Top 100 NBA Players: #67

Sidney Moncrief

(Simmons: #73, BBR: #88)

Sidney Moncrief was one of the top all-around guard of the 1980's, but he played before there were effective surgeries to repair major knee damage, and as a result his career was not as long as it should have been, and he wasn't able to enjoy the success he may have otherwise.

From 1981 to 1986, there was no doubt that Moncrief was among the league's elite. In each of those seasons he was named to the All-Star team, the All-Defensive Team, and the All-NBA Team. On top of that, he was voted the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year twice, in 1983 and 1984. While he was most known for his defensive prowess, his offensive numbers were just as nice, as you can see below.

Moncrief (1981-1986) - 21.0 pts, 5.8 reb, 4.7 ast, 1.5 stl, .503 FG%, .836 FT%

When you look at those numbers, you wouldn't have assumed that Moncrief was a guard. He rebounded and shot like a forward, but he was also a great passer and free throw shooter, and scored like the star he was. Even more amazing than that is what he did while in college at Arkansas, where he finished his 4-year career with a field goal percentage of .606, which included a .665 mark as a freshman, when he led the entire nation in shooting percentage as a 6-3 guard.

Moncrief never missed the playoffs in his entire career, guiding the Milwaukee Bucks to numerous division titles throughout his decade in the league, but he was never able to get past the 76ers or the Celtics, dropping series to one or the other in five straight seasons. In 1984 they finally got past the 76ers, but Boston stopped them in the Conference Finals. It was the closest he would ever get to a championship.

After his peak years, which I highlighted above, he fell victim to ligament damage in his knees, which caused him to miss 89 games over 3 years and see a 10 minute per game decrease in his playing time. If he had had access to the medical treatments that are available today, it's possible that he could have seen a few more productive years and maybe another deep playoff run, but instead he has to settle for a spot in the middle third of the top 100 players of all time.

Moncrief's early career was very similar to Durant's, but always just a half-step behind his production level. His  peak occurred in year five, which Durant is approaching in a few months, so we'll see if KD is able to match Moncrief again. For now Moncrief is the better player when looking from an all-time perspective, but only because he was able to put together 5 very productive years with one deep playoff run, while Durant still has just 3 productive years and the deep playoff run. There is no doubt in my mind that Durant will eventually pass him, but not this year.