Bob McAdoo
Bob McAdoo was a great player for a few years in the 1970's, and if he had maintained his early level of play for a full decade, he would have been one of the top ten players of all time easily. Instead, he developed a reputation for not caring, then tried to turn it around once he was past his peak by playing unselfishly for two champs.
McAdoo started off his career in style, averaging 18.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and winning the Rookie of the Year Award, but nobody saw what was coming next. He came in second in the MVP race by leading the league in scoring and field goal percentage, with 30.6 points, 15.1 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, and a .547 field goal percentage. That was in 1974, and no player has averaged 30-15 over a full season since.
The next year he was even better, upping his scoring average to 34.5, while still grabbing 14.1 rebounds and leading the league in minutes played. That performance won him the MVP Award, and he definitely deserved it. Here are his stats and Rick Barry's, who should have come in second in the voting that year.
McAdoo - 34.5 pts, 14.1 reb, 2.2 ast, 2.1 blk, .512 FG%, .805 FT%
Barry - 30.6 pts, 5.7 reb, 6.2 ast, 2.9 stl, .464 FG%, .904 FT%
Barry was a great player, but McAdoo was definitely the best player that year. The next season he led the league in scoring for the third straight season, and he is one of only seven players who can say that. (Most of the others have yet to appear on this list.) Here are his overall stats from that three-year period, when he was one of the top 2 players and the league scoring leader.
McAdoo - 32.1 pts, 13.8 reb, 2.8 ast, 2.5 blk, .514 FG%, .787 FT%
He remained a good player for the next two years, but his scoring average started to drop and he still could not get past the second round of the playoffs. From 1976 to 1982, he played for 6 different teams, wearing out his welcome more and more quickly in each stop. When he finally made it to Los Angeles in 1981, he finally found himself in a good situation and applied himself in a sixth man role, which helped the Lakers win the championship, to which he contributed 16.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He was not the star anymore, but he had contributed to a title while he was still slightly relevant. He would win one more title before retiring, but by then he wasn't quite as important to the team.
McAdoo was the first high-scoring, outside-shooting big man, something that has become commonplace in today's game. If he had been born 25 years later, he could have dominated in an era in which his style was not so uncommon, and he may have been appreciated more.
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