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Basketball

Top 100 Basketball Players Ever: #70-#61

#70: Adrian Dantley

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Resume

NBA Rookie of the Year: (’77)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 2x (’81, ‘84)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’77)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’84, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Leader Points: 2x (’81, ’84)

NBA Leader PER: 1x (’84)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 1x (’84)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 1x (’84)

NBA Offensive Rating Leader: 2x (’78, ’84)

NBA Offensive Win Shares Leader: 4x (’81, ’82, ’84, ’86)

NBA Top 10 Points: 5x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’84, ’86)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 6x (’78, ’80, ’81, ’82, ’84, ’86)

Career NBA Points: 27th

Career NBA Offensive Rating: 119.8 (8th)

Career NBA Win Shares: 134.2 (30th)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 66th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 83rd

It’s easy to look at Dantley’s Advanced Metrics and conclude he’s one of the most underrated players in the history of the game. His Advanced States, especially compared to the player one spot higher than him on this list (and on Slam and Simmons lists as well). Dantley was a great offensive player in an era where offense was rampant. His style wouldn’t translate to today’s game as he was primarily a post-up player at 6’3”. You know how some like to dismiss the 1980s because “everyone was skinny and small”. Well, Dantley would actually be negatively affected by that difference because of the way he played the game.

There’s a second part about Dantley that hurts his ranking considerably. From all accounts he sounds like a bad teammate and someone that coaches and other players just didn’t want on their team. He was traded some five times in his prime (are great players traded that often?) often on 50 cents for the dollar. The Lakers pre-Magic dumped Dantley to Utah for a washed up Spencer Haywood. He’d average more points (28) than Utah had wins that season (24) while the Lakers won the title. Utah would follow with 28 wins the next season and 25 after that. Interestingly in 1983 they would go up to 30 wins…and Dantley only played 22 games that season. It look Dantley’s excellent 1984 season to get Utah to the playoffs finally. Three straight playoff seasons in the 40-45 win range seemed to help Dantley…except Utah sent him away for Kelly Tripucka (a scoring no defense forward) and continued on their 40+ win playoff streak (and better as the Malone-Stockton era began). Dantley got to play for a contender with the Pistons…and then he was traded for Mark Aguirre as he clashed with Isiah. Unsurprisingly, Detroit would win two straight titles. There’s too many negatives here to rank Dantley any higher, but he needs to be given credit for his great offensive numbers.

#69: Alex English

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Resume

All-NBA 2nd Team: 3x (’82, ’83, ‘86)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’88, ‘89)

NBA Leader Points: 2x (’83, ‘86)

NBA Top 10 PER: 3x (’83, ’84, ‘86)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 1x (’84)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 4x (’82, ’83, ’84, ‘86)

Career NBA Points: 17th

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 65th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 82nd

English was a lot more consistent than Dantley and his teams did better as well. Sure, it’s luck that English had less talent around him, but a big part of that is their attitude and being able to co-exist with their teammates and coaches. English was often part of one of the more potent offensive teams in the league: the 80s Nuggets.

English had a lot more success than Dantley as well, leading the Nuggets to the Western Conference Championship against the Lakers in ’85. In terms of pure statistics, English would be Carmelo Anthony’s end of career projection…although English has done better in the playoffs than Anthony.

#68: Bob Mcadoo

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Resume

NBA MVP: 1x (’75)

NBA Rookie of the Year: (’73)

All-NBA 1st Team: 1x (’75)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (‘74)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’73)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ‘78)

NBA Leader Points: 3x (’74, ’75, ‘76)

NBA Rebounds Leader: 1x (’75)

NBA Win Shares Leader: 1x (’75)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 1x (’75)

NBA Offensive Win Shares Leader: 2x (’74, ‘75)

NBA Top 10 Points: 5x (’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ‘78)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: (’74, ’75, ’76, ’77, ‘78)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: (’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’74, ’75, ’76, ‘78)

Role Player for two NBA Champions: (’82 Lakers, ’85 Lakers)

Role Player for one Runner-Up: (’84 Lakers)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 61st

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 46th

For a three year stretch, Bob McAdoo was the 2nd best player in the league behind Kareem. Interestingly his play fell off after injuries and he was never the same after 1978. McAdoo gets a bit of a bonus over other offense only players for two reasons: his MVP Award and his success as a role player on the Lakers in the 1980s.

McAdoo was simply unlucky. If he was able to play at full strength in the early 1980s he probably would have been a force.

#67: Tom Heinsohn

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NBA Rookie of the Year: (’57)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 4x (’61, ’62, ’63, ’64)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’57, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ‘65)

NBA Top 10 Points: 1x (’60)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 1x (’62)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 1x (’62)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 9x (’57, ’58, ’59, ’60, ’61, ’62, ’63, ’64, ‘65)

Either the 3rd or 4th Best Player on Eight Championship Teams: (’57 Celtics, ’59 Celtics, ’60 Celtics, ’61 Celtics, ’62 Celtics, ’63 Celtics, ’64 Celtics, ’65 Celtics)

Either the 3rd or 4th Best Player on one Runner Up: (’58 Celtics)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 57th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 68th

One of the primary exhibits in the “Russell played with a billion Hall of Famers” argument. In terms of what Simmons wrote about him, he sounds like this generations Manu Ginobili in regards to being someone who seems to be a great chemistry guy…but once in a while goes against the grain (which is why Pop gets on Manu…and apparently Auerbach got on Heinshon).

