Top 100 NBA Players: #65 - Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony has been a star in the NBA since day one, and after 13 seasons, it's only right that he get some recognition as one of the best players in NBA history. He has scored at least 20 points per game in each of the first thirteen seasons of his career, making him one of just 6 players to accomplish that feat, with the others being Kareem, Hakeem, LeBron, Shaq, and Jordan.

During that time, he hasn't just been reaching the 20-point plateau, he's been well above it quite often, reaching 25 points per game 7 times in his career, and he's ended nine seasons ranked among the top 8 scorers in the league, including one season in which he was the league's top scorer. He's also spent nearly his entire career as the best player on his team, only playing second fiddle during Iverson's full season in Denver and for the last half of his first season with Amare.

Not only has Carmelo scored a lot in his career, he took his team to the playoffs in each of his first ten seasons in the league, although he has only seen his team pass through the first round twice, in 2009, when he led the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals, and 2013, when they lost in the second round.

Carmelo also used to own an NBA record that is quite impressive. In 2008, he scored 33 points in one quarter against Minnesota, tying George Gervin's record that had stood untouched for just over 30 years. That equates to nearly 3 points per minute during that quarter, and his total for the quarter was more than his season average for points per game.

Sadly, Carmelo only seems to have two things going for him: he is a great scorer, and he has done it for a long time. He has never been known to have an all-around game, as he is fairly average at shooting and rebounding, and he has had very little success in the playoffs, with only 3 series wins in 13 tries, without a single appearance in the NBA Finals. He's still only 32 years old and seems to still be on top of his game, so maybe something will change and he can still climb higher on this list.

Top 100 NBA Players: #66 - Neil Johnston

Neil Johnston

Neil Johnston is another of the forgotten greats from the early days of the NBA, overlooked because of the era in which he played and the shortness of his career. While he definitely doesn't have the longevity needed to be remembered as one of the very best players of all time, the peak period of his career was very impressive.

From 1952-1957, he enjoyed one of the most steady and productive periods of any player ever. During that time, his scoring average was always between 22 and 25 points per game, including 3 seasons in which he led the league. He also averaged between 11.1 and 15.1 rebounds per game, and also led the league in that category once. His shooting percentage was between .440 and .460 in each season, and he also led the league 3 times in shooting. The only category in which he experienced a major change was free throw shooting, which he improved each season, from .700 in 1953 to .826 in 1957.

While he was one of the best players during the regular season during that 5-year period, ranking among the top five players in the league in each of those seasons, his success did not translate over to the postseason. Only once did he experience any measure of playoff success, and that was 1956, when he, along with Paul Arizin and Tom Gola, led the Philadelphia Warriors to the NBA title. During the regular season, he had been the best player on the team, but Arizin was more impressive in the playoffs.

There are very few players who have led the league in scoring 3 times, and even fewer who also led the league in shooting percentage 3 times and rebounding once, so there is no doubt that Johnston deserves a mention as one of the all-time greats, but he lacked the longevity of most league leaders, which prevented him from rising any higher in the rankings, but at least he isn't being forgotten completely.

Top 100 NBA Players: #67 - Robert Parish

Robert Parish

Robert Parish was a member of 4 championship teams and played in the Finals 7 times in his career, but it's safe to say that without Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, those numbers would both be much smaller. Even though he wasn't the driving force behind those titles, he still has a place in the brotherhood of all-time greats.

Parish began his career in Golden State, playing for teams that consistently missed the playoffs, but his luck changed in 1980, when he was traded to Boston with a draft pick that became Kevin McHale for a #1 pick, which turned into Joe Barry Carroll. That trade set the Celtics' frontcourt for a decade and built a dynasty.

Parish was incredibly consistent in the 1980's, averaging over 16 points and 9 rebounds per game for 9 straight seasons, while shooting over 53% for 13 straight seasons, stretching that streak clear through 1993. While he was definitely a good player, he was just a piece in Boston, ranking as their 3rd-best player on two title teams, and lower than that for the rest of his time there.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Parish was his durability. He played 21 seasons, and in the first 20 he never missed more than 10 games. That durability enabled him to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the player to appear in the most games in NBA history in 1996, his 20th season, during which he started 34 games for the Charlotte Hornets. While it's not the most desirable category to hold the record in, it's still an impressive achievement.

Top 100 NBA Players: #68 - Amare Stoudemire

Amare Stoudemire

Amare Stoudemire was one of the best players in the league for a decade, despite missing chunks of time for 3 separate injuries over that time. He was even named to the All-NBA First Team the season after he had two major knee surgeries, and he still kept going.

