Top 100 NBA Players: #28

Elvin Hayes

(Kalb: #35, Simmons: #49, BBR: #30)

You don't often hear Elvin Hayes' name mentioned among the all-time greats of the game, but when you look at his all-time ranks, you realize that he was a great player, although he did have one big weakness that may be the reason he is often overlooked.

When Hayes came into the league, it was as the #1 pick in the draft and as the defending AP National Player of the year, and his rookie season was no disappointment. The more popular Wes Unseld won both the MVP and Rookie of the Year that season, but probably deserved neither. The best overall player that season was Wilt Chamberlain, and the best rookie was definitely Hayes. Here are their stats for the 1968-69 season:

Chamberlain - 20.5 pts, 21.1 reb, 4.5 ast, .583 FG%, .446 FT%
Hayes - 28.4 pts, 17.1 reb, 1.4 ast, .447 FG%, .626 FT%
Unseld - 13.8 pts, 18.2 reb, 2.6 ast, .476 FG%, .605 FT%

Chamberlain led the league in field goal percentage and rebounds, while Hayes led all players in scoring. None of the three was a good free throw shooter, but it was clear that Hayes was better than Unseld, especially considering that he averaged twice as many points per game. There's also no competition between Wilt and Unseld for the MVP, but that's for a later article.

After a few seasons with the Rockets at the beginning of his career, the team was tired of the lack of playoff success and the selfishness of Hayes, so he was traded to the Bullets for a lesser player. While playing in Washington, Hayes' teams made three trips to the NBA Finals, winning a championship in 1978. He was the best player on each of those teams, but that doesn't mean that he was the reason for their success.

Hayes was infamous for disappearing during the fourth quarter, especially in important games. In game 7 of the 1978 Finals, Hayes ended up with only 12 points, and fouled out with ten minutes to play, after which the rest of the Bullets took over and led Washington to the title. Of the 145 points he scored in the Finals that year, only 19 came during the fourth quarter, certainly not the mark of a champion.

One thing Hayes had going for him was that he was very durable. In 16 seasons he never missed more than 2 games in a season. He is #3 all-time in minutes played, with exactly 50,000, #4 in all-time rebounds, and #8 in all-time points scored. His overall career numbers cannot be ignored, despite his shortcomings.

In terms of playoff success, Hayes and Kidd were basically equals, and in terms of longevity the slight edge goes to Kidd. What sets Hayes apart was how good he was for so many years, and especially his peak years, which were far above Kidd's peak. Hayes was the best player on an NBA champion, while Kidd needed better players around him before he was able to grab a ring, which gives Hayes the edge.