I don’t see how I can put him any higher. He was a big part of the Celtics dynasty with a bunch of all NBA 2nd Teams during the reign. Tough call. Russell thinks that he would be better than Bob Pettit if he had his head always in the game (we haven’t reached Pettit on this list yet). That’s pretty high praise, although it’s coming from a teammate. I’ll just go with a very good player that added to a great team and won a lot of titles.

#66: Tiny Archibald

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All-NBA 1st Team: 3x (’73, ’75, ’76)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 2x (’72, ‘81)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’81)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’73, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’81, ‘82)

NBA Points Leader: 1x (’73)

NBA Assists Leader: 1x (’73)

Only player to lead NBA in Points and Assists in same season.

NBA Top 3 Points: 4x (’72, ’73 ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 7x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’75, ’76, ’80, ’81)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 3x (’72, ’73, ’75)

NBA Top 2 Offensive Win Shares: 3x (’72, ’73, ’75)

NBA Top 10 PER: 4x (’72, ’73, ’75, ’76)

NBA Career Assists: 21st

Starter for one Champion: 1981 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 60th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 52nd

Famously known for his 1973 season, where he lead the league in points and assists (and didn’t win MVP). While it’s an amazing feat and definitely notable, Tiny’s Kings were only 36-46 that year. Tiny gets a bonus because, like McAdoo, he was an excellent top player (the prototype for 2008 Chris Paul) early on and then his career went downhill. Only Tiny was still a very good player on his late Celtic years and even snagged an All-Star Game MVP.

His presence mattered a lot for those early 80s Celtic teams. The Celtics in 1982 had an 18 game winning streak that season and looked posed to at least make the Finals for the 2nd straight year. Tiny went down, and so did the Celtics.

#65: Pau Gasol

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Resume

NBA Rookie of the Year: (’02)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 2x (’11, ‘15)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 2x (’09, ’10)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’02)

NBA All-Star Game MVP: 1x (’81)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’06, ’09, ’10, ’11, ‘15)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 4x (’09, ’10, ’11, ‘15)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 3x (’02, ’06, ’15)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’09, ’10, ’11, ’12, ‘15)

NBA Top 5 WS/48: 3x (’09, ’10, ’11)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 2x (’09, ‘11)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 3x (’06, ’11, ’15)

NBA Top 10 PER: 2x (’07, ‘10)

NBA Career Blocks: 28th

2nd Best Player on Two Champions: 2009 Lakers, 2010 Lakers

2nd Best Player on One Runner Up: 2008 Lakers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): Not Ranked

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 96th

It’s easy to look at Gasol’s All-NBA Teams and not be impressed. It’s just as easy to forget that he played his entire career in the same league with Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki. He was THE reason that the Memphis Grizzlies gained any relevance whatsoever, and was quite unlucky early on in his career as the Grizzlies had a 50-50 shot at the #1 pick in the 2003 draft (LeBron). Gasol and LeBron playing with one another in their early years would have been absolutely ridiculous and is one of the great What-Ifs of all time.

Why is Gasol this high? For one he’s one of the few players who could happily co-exist as Kobe Bryant’s 2nd banana. Gasol thrived in the role and arguably became the top big man in the league from 2009 through 2011 (it’s forgotten now, but Kobe had a slow start in 2010 and everyone stated that Gasol was the best player on the team at that point, as well as a top 5 guy). It should be noted that post-Shaq Kobe never won a playoff series without Gasol. That’s shows Gasol’s importance. And then there is this. When the Lakers got Gasol for “nothing” (Marc Gasol turned out to be pretty good) the entire league, especially Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich started a shitstorm over it. Great coaches like Pop don’t complain unless the player involved is great. And even at that point, he knew Pau Gasol was great.

His 2015 resurgence in Chicago only helped his case. Also helping Gasol is obviously his ridiculous Advanced Metrics during the Laker title runs, as well as the fact that he was a better defensive player than anyone gave him credit for.

#64: Reggie Miller

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All-NBA 3rd Team: 3x (’95, ’96, ‘98)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’90, ’95, ’96, ’98, ‘00)

NBA Top 10 Points: 3x (’90, ’91, ’97)

NBA 3PTFG Leader: 2x (’93, ’97)

NBA Offensive Rating Leader: 3x (’91, ’93, ’94)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 14x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 7x (’90, ’91, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 5x (’91, ’94, ’95, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 11x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, ‘00)

NBA Career Points: 18th

NBA Career 3PFG: 2nd

NBA Career Win Shares: 14th

NBA Career WS/48: 45th

NBA Career Offensive Win Shares: 7th

NBA Career Offensive Rating: 2nd

Best Player on One Runner Up: 2000 Pacers

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 63rd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 54th

Reggie Miller is the perfect example of two things. Number one, he did one thing great (outside shooting that complimented his overall offense) and didn’t try to so anything he couldn’t. That thing was so transcendent that it offset the fact he wasn’t a good defensive player, wasn’t a good passer, or really wasn’t a good much of anything. Since Miller’s three pointer and outside shooting was so great though, he ended up being perhaps the most efficient offensive player in NBA History. This ties into #2. In the 90s, no one was talking about advanced metrics or efficiency. Other than his three point shooting, all of his stats appeared rather pedestrian. His peak year he put up a 24-4-4. For the most part he was a 20-3-3 guy. There’s no surprise that he only made a few all-3rd NBA teams when the league was weaker and only made sporadic All-Star game appearances. If he played today, we’d all be raving about how he might be the one of, if not the best offensive player in the game.