Amare started out on the fast track. In just his third year he was the #3 player in the entire league, although he didn't get recognized for it at the time because everyone fell in love with new teammate Steve Nash. People attributed Amare's great season to Nash's skill at getting him the ball, and while it had to have helped, there's no doubt that he was improving also. Here are his numbers from that season:

Stoudemire - 26.0 pts, 8.9 reb, 1.6 blk, .559 FG%

His numbers were even better in the playoffs that year, when he led the Suns to the Western Conference Finals as their best player. Yes, you read that right, and this is coming from one of the biggest Steve Nash fans you will ever meet. Here are his playoff stats:

Stoudemire - 29.9 pts, 10.7 reb, 2.0 blk, .539 FG%

The argument that Nash made Stoudemire was put to the test when Amare left Nash's side for the first time in 6 years to play in New York, and the result was one of his best seasons, despite what many Suns fans predicted. It only goes to show that Amare really was a superstar player in Phoenix, and that he really could have won the 2006 MVP if he hadn't blown out his knee.

Amare once again took the Suns to the Western Conference Finals in 2010, although he didn't play as well in the playoffs, allowing Jason Richardson to take the title of Best Sun in the playoffs, and as a result they once again failed to make the Finals.

Other than the season that was virtually lost to injury and his rookie season, Amare averaged over 20 points and 8 rebounds per game in each of his first 9 seasons, and he shot over 50% in nearly every season he played. He was in the top 10 in scoring 4 times and in shooting percentage 6 times. All that came before he turned 30 years old, but that is when his decline began, which is why he isn't any higher on this list.

Top 100 NBA Players: #69 - Chris Webber

Chris Webber

When Chris Webber was drafted #1 overall in 1993, most people expected him to be the next superstar. He had been the best all through high school and college, and the teams he played on were winners, always finishing among the top 4 by season's end. His NBA career started out well enough, with his 17.5 points and 9.1 rebounds good enough to win him the Rookie of the Year Award, but he butted heads with his coach, Don Nelson, and was traded away to Washington, where his injury problems started and he never really reached his potential.

One thing most people don't remember about Webber is that he was a horrendous free throw shooter. In his first six seasons, his average from the line was .541, not much higher than his field goal percentage of .508. That included the 1998-99 season, in which he led the league in rebounding with 13.0 per game and averaged 20 points, yet somehow shot only .454 from the free throw line.

Webber really hit his stride once he reached Sacramento, although injuries still sidelined him for at least 10 games nearly every season. From 1999 to 2003, he was one of the top players in the league and led the Kings to the playoffs every year, where they usually met up with the Lakers and folded. Even with Los Angeles as a thorn in his side, his numbers over that span were pretty good:

Webber - 24.8 pts, 10.6 reb, 4.7 ast, 1.5 stl, 1.5 blk, .479 FG%, .704 FT%

You'll notice that he was able to do a bit of everything, from crashing the boards to finding open teammates to actually hitting his free throws. During that time the Kings made the only meaningful playoff run of Webber's career, when they lost in 7 games to Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals in 2002. Webber's numbers during that playoff run didn't vary much from his regular season numbers, with the exception of his free throw shooting, which dipped below 60% again.

Webber may have had some nice numbers, for example his nine straight seasons of at least 20 points per game, and his teams may have won more games than they lost, but Webber had two fatal flaws. His teams could never get anywhere in the playoffs, and Webber spent a lot of time on the bench wearing street clothes. In seven different seasons he missed at least 15 games, and twice he missed more than 50. He had the talent to be one of the all-time greatest players, but he never realized his full potential.

Top 100 NBA Players: #70 - Joe Fulks

Joe Fulks

Joe Fulks is another early star who is rarely recognized as one of the best in history. He earned his nickname, Jumpin' Joe, because he helped popularize the jump shot, and he was the first high-scoring big man in the league. During the BAA's first year of existence, he led the league in field goals and free throws made and attempted, as well as scoring, in which he dominated all other players by more than 6 points per game.

Fulks and the Warriors entered the first playoffs with the 4th-best record in the league, yet managed to pull upsets all the way to the title, with Fulks once again leading all players in field goals and free throws made and attempted and scoring, with 22.2 points per game. The MVP and Finals MVP awards did not yet exist, but if they had, there would be no doubt that Fulks would have won both in a landslide.

The next year was more of the same, except that Fulks was no longer the unquestioned best player in the league. That year he was edged out by Max Zaslofsky, who scored slightly less but did so more efficiently. The Warriors entered the playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference (they played in Philadelphia back then), and Fulks led them all the way back to the Finals, but they were unable to repeat as champions.

Fulks was a force again in year three, improving in every category, but the Warriors barely made it to the playoffs and were swept in the first round. That year also featured the debut of George Mikan, who was obviously the best player in the league from day one. Mikan set a league scoring record that year with 48 in a single game, so Fulks went and broke it weeks later, pouring in 63 points, a record which stood for 10 years. Sadly, the years of Fulks as a star had come to an end, and the reason for his being left off lists similar to this was born. He was only a great player for three years, but those three years were pretty amazing.

Top 100 NBA Players: #71 - Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin

Blake Griffin has only played 6 seasons so far in his short career, but he has already compiled some impressive achievements, which is why he has already risen to #71 on the list of all time greats. He was the #1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, but missed his entire rookie season after fracturing his kneecap in the final game of the preseason.

