other NBA accomplishments include: MVP (2017), 9x All-NBA Team (2x First, 5x Second, 2x Third), 9x All-Star, 2x All-Star Game MVP, 2x Scoring Champ, 3x Assists leader, All-Rookie First Team, and member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Westbrook also won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA at the 2012 London Olympics.

Russ is currently 35 years old, and is probably in the last few seasons of his career. The only thing missing from his resume is an NBA championship.

Hopefully, he will get the missing ring with his current stacked LA Clippers team (featuring other all-time greats Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden).

？Why not: Westbrook was a lowly ranked prospect out of high school, and was mainly a backup point guard in college. Nobody expected him to become one of the best NBA players of all time. That’s why his life slogan is “Why not?“.

Walt Frazier, PG

Walt Frazier, a.k.a “Clyde“, was one of the best NBA players of the 70s, and arguably the greatest New York Knick of all time.

Clyde was a terrific all-around player, and was frequently the team’s top scorer as well as its best defender.

He played 13 years in the NBA (1967-1980) for two teams (New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers). He is best remembered for his time in New York, where he led the team to its only two championships in franchise history.

A list of Frazier’s NBA achievements include: 2x NBA champ; 6x All-NBA Team (4x First, 2x Second); 7x All-Defensive First Team; 7x All-Star; All-Rookie First Team; and member of NBA anniversary teams (50th, 75th).

Frazier was also known for his fashion and style. He is the first NBA player to have his own line of sneakers named after him, i.e. the Puma Clyde.

🎙Hoopin’ and swoopin’: After retiring from the NBA, Frazier started working as the Knicks’ color commentator. He is known for his smooth, poetic like catchphrases like “dishing and swishing“, “huffing and stuffing“, “spinning and winning“, etc. Check out this clip for an example.

Sidney Moncrief, SG

Sidney Moncrief, a.k.a. “Sid the Squid“, was one of the top shooting guards of the 1980s, and one of the best defensive guards of all-time.

During his prime, he was a great scorer, and known as one of the league’s premier defenders. Many of the game’s top players of all-time like Larry Bird and Michael Jordan often praised Moncrief’s defensive abilities.

Moncrief career spanned a total of 12 NBA seasons (1979-1991), for two teams (Milwaukee, Atlanta). He only actually played in 11 seasons due to temporarily retiring in 1989-90. His career was cut a bit short due to foot and knee injuries.

He averaged double-figure scoring in 9 of his 11 seasons, including four straight seasons of 20+ points per game. He finished with career average of 15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game

A list of Moncrief’s NBA achievements include: 5x All-NBA Team (1x First, 4x Second); 2x Defensive Player of the Year; 5x All-Defensive Team (4x First, 1x Second); and 5x All-Star.

Moncrief is the only guard in NBA history to have won Defensive Player of the Year more than once.

🦑 Super slippery: Moncrief earned the strange/awesome nickname “Sid the Squid” for his long reach and defensive abilities. It probably seemed like he had eight arms while defending.

Paul Westphal, PG/SG

Paul Westphal was one of the top players of the mid 70s.

He is best remembered for his time with the Phoenix Suns where he was a dynamic scorer (averaged over 20 points per game for 5 straight seasons), and multiple-time All-NBA player.

In total, Westphal played a total of 12 NBA seasons (1972-1984) for four different teams (Boston, Phoenix, Seattle, New York). Westphal’s career was shortened a bit due to serious foot injuries.

A list of Westphal’s NBA achievements include: NBA champion; 5x All-Star; 4x All-NBA (3x First, 1x Second).

After retiring as a player, Westphal began working as a coach. He coached in college, as well as the NBA.

☀️ Lucky Suns: Westphal’s most successful time as a head coach was also with the Phoenix Suns, where he brought the team to the finals, and was twice named coach of the All-Star game (1993, 1995).

Sam Jones, SG

Sam Jones was one of the top shooting guards of 60s, and member of the legendary Boston Celtics team that won eight straight championships (1959-1966). He is easily the winningest player on this list.

Jones was known as a great scorer, and one of the most clutch shooters of his era. He led the powerhouse Celtics in scoring for five seasons.

Jones played a total of 12 seasons in the NBA, all with the Boston Celtics. When he retired, he was the Celtic’s all time scoring leader (currently 7th all time).

Some of Jones’ NBA career achievements include: 10x NBA champion; 5x All-Star; 3x All-NBA Second Team; and member of NBA anniversary teams (25th, 50th, 75th).

He averaged double-figure scoring in 11 of his 12 seasons, and finished with career averages of 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.

Almost a Laker: Sam Jones was actually drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1956 NBA Draft. Fortunately for Celtics fans, Jones decided to go back to college for a year, and thus the Lakers lost his draft rights.

David Thompson, SG

David “Skywalker” Thompson was one of the great NBA players of the 1970s.

He was also one of the most athletic players of all-time, and one of the first “high-flyers” in the NBA (along with Dr. J). Thompson was best known for his insane vertical leap, and jaw-dropping dunks that would inspire future superstars like Michael Jordan.

Apart from his highlight reel dunks, Thompson was a tremendous scorer. He is one of the few players in NBA history to score over 70 points in a single game.

Thompson played a total of 9 seasons in the ABA/NBA (1975-1984) with two teams (Denver, Seattle). Unfortunately, Thompson’s promising basketball career was cut short due to injuries, and subsequent drug abuse/addiction problems.

Despite his short career, his list of achievements include: All-ABA Second Team; ABA All-Star; ABA All-Star Game MVP; ABA Rookie of the Year; ABA All-Rookie First Team; 2x All-NBA First Team; 4x NBA All-Star; NBA All-Star Game MVP.

He averaged double figure scoring every year of his career, including 6 straight seasons of 20+ points per game.

Due to his shortened career, Thompson remains one of the greatest “what-if” players in NBA history.

Alley-oop! The now ubiquitous alley-oop was accidentally invented by Thompson and his college teammate Monte Towe at North Carolina State University. Their coach integrated it into their offense, and the rest is history.

Best Current 6’4″ NBA Players

There are currently 46 players in the NBA that are listed at 6’4″ tall. The best current players are:

• Bradley Beal
• Anthony Edwards
• Jrue Holiday
• Jamal Murray
• Russell Westbrook

👉 Click here for a complete list of all 6’4 players currently in the NBA

Some Other Notable 6’4″ NBA Players

Besides the all-time greats and current stars listed above, there have been many other notable 6’4″ players in NBA history.

The list below includes hall-of-famers, All-Stars, All-NBA, All-Defensive, champions, and more. Some of these players should arguably be on the all-time list above.

In order by seasons played, some other notable former/current 6’4″ players include:

• Derek Harper
• Richie Guerin
• Cliff Hagan
• Dell Curry (father of Steph Curry)
• Ricky Pierce
• George Hill
• Danny Ainge (current GM of Boston Celtics)
• Tony Allen
• Vernon Maxwell
• Doc Rivers (current head coach of Milwaukee bucks)
• Rex Chapman
• Cuttino Mobley
• Gilbert Arenas (of the Gilbert Arenas rule)
• Malcolm Brogdon*
• Jordan Poole*

(* still playing in the NBA)

Don’t agree with my choices? Did I miss any of your favorite players? Let me know in the comments below.

Other All-Time Players by Height

Check out these lists of other all-time great NBA players by height (i.e. 6’9, 6’10, etc.)

Summary

Who is your favorite 6’4″ NBA player of all time? Favorite current 6’4 player?

Did I miss any notable players on this list?

Let me know in the comments below!