Top 100 NBA Players: #97 - Mel Daniels

Mel Daniels

Teams

Minnesota Muskies (ABA) - 1967-68

Indiana Pacers (ABA) - 1968-74

Memphis Sounds (ABA) - 1974-75

New York Nets - 1976

Playoffs

Appearances - 8 (1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974,1975)

Conference Finals - 7 (1968,1969,1970,1971,1972,1973,1974)

ABA Finals - 4 (1969,1970,1972,1973)

ABA Championships - 3 (1970,1972,1973)

Awards and Honors

ABA Rookie of the Year - 1968

All-ABA First Team - 4 (1968,1969,1970,1971)

All-ABA Second Team - 1 (1972,1973)

ABA MVP - 2 (1969,1971)

Finals MVP - 0 (1972)

Hall of Fame - 2012

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Rebounds Per Game - #6

Total Rebounds - #51

League Leads

Rebounds Per Game (#1-1968,1969,1971, #2-1970,1972,1973, #5-1974)

Total Rebounds (#1-1968,1969,1971, #2-1970,1973, #3-1972)

Total Points (#4-1969, #5-1968)

Points Per Game - (#4-1969)

Total Blocks - (#4-1973)

Field Goal Percentage (#2-1971)

Mel Daniels made this list despite playing on 11 games in the NBA, but he was one of the greatest players in the history of the ABA, where he played 8 full seasons. Daniels was an All-American center at New Mexico, where he averaged over 20 points per game, then was drafted #9 by the Cincinnati Royals of the NBA, who featured Oscar Robertson, but he was also drafted by the Minnesota Muskies of the ABA, which was just starting up that year, and he took the ABA offer that came with more money.

He was named the Rookie of the Year in the ABA after averaging 22.2 points and 15.6 rebounds, and he was also named to the All-ABA First Team. Unfortunately, the Muskies couldn't afford his contract, so they traded him to the Indiana Pacers after the season for cash, then moved the team to Miami.

In his first season with Indiana, Daniels was named the league MVP with averages of 24.0 points and 16.5 rebounds, which was the second straight time he had led the league in rebounding, and he led the Pacers to the Finals, where they lost to Rick Barry and the Oakland Oaks.

The next season, he took a backseat to Roger Brown as the star of the team, and the two of them together led the Pacers the their first championship, with Brown winning the Finals MVP. In 1971, they again reversed roles, with Daniels leading the team and winning the league MVP, but this time they fell short in the playoffs.

The following season, the team added another superstar in George McGinnis, and the trio led the Pacers to another championship, with Freddie Lewis winning the Finals MVP, though I feel that Daniels should have won this one, with averages of 15.3 points and 15.1 rebounds in the playoffs.

The Pacers won their third title in 4 years in 1973, this time with McGinnis dominating the playoffs, but Daniels still pulling in a strong double-double average. He played one more year for the Pacers, in which his numbers dipped significantly, before he was traded to Memphis.

In Memphis, Daniels suffered a back injury that cost him a lot of time, then continued to linger even after he returned, and he was never able to fully recover his old level of play. The team moved to Baltimore after that year, but folded before they even played a game, and nobody picked up the injured Daniels in the dispersal draft. He made a brief comeback with the New York Nets after the leagues merged in 1976, but was waived after averaging only 3.5 points in 11 games.

There are only 2 players in this countdown who have shorter careers than Daniels, who played 8 full seasons and appeared briefly in a 9th, and one of those players is still active. Even though his career was short, Daniels packed in a lot of accomplishments. He won 2 MVPs, 3 championships, and is the ABA's all-time leader in rebounds, falling just outside the top 50 of the NBA/ABA combined list. He is largely forgotten today, but he was so good during the ABA's run that he deserves to be recognized as one of the greatest players of all time.