When he finally made his debut in 2010, it was worth the wait. He was voted to the All-Star team by the coaches, the first rookie so honored since Tim Duncan 13 years earlier. He also reached 40 points in a game twice during the season, becoming the first rookie since Allen Iverson to achieve that. He was the unanimous Rookie of the Year, which hadn't happened in 21 years, and was last achieved by David Robinson. He also had 27 straight double-doubles during the season, the first rookie to do so in 43 years, and Sports Illustrated named it one of the 15 greatest rookie seasons of all time. Here are his numbers from that season:

Griffin (2011) - 22.5 pts, 12.1 reb, 3.8 ast, .506 FG%, .642 FT%

Griffin has been very consistent throughout his career, averaging at least 20 points per game 5 times in 6 seasons and at least 8 rebounds per game 5 times as well. His biggest failing so far is that he has not yet reached the Conference Finals, but he came close in 2015, when he had his best overall playoff performance in 14 games against the Spurs and Rockets. Here are his overall stats from those series:

Griffin (2015) - 25.5 pts, 12.7 reb, 6.1 ast, .511 FG%, .717 FT%

Those stats were all improvements over improvements over his regular season numbers, other than free throws, which were one point lower. The Clippers may have fallen to Houston in Game 7, but without Griffin they wouldn't have even gotten there. With a little more playoff success, he could have risen higher, but he's not doing to badly for a 26-year-old with plenty of good years ahead.

Top 100 NBA Players: #72 - Manu Ginobili

Manu Ginobili

If you have any doubts about whether my rankings include any personal bias, today's entry wipes away those doubts. Including one of my least favorite players of all time in my all-time top 100 is difficult, but I must stay true to the statistics, and the numbers don't lie. Can you name every 6th Man Award Winner who has at least 2 All-Star appearances and 3 championships? There are only two: Kevin McHale and Ginobili.

Manu has always kicked his game up a notch in the playoffs. In 2005, for example, he was the #2 player on the World Champion Spurs, and his stats from the postseason are much more impressive than those from the regular season. Take a look:

Regular Season - 16.0 pts, 4.4 reb, 3.9 ast, .471 FG%, .376 3P%, .803 FT%
Playoffs - 20.8 pts, 5.8 reb, 4.2 ast, .507 FG%, .438 3P%, .795 FT%

That was the most impressive point of his career so far, but he was also the third best player on the 2007 Spurs and the 4th best player on the 2003 Spurs, also both NBA champs. At age 36, he was once again the 4th best player on a championship team, 11 years after earning his first. 

Overall, he has played in 5 NBA Finals, winning 4 times, and has been an important player each time. He had 12 straight seasons of averaging at least 10 points per game, and has never missed the playoffs in his career, even though he has never been the star player on the Spurs at any point in his career. Playing alongside Tim Duncan has obviously provided a boost to Manu's standing here, but Manu also may have had something to do with Duncan's overall greatness.

Top 100 NBA Players: #73 - Steve Nash

Steve Nash

Steve Nash is one of my favorite players of all time, so it hurts a little bit to have to put him clear down here on the all-time list, but he has been slightly overrated by the fact that he won two MVP awards that he probably shouldn't have. But just because I don't quite feel he was MVP-worthy does not mean that he his shown some major feats of greatness during his career.

Steve Nash is the holder of several impressive records. One of the biggest is that he has the highest free throw percentage in the history of the NBA. Only three players can claim an overall free throw percentage over 90% for their career, and Nash is one of them. In 2010, he broke John Stockton's record as the oldest player to lead the league in assists, and he broke it by 3 years. The following year, he did it again, setting the bar even higher by winning the assist title at age 37. There has never been a point guard who played that well that late in his career, and that includes Jason Kidd and Stockton.

He is also one of the few players in history to achieve a 50-40-90 season, shooting 50% from the field, 40% from long range, and 90% from the free throw line. Only seven players have ever achieved this: Larry Bird, Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Nash. But Nash hasn't just joined that club, he is the captain of it. Nash has achieved it 4 times, including three straight seasons from 2007-2010, while the other 6 have done it only seven times combined. Nash barely missed out on making it five straight years with the 2006-07 season, when he finished the season shooting .899 from the free throw line. He was arguably the best in-game shooter in the history of the NBA when he retired, although Stephen Curry looks like he will probably take that title from him.

Steve Nash is one of only two MVP's in history to never make an appearance in the NBA Finals (the other is 2011 winner Derrick Rose). Even with that fact, he didn't have a complete lack of playoff success. He was a top 3 player on 4 Western Conference Finalists, but he was never able to get over that hump. In addition to his eight seasons in the top 3 in assists in the league, which includes 5 times as #1, he also led all playoff players in assists average 4 times, with an average of 13.3 per game in 2007 as his best performance.

