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Holla! To all of our endearing readers who've followed us through the course of our progress as a significant channel for basketball news, we've got news for you - A Top 50 list of the greatest players in basketball history!
We asked 8 of our writers to name their top 50 players of all time. Giving a weightage of 100 points to the #1 pick and 51 to the #50 pick, we arrived at a list that encompasses much of the storied history of the game of basketball - with all of these players having played out the vast majority of their careers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In a weekly series, we will be releasing our ranks of the all-time greatest players of the game, as things stand at the end of the 2017-18 season. You can check out the countdown from #50 to #41 here. Here's the countdown from #40 up until #31!
#40 Paul Pierce
Per-game statistics: 19.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.6 blocks
Shooting splits: 44.5% shooting from the field, 34.9% on 3-pointers, 80.6% on free throws
Accolades: NBA Champion and Finals MVP (2008), All-NBA Second Teamer (2009), 3-time All-NBA Third Teamer (2002, 2003, 2008), 10-time All-Star (2002-2006, 2008-2012), 3-point shootout champion (2010), Jersey #34 retired by the Celtics
Records: League leader in total points scored (2001-02), Celtics franchise leader in total steals and 3-pointers made
Paul 'The Truth' Pierce is one of the greatest players to ever don a Boston Celtics' jersey. Through 15 years of playing at the Garden for one of the biggest fanbases in the league, Pierce represented the Celtics in the most blameless manner possible - till the age of 35.
Selected by the Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Pierce rose to prominence alongside Antoine Walker in the first couple of years of their careers. A starter from the get-go, he scored 19 or more points in 10 of his first 11 contests and finished the year with averages of 16.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
By his third season, his scoring average shot up to 25.3 points per game - but he was snubbed from All-Star game selection because of the Celtics not being able to make the playoffs. He remedied that in his second year, leading the Celtics to a Conference Finals appearance. His clutch performances in the playoffs that year led to him being heralded as 'The Truth' for the first time in his career.
But the franchise was never a true contender, and Pierce's best individual years were spent languishing on a bad roster. After injury plagued his 2006-07 season, when the Celtics finished with the second-worst record in the league (24-58), he demanded either a trade or a shakeup of their roster in order to win his first NBA title.
Trader Danny duly obliged by doing the latter and trading for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, resulting in the formation of the Celtics' Big Three. They rebounded to a league-best 66-16 record in the 2007-08 season and cantered to their first NBA title in 22 years with a 4-2 series win over the Lakers in the Finals.
They never won the NBA title again, but they did make the Finals in 2010 and took the Miami Big Three to 7 games in the 2012 Conference Finals. After the 2013 season, Ainge decided that it was time for the franchise to move on from its Big Three era and rebuild for sustained success later on - he traded Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets.
Pierce spent a season each with the Nets and then the Wizards, before moving to the Clippers under old coach Doc Rivers and playing out the final 2 seasons of his career there.
Pierce's game aged quite well. He was never over-reliant on his athleticism, using his basketball IQ and jump shooting skill to get all the crucial buckets that the Celtics needed whenever he was able to. Through the length of his career, he was an above-average defender and was beaten out to All-Defensive teams because of the stature of purely defensive players during his prime years.
His list of honors ranks right up there with many top-50 players in the history of basketball. He was a 10-time All-Star. He was selected to 4 All-NBA teams. He has a championship during which he was crowned Finals MVP for his two-way play - people forget that his defense forced Kobe Bryant to miss 9 straight shots in game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.
His jersey was raised to the rafters of the TD Garden earlier this year.
#39 Ray Allen
Career per-game averages: 18.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.2 blocks
Shooting splits: 45.2% from the field, 40% on 3-pointers, 89.4% on free throws
Accolades: 2-time NBA Champion (2008, 2013), All-NBA Second Team (2005), All-NBA Third Team (2001), 10-time All Star (2000-2002, 2004-2009, 2011)
Records:
The all-time leader in 3-pointers made in the NBA regular season as well as playoffs, Ray Allen's legacy as a first-ballot Hall of Famer was set the moment he set an NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers scored in a game in Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.
Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a draft-night trade, Allen used the first 6 years of his career to build his resume as one of the best two-way players in the league. Despite averaging great numbers from his second season onwards, Allen was only selected for the All-Star Game in his 4th NBA season.
He marked the festivities with a win in the 3-point Shootout Challenge during his second All-Star season. The Bucks made it to the Conference Finals and took the Philadelphia 76ers to 7 games in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.
But despite Allen's elite two-way play, the Bucks failed to make the playoffs in the 2001-02 season. A fallout with coach George Karl in the 02-03 season meant that he got traded to the Seattle Supersonics in February 2003.
The best years of his career were spent with the Sonics there, as he averaged 24.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game during his time there. But his failure to find playoff success with a franchise that couldn't surround him with adequate talent led Allen to demand a trade, which sent him to the Boston Celtics to team up with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2007.
A title and another Finals appearance and a Conference Finals appearance done, Allen moved on to the final phase of his career as largely a spot-up shooter with the Miami Heat, winning another NBA title after hitting the greatest clutch shot in league history and making another Finals series in the final season of his career (2013-14).
Allen set a league record for most 3-pointers in a regular season campaign with 269 in the 2005-06 season, a record that has since been broken by Steph Curry several times over.
Shuttleworth is probably the NBA's second greatest shooter of all time behind Curry. His shooting form is a work of art - a motion that youngsters all over the world need to study in detail and copy in order to be good shooters. He also ranks 6th on the All-Time list of players with the highest free throw percentage.
