The NBA consists of 30 teams. 15 in the East and 15 in the West. Each team can have up to 15 players on a roster. This makes up around 450 total players in the league.
Each and every one of these players come with their own unique playstyle and plays the game differently than the next.
You hear comparisons all the time and how certain players play similarly, but no one player plays exactly the same as another. So in that way, every single player is unique in their own way.
For the sake of this list though, we will be picking out the most unique players from across the NBA.
Out of the ordinary… unorthodox… a needle in the haystack… a unicorn if you will…
On that note and without further ado – The Basketball Unicorn himself:
Kristaps Porzingis (Washington Wizards)
Kristaps Porzingis is without a doubt one of the most unique players that has ever played in the league.
When Porzingis was drafted in 2015, he received the nickname “Unicorn” from Kevin Durant based on his rare size/skillset combination and it has stuck ever since.
Kristaps is listed at 7’3, but he’s not your average 7 foot 3. Well, there is no average 7 foot 3 human being, but he is able to do things on the court that no one of that size has ever been known to do.
One of Porzingis’s best abilities is his ability to shoot. Normally, it’s the opposite for a big man. They are much better around the rim and they don’t shoot very well because their hands are so large. It’d be like your average person trying to shoot a tennis ball into a hoop.
Porzingis has an amazing shooting touch and he takes the majority of his shots from outside the paint. He has the occasional dunk and score from inside, but he mainly operates in the mid-post and takes jumpers or catches and shoots deeeeeep threes.
Just your everyday sight of a 7-foot-3 dude, Kristaps Porzingis, draining threes. pic.twitter.com/6sovOIdZfZ
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) February 14, 2022
Because of Porzingis’ length and size, he is also a great shot blocker. This is considered average for a tall player, but this combination of shot-blocking and shooting makes him unique.
Kristaps Porzingis also has much better coordination and fluid movement than your average 7 footer. You can just tell with how Porzingis moves on the court that he has a certain feel for the game that an average big does not possess.
Unfortunately, he’s still fallen victim to dealing with injuries throughout his career. Larger players seem to constantly face this problem. Knee problems are the most common. Since he tore his ACL in 2018, he hasn’t played over 57 games in a season.
In the NBA bubble a few years back, if the Mavs had Porzingis, they would have had a real shot at making a run in the playoffs.
Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors)
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Draymond Green is a 3-time NBA Champion, a 4-time All-Star, and the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year.
He holds career averages of 8.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 5.4 APG.
Draymond Green is a second-round pick out of Michigan St and wasn’t expected to transition into much in the modern NBA.
Because of his size and playstyle, he didn’t seem to offer very much to an NBA squad.
He is an undersized power forward at only 6’6, but slightly oversized at 240 lbs, no real jump shot, can’t create his own shot, can’t play in the post, and he is primarily a defender in a league where offense takes precedence. How could he possibly help an NBA team?
Well, for starters, Draymond was lucky enough to be aligned with the Splash Bros in Golden State. Over the past 10 years, he has grown with those two and created some of the best chemistry in the NBA.
Despite Draymond Green’s statistics, he played a huge part in each one of those championships and the Warriors could not have won without him.
Draymond learned to master the use of his lockdown defense, intensity, high basketball IQ, and stellar passing ability to turn himself into an all-star and NBA champion.
Draymond Green 2016 defense 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rsIhuqTDyz
— Dom2K🎄🎅🎁 (@Dom_2k) April 25, 2020
Draymond has been gifted to play alongside two of the greatest shooters ever. This of course helps his game, but what’s interesting is that Curry and Klay have shown to struggle when Draymond is absent as well. He is practically just as important to them as they are to him. Basketball is a team game, right?
Draymond is in the ideal system to make him a great player in the NBA and there are not many others out there who have built a career with the skillset that he has.
What makes Draymond even more unique as a player is that now he is not only a professional basketball player, but he signed with Turner to be an NBA analyst on TNT and other networks. This is the first time that a player has been actively playing and is also an NBA analyst on TV.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwuakee Bucks)
Giannis Antetokounmpo. AP
Giannis Antetokounmpo has developed into one of the most unique and dominant players this game has ever seen.
Now close your eyes and try to spell his last name…
The Greek Freak has one of the most heartwarming stories in the league. He lived in poverty in the capital of Greece for much of his young life and didn’t pick up a basketball until age 13. He soon realized that basketball could be a way out from this difficult life in Greece and he began to train alongside his brother Thanasis in hopes of making it out. Eventually, they made it to the Greek professional team – Filathlitikos.
From there, Giannis continued to develop into his lengthy 6’11 frame and eagle-like 7’4 wingspan and started to draw attention from NBA scouts. In 2013, the Bucks took a chance with Giannis and drafted him 15th in the NBA Draft.
Giannis was quickly recognized to be a player unlike any other. He showed amazing speed and quickness for his size. He took massive strides when handling the ball, dribbling the length of the court in just a few dribbles. Giannis was bulldozing anyone in his path and gave it his all on every possession.
Giannis’s combination of length/size, athleticism, defensive feel, playmaking, competitive nature, intensity, power… I mean the list goes on, but you get my point. This guy is one of a kind.