His teams did moderately well considering their best players throughout Miller’s first 11 years were Rik Smits (a quality center who didn’t sniff my Top 100), Jalen Rose (never an All-Star), Mark Jackson (a one-time All Star in the late 80s), Dale Davis (one time All-Star), Antonio Davis (a one time All-Star after his time in Indy) and washed up Chris Mullin. His late 90s/2000 teams were well built despite the lack of star power (Rose, Smits, Dale and Antonio Davis, Jackson at least gave tem depth), but it wasn’t exactly a murderers row. It didn’t matter to Miller as he managed to overachieve in the playoffs year in and year out. In 1995 he ripped the Knicks heart out with his famous 8 points in 9 seconds. He would lead the Pacers to a Game 7 loss against the Penny-Shaq Magic (although he didn’t play well in that Game 7). Miller’s Pacers would make the Conference Finals again in 1998 against MJ’s Bulls. This series is the closest Jordan came to losing in any of his six peak years. Miller hit 43% of his three pointers in a tight seven game series (including a winning three in Game 4) as the Pacers just fell short. Miller’s Pacers would make the Conference Finals again in 1999 and reach the NBA Finals in 2000. He almost led the 2002 Pacers to an upset over the 2002 Nets (the eventual Eastern Conference Champions). For someone without the “superstar resume”, Reggie Miller teams seemed to do pretty well. He wasn’t good enough to be the best guy on a title team, but give him on elite guy in his prime and who knows. Just look how close he got in 1998.

#63: Bill Sharman

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All-NBA 1st Team: 4x (’56, ’57, ’58, ‘59)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 3x (’53, ’55, ‘60)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59, ‘60)

NBA Top 10 Points: 7x (’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57, ’58, ’59)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 3x (’55, ’56, ‘57)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’53, ’54, ’56, ‘57)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 5x (’53, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)

Career Playoff FT%: 1st

Starter on Four NBA Champions: ’57 Celtics, ’59 Celtics, ’60 Celtics, ’61 Celtics

Starter on One Runner ’58 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 53rd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 70th

One of the tougher calls because his prime was in the 50s and he didn’t start winning until Russell showed up. He’s regarded as the first great shooting guard, and the best in the league until Jerry West showed up.  He was the first guy to really hit above 40% from the field consistently and 90% from the FT line. Being a part of multiple championship teams with his resume and the fact that he was the prototype statistically for shooting guards gets him 63rd. It’s a tough ranking to make, but it has to work for now.

#62: Dave DeBusschere

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Resume

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (’69)

NBA All Rookie 1st Team: (’63)

NBA All-Defensive 1st Team: 6x (’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74)

NBA All-Star: 8x (’66, ’67, ’68, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’73, ’74)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 3x (’66, ’67, ’68)

NBA Career Rebounds: 40th

3rd Best Player on Two NBA Champions: ’70 Knicks, ’73 Knicks

3rd Best Player on One Runner ’72 Knicks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 46th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 76th

In terms of usefulness to a championship team, he’s a superior, tougher 70s version of 2010s Chris Bosh (and enough to get the nod over him despite the 70s thing). Only made six All-Defensive 1st teams because they didn’t start recording them until 1969. Was regarded as perhaps the toughest guy in his era and was a huge reason the Knicks won two championships in the 70s. Was a bit unlucky as well, as DeBusschere regularly took and made shots that would have given him three points ten years later.

#61: Robert Parish

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Resume

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (’82)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 1x (’89)

NBA All-Star: 9x (’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’90, ’91)

NBA Defensive Rating Leader: 1x (’79)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 8x (’79, ’82, ’84, ’86, ’87, ’89, ’90, ’91)

NBA Top 5 Blocks: 3x (’79, ’81, ‘82)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 3x (’81, ’83, ’84)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Rating: 7x (’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’86)

NBA Career Points: 26th

NBA Career Rebounds: 7th

NBA Career Blocks: 10th

NBA Career Games Played: 1st

Starter on Three NBA Champions: ’81 Celtics, ’84 Celtics, ’86 Celtics

Bench Player on One NBA Champion: ’97 Bulls

Starter on Two Runner-Ups: ’85 Celtics, ’87 Celtics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 59th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 67th

“Chief” was the reliable, solid big man for the 80s Celtics. Parish’s career is tough to rank as well, considering he was always good to very good but never great. He knew his role for the 80s Celtics team and played accordingly. He shot 54% for every Boston season in the 80s. He provided very good defense year in and year out. He also brought it when it counted, coming up with a 23-19 in Game 7 vs. Milwaukee in 1987, and even put up a throwback performance in Game 5 against Indiana with a 21-8.

His consistency was eerie, putting up a 15-9 twelve times in his career, then getting close to that another three times. You could call him the poor man’s Tim Duncan in that respect.

Basketball

Top 100 Pro Basketball Players Ever: #90 – #81

See the tab at the top of this article to understand the process for these selections

#90: Shawn Kemp

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Resume

All-NBA 2nd Team: 3x (’94, ’95, ‘96)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’93, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ‘98)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 3x (’95, ’96, ‘97)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 2x (’93, ‘94)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 1x (‘94)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 3x (’94, ’95, ‘99)

2nd Best Player on one Runner-Up: 1996 Sonics

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 88th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 150th

Everyone talks about The Fab Five and Lenny Bias bringing playground to the big time, but Shawn Kemp was right there with them. Kemp was a symbol of the 1990s attitude that combined flash with power. Kemp is one of the all-time greatest dunkers, which was further amazing as he played power forward. Each night there seemed to a differently angled alley-oops between Kemp and Gary Payton. Kemp was going to be one of those players that kept people watching the NBA in the post MJ era…assuming that fans wouldn’t be turned off by that attitude.