Never an outspoken player, Allen was one of the best on- and off-court role models followed by youngsters in the USA - his movie debut as Jesus Shuttleworth in the late 90s played a large part in that. Allen has left behind a legacy as one of the most accomplished players in league history.
#38 Clyde Drexler
Career per-game averages: 20.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.7 blocks
Shooting splits: 47.2% from the field, 31.8% on 3-pointers, 78.8% on free throws
Accolades: NBA Champion (1995), All-NBA First Team (1992), 2-time All-NBA Second Team (1988, 1991), 2-time All-NBA Third Team (1990, 1995), 10-time NBA All Star (1986, 1988-1994, 1996, 1997)
Drexler was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 14th overall pick in the 1983 NBA draft. He averaged 7.7 points in 17.2 minutes per game in his rookie season. His second season allowed him to register a breakout, as he averaged 17.2 points, 6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
His dominance as an athlete allowed him to make the leap to being a star player this early in his career. By his third season, Drexler had made his first All-Star team with per-game averages of 18.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2.6 steals.
In the 1989–1990 season, Drexler led the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals, averaging 26.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, but his team lost to the Detroit Pistons in five games. In the 1990–1991 season Drexler led Portland to a franchise-best 63–19 record. Heavily favored to win the West, the Los Angeles Lakers upset the Trail Blazers by winning the Western Conference Finals.
In the 1991–92 season he made the All-NBA First Team and finished second to Michael Jordan in MVP voting. He met Jordan's Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals that same season only to fall short, as Jordan and the Bulls went on to win their second consecutive championship. In the six-game series against Chicago, Drexler averaged 24.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.
In 1992, he was selected to the U.S. Olympic basketball team, nicknamed "The Dream Team", which won the gold medal in Barcelona.
On February 14, 1995, with the Blazers out of serious contention for a championship, Portland honored Drexler's request to be traded to a contender and sent the Blazers great back home to the Houston Rockets, along with Tracy Murray in exchange for Otis Thorpe, the draft rights of Marcelo Nicola, and a 1995 first round draft pick in mid-season, right before the trade deadline.
Despite finishing the regular season with a record of 47–35, which placed the Rockets 6th out of 8 playoff teams in the Western Conference, Drexler and long-time friend Hakeem Olajuwon helped propel them to an improbable second consecutive championship in 1995, sweeping the Orlando Magic. In his third and final NBA Finals appearance, Drexler averaged 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game.
#37 George Mikan
Career per-game averages: 23.4 points, 13.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists per game
Shooting splits: 40.4% from the field, 78.2% on free throws
Mikan began his basketball career with the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League, a predecessor of the modern NBA. He played with them for 25 games at the end of the 1946–47 NBL season, scoring 16.5 points per game as a rookie. Mikan led the Gears to the championship of the World Basketball Tournament, where he was elected Most Valuable Player after scoring 100 points in five games, and also voted into the All-NBL Team.
However, before the start of the 1947–48 NBL season, Maurice White, the president of the American Gear Company and the owner of the American Gears NBL team, pulled the team out of the league. White planned to create a 24-team league called the Professional Basketball League of America, in which he owned all the teams and arenas.
However, the league folded after just a month, and the players of White's teams were equally distributed among the 11 remaining NBL franchises. As a consequence, every team had a 9.09% chance of landing Mikan, who ended up on the Minneapolis Lakers, playing for coach John Kundla.
In his first season with the Lakers, Mikan led the league in scoring with 1,195 points, becoming the only NBL player to score more than 1,000 points in an NBL season.[9] He was named league MVP, and the Lakers won the NBL title.
The following year, the Lakers and three other NBL franchises jumped to the fledgling Basketball Association of America. Mikan led his new league in scoring, and again set a single-season scoring record. The Lakers defeated the Washington Capitols in the 1949 BAA Finals.
In 1949, the BAA and NBL merged to form the NBA. The new league started the inaugural 1949–50 NBA season, featuring 17 teams, with the Lakers in the Central Division. Mikan again was dominant, averaging 27.4 points per game and 2.9 assists per game and taking another scoring title.
Alex Groza of Indianapolis Olympians was the only other player to break the 20-point-barrier that year. After comfortably leading his team to an impressive 51–17 record and storming through the playoffs, Mikan's team played the 1950 NBA Finals against the Syracuse Nationals.
In Game 1, the Lakers beat Syracuse on their home court when Lakers reserve guard Bob Harrison hit a 40-foot buzzer beater to give Minneapolis a two-point win. The team split the next four games, and in Game 6, the Lakers won 110–95 and won the first-ever NBA championship. Mikan scored 31.3 points per game in the playoffs.
In the 1950–51 NBA season, Mikan was dominant again, scoring a career-best 28.4 points per game in the regular season, again taking the scoring crown, and had 3.1 assists per game. In that year, the NBA introduced a new statistic: rebounds. In this category, Mikan also stood out; his 14.1 rebounds per game (rpg) was only second to the 16.4 rpg of Dolph Schayes of Syracuse.
In that year, Mikan participated in one of the most notorious NBA games ever played. When the Fort Wayne Pistons played against his Lakers, the Pistons took a 19–18 lead. Afraid that Mikan would mount a comeback if he got the ball, the Pistons passed the ball around without any attempt to score a basket. With no shot clock invented yet to force them into offense, the score stayed 19–18 to make it the lowest-scoring NBA game of all time.