Everyone could see that Giannis was different, but Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd was one the first to realize Giannis’s true potential. He started playing Giannis at point guard early in his career and helped develop his game into what it is today. Most coaches wouldn’t dare do something as to try and place a 6’11 forward in the point guard position. But, one of the best point guards in NBA history had an eye for understanding what Giannis could become, so props to Jason Kidd for taking a step in leading Giannis toward greatness.
By year 4, Giannis was already averaging 22.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 5.4 APG, 1.9 BPG, and 1.4 SPG. He was doing it all on both sides of the court.
Shortly after, Giannis developed into what he is today. NBA champion, back-to-back MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year.
The only other players in NBA history to do this are Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett, and David Robinson.
Giannis has risen up from the bottom to become the biggest name in basketball. How could anyone not root for this guy?
Oh, and he’s quite the jokester too.
You have to ask why 🤣 pic.twitter.com/eZQsPpl13q
— Giannis Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) February 9, 2022
Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans)
Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans poses for a portrait on the NBA Media Day in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., September 27, 2021. /CFP
Zion Williamson took the world by storm back in 2017.
His High School Hoop Mixtape was jaw-dropping…
I don’t know if anyone else’s high school highlights can even come close to Zion’s other than John Wall (his high school hype was so real that there was a song made after him).
At 17 years old Zion was a beast among cattle… absolutely dominating his opponents with ease.
As a freshman, Zion was 6’3, 175 lbs. But by his senior year, he said that he had gained over 100 pounds throughout high school… yet he was still jumping out of the gym. Somehow while gaining that much size and strength, he still maintained his speed and athleticism.
Zion is a true freak of nature and we have never seen anything like him. No one should be able to be that large while also being able to move and explode how he can. He could easily be an All-Pro NFL linebacker at his size.
Zion is now listed at 6’6, 284 lbs. Making him the heaviest player in the entire NBA.
Although his weight has been a subject of controversy with Zion because of his recent injuries, many critics attribute his injuries to him being overweight.
Unfortunately, we haven’t yet been able to witness Zion’s true capabilities in the league, but it is no question that he is a one-of-a-kind player. In only his second season, he was putting up numbers from inside the paint that only Shaq had achieved. That’s right. Shaq. 7’1, 315 pound Shaquille O’neal.
He easily powers through other players and is practically unstoppable in the paint. He either scores or is fouled, simple as that.
If Zion is able to stay in shape and get his body in peak condition, something similar to when he was at Duke, then he will become one of the most dominant and unique players to ever play in this league.
Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets)
Kevin Durant may just go down as the greatest scorer of all time.
Durant has been unstoppable since the moment he was drafted into the league from Texas.
As a 19-year-old rookie, he was already averaging over 20 PPG. He won Rookie of the Year that year.
Some of the shots he’s hitting here are ridiculous.
it's silly how polished kevin durant was as a scorer even at 19 years old
absurd that this was his starting point pic.twitter.com/y25KEVdITF
— J. Kyle Mann (@jkylemann) November 25, 2020
By Durantula’s third season, he was averaging 30.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG.
Ever since then, KD has continued to consistently put up close to 30 PPG while shooting close to 50/40/90 percentages every season. 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the free-throw line.
Kevin Durant has every piece to the pie. There is not a single slice missing in his game. He has the ideal physical characteristics that are necessary to be great at the game of basketball. He’s very tall, I don’t care that everywhere lists him at 6’10, he is 7 feet tall. On top of that, he is also long and lanky which gives him the capability to stay in front of smaller players, but also the length and power to compete with larger players. He has the best of both worlds.
As a defender, there is nothing you can do against Durant other than hope he misses the shot. He can rise up above anyone with his high arching release and even at 7’0 he can still cross over defenders and drive to the basket. There are no other 7 footers in the history of the league who can handle the ball like KD.
Bol Bol (Orlando Magic)
Bol Bol could be considered the real unicorn here because he is hardly ever seen.
Bol has already been on 3 teams in only three years. He never got much playing time from the team he was drafted by, The Denver Nuggets, but when he did the crowd and social media would go crazy… even if it was garbage time.
Between Bol and Tacko Fall, I’m not sure who is more of the fan-favorite of players who don’t actually play. People love rooting for this guy. Bol is listed as 7’2 with a 7’8 wingspan, but he looks at least 8 feet tall. He has an extremely slender frame and weighs only 220 pounds (he should go ahead and take on the nickname “Slenderman“). You heard it here first.
If you’ve never seen Bol Bol play, this video should show you some of his capabilities.
As you can see, he is the tallest man on the court by far… yet he is taking crossover stepback threes, dribbling the length of the court in three or four dribbles, and postering people without hardly having to get off the ground.
Unsurprisingly, Bol Bol is the son of the tallest player in NBA History – Manute Bol.
Manute was known for being an incredible shot-blocker and he could actually hit the occasional three-pointer, but he did not have near the overall skill set that his son has developed.
He is a real anomaly. We have never seen anyone like Bol.
Hopefully, with the Orlando Magic, Bol Bol will have a better opportunity to get some more minutes on the floor. I’m sure the entire NBA world would be happy to see that. I know I would.
Who did I miss? Comment below who you think is the most unique player in the NBA!