I said earlier that I didn't believe Nash should have won those two MVP awards. It hurts more than you can imagine for me to write that, but it's true. In 2005, when he won his first award, Nash was credited with the Suns' success because he was the new guy in town, but Amare was very impressive that year, and probably should have won the award himself. Here are their stats from that season:

Stoudemire - 26.0 pts, 8.9 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.6 blk, .559 FG%, .733 FT%
Nash - 15.5 pts, 3.3 reb, 11.5 ast, .502 FG%, .431 3P%, .887 FT%

Each was impressive in his own right, but because Amare showed so much improvement that year, people assumed it was because of Nash. Having a great point guard to get you the ball has to help, but it also can't hurt that Amare was 22 years old and still growing as a player. The next year, Amare went down with a knee injury, and the Suns weren't expected to go anywhere, but Nash led them to a respectable record and a return trip to the Conference Finals, so he was able to repeat as MVP, but Dirk led the Mavericks to a better record with better numbers, which are listed below:

Nowitzki - 26.6 pts, 9.0 reb, 2.8 ast, .480 FG%, .406 3P%, .901 FT%
Nash - 18.8 pts, 4.2 reb, 10.5 ast, .512 FG%, .439 3P%, .921 FT%

Nash's resume was definitely stronger statistically in 2006, but his team was not one of the top 3 record-wise in the league, which makes him the only MVP in the past 30 years who can say that. As great as he was, the lack of championships drags him down, as does the fact that his MVP's may not have been deserved.

Top 100 NBA Players: #74 - Horace Grant

Horace Grant

Horace Grant was never a superstar player, but he was a very solid player for a long time and always seemed to do what was necessary to help his team succeed. In fact, Grant didn't lose in a first-round playoff series until he had been in the NBA for 10 years.

Grant was the third-best player for the original Bulls dynasty, which made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice in a row before breaking through and winning three straight championships. Grant was a major contributor to each of those teams, and a necessary piece of each championship puzzle. Perhaps his most memorable moment in those years was his block of Kevin Johnson that ended Phoenix's chance of beating the Bulls and gave Chicago another title.

Grant was still in his prime when Michael Jordan retired for the first time, and he stepped into the #2 role seamlessly, earning his only trip to the All-Star game that season, before he walked away from Chicago to try for another title in Orlando. In his very first season with the Magic, they advanced all the way to the NBA Finals, with Grant taking up his normal place as the #3 man behind Penny and Shaq.

Even though he failed to win his 4th title that season, he did eventually earn another, when he joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2001 season as a sixth man. While that title did nothing to add to his legacy, it was a fitting way for a great winner to come to the end of his career. He played for a couple more seasons in a very limited role, but his most memorable years were still those early years in Chicago with Jordan and Pippen.

Top 100 NBA Players: #75 - Shawn Kemp

Shawn Kemp

Shawn Kemp was one of the most dominant forces of the 90's, bringing down the house with thunderous dunks and leading the Sonics to multiple division titles and an appearance in the NBA Finals, but it all came crashing down too early, but there were signs that it was coming before most people noticed.

During Kemp's last four seasons in Seattle, there were very few players who could compare to him. He, along with Gary Payton, led Seattle to the NBA Finals, where they lost to Michael Jordan and the 72-win Chicago Bulls in 6 games. When he was traded to Cleveland, he continued to score in similar quantities and still made an All-Star team, but if you look at the other big-man stats, you'll see that the signs of his decline were already there.

Kemp (1993-1997) - 18.8 pts, 10.8 reb, 1.5 blk, .538 FG%
Kemp (1997-2000) - 18.5 pts, 9.1 reb, 1.1 blk, .441 FG%

The two rebounds per game drop certainly doesn't look good, but what is most alarming was the nearly 10% drop in shooting percentage, which means that he had to waste a much greater number of possessions to get himself up to the same number of points he was accustomed to scoring.

Kemp was probably the #2 player on that Finals team, although he and Payton were basically even, but he was the best player on the team that nearly made the Finals three years earlier, when they lost in game 7 to the Phoenix Suns, who went on to lose to Chicago in the Finals. Sadly, he let jealousy and drugs get in the way of a career that could have been truly memorable, and not just another in a long list of What Could Have Been's.

Top 100 NBA Players: #76 - Adrian Dantley

Adrian Dantley

Adrian Dantley was one of the top scorers of the 1980's, leading the league in scoring twice and reaching the 30-point plateau four straight times, but he rarely saw the playoffs, and saw even less success when he did get there.

Even with all of Dantley's scoring exploits, he was only voted to the All-NBA team twice in his career, both times making the Second Team while leading all players in scoring. One thing that held him back from All-NBA accolades was that he was pouring in the points while playing for losing teams. Even though he wasn't able to produce winning teams during his prime, he did put up some very impressive numbers while he was with Utah.

Dantley (Utah) - 461 games, 29.6 pts, 6.2 reb, 3.7 ast, 1.1 stl, .562 FG%
Dantley (Other) - 494 games, 19.3 pts, 5.3 reb, 2.3 ast, 0.9 stl, .511 FG%

Dantley was not a big man, only 6-5 and 208 pounds, but he spent the majority of his time in the lane, playing physically and making trips to the free throw line constantly. In fact, he led the league in free throws made five times and attempts three times. When he retired, he also had the highest field goal percentage of any player who did not play center.