This game was an important factor in the development of the shot clock, which was introduced four years later. Mikan had scored 15 of the Lakers' 18 points, thus scoring 83.3% of his team's points, setting an NBA all-time record. In the postseason, Mikan fractured his leg before the 1951 Western Division Finals against the Rochester Royals.
With Mikan hardly able to move all series long, the Royals won 3–1. Decades later, in 1990, Mikan recalled that his leg was taped with a plate; however, despite effectively hopping around the court on one foot, he said he still averaged 20-odd points per game.In the 1951–52 NBA season, the NBA decided to widen the paint area under the basket from 6 feet to 12 feet.
As players could stay in the lane for only three seconds at a time, it forced big men like Mikan to post-up from double the distance. A main proponent of this rule was New York Knicks coach Joe Lapchick, who regarded Mikan as his nemesis, and it was dubbed "The Mikan Rule".
While Mikan still scored an impressive 23.8 points per game, it was a serious reduction from his 27.4 points per game the previous season, and his field goal percentage came down from 42.8% to 38.5%. He still pulled down 13.5 rebounds per game, asserting himself as a top rebounder, and logged 3.0 assists per game.
Mikan also had a truly dominating game that season, in which he scored a personal-best 61 points in a double overtime victory against the Rochester Royals. At the time, it was the second-best performance in league history behind Joe Fulks' 63-point score in 1949, and Mikan's output more than doubled that of his teammates, whose output that game totaled 30 points.
In the 1952 NBA All-Star Game, Mikan had a strong performance with 26 points and 15 rebounds in a West loss. Later that season, the Lakers reached the 1952 NBA Finals and were pitted against the New York Knicks. This qualified as one of the strangest Finals series in NBA history, as neither team could play on their home court in the first six games.
The Lakers' Minneapolis Auditorium was already booked, and the Knicks' Madison Square Garden was occupied by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Instead, the Lakers played in St. Paul and the Knicks in the damp, dimly lit 69th Regiment Armory. Constantly doubled by the Knicks' Nat Clifton and Harry Gallatin, Mikan was unable to assert himself. It was more to Vern Mikkelsen's credit that the first six games were split. In the only true home game, Game 7 in the Auditorium, the Lakers won 82–65 and edged the Knicks 4–3, winning the NBA title and earning themselves $7,500 to split among the team.
During the 1952–53 NBA season, Mikan averaged 20.6 points and a career-high 14.4 rebounds per game, the highest in the league, as well as 2.9 assists per game. In the 1953 NBA All-Star Game, Mikan was dominant again with 22 points and 16 rebounds, winning that game's MVP Award. The Lakers made the 1953 NBA Finals, and again defeated the Knicks 4–1.
In the 1953–54 NBA season, the now 29-year-old Mikan slowly declined, averaging 18.1 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Under his leadership, the Lakers won another NBA title in the 1954 NBA Finals, making it their third-straight championship and fifth in six years; the only time they lost had been when Mikan fractured his leg.
From an NBA perspective, the Minneapolis Lakers dynasty has only been convincingly surpassed by the eleven-title Boston Celtics dynasty of 1957–69. At the end of the season, Mikan announced his retirement, citing family issues. He later said: "I had a family growing, and I decided to be with them. I felt it was time to get started with the professional world outside of basketball." Injuries also were a factor, as Mikan had sustained 10 broken bones and 16 stitches in his career, often having to play through these injuries.
Without Mikan, the Lakers made the playoffs, but were unable to reach the 1955 NBA Finals. In the middle of the 1955–56 NBA season, Mikan returned to the Lakers lineup. He played in 37 games, but his long absence had affected his play. He averaged only 10.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists, and the Lakers lost in the first round of the playoffs.
At the end of the season, Mikan retired for good. His 10,156 points were a record at the time; he was the first NBA player to score 10,000 points in a career. He was inducted into the inaugural Basketball Hall of Fame class of 1959 and was declared the greatest player of the first half of the century by the Associated Press.
#36 Elvin Hayes
Career per-game stats: 21 points, 12.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.0 blocks
Shooting splits: 45.2% from the field, 67% shooting on free throws
Accolades: NBA Champion (1978), 3-time All-NBA First Team selection (1975, 1977, 1979), 3-time All-NBA Second Team selection (1973, 1974, 1976), 2-time All-Defensive Second Team selection (1974, 1975), 12-time All-Star (1969-1980)
Records: 10th all-time in total points scored, NBA; Scoring title (1969), Rebounding title (1970, 1974), only player to play 15 seasons without missing more than 2 regular season games
Hayes joined the NBA with the San Diego Rockets in 1968 and went on to lead the NBA in scoring with 28.4 points per game, averaged 17.1 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Hayes' scoring average is the fifth best all-time for a rookie (tied with Michael Jordan), and he remains the last rookie to lead the NBA in scoring average. He scored a career-high 54 points against the Detroit Pistons on November 11, 1968 - barely a few weeks into his professional career.
In Hayes' second season, he led the NBA in rebounding, becoming the first player other than Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain to lead the category since 1957 (Chamberlain was injured during much of the season). In Hayes' third season, 1970–71, he scored a career-best 28.7 points per game. In 1971, the Rockets moved to Houston, enabling Hayes to play in the city of his college triumphs.
Hayes was acquired by the Baltimore Bullets from the Rockets for Jack Marin on June 23, 1972. He teamed with Hall-Of-Famer Wes Unseld to form a fierce and dominating frontcourt combination. The 18.1 rebounds per game Hayes averaged in 1974 is the third highest rebounding average of any NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain retired in 1973.
