NBA All Time List 100-76
- Jordan Ennis
- Jul 23, 2020
- 20 min read
Updated: Jul 23, 2020
First off I need to explain something, I use 10 positions instead of the traditional 5 (Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward, Center), so as not to confuse you I want to explain these before we start.
-Pivot- Plays Down Low on Offense and Defense. Think Rudy Gobert.
-Combo Big- Can play down low but more mobile and can play at least to the high post or farther out. Think Anthony Davis.
-Power Forward- Can Guard a little away from the hoop and scores in the midrange or farther away. Think Kevin Love
-Front Court- Can fill any of the previous 3 roles. Think Giannis Antetkempo
-Point Forward- a bigger player who handles the ball but doesn’t always guard ball handlers though they may sometimes do that. Think Luka Doncic
-Small Forward- a forward who cannot Guard Pivots but also can’t Guard point guards. Think Kyle Kuzma.
-Wing- Versitle on who they can Guard (if not how good they Guard) and plays off ball more than on ball. Think Jaylen Brown.
-Off Guard- Someone who plays mostly off ball but can’t really guard up a position very well. Think JJ Reddick.
-Combo Guard- Can play on or off ball. Think James Harden.
-Pure Point- Plays on ball so well you don’t really want him off ball anyway. Think Chris Paul.
That should make this a little easier to understand where I’m coming from. Most of these positions are covered.
I count the stats and awards of the three leagues that merged into the NBA (American Basketball Association, Basketball Association of America, and National Basketball League) but context still matters not just raw totals. Also I factor in impact on league history, if this was just “who is the best player of all time no matter the context” than the list always trends modern because the rules change. If you are interested these are the guys who just missed the cut.
101- Dennis Johnson, A fantastic defensive combo guard.
102- Alonzo Mourning, A dominant defensive force.
103- George Yardley, one of the early major scorers of the NBA.
104- Carl Braun, Knicks legend at guard.
105- Dennis Rodman, a probably overrated player but his impact is felt on history.
106- Gus Johnson, his nickname was “Honeycomb” because of how backboards looked after he dunked on them and they cracked.
107- Yao Ming, I wore number 11 because I played Pivot for my middle school team... I never grew after 8th grade.
108- Nikola Jokic, the best passing big of all time.
109- Charlie Scott, An NBA/ABA hybrid who was amazing.
110- Mel Daniels, he played one injury plagued season in the NBA but was part of the Pacers Dynasty in the ABA.
100- Walt Bellamy
6’11 Hall of Fame Pivot- Bullets (Stops in NY, Detroit, Atlanta, New Orleans)
4x All Star, ROY, led the league in games 4x (88 games in 68-69!), lead the league in FG%.
Career Stats: 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists
Prime Stats: 27 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists
Walter Jones Bellamy is a weird guy to rank, he’s amazing as a rookie- 32 points 19 rebounds, leading the league in FG% then never improves he just gets slowly worse. Walt was known for not putting in consistent effort, yet his power and agility let him retire at 6th all time in points (as of right now he is 41). He had a low post game that in the footage that looks more like Andre Drummond than a true skilled man but he also had a high post and midrange shot as well. Bells is known for not living up to his immense talent and physical tools yet, he still made the Hall of Fame, and my top 100.
99- Chris Webber
6’9 Combo Big- Kings, Bullets (Rookie in Golden State (then 9 games to end his career there), Stops in Detroit and Philly)
5x All Star, 4x All NBA, ROY, Rebound Title.
Career Stats: 20 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
Let’s address the gigantic glowing pink elephant in the room, CHRIS WEBBER SHOULD BE IN THE HALL OF FAME! Ok, now that I can breath normally let’s continue, I am a child of the 90s so my earliest basketball memories are of the late 90s to early 00s. C-Webb was absolutely the coolest, this was the time when the NBA had the best power forward depth Duncan, Dirk, KG, Pau, Rasheed, and C-Webb, also post prime Malone for a bit of it, I lived for that. Webber fought with teammates, he took money in college, he didn’t enjoy team success outside of Sacramento (but seriously it’s not his fault Juwan Howard got all the money ever), these are knocks on his career sure. But in the deepest era for his position all time, Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III stood out and showed out. PUT C-WEBB IN THE HALL.