But yeah, Kemp was really good too. The Kemp-Payton era peaked with 55 wins in 93 and a Conference Finals Game 7 loss to Barkley’s Suns, a 63 win campaign in ’94 (where they were the first #1 seed to be upset in Round 1 by Mutombo’s Nuggets), a 57 win 1995 (another bad first round loss), a 64 win 1996 (and a near title win, losing in six to the 72 win Bulls) and a 57 win 1997 (lost another tough seven gamer to the Hakeem-Drexler-Barkley Rockets). That’s a pretty nice peak. Kemp was a 18-10 guy for each of those teams with offensive ratings between 110 and 115 when the average was about 108. Kemp was also a very good defensive player, something that was missing when Blake Griffin was compared to Kemp earlier in his career.

Things fell apart in Seattle when Jim McIlvaine, a terrible center who averaged 2 PPG and 3 RPG in 14 MPG the season before, got paid money that Kemp was expecting. Kemp forced a trade, which landed him in Cleveland. Kemp’s personal life began to fall apart, and while he had a still okay 1998 (bad offensively though) and a surprisingly good 1999 (Cavs GM Wayne Embry said he weighed 315. Kemps normal playing weight was around 230), he got caught up in drugs, had weight problems and had seven kids with six women. He had some stints in Portland and Orlando, but it was over.

Kemp makes the list because his peak was pretty good. If it were longer, he’d be higher up. You could win a NBA Title with Shawn Kemp as one of your top two guys for sure. He was also successful in a Western Conference that had tons of great big men (Karl Malone, David Robinson, Hakeem, Barkley) and held his own in most of those match-ups (while outplayed by him, Kemp holding his own against Malone, including shooting 69%, was a big reason the Sonics and not the Jazz made the 1996 NBA Finals).

#89: Robert Horry

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Resume

All-NBA Rookie 2nd Team: (’93)

Role Player on seven NBA Champs: 1994 Rockets, 1995 Rockets, 2000 Lakers, 2001 Lakers, 2002 Lakers, 2005 Spurs, 2007 Spurs

Played in the Playoffs Every Season of His Career

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 84th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 355th

I’m with Simmons on this one. It takes a special choice to be a guy who says “you know what, instead of being this 30 minutes a game, high scoring popular athlete, I’m going to sit back, wait till coach calls me, and hit all the big shots I’m asked to”. I’m going to just post a bunch of box scores and clutch shots Horry completed over the years here. Remember that Horry’s career averages are 7 PPG and 5 RPG. There are ALL playoff/Finals games.

5/22/93: In Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the Sonics and the game tied at 91, Horry beats the shot clock with 33 seconds left for a two point lead. Rockets would end up losing though. He was a rookie here by the way.

6/1/95: The Rockets defeat the San Antonio Spurs in six games of the Conference Finals. Horry had a good series, with a 22-7 in the clincher with six three pointers.

6/11/95: The Rockets go up 3-0 on the Magic in the NBA Finals. Horry has a 20-9-4, where he also scored 11 fourth quarter points. Three of those were a dagger with 15 seconds left that gave Houston a 4 point lead.

6/14/95: Horry goes for 21/13/5 as the Rockets complete the sweep of the Magic.

6/19/00: With the Pacers pushing for a Game 7 in the 2000 NBA Finals, Robert Horry scores eight points in the 4th and helps the Lakers put it away.

5/26/02: Lakers vs. Kings, Game 4 in the Conference Finals. Surely everyone remembers the final shot where Horry hits the game winner after Kobe and Shaq miss. But you know what else? Horry actually hit a three with 1:30 left to bring the game to 96-93. That’s two threes in the last 90 seconds of game time that the Lakers won by one. Here’s a video of the winner.

6/19/05: With the Pistons looking to take a 3-2 lead in the NBA Finals, Big Shot Bob does it again with a 21-7 game with five three pointers in Game 5. The crazy part? He had 0 points in the first 35:57 of regulation. He scored all 21 points starting with 3 seconds left in the third. Oh yeah, he also scored the Spurs last 5 points in OT when they were down 95-91, including a gem of a three pointer with 6 seconds left when Rasheed Wallace left him open.

I’m starting to think I put him too low.

#88: Chris Mullin

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Resume

All-NBA 1st Team: 1x (’92)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 2x (’89, ‘91)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 1x (’90)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’89, ’90, ’91, ’92, ‘93)

NBA Top 10 Points: 4x (’89, ’90, ’91, ‘92)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 3x (’89, ’91, ‘92)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 3x (’90, ’91, ‘92)

Member of one Runner-Up: 2000 Pacers

Member of the 1992 Dream Team

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 82nd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 88th

Chris Mullin, like some others on this list, represents someone who threw away part of their career due to a vice, in this case alcohol. To Mullin’s credit though, he beat the disease and became one of the best dead eye shooters in the NBA, even rivaling Larry Bird. Mullin would put together five straight seasons of 26 PPG in one of the toughest eras in NBA history talent wise. Unfortunately, his body began to break down in 1993.

Why Mullin over someone like Kemp? Mullin was regarded as THE small forward in 1992 once Bird was pretty much done. To put things in perspective, Scottie Pippen was coming along and the 1992 Bulls were regarded as the best team in forever. And Mullin beat Pippen for All-NBA First team that year. At his peak, Mullin was an unstoppable shooter. Problem was, his peak didn’t last too long.