Hayes and Unseld later led the Washington Bullets to three NBA Finals (1975, 1976 and 1978) and an NBA title over the Seattle SuperSonics in 1978. During the Bullets' championship season (1978), he averaged 21.8 points and 12.1 rebounds per game in 21 playoff games.
Hayes set an NBA Finals record for most offensive rebounds in a game (11), in a May 27, 1979 game against the SuperSonics. The Chicago Bulls' Dennis Rodman would tie this record twice, both games coming in the 1996 NBA Finals, also against the SuperSonics.
Desiring to finish his playing career in Texas and preferably Houston, Hayes was sent back to the Rockets for second-round draft picks in 1981 (Charles Davis) and 1983 (Sidney Lowe) on June 8, 1981.
The "Big E" closed out his career with the Rockets in 1984. His final season was marked with some controversy; Hayes understandably did not play extensive minutes for much of the season due to his age and the team not being very good, but down the stretch, he suddenly received extended minutes (he played all 48 minutes in one home loss).
Speculation abounded that Houston was giving Hayes more playing time to ensure that the team would keep losing and have a better shot at getting the #1 draft pick (the Rockets did get that pick and used it to select Hakeem Olajuwon). Hayes finished his career with exactly 50,000 minutes played. Hayes had a career scoring average of 21.0 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. He ranks fourth in NBA history in total rebounds, behind Chamberlain, Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Shortly after finishing his career in the NBA, Hayes returned to the University of Houston to finish the last thirty credit hours of his undergraduate degree. When interviewed about the experience, Hayes remarked, "I played 16 years of pro basketball, but this is the hardest thing I've ever done."
The Big E's durability is the stuff of legends. The NBA regular season comprises of 82 games, and never in a single season out of the 16 that he played in the league did he miss more than 2 games. He played all 82 games 8 times, 81 games 7 times and 80 games once.
#35 George Gervin
Career per-game stats: 25.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.0 blocks
Shooting splits: 50.4% from the field, 27.1% on 3-pointers, 84.1% from the free throw line
Accolades: 5-time All-NBA First Team (1978-1982), 4-time All-League Second Team (All-NBA 1977, 1983; All-ABA 1975, 1976), 12-time All-Star (9 times in the NBA '77-'85; 3 times in the ABA '74-76), NBA All-Star Game MVP (1980)
Records: 4-time NBA scoring champion (1978-80, 1982) - despite the introduction of the 3-point line in the '79-80 season
Nicknamed "Iceman" for his cool demeanor on the court, Gervin is one of the greatest scorers in basketball history. Another reason for this nickname being so apt is the fact that Gervin was able to play high-intensity basketball without sweating like other players.
Gervin's trademark move - the finger roll, is a bread-and-butter weapon for every professional basketball player on the planet. Except for the fact that nobody's ever been able to imitate him in doing so from as far as the free throw line.
Gervin initially played for the Pontiac (Michigan) Chaparrals of the Continental Basketball Association where he was spotted by Johnny Kerr, a scout for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. Kerr signed the Iceman to the Squires with a $40,000 a year contract.
Gervin's time in Virginia would be short-lived, however. The Squires' finances had never been stable, and they had been forced to trade their best players to stay afloat. In the space of only four months, they traded Julius Erving and Swen Nater for cash and/or draft picks.
During the 1974 ABA All-Star Weekend, rumors were rife that the Squires were in talks about dealing Gervin for cash. Gervin was eventually traded to the Spurs for $228,000 and the Squires were a defunct franchise not long after.
With Gervin as the centerpiece, the Spurs transformed from a primarily defense-oriented team into an exciting fast-breaking team that played what coach Bob Bass called "schoolyard basketball". Although the Spurs never won an ABA playoff series during Gervin's first three years there, their high-powered offense made them very attractive to the NBA, and the Spurs joined the more established league as part of the 1976 ABA–NBA merger.
Right before the final ABA season, the Spurs had acquired star power forward Larry Kenon via trade, forming an offensively dominant one-two punch of both him and Gervin in order to strengthen their lineup and compete for a championship. That season they were one win away from advancing to the 1976 ABA Finals without competing in the first round, as they had lost 4-3 to the Julius Erving-led New York Nets, who would win the championship.
Gervin's first NBA scoring crown came in the 1977–78 season, when he narrowly edged David Thompson for the scoring title by seven-hundredths of a point (27.22 to 27.15). Although Thompson came up with a memorable performance for the last game of the regular season, scoring 73 points, Gervin maintained his slight lead by scoring 63 points (including a then NBA record 33 points in the second quarter) in a loss during the last game of the regular season.
With the scoring crown in hand, he sat out some of the third, and all of the fourth quarter. In the 1978–79 NBA season, the Spurs finished 48-34 with the second seed in the Eastern Conference (they are currently a Western Conference team). They beat Dr. J's Philadelphia 76ers in the second round over seven games, with Gervin leading the league in playoff scoring with 28.6 ppg.
They were one win away from making it to the 1979 NBA Finals - up 3-1 against the Washington Bullets in the Eastern Conference Finals. However, they gave up three straight games to lose the series. Kenon would become a free agent and sign with the Bulls after the following season.
Despite disappointing playoff eliminations and not making it to the finals, Gervin was committed to the Spurs, showing no frustration towards his teammates, thus living up to his nickname and went on to lead the NBA in scoring average three years in a row from 1978 to 1980 (with a high of 33.1 points per game in 1979–80), and again in 1982. Prior to Michael Jordan, Gervin had the most scoring titles of any guard in league history.