Despite his amazing scoring, Dantley was traded five times during his career, always for less talented or washed-up players. Generally that would indicate that there are other problems going on off the court, much like the way Zach Randolph has been passed around throughout his career. There's no way you can discount the big numbers, but he wasn't a winner, was traded over and over, and didn't maintain his high level of play as long as he should have.

Top 100 NBA Players: #77 - Jo Jo White

Jo Jo White

Jo Jo White was one of the players who bridged the gap for the Celtics from the Bill Russell dynasty to the years of Larry Bird, and although he's not as famous as those who came before or after him, he had some pretty good days starring in Boston.

Jo Jo was not the best player on the Celtics during his time there, but playing alongside big men John Havlicek and Dave Cowens, he was able to keep the Celtics in contention through a big chunk of the 70's. From 1971 to 1977, he was one of the most consistent players in the league, and an All-Star in each of those seasons. His overall stats from that period are listed below.

White - 19.6 pts, 4.5 reb, 5.6 ast, 1.4 stl

It's also notable that during those six seasons White missed a total of 3 games, and played a total of 80 playoff games during those postseasons, which means he crammed 7 years worth of games into 6 years. Included in those 6 playoff runs were two championships, and White was one of Boston's top 3 players each time.

White had a major part in one of the most memorable Finals games of all time, the triple overtime thriller in 1976 against Phoenix. White played 60 minutes in that game and hit the technical free throw that gave Boston a 2-point lead with a second left in the second overtime, which prevented them from losing on Gar Heard's miracle shot. He then hit the two free throws that iced the game in the third overtime.

Top 100 NBA Players: #78 - Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard had one of the shortest careers of any non-active player on my list, but he accomplished a lot in the short 7 seasons he spent in the NBA. He was knows as the Kangaroo Kid for his amazing jumping ability, and was known to dunk from the free throw line in warm-ups regularly.

He joined the league in 1948, when the league was in its third season and hadn't even changed its name yet from the BAA. He jumped right in, averaging 14.8 points per game in his rookie season with the Lakers, and helped Minneapolis to the #2 record in the league and a repeat of the championship they had won the season before, and he was also named to the All-NBA First Team, a rare feat for a rookie.

He was just as good the next season, getting a spot on the All-NBA First Team again while establishing himself as the definite #2 player on the Lakers behind George Mikan, a role he would play for most of the rest of his career. The two stars earned yet another title that season, making them the first team ever to three-peat.

Following a disappointing loss in the Conference Finals the next season, the Lakers went on another run of titles, taking the next 3 championships under the leadership of Mikan and Pollard to make it 6 in 7 years for the franchise, although Pollard wasn't on the first title team. He wasn't the star of any of the title teams, but he was the #2 player on 4 of those teams and #3 on another.

Mikan retired following his sixth title, but Pollard stayed on for one more season, his first as the star player, and though he was unable to get a 4th straight title for the Lakers, he did get them back to the Conference Finals, following which he retired as well.

Overall, Pollard played only 7 seasons, but reached at least the conference finals in every one of them, finishing his season with a ring 5 times, and he was a major contributor to each of those teams. Though winning 5 titles is impressive, it's not quite as impressive as it would be today, because there were fewer teams, games, and playoff rounds to fight through, but you still can't ignore the greatness of Jim Pollard.

Top 100 NBA Players: #79 - Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Billups was one of the most successful playoff players in modern years, leading his team to the Conference Finals in 7 straight years, a streak that has only been matched by two players in the past 35 years, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He may not have ever been considered a superstar, but he was a star player for nearly a decade, and a winner for most of that time.

On six of those 7 Conference Final teams, Billups was one of the top 3 players on his team, first for the Pistons teams that kept making deep playoff runs, then for Denver after a trade took him out west. Here are his stats for those seasons in the regular season and the playoffs.

Billups (Regular Season) - 17.1 pts, 3.3 reb, 6.4 ast
Billups (Playoffs) - 18.0 pts, 3.5 reb, 6.0 ast

You can see that he kicked it up one notch in the playoffs, but others have made more impressive jumps. When the Pistons won the NBA Finals, Billups was voted the MVP, even though Rip Hamilton was probably a better player throughout those playoffs, as you can see from these numbers:

Billups - 16.4 pts, 3.0 reb, 5.9 ast
Hamilton - 21.5 pts, 4.6 reb, 4.2 ast

Billups was definitely the best player for Detroit in their return trip to the Finals the next year, when he bumped those averages up to 18.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 6.5 assists, but Detroit lost to the Spurs, costing him a chance at consecutive Finals MVP's.

Billups is also one of the best free throw shooters of all time, with a career average of .894, which places him in sixth place in NBA history, behind only Steve Nash, Rick Barry, Stephen Curry, Mark Price, and Peja Stojakovic. His clutch free throw shooting was a very important reason for his success, because his team was able to keep one of its best players on the floor at the most important times.

