The Best NBA Players at Every Shoe Size

From the smallest reported shoes in NBA history to Shaquille O’Neal’s famous size 22s, these are the greatest players associated with every shoe size

What does a shoe size tell you about an NBA player? Not very much, actually. A size 15 shoe can belong to a 6’3″ guard or a 6’11” forward. A size 18 can belong to a seven-footer or, according to reported figures, a guard barely over six feet tall. And then there is size 22, a number associated with Shaquille O’Neal, Bob Lanier and Tacko Fall, three players who were enormous in completely different ways. This list takes those reported shoe sizes and asks a simple question: who was the best NBA player associated with each shoe size? The result is less predictable than you might expect.

How this list works

• The shoe size determines the category. The player chosen is the best NBA player associated with that reported U.S. men’s shoe size, based on career, peak performance and historical impact.
• These are reported shoe sizes, not a standardized league-wide measurement. Shoe sizes differ between brands, players use customized footwear, and reporting is sometimes inconsistent. That’s not something this list hides.
• Names tagged (verified) are traced to a named primary source — a team’s own site, an auction house, a direct quote. Names tagged (disputed) have credible sources giving genuinely different figures. Everything else is a widely reported number with no single source confirming it, still worth including, just worth knowing the difference.
• Where a player’s actual foot/shoe size differs from the basketball shoe they wear on court, the worn basketball-shoe size determines the category and the distinction is noted.
• A couple of sizes are missing entirely. When a size doesn’t have a recognizable NBA name reliably attached to it, this list skips it rather than manufacturing an entry to keep the count tidy.

9.5 — Earl Boykins

Earl Boykins was only 5’5″, making him one of the shortest players ever to establish a substantial NBA career. He was also reportedly a size 9.5. Boykins played 13 NBA seasons and averaged 8.9 points per game, proving that being dramatically undersized didn’t stop him from becoming a legitimate contributor.
Best at size 9.5: Earl Boykins

10.5 — Nate Robinson

Nate Robinson stood just 5’9″, but his reported size 10.5 shoes belonged to a three-time Slam Dunk Contest champion who played 11 NBA seasons and averaged more than 17 points per game in 2008-09.
Best at size 10.5: Nate Robinson

11 — Allen Iverson

Honorable mentions: Tony Parker, Eric Bledsoe (verified)

Allen Iverson is widely reported to have worn a U.S. men’s size 11, though the number is better treated as a commonly reported figure rather than a fully documented primary-source measurement. At 6’0″, Iverson combined relatively small shoes with an MVP award, 11 All-Star selections, four scoring titles, and a Hall of Fame career.

Tony Parker and Eric Bledsoe also belong in the discussion. Bledsoe remains one of the best-documented examples in the series because the Phoenix Suns directly listed his shoe size as 11.5.
Best at size 11: Allen Iverson

11.5 — Kemba Walker

Kemba Walker’s reported size 11.5 belonged to a 6-foot guard who became a four-time All-Star and the face of the Hornets for much of his prime.
Best at size 11.5: Kemba Walker

12 — Kyrie Irving

Honorable mentions: Isaiah Thomas (the 5’9″ Celtics guard, not Pistons Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas), Paul George

Irving’s reported size 12 sits alongside Thomas (5’9″) and George (around 6’8″), almost a foot of height difference on the same number. George also turns up in reports at size 13, which is covered below. Irving’s eight All-Star selections and a championship with Cleveland make him the pick.
Best at size 12: Kyrie Irving

12.5 — Chris Paul

Chris Paul’s reported size 12.5 belongs to a 6-foot point guard with a 12-time All-Star, nine-time All Defensive résumé.
Best at size 12.5: Chris Paul

13 — Michael Jordan (verified)

Honorable mentions: Rajon Rondo, John Wall, Paul George (also reported at size 12; see above)

Jordan’s shoe size is generally reported as 13, though auction-documented game-worn footwear (Sotheby’s, Christie’s) confirms a 13 on one foot and 13.5 on the other. Stephen Curry is sometimes grouped here too, though his more commonly reported figure gets its own entry below. Six titles, five MVPs, six Finals MVPs settle the pick regardless.
Best at size 13: Michael Jordan