#87: Bob Dandridge

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Resume

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (‘79)

All-NBA Defensive 1st Team: 1x (’79)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’70)

NBA All-Star: 4x (’73, ’75, ’76, ‘79)

One of the Best Three Players on two NBA Champions: 1971 Bucks, 1978 Bullets

Third Best Player on one Runner-Up: 1974 Bucks

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 80th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 91st

One of the players that I have to read about more than actually see. There are two defining Bob Dandridge stories. The first (according to Simmons) is that in the 1978 Conference Finals Dandridge outplayed Julius Erving which was a key factor in the Bullets getting past the Sixers in route to their title. The only stats show that Dandridge hit 61 FGs in the series and averaged 22.8 PPG while Dr. J hit 53 and scored 21.5 PPG. The second defining story is really an anti-Elvin Hayes story. Turns out that Hayes fouled out of Game 7 against the Sonics in the ’78 Finals, and Dandridge led the Bullets to the Championship anyway.

That’s enough winning for me. Combine that with his Pyramid and 500 rankings and I feel good about his spot here.

#86: Paul Westphal

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Resume

All-NBA 1st Team: 3x (’77, ’79, ’80)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (‘78)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’80, ’81)

NBA Top 10 Points: 3x (’76, ’78, ’79)

NBA Top 10 Assists: 2x (’77, ’79)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 1x (’76)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 2x (’76, ’79)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 4x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’80)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 3x (’78, ’79, ’80)

Role Player on one NBA Champion: 1974 Celtics

Best Player on one Runner-Up: 1976 Warriors

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 79th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 141th

Seemingly an all offense point guard who scores a lot and gets a lot of assists. Westphal makes it this high as he was the top PG of the late 70s, highlighted by his three 1st Team selections. He was a solid role player for the 1974 Celtic title team and almost won the title in 1976 against the same Celtics. He led the upset over Rick Barry’s Warriors in 1976 as well.

Westphal is more of a resume thing. By all indications he was a top player of the late 70s, even though it was a short period of time.

#85: Dan Issel

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Resume

All-ABA 1st Team: 1x (‘72)

All-ABA 2nd Team: 4x (’71, ’73, ’74, ‘76)

ABA All-Star Game MVP: 1972

ABA All-Star: 6x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA All-Star: 1x (’77)

ABA All-Rookie 1st Team: (’71)

ABA Rookie of the Year: 1971

ABA Points Leader: 3x (’71, ’72, ’73)

ABA Top 10 Points: 5x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Points: 2x (’80, ‘82)

ABA Top 10 Rebounds: 5x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76)

ABA Top 10 PER: 5x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76)

NBA Top 10 PER: 4x (’77, ’80, ’81, ’82)

ABA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 2x (’74, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 5x (’78, ’79, ’80, ’81, ’82)

ABA Offensive Win Shares Leader: 2x (’73, ’74)

ABA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 5x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 5x (’77, ’78, ’80, ’81, ’82)

ABA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ‘75, ’76)

ABA Top 10 Win Shares: 5x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 4x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’80)

ABA Top 10 WS/48: 6x (’71, ’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 4x (’77, ’78, ’80, ’82)

ABA All-Time Points: 2nd

ABA+NBA All-Time Points: 10th

ABA All Time Rebounds: 6th

ABA+NBA All-Time Win Shares: 22nd

Best Player on one ABA Champion: ’75 Colonels

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 76th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 106th

One of the toughest to rank for sure. His ABA stats just scream offensive player and little else, although he did seem like a good defensive player by ABA standards. Ironically, his worst ABA season led to a Championship, showing perhaps Kentucky was better off with him being the 2nd guy. He seemed like a very good but not great NBA guy as well. He won two NBA playoff series as a featured guy, and as soon as the Nuggets moved on to Alex English and Calvin Natt, the Nuggets nearly went to the Finals. So I don’t know. He doesn’t seem that highly regarded. We’ll go with very good offensive weapon that could be a 3rd guy on your NBA title team. Seems fair.

#84: Artis Gilmore

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Resume

ABA MVP: 1x (’72)

All-ABA 1st Team: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

All-ABA Defensive 1st Team: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team: 1x (’78)

All-ABA Rookie 1st Team: (’72)

ABA All-Star: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’86)

ABA Top 10 Points: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Points: 2x (’78, ’79)

ABA Rebounds Leader: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Rebounds: 7x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’85)

ABA Blocks Leader: 3x (’72, ’73, ’75)

ABA Top 5 Blocks: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: 7x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’85)

ABA PER Leader: 1x (’72)

ABA Top 5 PER: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 PER: 5x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’81, ’82)

NBA Offensive Rating Leader: 1x (’82)

ABA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 1x (’76)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 5x (’80, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85)

ABA Defensive Rating Leader: 2x (’74, ’75)

ABA Offensive Win Share Leader: 1x (’72)

ABA Top 5 Offensive Win Shares: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 5x (’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83)

ABA Defensive Win Shares Leader: 4x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75)

ABA Top 5 Defensive Win Shares: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 5 Defensive Win Shares: 1x (’77)

ABA Win Shares Leader: 2x (’72, ’73)

ABA Top 5 Win Shares: 5x (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 Win Shares: 7x (’77, ’78, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83, ’85)

ABA WS/48 Leader: 2x (’72, ’73)

ABA Top 5 WS/48: (’72, ’73, ’74, ’75, ’76)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 5x (’77, ’79, ’81, ’82, ’83)

All-Time ABA Points: 17th

All-Time ABA+NBA Points: 24th

All-Time ABA Rebounds: 2nd

All-Time ABA+NBA Rebounds: 5th

All-Time ABA Blocks: 1st

All-Time NBA Blocks: 23rd

All-Time ABA+NBA Blocks: 4th

All-Time ABA PER: 3rd

All-Time NBA Offensive Rating: 116.9 (21st)

All-Time ABA Defensive Rating: 95.0 (1st)

All-Time ABA Win Shares: 82.2 (1st)

All-Time ABA+NBA Win Shares: 189.7 (9th)

2nd Best Player on one ABA Champion: ’75 Colonels

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 75th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 84th

Quite the resume. Gilmore dominated the ABA obviously and the NBA he was quite good as well. Has to get the edge on Issel because his NBA career is stronger, although not great either. Gilmore’s Bulls teams didn’t win anything and only made the playoff twice, but when he got to team up with George Gervin the Spurs were a force. They still couldn’t get by the Lakers in ’83 and wouldn’t have any success in the Gilmore era.

