Top 100 NBA Players: #91

Carlos Boozer

(BBR: #261)

It may be tough to visualize Boozer as one of the all-time greats, but a large part of that may be due to his injury history. He has lost major portions of 4 seasons to various injuries, but when he has been on the court, he has been one of the best players in the league. During 2007, he was one of the 5 best players in the entire league, something no player below him on the list can say they ever accomplished. Unfortunately, he failed to earn a spot on any of the All-NBA teams that year, which is because they award those spots before the playoffs begin.

If they had taken the playoffs into account, the voters may have changed their choices. Of the 6 forwards chosen to the All-NBA teams that year, only 2 (Tim Duncan and LeBron James) made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Boozer and the Jazz? They made it to the Western Conference Finals before being knocked out by Duncan and the Spurs. Boozer's playoff averages that year were 23.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, not bad for a first-time playoff participant.

Putting Boozer ahead of Tom Chambers may seem a little strange, but if you compare their stats from their 3 best seasons, you'll see that the difference is not that great.

Boozer (2007, 2008, 2010) - 20.5 pts, 11.1 reb, .556 FG%
Chambers (1987, 1989, 1990) - 25.4 pts, 7.4 reb, .477 FG%

The two players were both starting power forwards for good Western Conference teams, and while it's obvious that Chambers was the better scorer, Boozer was much better on the boards and from the field. Both led teams to the conference finals, but neither made it to the NBA Finals during their peak years. Luckily for Boozer, his career is still not over. If he is able to play just a few more healthy, productive seasons, he'll make this choice seem easy. For now, Boozer just barely passes Chambers on the overall rankings, due to the fact that he has made it through the first round of the playoffs 4 times during his peak, while Chambers only did it 3 times.