13.5 — Stephen Curry

Curry is reported both at size 13 and 13.5, depending on the source; 13.5 is the more frequently cited figure, which is why his primary entry sits here rather than under Jordan. Either way, that’s a lot of shoe for a 6’2″ guard (he was listed at 6’3″ for most of his career, before the NBA’s move to verified barefoot measurements around 2019). Two MVPs, four titles, the defining three-point shooter of his generation.
Best at size 13.5: Stephen Curry

14 — Magic Johnson

Honorable mentions: Kobe Bryant, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Chris Bosh

Reported size 14 includes an extraordinary group of players, from Harden at 6’5″ to Magic Johnson at 6’9″, with Kobe Bryant and Kawhi Leonard in between. Chris Bosh is also associated with size 14, adding another All-Star and two-time champion to the group. Magic’s five championships, three MVPs and three Finals MVPs give him the strongest overall résumé among the players associated with the size.
Best at size 14: Magic Johnson

15 — LeBron James

Honorable mentions: Russell Westbrook, Kevin Garnett, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Donovan Mitchell (verified)

Reported size 15 runs from Westbrook (6’3″) to Garnett (6’11”), a six-inch spread on the same number. Donovan Mitchell also belongs here — KSL directly reported his custom shoes as a size-15 base with a size-16 width, one of the better-sourced figures on this entire list, and a reminder that a “15” doesn’t even mean the same shoe from player to player. LeBron’s four titles, four MVPs and four Finals MVPs make the pick easy.
Best at size 15: LeBron James

16 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Honorable mentions: Manute Bol (verified), Nikola Jokić, Tim Duncan, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter

Size 16 brings together an extraordinary group of players, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nikola Jokić, Tim Duncan and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter add two more elite scorers to the group, while Manute Bol provides one of its most unusual physical contrasts. Standing 7’7″, Bol is particularly well documented by game-worn Nike shoes marked 15.5 and 16, making his size-16 association unusually strong.

Kareem’s size-16 association is also supported by documented game-worn footwear, while his six MVPs, six championships and two Finals MVPs give him the most accomplished résumé in the group.
Best at size 16: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

17 — Larry Bird

Honorable mentions: Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid

Bird (three MVPs, three titles, two Finals MVPs) tops a field that includes Davis and Embiid.
Best at size 17: Larry Bird

18 — Kevin Durant

Honorable mentions: Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan

Durant is associated with size 17 as his actual shoe/foot size, but he wears size 18 basketball shoes on court. Under this list’s methodology, the worn basketball-shoe size determines the category. His four scoring titles, MVP, two championships and two Finals MVPs make him the strongest player associated with size 18. Yao Ming remains an important honorable mention, with eight All-Star selections and major historical impact.
Best at size 18: Kevin Durant

19 — Kevin Love

Honorable mention: Andre Drummond

Love (6’8″, five-time All-Star) and Drummond (6’10”-6’11”, four-time rebounding leader) share a reported size 19 despite very different games.
Best at size 19: Kevin Love

20 — Karl-Anthony Towns

Honorable mentions: Rudy Gobert (verified), Brook Lopez (verified), Robin Lopez

Towns, Gobert, Brook Lopez and Robin Lopez are all associated with size 20. NBA.com specifically states that Gobert wears size 20, while contemporary reporting documents Brook Lopez in size 20. Towns’ shooting plus-size combination gets the nod.
Best at size 20: Karl-Anthony Towns

22 — Shaquille O’Neal

Honorable mentions: Bob Lanier (disputed), Tacko Fall, Victor Wembanyama (disputed)

Shaq’s size 22 is the most famous number on this list. Lanier is also linked to it, but that figure is genuinely disputed: a Converse representative said in 1989 that Lanier actually wore an 18.5, and Lanier himself told the Washington Post in 1970 that his shoes were a 19. Fall, at 7’6″, makes the same number look far less surprising than it does on Shaq’s 7’1″ frame. Wembanyama has also been associated with size 22 footwear, but 20.5 is more commonly reported, so he is not treated as an uncontested size-22 player.
Best at size 22: Shaquille O’Neal

The Best NBA Players at Every Shoe Size

What shoe size actually tells us about an NBA player

The further down the list you go, the more obvious the pattern becomes. Shoe size and height are related, but they’re not interchangeable. Westbrook and Garnett can both appear at a reported size 15 despite more than half a foot of height between them. Size 22 stretches from Lanier’s 6’10” to Fall’s 7’6″.

That’s what makes the numbers fun. They don’t tell the whole story. What matters is what the player did once the shoes were on.

The number matters. The player wearing it matters more.