Sunday, August 7, 2016

Top 100 NBA Players: #57 - Shawn Marion


Shawn Marion

Shawn Marion is one of those guys who has been forgotten somewhat over the past 5 years, but if you saw him play in his prime, you will remember him as a great all-around player who contributed to a lot of good teams.

In just his second season, Marion showed the all-around skills that would make him a star. That year he averaged 17.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.4 blocks, and he continued to improved from there. From 2002 to 2007, he was incredibly solid, improving his numbers across the board and helping the Suns become annual contenders. His stats from that period are listed below:

Marion - 19.8 pts, 10.4 reb, 2.1 ast, 2.1 stl, 1.4 blk, .481 FG%, .831 FT%

His best season came in 2006, when Amare Stoudemire was out with an injury. Marion took on the team's starring role that season and helped keep them relevant without their best player, putting up the stat line below:

Marion - 21.8 pts, 11.8 reb, 1.8 ast, 2.0 stl, 1.7 blk, .525 FG%, .809 FT%

The points, rebounds, and field goal percentage were all career highs, and he remained their best player through that season's playoff run, which ended in the conference finals for the second straight season.

Marion has played on three teams that made deep playoff runs, and had a major part in all three. In 2004, he was the third-best player on the Suns team that made the Western Conference Finals, playing behind Amare and Steve Nash. The next season, Amare went down with an injury, so Marion stepped into his role and led the Suns to the Conference Finals again, this time as their best player. His most recent playoff run happened in 2011, as he helped the Mavericks win their first championship as the #3 player on the team.

Marion is one of only 5 players in NBA history to amass over 1500 steals and 1000 blocks in his career, and the others are all pretty recognizable names: Julius Erving, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Garnett, and Karl Malone. He led the league in total steals twice, and finished in the top 10 in rebounding 6 times, despite being only 6-7. Taken all together, you have to recognize that the Matrix really was the a star player worthy of being remembered as one of the best of all time.

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