Still, both Issel and Gilmore were quite good players.

#83: Tracy McGrady

top100mcgrady

Resume

All-NBA 1st Team: 2x (’02, ’03)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 3x (’01, ’04, ‘07)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 2x (’05, ‘08)

NBA Most Improved Player: 2001

NBA All-Star: 7x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ’06, ‘07)

NBA Top 10 Points: 6x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05, ‘07)

NBA Top 10 Steals: 1x (‘05)

NBA Top 10 Blocks: (’00)

NBA PPG Leader: 2x (’03, ’04)

NBA PER Leader: 1x (’03)

NBA Top 5 PER: 4x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04)

NBA Offensive Win Shares Leader: 1x (’03)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 4x (’01, ’02, ’03, ’04)

NBA Top 5 Defensive Win Shares: 1x (’05)

NBA Top 10 NBA Win Shares: 3x (’01, ’03, ’05)

NBA WS/48 Leader: 1x (’03)

NBA All-Time Single Season WS/48: .262 (59th, 40th in 3P Era)

NBA All-Time Single Season PER: 30.3 (17th, one of eight players to hit 30)

Has a 62 Point Game

Never Won a Playoff Series

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 77th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 97th

When I wrote my “What-If Injury All-Stars” article one name I did not include but I was asked about was Tracy McGrady. And while yes, injuries did cut short a tremendous career, the truth of the matter is T-Mac still had the opportunities to have a better career than he did, but he just didn’t want it badly enough.

There was an article that I read a while ago that I THINK came from Grantland that wrote about how everything came so easily to McGrady that the drive to push himself just wasn’t there. Here’s someone with such physical gifts that he actually was Top 10 in blocks one year (2000) despite being a small forward and 6’8”. He also managed to have a top 10 season in steals as well. What you are looking at is someone who had everything offensively. He could be an elite shooter, an elite driver, an elite passer (and in 2003, was those things) and POTENTIALLY could be as good as, if not better than, Scottie Pippen defensively. That is no exaggeration.

In 2003 in terms of pure physical gifts I would take McGrady over Kobe Bryant without question…that’s how great McGrady was. T-Mac’s 2003, before hand checking was banned, was 32.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.5 APG, 46% FG, 38% 3P, 80% FT, 116 Offensive Rating on 35.2 % usage for a WS/48 of .262 and a 30.3 PER (one of eight players to hit 30). Kobe never touched that. Not even Kobe’s crazy 2006. The only teammates T-Mac had that season with a PER above 15? Grant Hill for 29 games and Drew Gooden for 19.

T-Mac was so good that he nearly led his Magic team to a huge upset of the 2003 Pistons. The Magic were up 3-1 (T-Mac famous said that “it was nice to finally get past the first round) but the Pistons won three straight. T-Mac shouldn’t be faulted though, as here were the players who started with him in those playoffs: Gooden (7 games), washed-up Darrell Armstrong (1 game), Pat Garrity (1 game), Gordan Giricek (7 games), Jacque Vaughn (6 games), and Andrew DeClerq (6 games). Even a “how the hell is this guy still in the league” Shawn Kemp played about 10 minutes per game. This team was awful. The fact that McGrady got this team almost over a Pistons team that would make six straight Conference Finals is nuts. It’s also a great what-if, as I think T-Mac’s Magic can beat Iverson’s Sixers in Round 2, and then I have no idea how the Nets planned to guard him.

Back to reality, McGrady never reached those heights again, which was crazy because he was only 24. He had a good season in 2004…he still led the league in PPG, but it wasn’t as transcendent as the year before and since the Magic still sucked around him the team plummeted (and got Dwight Howard in the draft). McGrady went to Houston to team up with Yao, only they couldn’t both stay healthy or win anything (and when the Rockets did win a playoff series…McGrady was injured). McGrady’s last great moment was when he led the 2008 Rockets to 22 straight wins. Those 2008 Rockets again lost in Round 1.

It all comes down to how hard did Tracy McGrady try. I think up until 2003 he tried his damnest (although, even then, the destructive defensive potential he had wasn’t being realized). Then he coasted on his natural talents. When Phil Jackson wrote about how McGrady was potentially going to get traded for Kobe, Jackson said “everytime someone asked McGrady to play defense his back hurt”. Ouch. Even T-Mac’s 62 point game, there’s a point near the end where he could have gotten more but he starts laughing and missing free throws. It’s an odd lack of focus (it’s also the most entertaining game between two 20 wins teams ever probably, as Gilbert Arenas also goes for 40).

I think that’s the big difference between T-Mac and Kobe. Yes T-Mac had an edge in physical, pure basketball talent. But Kobe wanted it more. Kobe wanted to be the greatest. Kobe worked out every day. I think that’s why T-Mac’s body fell apart when Kobe’s didn’t. And that’s a big reason why Kobe is where he is and T-Mac’s down here. Nothing wrong with #83, but he’s someone who should be in the top 20.

