Rethinking the NBA 75

You might think, with my milestone 5,000th post coming up, I would would have used it to discuss another milestone. And I did.

You might think the milestone in question would be the 75th Anniversary of the NBA's 1st game, which is coming up on November 1; or the announcement last week of the 75th Anniversary 75 Greatest Players. But that wasn't it: I used the milestone to cover a the 25th Anniversary of the 1996 Yankees. I am, however, covering the 75 Greatest Players.

The 75 Greatest Players were not ranked, 1 to 75. In fact, 76 were chosen. Really?

Here they are, arranged by decade:

* From the 1950s: George Mikan, 1947-56; Dolph Schayes, 1949-61; Bill Sharman, 1950-61; Paul Arizin, 1950-62; Bob Cousy, 1950-63 (plus a brief comeback in 1969-70); Bob Pettit, 1954-65.

* From the 1960s: Bill Russell, 1956-69; Sam Jones, 1957-69; Elgin Baylor, 1958-71; Hal Greer, 1958-73; Wilt Chamberlain, 1959-73; Oscar Robertson, 1960-74; Jerry West, 1960-74; Lenny Wilkens, 1960-75; Dave DeBusschere, 1962-74; John Havlicek, 1962-78; Jerry Lucas, 1963-74; Nate Thurmond, 1963-77.

* From the 1970s: Willis Reed, 1964-74; Billy Cunningham, 1965-76; Rick Barry, 1965-80; Dave Bing, 1966-78; Walt Frazier, 1967-80; Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, 1967-80; Elvin Hayes, 1968-71; Wes Unseld, 1968-81; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-89; Pete Maravich, 1970-80; Dave Cowens, 1970-83; Nate "Tiny" Archibald, 1970-84; Julius "Dr. J" Erving, 1971-87.

* From the 1980s: Bob McAdoo, 1972-86; George Gervin, 1973-86; Bill Walton, 1974-87; Moses Malone, 1974-95; Robert Parish, 1976-87; Earvin "Magic" Johnson, 1979-91 (with a brief comeback in 1995-96); Larry Bird, 1979-92; Kevin McHale, 1980-93; Isiah Thomas, 1981-94; James Worthy, 1982-94; Dominique Wilkins, 1982-99; Clyde Drexler, 1983-98.

* From the 1990s: Charles Barkley, 1984-2000; Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984-2002; Michael Jordan, 1984-2003; John Stockton, 1984-2003; Patrick Ewing, 1985-2002; Karl Malone, 1985-2004; Dennis Rodman, 1986-2000; Scottie Pippen, 1987-2004; Reggie Miller, 1987-2005; David Robinson, 1989-2003; Gary Payton, 1990-2007.

* From the 2000s: Shaquille O'Neal, 1992-2011; Jason Kidd, 1994-2013; Kevin Garnett, 1995-2016; Allen Iverson, 1996-2010; Ray Allen, 1996-2014; Steve Nash, 1996-2014; Kobe Bryant, 1996-2016; Tim Duncan, 1997-2016; Paul Pierce, 1998-2017; Dirk Nowitzki, 1998-2019; Dwyane Wade, 2003-19.

* Still active: LeBron James, 2003; Carmelo Anthony, 2003; Chris Paul, 2005; Kevin Durant, 2007; Russell Westbrook, 2008; Stephen Curry, 2009; James Harden, 2009; Kawhi Leonard, 2011; Anthony Davis, 2012; Damian Lillard, 2012; Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2013.

Mikan, Schayes, Sharman, Arizin, Baylor, Greer, Chamberlain, DeBusschere, Havlicek, Thurmond, Unseld, Maravich (the only one who died before the 50th Anniversary), Moses Malone and Bryant have died. The remaining 62 of the 76 are still alive, leaving Cousy as the oldest and the earliest selection.

Nowitzki, Wade, and the 11 active players are not yet eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame. All of the others are in. If their actions against women have not kept Kidd, Bryant and Karl Malone out, it's unlikely any of those not yet eligible will be kept out, barring a gambling scandal, as could well have sunk Jordan.

Every NBA Championship team has been represented except for 4: The 1947 Philadelphia Warriors, the 1948 Baltimore Bullets, the 1951 Rochester Royals, and the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics. When the NBA selected the 50 Greatest Players in 1996, they also selected the 10 Greatest Coaches. One of those was Red Holzman of the 1970 and '73 Knicks. He had played for the '51 Royals, but that's not the same thing.

For the '79 Sonics, Wilkens was their coach, but no player was chosen: Not Dennis Johnson (who later starred for the Boston Celtics), not Gus Williams, not Fred Brown, not Nate McMillan, not Jack Sikma.

Every player selected for the 50 Greatest was selected for the 75 Greatest. No one was demoted. (I had previously thought that Bob Lanier was dropped, but, it turns out, he wasn't selected for the 50 Greatest.) Two players eligible but not selected for the 50 were added to the 75: McAdoo (justifiably) and Wilkins (less so).