In 1981, while sitting out three games due to injury, Gervin's replacement, Ron Brewer, averaged over 30 ppg. When Gervin returned, he scored 40+ points. When asked if he was sending a message, Gervin said, "Just the way the Lord planned it" and added, "Ice be cool" (with Ron Brewer).
In the 1981–82 season, the Spurs were championship contenders once again - as a Western Conference franchise this time around. They finished second in the conference with a 48-34 record. Gervin carried the team in scoring by leading the league with 29.4 ppg. They made it back to the Conference Finals but got swept by the number one seeded Los Angeles Lakers who wound up winning the championship that year.
In the 1982 offseason, the Spurs drafted high scoring guards Oliver Robinson of UAB and Tony Grier from South Florida and also traded for all-star center Artis Gilmore to take some offensive pressure off Gervin.
This time with the addition of Gilmore and some fresh young talent, the Spurs were once again a title contender in the 1982–83 season, finishing 53-29 with the number two seed in the Western Conference, making it back to the Conference Finals once again with Gervin leading the way, averaging 25.2 ppg, only to be defeated yet again by the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
Right before the 1985–86 season, Gervin was traded to the Chicago Bulls for forward David Greenwood after missing multiple preseason workouts amid the possibility of being relegated to the bench by new head coach, Cotton Fitzsimmons. This season would be Gervin's last season in the NBA before retiring from the league.
Although by this time he was aging and no longer at an All-Star level, Gervin was still effective on the Bulls roster, averaging 16.2 ppg. With Michael Jordan ruled out for the majority of the season, the primary scoring responsibilities fell to him. He had a 40-point game (a season-high 45 points against the Mavericks) and played all 82 games. The Bulls finished 30-52, but that losing record was enough for them to make the playoffs with the number 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The last NBA game of Gervin's career was April 20, 1986, Jordan's remarkable 63 point game against the Boston Celtics in game 2 of the first round. Gervin recorded an assist and a personal foul in five minutes of play and the Bulls would later get swept by the Celtics in the first round.
When he left the NBA, Gervin played for some years in Europe: in Italy for Banco Roma during the 1986–87 season where he averaged 26.1 points per game.
In the Spanish National Basketball League for TDK Manresa team (he was 38 years old at the time). At this point in his career, he had lost some of his quickness, but his scoring instinct remained; he averaged 25.5 points, 5 rebounds and 1.2 assists. In his last match, he scored 31 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to keep Manresa in the first Spanish division.
Gervin's legacy has inspired other athletes. Basketball great Gary Payton has stated his childhood idol was Gervin and that he was his favorite player to watch. Payton was ushered in by the Iceman for his Hall of Fame induction.
#34 Steve Nash
Per-game averages: 14.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 0.7 steals, 0.1 blocks
Shooting splits: 49% from the field, 42.8% on 3-pointers, 90.4% on free throws
Accolades: 2-time NBA MVP (2005, 2006), 3 All-NBA First Teams (2005-07), 2 All-NBA Second Teams (2008, 2010), 2 All-NBA Third Teams (2002, 2003), 8-time NBA All-Star (2002, 2003, 2005-08, 2010, 2012)
Records: Only player to be a 4-time member of the 50-40-90 club, 5 assists titles, all-time leader in free throw percentage at 90.4%
What makes Steve Nash different from most other players we've covered so far is that his excellence screams out best in the way his game affected his teammates' stats, rather than his own personal box score. While all players consciously try to stuff their own stat sheet when they're winning, what made Nash an all-time great and probably the best passer other than Magic Johnson in league history is the fact that he was always aware of how to get the ball to his teammates at the best time, in the best spots.
That's also part of the reason why Nash is the only MVP not named Bill Russell to average less than 20 points per game while winning the Maurice Podoloff trophy, and like Bill, he did it twice.
Contemporary NBA offenses can trace their roots back to the Seven Seconds or Less offenses run by the Suns so successfully in the mid-noughties. They did make it to 3 straight Conference Finals, although they were beaten by the best teams in the league on all 3 occasions (sorry '06 Heat, you might be champions but you weren't the best team, you just had the best player).
Drafted with the 15th overall pick by the Phoenix Suns in 1996, Nash's first couple of seasons in the league were spent as a backup point guard who could act as either a microwave scorer or facilitator. Getting traded to the Mavericks and paired with the greatest big man shooter of all time certainly helped him become a better player on and off the stat sheets, but it didn't allow him to break out to the best of his ability despite 2 All-Star Game appearances.
Faced with the choice of having to choose between Nash and Nowitzki, Cuban made the tough call of letting Nash go to the Phoenix Suns. This sparked a union between Mike D'Antoni, All-Star power forward Amare Stoudemire, shooting guard Joe Johnson and a talented offensive supporting cast. D'Antoni gave Nash the keys to his offense, and this sparked a run of 6 out of 7 seasons when the greatest Canadian baller of all time recorded 10 assists or more per game.
After languishing on bad, lottery-bound Suns rosters for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, Nash decided to go ring-chasing in 2012, joining forces with Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol for the 2012-13 season. Injuries marred the roster and Nash all year long, and they never really got going as a unit. Injury to Bryant late in the regular season meant that the Lakers were swept out of the first round of playoffs.
Nagging nerve problems kept Nash largely off the floor in the '13-14 season, and he retired after that year.