#82: Joe Dumars

top100dumars

Resume

NBA Finals MVP: 1x (’89)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 1x (‘93)

All-NBA 3rd Team: 3x (’90, ’91, ’93)

All-NBA Rookie 1st Team: (’86)

All-NBA Defensive 1st Team: 4x (’89, ’90, ’92, ’93)

All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team: 1x (’91)

NBA All-Star: 6x (’90, ’91, ’92, ’93, ’95, ‘97)

NBA Top 10 Points: 1x (‘93)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 1x (’97)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 1x (‘93)

Role Player on two NBA Champions: 1989 Pistons, 1990 Pistons

Role Player on one Runner-Up: 1988 Pistons

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 74th

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 78th

Dumars is also a tough one to rank, as his advanced metrics defensively suck (as do pretty much all the Piston players of those title teams do…just wait till we get to Isiah) and a lot of his greatness seems to hinge on reputation. Truth is though, Dumars was a tough defensive player, one who gave Jordan tons of problems in the late 80s. Defensive rating just isn’t going to capture a perimeter player’s value. Dumars was so respected defensively that it was considered that he would replace the injured John Stockton on the Dream Team. That’s high praise for sure.

Otherwise, Dumars was fit as a 2nd or 3rd option for title team. His 1989 Finals, where he won MVP, were pretty ridiculous at 27 PPG, 6 APG, 58% FG. That actually made me want to rank him higher. He couldn’t be a leader of a playoff team, but as a 2nd or 3rd guy he was a deadly weapon.

#81: Sidney Moncrief

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Resume

NBA Defensive Player of the Year: (’83, ’84)

All-NBA 1st Team: 1x (’83)

All-NBA 2nd Team: 4x (’82, ‘84, ‘85, ‘86)

All-NBA Defensive 1st Team: 1x (‘83)

All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team: 4x (’82, ‘84, ‘85, ‘86)

NBA All-Star: 5x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ‘86)

NBA Offensive Rating Leader: 1x (’81)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Rating: 5x (’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’86)

NBA Top 10 Offensive Win Shares: 5x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86)

NBA Top 10 Defensive Win Shares: 1x (’84)

NBA Top 5 Win Shares: 5x (’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86)

NBA Top 10 WS/48: 6x (’81, ’82, ’83, ’84, ’85, ’86)

NBA All-Time Offensive Rating: 119.4 (6th)

Simmons Pyramid Ranking (2010): 73rd

Slam Magazine 500 Ranking (2011): 90th

“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.”

That’s a quote from none other than Michael Jordan.

Moncrief’s Bucks were always a tough out in the playoffs. In 1981 they lost by 1 point in Game 7 to the Sixers (although Moncrief was merely a role player then). In 1982, another tough loss to the Sixers although still Moncrief was coming along.

1983 was a breakout, as Moncrief average 23.3 PPG as the Bucks beat Bird’s Celtics in a sweep…but again fell to the (best) Sixers team in the Conference Finals. The Bucks would be back in the Conference Finals again, but this time Bird’s Celtics were ready for them.

The 1985 playoffs are notable because Moncrief’s Bucks are historically one of seven teams to beat a Michael Jordan team in the playoffs, and one of four unique teams (’85 Bucks, ’86 Celtics, ’87 Celtics, ’88 Pistons, ’89 Pistons, ’90 Pistons, ’95 Magic). Moncrief had an insane 150 offensive rating against the Bulls in that series. Jordan was still great, but his 44% shooting was low for him even as a rookie and part of that was because of Moncrief. The Bucks would fall to the Sixers again.

The Bucks would make their third Conference Finals in four years, but the best Celtics team was ready for them. In 1987 it took seven games for the Celtics to get by the Bucks. Moncrief’s body would break down after that, and Terry Cummings and an old Jack Sikma weren’t enough to contend in the East.

Losing to Dr. J, Moses Malone and Larry Bird year after year isn’t that bad. If his career was longer and healthier, who knows, perhaps it’s the Bucks in the 1987 Finals. Too bad Moncrief couldn’t stay healthy. He’s one of the best two way players of all time. Even Michael Jordan said so.

Basketball

This Day In Sports 4-15: “Havlicek Stole The Ball!” (1965)

The great Boston Celtics dynasty of the 1960s boasted some of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game…and had a little luck along the way. In 1965 Wilt Chamberlain’s 76ers had a chance to get by Boston being down by 1 in a crucial game 7 with five seconds left. Interestingly, had the 76ers pulled it out, this would have been known as the one game where Bill Russell didn’t come through in the clutch. Russell accidentally hit a wire that held up the backboards with an inbounds pass that resulted in a turnover. This allowed the Sixers their one last chance.

There is an interesting story about this play chronicled in Bill Simmons’ Big Book of Basketball. Simmons writes that John Havilcek knew the ball wasn’t going to Chamberlain here, as Chamberlain was deathly afraid of being fouled and being put on the line in this clutch moment. Hall of Famer Hal Greer instead looked toward Chet Walker, and the rest is history. Johnny Most’s iconic call of “Havlicek Stole The Ball!” was perfect for yet another clutch play by the 60s Celtics dynasty.