Top 100 NBA Players: #80 - Sidney Moncrief

Sidney Moncrief

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 closer to the bottom of the top 100 players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #81 - Michael Finley

Michael Finley

Michael Finley may seem like an odd choice to be included among the greatest players of all time, since most people have already forgotten how good he was early in his career. He started his career in Phoenix, but after he was traded to Dallas as the main piece in the Jason Kidd trade, his career really took off. Over the next six seasons, he was one of the top players in the entire league.

For the next three seasons, he was the top player in Dallas and was one of the top 10 players overall for two of those seasons, but Dallas failed to make the playoffs with him leading the way. That all changed in 2001, when Dirk Nowitzki came into his own and became the Mavericks' star, with Finley as his star sidekick. Over the next three seasons they made two trips to the second round followed by an appearance in the Conference Finals. Here are his numbers over those seasons:

Finley as star (1997-2000) - 21.6 pts, 5.7 reb, 5.0 ast, 1.4 stl
Finley as sidekick (2000-2003) - 20.5 pts, 5.4 reb, 3.6 ast, 1.2 stl
Finley in playoffs (2000-2003) - 20.0 pts, 5.7 reb, 3.2 ast, 1.3 stl

As you can see, there wasn't a huge dropoff in Finley's production when Dirk took over in Dallas, which explains why they were suddenly so much more successful. Most championship teams have at least two of the top 100 players on their roster, but unfortunately Dirk and Steve Nash had not yet reached their peak when Finley was at his, but with a couple more years together, Dallas could have won their first title a few years earlier.

Within two years of that trip to the Conference Finals, both Nash and Finley had left town, Nash to Phoenix and Finley to San Antonio. The next year Dallas made the Finals without them (in fact, they beat both of them on their way there), but they sure could have used them against Miami. Finley did get his championship in 2007, but by that time he was just a backup and wasn't a significant part of the title team.

Top 100 NBA Players: #82 - Jamaal Wilkes

Jamaal Wilkes

Jamaal Wilkes came into the NBA in 1974 as the 11th pick in the draft by the Golden State Warriors, after a collegiate career with UCLA that included two championships and overlapped the famous 88-game winning streak by the Bruins. When he arrived in the pros, he had an immediate impact, earning the Rookie of the Year award with averages of 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.

The Warriors finished with the top record in the West that season, and he also had a big impact in the playoffs, helping Rick Barry and the Warriors win the championship in a huge upset over the Washington Bullets, and he was already the #2 player on the title team as a rookie.

Wilkes took on a bigger role over the next couple of years, but the Warriors were unable to duplicate their championship run, with an upset loss to Phoenix in the conference finals in 1976 and an even earlier exit the next season. After his third season, he walked away as a free agent to join the Los Angeles Lakers, which turned out to be a great career move.

In his third season with the Lakers, Magic Johnson joined the team as a rookie, and with Kareem also playing a large role, Los Angeles won their first title in 8 years. His two teammates were obviously the stars of the team, but Wilkes averaged 20.0 points per game for the first time in his career, and when Kareem missed the clinching game 6 of the Finals, Wilkes stepped up in a big way, picking up 37 points and 10 rebounds, although his performance is often overlooked due to Magic's 42 points and 15 rebounds in the same game.

Magic went down with a knee injury early the next season, and Wilkes compensated with a career-high 22.6 points per game, which earned him a spot on the All-Star team, but without Magic the team was unable to win a playoff series. When he returned the following year, the Lakers returned to the top, earning the top seed in the West and making it back to the Finals, where they won another title, though Wilkes' role was slightly diminished due to the emergence of Norm Nixon, who led the team in scoring during the playoffs.

He had two more good seasons left in the tank at that point, maintaining a decent scoring average while holding down a starting role in LA, and the Lakers reached the Finals in each of those seasons, where they lost each time, but by the 1984 playoffs he was no longer playing a major role on the team.

Overall, he earned 3 NBA titles during his career, all as a big contributor but not a superstar, and was also a big part of another team that lost in the Finals. He averaged double figures in scoring for an entire decade, and was over 17 points per game for the 8 of those seasons. He was never the best player on his team, but he knew his role and played it well, leading to a lot of playoff success, and a spot among the top players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #83 - John Stockton

John Stockton

I realize that many may call it blasphemy to put Stockton this low in the all-time rankings, especially with all of the individual achievements in his career, and it hurts me to put him here too, because I have the utmost respect for him as a player and as a human being, but the fact is that he wasn't as good as many have made him out to be.

A few people will try to claim that his assist record should be discounted because assists were easier to get in his era than they were earlier days of the league, and will often compare his numbers to those of Bob Cousy to make their point, but the truth is that the average number of assists per game changed very little from 1951 through today. Assists did reach their peak in the mid-1980's, but the difference wasn't that huge. In 1956, when Cousy led the league with 8.9 assists per game, the average team got 24.3 per game, and when Stockton led the league with 14.2 assists per game in 1991, the team average league-wide was 24.7. The only time in which assists were truly hard to get was the first four seasons of the NBA, in which the average for a team was still in the single digits.