98- Tiny Archibald
6’1 Hall of Fame Pure Point- Kings and Celtics (34 games for the Nets, Set injured a whole year with the Braves, 46 games with the Bucks)
Champion, 6x All Star, 5x All NBA, Scoring Title, Assist Title (both in 73! Where he also led the league in Minuets) NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time List Member.
Career Stats: 19 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal.
Prime Stats: 27 points, 9 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals.
Nathaniel “Nate” Archibald, who also went by the name Tiny, is a pretty controversial player. He is by some considered extremely inefficient (averaging 3 turnovers a game when turnovers weren’t counted in the really crazy part of his career), and by others a revolutionary who brought the playground style to the NBA. Tiny was named after “Big Tiny” his dad’s nickname, a dad who abandoned Nate and his family in the Patterson Projects of the Bronx. His story should have ended there, fatherless in one of the most drug infested neighborhoods of America, he should have been like all the other street ball legends who didn’t make it because of their addiction, but Tiny was addicted to basketball, a game he shouldn’t have dominated. A small, shy, and unconfident Archibald almost dropped out of high school, but he made it through and eventually to college all the way in El Paso Texas at UTEP. Drafted in the Second Round of the 1970 NBA draft by the Legendary Bob Cousy Tiny dominated on bad Royals/Kings teams till he was traded to the Nets, where his feet began to break down, a torn Achilles, the death sentence in basketball had him miss his entire career with the Buffalo Braves, who traded him to Boston. His career should have been over, another what If or wasted potential but once again Archibald stood up after defeat. In Boston Tiny 20 pounds over weight argued with the team stars JoJo White and Player Coach Dave Cowens, then everything changed, new ownership came in and brought in Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. In Boston an admittedly slower Tiny learned to trust his teammates and became an integral part of a championship roster and made 3 more All Star games and an All NBA second team. He also saved his legacy as a survivor.
97- Harry Gallatin
6’6 Hall of Fame Front Court- 7x All Star, 2x all NBA, Rebounding leader.
Career/Prime Stats: 13 points, 12 Rebounds, 2 assists.
Playing center, power forward and small forward the undersized “Horse” was an incredible defender (DPOY and All defense teams didn’t exist yet) and was for years considered to be the “New York Knick” until Frazier and Reed came along. He played a team record 610 straight games, after he quit pitching for the Cubs/Reds minor league teams, all while taking a pounding from bigger opponents. Harry Junior “Farmer” Gallatin never missed a game in his career, and he earned his spot in this list.
96- Vern Mikkelsen
6’7 Hall of Fame Front Court- Lakers
4x Champion, 6x All Star, 4x All NBA,
Career/Prime Stats: 14 points, 9 rebounds 4 fouls.
“The Great Dane” was Mikan’s enforcer, he did all the little things for the first great Lakers dynasty. Imagine if Horace Grant was white and instead of goggles he was balding. He used a decent midrange shot to give Mikan Space, he put back any missed from Pollard, his bone crunching screens freed up Slater Martin to run the offense. Eventually the Lakers team breaks up, Mikan retires due to a foot injury, Pollard follows, Martin is traded. Mikkelsen stays, he’s not the leader on offense it’s bad for a year, then the Lakers get Elgin Baylor and the two of them take Minneapolis to another finals, but because Baylor was on the team they lose. At this point a 30 year old Mikkelsen retires from basketball because his insurance agency needed him more and he was loosing money playing in the NBA, that is a very different time to now.
95- David Thompson
6’4 Hall of Fame Wing, Nuggets, Sonics
5x All Star, 3x All NBA/ABA, ROY, ABA all time team.
Career Stats: 23 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 26 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block.
Skywalker, very few players were ever as good as prime David Thompson. Very few players fell as low as quick as he did. The last number one pick by the ABA he was dominant from the moment his feet touched pro hardwood, being the precursor to MJ (Jim Pollard inspired Elgin Baylor who inspired Connie Hawkins, Dr. J, Skywalker, MJ, Kobe, Wade, future). The problem was injuries, those injuries led to depression, depression to drug abuse and drug abuse to more injuries and even spousal abuse. He quit basketball completely reorganized his life. 31 years old and he had to give up the sport to save his family. His highlights were insane 73 points, 32 in one quarter, against Detroit. ABA and NBA All Star Game MVP (only person to ever do that). David Thompson indeed walked in the sky, if only for a brief moment.