The Suns fell short in the playoff runs in 2005 and 06 in a large part due to luck, and the Robert Horry hip-check marred their Conference Finals appearance in 2007. That a player with Nash's ability to make teammates better never won a championship is a hard pill for a true fan to swallow, but he has had a fair amount of success as a consultant for the Warriors with rings to show for the 2016-17 and the 2017-18 campaigns.
#33 Patrick Ewing
Career per-game stats: 21.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.0 steals, 2.4 blocks
Shooting splits: 50.4% from the field, 15.2% on 3-pointers. 74% on free throws
Accolades: All-NBA First Team (1990), 6-time All-NBA Second Team selection (1988, 89, 91-93, 97), 3-time All-Defensive Second Team (1988, 1989, 1992), Rookie of the Year (1986),
Records: New York Knicks all-time leader in games, minutes, points, rebounds, blocks and steals
The Jamaican-born Patrick Ewing is up there among the greatest players never to win an NBA title. In fact, he played in an era so stacked that despite being arguably a top 10 defensive center of all time, he was unable to crack the All-Defensive First Team throughout his peak - purely because of the presence of GOAT-caliber centers like David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon and specialists like Dikembe Mutombo, Mark Eaton and Robert Parish.
To give an idea to new basketball fans as to how good Patrick Ewing was, a modern-day equivalent of the Knicks legend would be DeAndre Ayton - except the fact that Ayton played no defense in college whereas Ewing would be winning Defensive Player of the Year every season over the competition in today's game, which comprises mainly of Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis amongst bigs.
Ewing picked up the game of basketball after moving to Massachusetts from his home island at the age of 12 - he spent his initial years playing football and cricket as a typical Jamaican kid of those times. He was natural at it, and emerged as Mr. USA Basketball in the year 1981 and was recruited heavily by the top basketball programs in the nation at the time. He eventually attended Georgetown University and is currently the head coach of the Hoyas.
The Hoyas made it to 3 NCAA Finals during his time, winning it all in 1984 with Ewing at the center of their offense as well as defense. He was the highest-rated college basketball player of his time, winning an Olympic gold medal alongside Charles Barkley and GOAT Michael Jordan in 1984 before winning the Naismith College Player of the Year award in 1985.
Selected by the Knicks in 1985 with the first overall pick, Ewing's impact on the city and the franchise was immediate and profound. He won Rookie of the Year honors and was voted into the All-Star game, but injuries held him back in his first couple of years as a Knickerbocker.
Ewing's first fully healthy season saw the Knicks post a 38-44 record in 87-88, making the playoffs as the 8th seed. They improved further in his 4th professional season to a 52-30 record after acquiring defensive specialist Charles Oakley. Their progress hit snags due to yearly coaching changes, but Pat Riley's arrival as the head coach in the 91-92 season, along with John Starks' impact as a pesky guard on the perimeter, put the Knicks over the top as worthy championship contenders.
They made it to the Conference Finals in 1993, losing another time to Jordan and the Bulls (having lost in the semifinal stages in 1992). Jordan's year-long exit from the game paved the way for the Knicks to make their first Finals appearance in 1994, but they lost in 7 games to the Clutch City Rockets as John Starks went on the coldest shooting streak of his career in Game 7.
Penny and Shaq blocked their way in 1995 before Pat Riley left to take over the reins at Miami. Ewing's excellent play continued for 12 seasons before injuries deprived him of his otherworldly athletic abilities. He was a crucial part of the Knicks' run to the Finals in 1999, but he eventually faded into oblivion with a season each at Seattle and Orlando. His Orlando version was a pitiful sight, pretty much like Hakeem in Toronto - you'd rather much have seen them retire than put themselves through those ordeals.
Ewing is one of the greatest centers to ever live, and his archetype of two-way play with jumpshooting ability was followed since him by Shaq and Garnett, among others. Joel Embiid and DeAndre Ayton are two other players who provide striking reminders of the dominant big man, who was also a crucial member of the Dream Team in 1992.
#32 Kevin McHale
Per game averages: 17.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 0.4 steals, 1.7 blocks per game
Shooting splits: 55.4% from the field, 26.1% on 3-pointers, 79.8% on free throws
Accolades: NBA Champion (1981, 1984, 1986), Sixth Man of the year (1984, 1985), All-NBA First Team (1987), All-Defensive First Team (1986-88), All-Defensive Second Team (1983, 1989, 1990), All-Star (1984, 1986-1991)
Boston won the last three games of the series, including Game 6 on Philadelphia's home court. McHale helped save the Game 6 win by rejecting an Andrew Toney shot and collecting the rebound with 16 seconds left to protect the Celtics' one-point lead. In the NBA Finals, Boston defeated the Houston Rockets in six games to capture the team's fourteenth championship.
Backing up Larry Bird and Cedric Maxwell at forward, McHale made an immediate impact and was named to the NBA's All-Rookie First Team in his rookie season. Boston finished McHale's rookie season with a league-leading record of 62-20. In the playoffs, the Celtics swept the Chicago Bulls in the first round. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were staring down the barrel of a 3–1 deficit against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philadelphia avenged their loss in 81 with a Game 7 win in the Conference Finals in '82. In the 1983 Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks. This embarrassing defeat led to the firing of head coach Bill Fitch and a temporarily unhappy McHale.