The obvious question here is, "What caused the difference between Cousy and Stockton if assists were just as easy to get back then?" The real difference is specialization. Before the 1980's, most teams did not differentiate a point guard from a shooting guard. Whichever one got the ball took it up the court, and was more likely to record an assist. That is a small part of the reason that Stockton is ranked this low, but only a part.

Let's look for a moment at Stockton's other major achievement, which is his all-time record for steals. This one is especially misleading, because steals, unlike assists, have only been recorded for the past 43 years, meaning that there is no way to know whether he really has the most overall steals. If Jordan hadn't retired for five seasons in the prime of his career, he could easily have passed Stockton here. This record was also helped by the fact that he has played in the third-most games all-time, and is the only guard near the top of that list. He was a good defensive player and led the league in steals twice, but this record doesn't help his all-time standing quite as much.

Another thing holding Stockton back was the lack of postseason success. He played in two NBA Finals late in his career, and he was still the #2 player on the Jazz, just as he had been for over a decade, but that seems to eclipse his previous playoff failings in the eyes of many. The truth is that in his 19 seasons, the Jazz made the playoffs every single season, but lost in the first round 9 times, and in the second round 5 more times. That leaves 3 Western Conference Finals seasons and the two trips to the Finals, where they lost to Michael Jordan and the Bulls. How can someone be considered one of the greatest of all time if he was never the best player on his own team?

To recap, I want to emphasize that I love John Stockton. I loved the way he played, and especially the way he showed up every night. In 17 different seasons he never missed a single game. He played his entire career with one team, showing great loyalty to the Utah team that took a chance on the small-school boy. The Jazz made the playoffs every single season that he was on the roster. I just can't overlook the fact that he wasn't ever a superstar. He only ranked among the top 15 players in the league once, and was never his team's best player. He rarely saw playoff success, and the majority of it came after he had started to decline as a player. He was very good at the things he was supposed to do, and not so great at the things he wasn't expected to do. Overall, he exceeded a lot of expectations, but he is not one of the top 75 players of all time. Sorry.

Top 100 NBA Players: #84 - Grant Hill

Grant Hill

It's easy to forget what a great player Grant Hill once was when he spent so many seasons at the end of his career as a role player or on injured reserve, but he was once one of the league's top players and the heir apparent to Michael Jordan before injuries derailed his career.

In his rookie season, Hill firmly established himself as a rising star, averaging 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while leading all players in All-Star voting and winning the Rookie of the Year Award. He was the first rookie in any major American sports league to lead all players in fan voting for the All-Star Game, and he was already the best player on the Detroit Pistons.

Over the next 5 seasons, he was one of the top 10 players in the league every year, and in 1997 he put up some historic numbers. That year, he became just the fifth player in history to average at least 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists per game, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, John Havlicek, and Larry Bird in that select club. No player has accomplished that since.

What followed was nothing short of tragic. Hill injured his ankle late in the 2000 season, then was traded to Orlando in the offseason, where he missed a total of 364 games over his seven seasons with the Magic, an average of 52 games missed per season. He had numerous ankle surgeries during that time, and nearly died once when he contracted a major infection after one operation.

Rather than retiring, Hill signed with Phoenix as a free agent, where he was a starter and a captain for a few years, but not the star player he was at his peak. Hill's star power never led to playoff success, as he was on the winning side in a playoff series for the first time in 2010, making him the oldest first-time playoff series winner in history.

Top 100 NBA Players: #85 - Chris Mullin

Chris Mullin

Chris Mullin might not be remembered too well by younger NBA fans, but those of us who have been watching the league for a while definitely remember his days with the Golden State Warriors in the late 80's and early 90's. Back then he was one third of the trio known as "Run TMC," along with Mitch Richmond and Tim Hardaway, a team that was remembered for their fast-paced style.

Mullin was the best player on those teams, averaging over 25 points per game for 5 straight seasons, a feat only one other Warrior in history has accomplished, a player you may have heard of named Wilt Chamberlain. During the last three seasons of that run he also averaged over 40 minutes per game, twice leading the league in that category, but all the extra minutes wore down his body, and he spent the next four seasons in and out of the lineup, missing 140 games over those four years.

Mullin was not only a great scorer, he also had a great shooting touch. He shot nearly 51% for his career from the field and 86.5% from the free throw line, which included a league-leading 93.9% in 1998. His three-point shooting improved throughout his career, and he hit over 40% from long distance 5 times.

Mullin's major downfall, like that of many others, is that he was not successful in playoff basketball. While with Golden State, he never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, and by the time he reached the Conference Finals and NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers, he was no longer a major factor in their success. He did score some major points in 1989 with 29.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game, but that playoff run only lasted 8 games.