94- Chauncey Billups
6’3 Combo Guard- Pistons, Nuggets (Boston, Toronto, Minnesota, Knicks, Clippers)
Champion, FMVP, 5x All Star, 3x All NBA, 2x All Defense.
Career Stats: 15 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal.
Prime Stats: 18 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal.
Box score totals just don’t explain how good Chauncey became. The 3rd Overall Pick in 1997 he was expected to compete with Tim Duncan and Kieth Van Horn as staples of the new NBA. While Van Horn was okay and Duncan was immediately dominant, Billups suffered from a mid season trade, bad coaching and being forced to play off ball too much. In 2000 he was signed by the Timberwolves to be a backup. In 3 years he was on his 5th team (he never played a game for the Magic), and looking at a bench role. After playing well an injury moved him into the starting lineup and he became probably the best teammate Kevin Garnett ever had in Minnesota (I know it’s such a low bar most people can’t limbo with that but it was a step in the right direction). At this point he signed with the Rick Carlisle coached Detroit Pistons, Carlisle was known for arguing with Point Guards and honestly he never stopped but “Smooth” thrived there and the next year a new coach Larry Brown, and more importantly a trade for Rasheed Wallace led to a ring and Chauncey earning the name “Mr. Big Shot!” Chauncey was perfect at being a Combo Guard he never became passive with scoring but also never dominated the rock enough that teammates felt they didn’t get touches. Chauncey Billups is in my Hall of Fame and he should be in yours as well.
93- Chris Mullin
6’6 Hall of Fame Small Forward- Warriors (Pacers)
5x All Star, 3x All NBA
Career Stats: 18 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 26 points, 4 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Mully was on the dream team. Only MJ played more for the Dream Team. His shooting was that important. Think about that, a team with Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley had basically one shooter (Stockton and Bird combined for less minutes than Chris Mullin) and it worked because he was that good! Run TMC was one of the most fun teams to not contend for titles. If Webber would have stayed in Golden State I imagine titles were coming. Mullin is one of the best shooters in the history of the game and probably came 20 years too early. However the game as it exists now probably doesn’t happen without that flat top.
92- Joe Fulks
6’5 Hall of Fame Small Forward- Warriors.
2x All Star, 4x all NBA/BAA Scoring title.
Career Stats: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist
Prime Stats: 20 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assists
Ok for those who think this doesn’t look great let me explain who Jumpin’ Joe was. Called “The Babe Ruth of Basketball” Fulks was a pioneer for the sport, in 1946 the BAA began, Joe Fulks lead the league in scoring and won the first championship. While he didn’t invent the jump shot he was the first real star to use it. He also had a deep bag of acrobatic layups and turn around jumpers. He was basically a 90’s backup small forward playing against defenses that didn’t know you should jump to contest yet. Fulks once scored 21 points in a quarter, before the shot clock was invented to keep opponents from holding onto the ball. As for his limited all star appearances, the game wasn’t played till he was 29, his career didn’t start till age 25 because he fought at Iwo Jima and then traveled with the USMC’s All Star Leathernecks. His career is short but he was extremely vital to the creation of our game.
91- Bernard King
6’7 Hall of Fame Combo Forward- Knicks, Warriors, Bullets, (Nets and Jazz)
4x All Star, 4x All NBA, Scoring Title
Career Stats: 23 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.
Prime Stats: 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.
A post up 3, who had two knee reconstructions in his prime. And lost almost a year in rehab. 4 years of his career gone there. King was basically unstoppable on offense and really could have been so much higher on this list. His peak is better than Mello but he doesn’t stay there. He changed into a face up slasher at the end of his career to still be a great player. If he has those 4 years back it’s not unlikely he’s a 8x all star and 6x all NBA player. King is a huge what if but still makes it here with what he did do.
90- Adrian Dantley
6’5 Hall of Fame Small Forward- Utah (Buffalo, Indiana, Lakers, Detroit, Dallas, Milwaukee)
6x All Star, 2x All NBA, ROY, 2x Scoring Title.
Career Stats: 24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal,
Prime Stats: 30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal,
Another post up 3 who could also spread the floor. Dantley has a complicated legacy of being a selfish player. He would intentionally let players block his shot so his pump fakes world work better later. He played somewhat like James Harden in tricking defenders into fouling him every time he could. He could score at will but his teams didn’t compete well in the playoffs. He was finally putting it together on the Pistons but his selfishness got him traded the year they won their first ring. The original AD could never get out of his own way but he still had an amazing career.