Basketball

My Favorite NBA Player Retired: So Long Steve Nash

Steve Nash retired from the NBA on Saturday after 18 seasons. Grantland’s Brett Koremenos just wrote a piece about how Nash changed the landscape in regards to what traditional basketball fundamentals are, specifically on the offensive side. Nash became my favorite player during his run on the Mavericks for a few reasons. First, my at the time favorite player, Penny Hardaway, was a shell of his former-self, became a bit unlikable AND ended up being an overpaid guy on my Knicks. Second, Nash and Dirk Nowitzki were just fun to watch and also quite unstoppable in video games because they shot lights out (in NBA Live 2003, with the introduction of stick iso-moves and such, playing with the 2002-2003 Dallas Mavericks just seemed unfair. Nash, Nowitzki, Michael Finley and yes, Wang Zhizhi hit every shot known to man in that game). Third, I had (have?) a strange fascination with Canada ever since Bret Hart’s WWF storyline in the late 90s. Lastly, his name was Steve (and mine is too). Heck, I was in a basketball sim league at the time, traded Stephon Marbury for Nash, and Nash unrealistically (or so we thought) won MVP with a 21-10 year and led my Knicks to a 51-31 season and a Conference Finals appearance. Of course, as we know now, life would imitate art.

Nash and Nowitzki put the Mavericks back on the map
Nash and Nowitzki put the Mavericks back on the map

It’s unfortunate that Nash will go down as the greatest player (by far) to never play in a NBA Finals game. When Nash went to the Pheonix Suns because Mark Cuban thought he would be too expensive to retain in Dallas (which was actually justifiable at the time, since Nash was 31 years old and had a history of back problems), I remember thinking that Dallas would falter (didn’t happen) and the Suns would be slightly improved (common perception was the Suns were screwed. Turns out my prediction was an understatement). The 2004-2005 NBA and the Suns were both perfect for Nash though. The NBA because they stopped allowing defenders to hand check ball handlers and changed the illegal defense rules. This suddenly opened the paint and allowed Nash to completely blow by defenders.  The Suns were perfect because Mike D’Antoni was looking to run what would be called the Seven Seconds or Less offense. Since Nash took care of himself probably better than 99% of the NBA, he was able to go nonstop for 40 minutes a night on those high paced Suns teams.

Steve Nash’s 2004-2005 NBA MVP season is perhaps the most unlikely MVP in the history of the game considering pre-season predictions (depending how you feel about Wes Unseld in 1968…different voting rules back then though). That 2004-2005 season would set off a six year run where the Suns got super close, but could never get over the hump to get to the NBA Finals (and probably win a NBA title). Let’s quickly look at those six seasons.

2004-2005: The Suns shock the NBA and go 62-20. They easily get through Memphis and Dallas before succumbing to the Spurs in five games. What people forget thought is that despite it being a 4-1 series, the series was quite close. Suns lost game 1 by 7, lost game 2 by 3, lost game 3 by 10 and game 5 by 6. If Joe Johnson is healthy do the Suns make it a series? The real Achilles’ heel for Phoenix (and Nash) was the fact that they were brutally bad defensively. If you think you are beating peak Tim Duncan (28-14-3, 53% FG for the series) without defending him well you are wrong. Amar’e actually averaged a 37-10 and Nash a 23-10 and they still lost. Crazy.

Controversial maybe, but ultimately deserving
Controversial maybe, but ultimately deserving

2005-2006: The Suns lose Johnson to free agency and Amar’e to an injury….and got 55-27 anyway. Probably the reason why Nash won MVP again. Anyway, the series gets swung by Nowitzki’s crazy game 5 (50 PTS, 12 REB) with the series tied at 2.

2006-2007: Suns get Amar’e back for a 61-21 season. This time, there’s tons of controversy in the Suns’ defeat. Robert Horry “throws” Nash into the scorer’s table, which leads to several Suns, including Stoudemire, to leave the bench, which leads to a suspension for a game. The Suns lose game 5 88-85 at home and lose the series in 6.

2007-2008: The infamous Marion-Shaq trade takes place this year, but the Suns still roll to 55-27. That’s only good for 6th in the West though and they have to play the Spurs. Duncan hits a three in game 1 to send the game to double OT and the Suns never recover.

2008-2009: The only “bad” season in this group. They slowdown post-D’Antoni Suns go 46-36…which doesn’t make the playoffs in the West.

2009-2010: The best example of why Steve Nash is so great. With no Marion and no Shaq. Nash leads a fairly new Suns team to a surprising 54-28 record. The Suns win their first playoff series since 2007 against Portland…and then surprisingly sweep the Spurs in the 2nd round. In yet another tough Conference Finals series, the Suns lose game 5 by merely two points…and the Lakers win in 6.

Nash got surprisingly close on last time in 2010
Nash got surprisingly close one last time in 2010

And that was the end of the elite Nash Era as Amar’e left for New York. Nash kept the Suns at .500 for two seasons before trying to win a ring with the Lakers. Unfortunately, the Lakers and Nash’s body fell apart.

Still, those six years changed everything. Nash transformed the league into a point guard’s game. While Jason Kidd showed in the early 2000s that getting everyone the ball was important in leading a team and showing that a team is a sum greater than its parts, Nash showed the most efficient ways to do that. Gone was “traditional” passing and point guard set ups. Now it was about one handed passing and wrap arounds. At one time playing like that was pure flash and could be considered disrespectful. Nash showed it was the best way and necessary. Nash also showed that being a lights out shooter made the point guard position the most dangerous on the floor. Steve Nash is in fact the prototype for players like Stephen Curry today.

Steve Nash changed the game for the better. Ten years ago the NBA faced an identity crisis between team ball and hero ball. Team ball ultimately won. You can thank Steve Nash.