Overall, he ended up with 4 straight seasons of being named to the All-NBA Team, including a First Team berth in 1992, 5 straight seasons of at least 25 points per game, a season leading the league in free throw shooting, and no trips past the conference semifinals until he was no longer a legitimate star. It all adds up to a pretty good, but not quite great career.

Top 100 NBA Players: #86 - Max Zaslofsky

Max Zaslofsky

Many people tend to ignore the very early years of the NBA (or BAA as it was called for 3 years), but there were some pretty good players back then, and Zaslofsky was probably the league's first star player, even before George Mikan came along.

In 1946-47, the very first year of the BAA, Zaslofsky was named to the All-BAA First Team at only 21 years old, and he remained the youngest player named to the First Team for nearly 50 years, when LeBron James took that honor away from him. With all of the great young players who have come through since then, wouldn't you have thought one of them would have made the First Team? As it stands, he is still the second-youngest ever given that honor.

In 1947-48, he led the league in scoring and would have been named the MVP if the award existed back then. His 21.0 points per game doesn't look so impressive today, which may be another reason that he is overlooked, but the average team only scored 72.7 per game back then, because there was no shot clock to increase the speed of the game. If you adjusted his scoring average for today's faster-paced league, his average would be 28.8, which is considered a pretty good average.

Another reason people don't remember him is that his best years were spent with a team that no longer exists. He was named to the All-BAA or All-NBA First Team in each of his first four seasons with the Chicago Stags, but when they went out of business in 1950, his rights were given to the New York Knicks in the dispersal draft. The fact that there is no team around to celebrate his accomplishments makes him more likely to be forgotten.

Zaslofsky never won a title as a player, but he did play in the NBA Finals 4 times, twice as the best player on his team, and once as its second option. The fourth appearance was after his prime, but the fact remains that he was largely responsible for 3 teams appearing in the NBA Finals, a huge accomplishment in any era.

Top 100 NBA Players: #87 - Paul Arizin

Paul Arizin

Paul Arizin was one of the earliest stars in the NBA, and unlike most of the other players on this portion of the list, injuries were not the reason he didn't make it higher on the list. Arizin was drafted in 1950 by his hometown Philadelphia Warriors, and went on to average 17.2 points and 9.8 rebounds as a rookie, earning Rookie of the Year honors.

He really took a leap in his second season, leading the league in field goal percentage (.448) and scoring (25.4 ppg) while also pulling down 11.3 rebounds per game. Those numbers earned him a spot on the All-NBA First Team, but right when he was looking like the next big star, he joined the Marines for two years to fight in Korea, taking away a big chunk of the prime of his career.

When he returned, he was not quite at the same level as before, but he still finished #2 in the league in scoring at 21.0 per game, behind his teammate Neil Johnston. The next season was a special one, with Arizin making the All-NBA First Team for the second time and leading the Warriors to the league's best record at 45-27. During the playoffs, Paul boosted his numbers to 28.9 points and 8.4 rebounds and earned Philadelphia the championship.

He was never able to win another championship during his career, but he did continue to score a lot of points, reaching 20 points per game for 9 straight seasons. He led the league in scoring twice, field goal percentage once, and minutes per game twice, along with being the best player on a championship team.

Even with all of that, perhaps the biggest contribution Arizin made to the game of basketball was the invention of the jump shot. He developed it as a young man playing in recreational leagues, which often used ballrooms as their courts. He said that the floors were often so slippery that he couldn't keep his footing while shooting a hook shot, so he developed the jump shot so that he could keep his balance while shooting. It would turn out to be one of the most important innovations in the history of the sport, and did a lot to help him become one of the greatest players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #88 - Anfernee Hardaway

Anfernee Hardaway

Nicknamed "Penny," Hardaway burst onto the scene just before Grant Hill, and was another of the young players expected to replace Michael Jordan as the league's new superstar, but unfortunately his career followed the path of Hill's more closely, with major injuries to his left knee shortening his career and prematurely knocking him from stardom.

As a rookie he was a pretty good player, putting up 16.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game while pairing with Shaquille O'Neal to lead the Orlando Magic to the first playoff berth in their history. The very next year he improved immensely, making the All-NBA First Team and helping guide the Magic to the NBA Finals for the first time, along the way knocking out Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, in what would be his final playoff series defeat.

He made a repeat appearance on the All-NBA First Team in his third season, somehow finding a way to improve his game again. He and Shaq put up some huge numbers together in those two seasons, both of which saw them make it at least to the Conference Finals. The averages from those two seasons are included below:

Shaq - 28.2 pts, 11.3 reb, 2.8 ast, 2.3 blk
Penny - 21.3 pts, 4.3 reb, 7.1 ast, 1.9 stl

Sadly, the pair only lasted three years together before Shaq left for Los Angeles, leaving Penny as the lone star in Orlando. The injuries started immediately, costing him 86 games over the next two seasons. He did have one more healthy season before leaving Orlando for Phoenix, but once again got hurt and missed 100 games over two seasons. He did manage to regain his star status for a couple years after his initial injury, but after the second major set of injuries he was never able to play at a star level again.