89- Vince Carter
6’6 Wing- Raptors, Nets (Orlando, Phoenix, then a role player in Dallas, Memphis, Sacramento, and Atlanta)
8x All Star, 2x All NBA, ROY,
Career Stats: 17 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal.
Prime Stats: 25 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block.
They called him “Half man/Half amazing” and I want to be honest about this. I was a 7 year old in 2000, I grew up in west Africa, to watch the dunk contest, all star games or playoff basketball I would have to get up in the middle of the night. That kid asks a simple honest question, “Half man? How disrespectful can you be! Vincent Lamar Carter jr. is at most one quarter man!” Looking back I’m floored that Vincanity didn’t average something like 70 points on 30 posters a night. Sadly, the myth of Air Canada and the player of Vince Carter don not match up. Only 2 all NBA teams is crazy. The best part about Vince is unlike other stars who struggle not being the man-*cough* Allan *cough* Iverson *cough*, he transitioned smoothly to a bench role. Vince Carter hit one of the most clutch shots of all time for the Dallas Mavericks. He helped keep Grit and Grind together in Memphis. I get that Vince ended his career with a lot more Man than Amazing but he has the longest career ever, and that is all Amazing.
88- Alex English
6’7 Hall of Fame Small Forward- Nuggets, (Bucks, Pacers, Mavericks)
8x All Star, 3x All NBA, Scoring Title.
Career Stats: 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 28 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
No one in the 80s out scored English, not Bird, MJ, Kareem, no one. He scored from everywhere and almost effortlessly. English, ironically, wrote 3 books of poetry and still dominated the sport without trash talking. The Nuggets ran a fast break offense and English was completely capable of finishing fast breaks in his sleep. When the Nuggets traded Kiki Vandeweghe for Fat Lever English didn’t have to create as much and went to work scoring at will. They made it to the Conference Finals and lost to the Lakers. English was let down by his teammates but he gave his all to them.
87- Sydney Moncrief
6’3 Hall of Fame Combo Guard- Bucks (And 73 games in Atlanta we won’t mention)
5x All Star, 5x All NBA, 5x All Defense, 2x DPOY,
Career Averages: 16 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal.
Prime Averages: 21 points, 5 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Knee injuries, in one of the themes of professional basketball, derailed this career. There are plenty of complements I can give to “El Sid,” for his all around play. The fact that the DPOY award was basically invented for him is one. Don Nelson compared his mental toughness to Bill Russell, probably one of the most mentally tough athletes... ever. However, this quote from Michael Jeffery Jordan probably says it all, “When you play against Moncrief, you're in for a night of all-around basketball. He'll hound you everywhere you go, both ends of the court. You just expect it.”
Doctors said “The Squid” would only play 1 or 2 years of NBA basketball, instead he had a Hall of Fame career where the highest complement I can give comes from my dad, “MJ is the best player, the best Shooting Guard of all time, but Sidney Moncrief was better than him at one point, it was a brief time, but he was better.”
86- Cliff Hagan
6’4 Hall of Fame Wing- Hawks, (played for the Dallas Chaparrals in the ABA as well)
Champion, 6x All Star, 2x All NBA,
Career Stats: 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists.
Prime Stats: 23 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists.
Starting his career at 25 due to military service “Little Abner” brought his hook shot and jumper to the Hawks, filling out the superstar front court of Bob Pettit, Ed Macauley and himself, all Hall of Fame players. The Hawks won 5 conference championships and one finals with him as their second best player. He later own became a player coach in the ABA.
85- Tracy McGrady
6’8 Hall of Fame Wing- Magic, Rockets (Raptors, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks)
7x all star, 7x all NBA, 2x Scoring Title, MIP
Career Stats: 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 27 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
T-Mac was electric. There was a time The Big Sleep vs The Black Mamba was an actual debate, one at times Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. won. That debate had its flaws, and ignored that Kobe was a superior defender but it still happened and needs to be acknowledged. T-Mac could explode to score on any-one from any-where at any-time. His body was perfectly designed for basketball. That athleticism, length, size, co-ordination, speed, vision. The Raptors didn’t know what they had with T-Mac and he went to Orlando, this was his break, he would team up with Grant Hill and dominate the competition, Hill signed a huge contract and only played 47 games for Orlando, forcing them out of contention. Tracy won the Most Improved Player award in Orlando but his teammates failed him. McGrady was traded to Houston where his teammates (Yao Ming and co.) would continue the trend of getting injured right when the playoffs came around. While T-Mac’s career is a what if, that what if is not his fault. T-Mac was a Hall of Famer and that is pure fact.