McHale won the first of his consecutive NBA Sixth Man Awards in the 1983–84 season as Boston won a league-best 62 games. With the hiring of a new head coach and former Celtic KC Jones as well as the acquisition of All-Star Phoenix Suns guard Dennis Johnson, the Celtics were primed to make yet another run at a fifteenth championship.
After surviving a seven-game semifinal battle with the Knicks, the Celtics avenged the previous season's playoff loss to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals. Boston would face the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in a highly anticipated matchup.
In Game 4 of the finals, with the Celtics trailing in both the game and the series, McHale delivered a hard foul to Kurt Rambis, violently flinging him down by his throat, as the Lakers' forward raced to the basket. The physical play touched off a bench-clearing scuffle. Boston came back to win the game in overtime and tie the series at two games apiece. They eventually prevailed in seven games to win the franchise's fifteenth championship.
McHale continued to come off the bench during first half of the 1984–1985 season but moved into a starting role in February 1985 after Cedric Maxwell suffered a knee injury. McHale enjoyed his greatest scoring night against the Pistons this season, setting the Celtics' single-game scoring record with 56 points. Two nights later, he scored 42 points against the Knicks, the only other time in his career he topped 40 points in a game.
The 98 points in consecutive games is still a Celtics' record. Nine days after McHale had scored 56 points, Larry Bird established a new Celtics' single-game scoring mark by pouring in 60 points versus the Atlanta Hawks.
The Celtics made it to their second straight Finals that year as McHale led the Celtics in scoring (26.0) and rebounding (10.7) versus the Lakers. But the Shamrock Green brigade failed to defend their title, losing in 6 games. McHale's elimination game performance of 32 points and 16 rebounds went in vain as the Lakers ran riot in a 111-100 victory.
McHale's first full season as a starter and the addition of Bill Walton to the already stacked Celtics team pushed them over the edge and made them one of the all-time great NBA teams. They finished the playoffs with a 15-3 record, winning in the Finals against the Twin Tower Rockets 4-2. McHale had a crucial role throughout the playoffs, averaging 24.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.
For two consecutive seasons after that, McHale posted the league's best field goal percentage (60.4% in both years) while scoring 26.1 and 22.6 points per game respectively. The Celtics lost to the Lakers in the Finals in '87 and bowed out of the Conference Finals in '88.
Ankle injuries caught up to the power forward in the 88-89 season, and despite staging a comeback of sorts and making the All-Star team for every season until the '90-91 campaign, McHale never returned to the peak of his powers as he displayed from 1984-88. He retired after the '92-93 season, accelerating the Celtics' rebuild.
McHale has often been hailed as one of the greatest players from the low post of all time, along with Hakeem Olajuwon. The region was often referred by him as the 'Torture Chamber', as McHale combined exquisite finishing ability and mobility on spin moves and the like in devastating fashion.
McHale remains one of the rare players in league history to average over 60% from the field and 80% from the free throw line. After retirement, he took a variety of off-court roles for the Cs, before coaching the Timberwolves and the Rockets for a combined 6 seasons. His name has gone down in history as one of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game.
#31 Rick Barry
Per-game statistics: 24.8 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 2.0 steals, 0.5 blocks
Shooting splits: 45.6% from the field, 29.7% on 3-pointers, 90% on free throws
Accolades: NBA Champion and Finals MVP (1975), ABA Champion (1969), 9-time All-League First Team selection (5xAll-NBA, 4xAll-ABA), All-NBA Second Team (1973), 12-time All-Star (4 times in the ABA, 8 times in the NBA), All-Star Game MVP (NBA, 1967)
Records: Scoring title in 1966-67 (NBA), 6-time league leader in free throw percentage
Hall of Fame forward Rick Barry is the only player ever to lead the NCAA, NBA, and ABA in scoring. His name appears near the top of every all-time offensive list. He scored more than 25,000 points in his professional career and in four different seasons averaged more than 30 points.
He was named to 12 All-Star teams, four All-NBA First Teams, and five All-ABA First Teams. Barry was a nearly unstoppable offensive juggernaut, a passionate competitor with an untempered desire to win. Occasionally his fiery competitiveness would grate on rivals - and teammates, too.
When he left the game, Barry was sixth on the NBA-ABA combined all-time scoring list with 25,279 points. Although his defense was sometimes criticized for being less-than-intense, his 1,104 career steals ranked 10th. He was a deadly free-throw shooter and used an odd underhand style called by many as the 'Granny style'. At the time of his retirement, Barry's .900 career free-throw percentage was the best in NBA history. In one season (1978-79) he missed only nine free-throw attempts.
Barry started his pro career with the San Francisco Warriors, who selected him in the first round of the 1965 NBA Draft. He scored 25.7 points per game (fourth in the league), made the All-Star Team, was named NBA Rookie of the Year and earned a berth on the All-NBA First Team.
In his second season, 1966-67, Barry went for a career-high 2,775 points in 78 appearances, leading the league in scoring with an average of 35.6 points. On Dec. 6, 1966 against the New York Knicks, Barry set what was then an NBA record for most free throws made in one quarter when he made 14.
He made the second appearance of his eight NBA All-Star selections and won the game's MVP Award in 1967 after pouring in 38 points. At the end of the season, Barry earned a second consecutive selection to the All-NBA First Team.
The Warriors won the Western Division that year and took Chamberlain's great Philadelphia 76ers team to six games in the NBA Finals before losing. Barry matched Chamberlain's playoff record set five-years earlier by launching 48 shots in Game 3. He made 22 of them, to share the all-time Finals record with Baylor.
