Top 100 NBA Players: #95

Jeff Hornacek

(BBR: #134)

Many people are going to be surprised by this pick, not only that he made the list at all, but that I've placed him ahead of a man who was a bona fide star, while Jeff Hornacek is most remembered for being the 3-point shooter that played alongside Karl Malone and John Stockton for years in Utah. But there is more to Hornacek than that. And he was a better player than you may remember.

In his 14-year career, Jeff started for 6 Western Conference Finalists and 2 NBA Finalists, mostly with the Utah Jazz but also with the Phoenix Suns early in his career. And while he is often remembered as being in Malone and Stockton's shadow, it wasn't always that way. In 1996, when Utah made its first of 3 straight trips to the Western Conference Finals, it was Hornacek, and not Stockton, that was the #2 player for the Jazz. Consider their postseason stats:

Hornacek - 17.5 pts, 3.6 reb, 3.3 ast, .502 FG%, .586 3P%, .890 FT%
Stockton - 11.1 pts, 3.2 reb, 10.8 ast, .446 FG%, .289 3P%, .814 FT%

No argument can be made to say that Hornacek was not the better player in that postseason. Perhaps that explains why the Jazz failed to make the NBA Finals that season, but it was the single best postseason of Hornacek's career. Stockton brought the assists as always, but he was far from his usual dominant numbers that year.

You may also remember that Hornacek was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Charles Barkley to Phoenix from Philadelphia. Many thought that the trade was very one-sided, but Hornacek, the Suns' best player at the time, was just as valuable as Barkley in the season prior to the trade. Here are their numbers from 1992:

Hornacek - 20.1 pts, 5.0 reb, 5.1 ast, .512 FG%, .439 3P%, .886 FT%
Barkley - 23.1 pts, 11.1 reb, 4.1 ast, .552 FG%, .234 3P%, .695 FT%

Barkley was naturally the better rebounder, and Hornacek was a much better shooter from long distance and the free throw line. Both had excellent percentages from the field for their respective positions, and both scored at least 20 points per game. The reason that the trade is viewed as a win for the Suns is that they enjoyed a 9-game improvement while the Sixers suffered a 9-game decline. Part of this may be due to the fact that Barkley was allowed to play his natural position and was the unquestioned team leader, while Hornacek was forced to play point guard so that Hersey Hawkins could remain at shooting guard.

But was Hornacek better than Walter Davis? Let's take a look at their career values in the graph below.

Davis may have been the more talented player, but he failed to even approach his full potential. Hornacek, on the other hand, may have played at the highest level he possibly could have throughout his career, and the results show a very steady and strong career. Davis' peaks were higher, but they were too few and far between, but you could count on Hornacek to be there year after year, giving everything he had to push his teams into the playoffs. And that is why he makes this list at #95, one of the forgotten best players of all time.