84-Paul Arizin
6’4 Hall of Fame Small Forward- Warriors
Champion, 10x All Star, 4x All NBA, 2x Scoring Title, 25th Anniversary Team, 50th Anniversary Team,
Career/Prime Stats: 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists
If Joe Fulks Innovated the Jump Shot than Pitchin’ Paul tweaked it even more. He built off of the play style of his teammate to creat a team with 2 jump shooting forwards. Poppin’ Paul also could handle the ball and was known for good defense, the typical all around forward before those came into being. In the slowest paced era of basketball Arizin averaged 20 points per game 9 seasons in a row and every year, save one, of his career (after his sophomore year he spent 2 years in the military then returned to ball), making the all star team every year. In high school Arizin was cut every year from his teams so he would play in other leagues (church leagues, independent, intramural, etc) at one point playing for 7 teams at the same time. He accidentally discovered his jump shot on those slippery floors in thrown together leagues. It’s worth noting that he retired rather than move to California and one wonders if how long he would have played.
83- Anthony Davis
6’10 Combo Big- Pelicans, Lakers
7x All Star, 3x All NBA, 3x All Defense, 3x Block Champion.
Career Stats: 24 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks.
Players still playing are the hardest to rank. AD is going to move up this list. He just is. It’s easy to assume he eventually gets an MVP, DPOY and a FMVP with a ring. Those accolades will definitely push him higher. Right now we are watching him get better and better. AD isn’t the Tim Duncan we were hoping for but he is going to skyrocket up this list.
82- Grant Hill
6’8 Hall of Fame Wing- Pistons (Magic, Suns, Clippers)
7x All Star, 5x All NBA, ROY
Career Stats: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
Hill was amazing his career mirrors Vince Carter but his height is even higher, he was supposed to be the “next Jordan” but his knee and ankle turned that into what we have. Hill could do a little bit of everything though he struggled from 3 pt range he was a passable defender, a great secondary ball handler and a fantastic cutter and driver to the basket. His career should have mirrored Shaq and Duncan instead we wonder what we missed out on.
81- Dan Issel
6’9 Hall of Fame Combo Big Nuggets, Colonels
Champion, 7x All Star, 5x all ABA, ROY, 3x scoring title
Career Stats: 23 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Prime Stats: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
First off it doesn’t count for this ranking but Dan Issel with out a 3 point line or any shot clock leads all Kentucky players in NCAA points per game with 25.7, that’s impressive. He missed 24 games in his 15 year career. His awkward pump faking and loping style of driving lead him to retire 5th all time in scoring. He was described by Collin Cowherd once as “Larry Bird without the passing.” Now, setting aside the fact that I don’t like Collin’s takes from the footage I’ve seen it seems to be an accurate take, also the passing is kinda the best part of Bird so that’s why Issel doesn’t keep climbing this list. Also like Bird he was know for his hustle, a college teammate once remarked, “the thing I remember about Dan is that he fell down all the time.” He combined with Artis Gilmore to have the best ABA record of all time (68-16), and eventually a championship. His exploits in the NBA weren’t as good but his ABA highs are impossible to ignore.
80- Derrick Rose
6’2 Combo Guard Bulls, (Knicks, Cavs, Pistons, Wolves)
3x All Star, All NBA, MVP, ROY,
Career Stats: 18 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal.
Prime Stats: 23 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block.
Glass knees ruin joy and happiness. I dare you to watch Rose highlights and not smile at the way he dunks Goran Dragic into contemplating if he should go back to Europe. Rose was one of the most electrifying players in the history of basketball. Watching Rose rise for a dunk was like watching a leopard stalk baboons in Kruger National park (I know that is really specific but that’s one of the memories I have of seeing something that graceful yet ferocious at the same time). Another underrated aspect of Rose was his passing, his vision wasn’t amazing but his ability to pass was incredible. You know how your coaches told you “Never jump without a plan, you should pass before you jump.” Well apparently D-Rose was like, “Nah fam, I’m gonna jump, eat a taco, clip my nails, read a book, then pass.” I really wish his knees didn’t give out. It’s one of the sports tragedies of all time. He has basically the second shortest prime of anyone in my top 100 but it was glorious, it was incredible, it was Derrick Rose.