As with the 50, the greatest controversy with the 75 is with the active players, and the question over whether they had yet sufficiently proven themselves. In 1996, Shaq hadn't; by 2000, he had.

Which players selected did not win a Championship? Baylor (0-8 in NBA Finals), Wilkens (lost the 1961 NBA Finals), Thurmond (lost in 1964 and '67), Bing (never made it), Maravich (never made it), Gervin (never made it), Barkley (lost in 1993), Stockton and Karl Malone (lost together in 1997 and '98), Ewing (lost in 1994 and '99), Miller (lost in 2000), Iverson (lost in 2001), Nash (never made it); and, so far, Westbrook (lost in 2012), Harden (also lost in 2012), Paul (lost in 2021), Anthony (has never made it) and Lillard (has also never made it).

So, looking at the players who made a Finals but never won one: Are the still-active Westbrook, Harden and Paul worthy to stand alongside Baylor, Wilkens, Thurmond, Barkley, Stockton, Karl Malone, Ewing, Miller and Iverson? I think so.

And, looking at the players who never made the Finals: Are the still-active Anthony and Lillard, and the recently-retired Nash, worthy to stand alongside Bing, Maravich and Gervin? That's a tougher one.

Gervin made 9 All-Star teams, and led the NBA in scoring 4 times. He was a fantastic player who deserved to be on better teams. Bing made 7 All-Star teams, led the league in scoring once, and received the league's Citizenship Award while still active.

Maravich, despite the institution of the 24-second shot clock and the 3-point shot after his graduation, is still the all-time leading scorer -- both total and per game -- in the history of college basketball. That doesn't matter here.

In the NBA, he was a 5-time All-Star, and led the league in assists per game in 1973, and scoring (points per game) in 1977. Like his hockey contemporary Bobby Orr, he seemed to singlehandedly change the game. He even had similar hair. Unfortunately, also like Orr, injuries caught up to him and cut his career short. And, unlike Orr, who won 2 Cups and reached 1 other Finals, he never reached his sport's Finals. He last played in 1980, with the Celtics. Had he hung on 1 more season, he would have gotten a ring, along with a 50/75 honoree who'd been sensational without getting a ring until then, Archibald.

Nash was an 8-time All-Star, a 2-time MVP, and a 5-time assists leader. His style was similar to Maravich's, so leave him in. 

Anthony is a 10-time All-Star. The only guys with 10 or more ASGs who were not selected for the 75 are Chris Bosh and Artis Gilmore, both with 11. Anthony won a scoring title, and had higher points and assists per game averages than both Bosh (who won 2 titles) and Gilmore (who won an ABA title), neither of whom won a scoring title. Both had more rebounds per game than Anthony, but then, they were forwards, and Anthony is a guard. Anthony leads both in free throw percentage, but trails both in field goal percentage.

Honestly, I can't say for sure that either Bosh or Gilmore belongs in the 75. And if I can't say that either of them does, then I can't say that Anthony does.

So drop Carmelo, and now, it's an even 75.

That leaves Lillard. Dame has played 9 seasons (he's just started his 10th), and has been an All-Star in 6 of them. He was awarded the Citizenship Award in 2019 and Teammate of the Year in 2021. By all accounts, he's a terrific guy. That should matter for this. But it really doesn't.

He's never been an MVP. Aside from games played in his rookie season of 2013 and minutes per game in 2020, he's never led the NBA in a significant category. Per game, career: 24.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.0 steals, .438 FG percentage, .893 FT percentage. He's 31. He looks like a good bet for the Hall of Fame. But the Top 75? With those stats, and without even a Finals berth, he doesn't look like he should have been chosen.

And let's not kid ourselves: People who wanted Dominique Wilkins on this list were swayed by the dunks, his reputation as "The Human Highlight Film." He was a one-dimensional player. Drop him.

So that's who I take out. Who do I put in? Who are Number 74 and Number 75? I fully agree with promoting McAdoo, though not Wilkins. As a native of the New York Tri-State Area, I am tempted to add Bill Bradley; and believe that, had Bernard King not gotten hurt, he would surely have been on the list. He had 2 sensational seasons, and 9 very good ones, and deserves his place in the Hall. But can I really put either Nard or the Senator on the Top 75?

A lot of people think the San Antonio Spurs have gotten short shrift: Robinson and Duncan were named, but Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili were not. Parker made 6 ASGs, Ginóbili only 2, but both helped the Spurs win 4 titles, including the 2007 Finals MVP for Parker.

There is one other active player whose worthiness has been questioned: Anthony Davis. At 28, he's the 2nd-youngest on the list (Giannis is 26), and is already an 8-time All-Star. But there's a perception that he only has a ring because he was along for LeBron's ride in 2020. I don't think so: He's made NBA All-Defensive First Team and Second Team twice each, and has led the league in blocked shots 3 times. He's headed for the Hall of Fame, and if he isn't worthy of the 75, then he's certainly a better choice than Nard, Nique and Dame.

So, I drop Wilkins, Anthony and Lillard, and add King and Ginóbili. That's my list.