His 55 points in the game are the second-highest total in NBA Finals history, tied later by Jordan in 1993 and trailing only Baylor's 61 for the Lakers in 1962. Barry also scored 43 and 44 points in two other games of the series. His 40.8 scoring average for the series was an NBA Finals record until Jordan scored 41.0 per game in the 1993 championship series.
After two seasons in San Francisco, which produced a league scoring title and two All-NBA First Team selections, Barry signed with the Oakland Oaks of the ABA. A court dispute over his obligation to the Warriors sidelined Barry for the entire 1967-68 season, but he did join the Oaks for the 1968-69 campaign.
The ensuing public fuss did not reflect well on Barry. His league-jumping was perceived by fans as being driven by greed, even though other players were also taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the ABA.
Barry made an immediate impact on the fledgling league, leading the Oaks to the ABA Championship in 1969 and finishing second to Indiana's Mel Daniels for the ABA Most Valuable Player Award. Although a knee injury limited him to 35 games, Barry averaged 34.0 points to become the first player to win scoring titles in both leagues. At season's end, Oaks head coach Hannum was named ABA Coach of the Year.
After spending a season with the newly-moved-to-Washington Capitols (the Oaks had been sold in the summer of 1969 to owners based there), Barry moved to the New Jersey Nets, where he compiled two more spectacular individual seasons.
Barry's four seasons in the ABA produced four All-Star selections, a championship, and an ABA scoring title. But his seven seasons in professional basketball had landed him in two leagues -- with three different teams in four different cities -- and in court twice. "If I had to do it over again," Barry said, "I'd wait for some other fool to do it."
Just as he'd grown comfortable with the Nets of the ABA, a court decision forced Barry to return to the NBA's Golden State Warriors for the 1972-73 season. Upon his return to the NBA, he was a different, better player. For one thing, he had bulked up by about 20 pounds so that he could muscle with the NBA's big boys when he had to. He also had developed other skills beyond scoring - becoming an elite passer, playmaker and defender.
After his return to the NBA, Barry experienced the longest period of stability in his career. He played six more seasons with the Warriors, and they made the playoffs four times. In 1972-73, he averaged 22.3 points per game. He also earned the first of six NBA free-throw percentage titles. A perennial All-Star, he began a string of six more midseason appearances and was named to three consecutive All-NBA First Teams.
Barry boosted his scoring average to 25.1 points per game in 1973-74. He had his greatest scoring night on March 26, 1974, against the Portland Trail Blazers. In the first half, he was merely hot, with 19 points. In the second half, however, he lit the Blazers up, hitting 21 field goals for 45 points. Barry's 64-point total was his career high and made him, at the time, only the third player to go over 63 (Chamberlain had done it 15 times, Baylor twice), although three other players would reach the same level over the next two decades.
Barry had a career year in 1974-75. He led the Warriors to the NBA title, averaged 30.6 points (second to the Buffalo Braves' Bob McAdoo), and led the league in free-throw percentage (.904) and steals (2.85 per game). He also ranked sixth in the NBA in assists with 6.2 per game, the only forward to make the top 10.
Golden State's 1974-75 roster included NBA Rookie of the Year Keith Wilkes (known later as Jamaal Wilkes), a smooth, unselfish, sure-handed small forward. The rest of the squad was a collection of hardworking but unspectacular role players. Barry led the team to a 48-34 regular-season record.
Coach Al Attles used a 10-man rotation and pressure defense to keep opponents off balance. The Warriors led the league in scoring, with 108.5 points per game. Barry led the squad in scoring, and Wilkes was No. 2 with 14.2 points per game. Nine players logged more than 1,000 minutes and eight averaged better than 7.6 points.
In the 1975 NBA Finals, the Warriors astonished the basketball world by sweeping Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes' Washington Bullets in four games. Because nobody had expected the Warriors to go so deep into the playoffs, the arena in Oakland had been booked for another event. The championship games were moved to the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
Barry, who averaged 29.5 ppg in The Finals, was named NBA Finals MVP and began to attract increasing admiration for his play. But Barry was a perfectionist, and an outspoken one at that. He played the game with a look of mild (and sometimes not-so-mild) uppity that suggested his surroundings were beneath him. He never tempered his tongue or controlled his takes. Consequently, he was not a popular figure and missed out on MVP honours on at least 2 different occasions in his career.
The next season, 1975-76, the Warriors won 59 games and topped the league. But they fell to the Phoenix Suns in seven games in the Western Conference Finals. With the Warriors' young players developing both skills and confidence, Barry shouldered less of the scoring burden. He averaged 21.0 points while distributing 496 assists.
In 1976-77, Barry averaged 21.8 points, as the Warriors fell off to 46-36 and lost in the conference semifinals. The next season he averaged 23.1 points, a single tick below his career average of 23.2. Golden State, despite a winning record, finished out of the playoffs in the resurgent Pacific Division.
Barry retired after the 1979-80 season, spending his last two pro seasons with the Houston Rockets in a reduced role alongside Moses Malone. In 14 seasons of professional basketball (10 in the NBA), he had played in more than 1,000 games. He never missed more than four NBA games in a row until his final year. He averaged 23.2 points in the NBA and 30.5 points in his four ABA seasons.
In the playoffs he was even more prolific, scoring 24.8 points per game in his NBA postseason career and 33.5 points per game in the ABA. At the time of his retirement, Barry was the most accurate free-throw shooter in NBA history, having hit 90.0 percent of his free-throw attempts - he's currently 4th behind Mark Price, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry.