79- Bobby Jones
6’9 Hall of Fame Small Forward Denver, Philadelphia.
Champion, 5x All Star, 1x all ABA, 12x All Defense,
Career Stats: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists 2 steals, 2 blocks.
Look, 12 seasons, 12 all defense selections. His nickname was “The Secretary of Defense” for a reason. Think of him as Prime Ron Artest, except he wasn’t going to just punch someone. In fact Bobby Jones was such a devout Christian he wouldn’t intentionally foul someone. He simply refused to lose. a decent passer and rebounder, an ok shooter, but Bobby Jones an Athlete. He could run and jump with the best of them, honestly it is unfair that the 6ers played him and Dr J, seriously being a rim protector on those nights must have been less fun than your fiancée’s dog throwing up all over the back seat of the car and her bailing on you to clean it up (look it’s an analogy, it doesn’t have to have happen, it did though). Jones wasn’t even going to play basketball in high school till his Pastor begged him to join the team, he then only played basketball in college because it would pay for college. HE THEN MADE THE HALL OF FAME. How incredible is that. Honestly he was a lot of fun to watch in highlights and even better in full games.
78- Lenny Wilkens
6’1 Hall of Fame Pure Point Hawks, Sonics (Cavs, Blazers)
9x All Star, assist champ.
Career Stats: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal,
Prime Stats: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists
Len didn’t see an NBA game till after he was drafted. He played 1077 of them, he coached 2487. For a guy who said “I don’t know if I want to be a professional” he learned really quickly he wanted it. Wilkens was a playmaker. He would pass teammates open, he would create plays when the actual play broke down. It’s probably for that reason he excelled as a player coach and eventually a full time coach, for which he became in 1996 one of the 10 coaches selected for the best in history. It’s impressive that someone who had a distinct and deserving Hall of Fame career as a player was so much better as a coach. Most of the time Hall of Famers don’t make incredible coaches, but some of the time patterns break down and people make something out of nothing even when they put the ball in other peoples hands.
77- Dominique Wilkins
6’8 Hall of Fame Small Forward Hawks (Clippers, Celtics, Spurs, Magic)
9x All Star, 7x All NBA, Scoring title.
Career Stats: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 28 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Nique was different. He could jump so high it didn’t look real. Seriously watch his highlights, your brain kinda short circuits a bit. He also had incredible power and finesse, he would miss on purpose to get a put back dunk so he could humiliate defenders. My dad told me he was his generations Melo. The one who just was incredible on offense but never had to team to really succeed. You knew he wasn’t hurting his team by being the best player but he wasn’t enough to carry terrible teams to a title. Now, I don’t think his hawks were terrible but the point stands, Nique was never the best player at his position, (Dr J, Bird, Worthy) but he was absolutely incredible with the ways he could get to put backs and the way he could bully his way to the rim. Honestly though some of his highlights make me wonder if offensive fouls existed in 80s/90s Atlanta. Either way he had one nickname that explained it all, he was “The Human Highlight Reel” and honestly nothing else I say will explain him better than that.
76- James Worthy
6’9 Hall of Fame Small Forward
3x Champion, FMVP, 7x All Star, 2x All NBA, 50th anniversary team.
Career Stats: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Prime Stats: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
Big Game James showed up in the playoffs, he averaged 22/5/3/1/1 in his prime even better than his regular season showings. Now James did have some weakness, he couldn’t really create for himself. So this guy named Magic Johnson turned him into an unstoppable force by finding him 97% of the time he was open (this is not an actual stat, please don’t quote this). Worthy’s totals aren’t as good as Dominique’s but he is also sharing the court with (spoiler alert) 2 top 10 guys all time. An interesting thought experiment is what would happen if you switched those 2 and see who does better. The saddest part of James Worthy’s career (other than his appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation) was he almost played for my Mavs but the deal didn’t go through. Today we don’t really have Small Forwards who don’t shoot and pass and honestly after writing about Worthy and Nique I’m beginning to wonder if that’s a bad thing? Worthy was like if Nique just more “Human” than “Highlight.” Yet, his impact on the league is what moves him ahead of Wilkins in my list.
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