Top 100 NBA Players: #34 - Patrick Ewing

Patrick Ewing

Teams

New York Knicks - 1985-00

Seattle SuperSonics - 2000-01

Orlando Magic - 2001-02

Playoffs

Appearances - 14 (1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2002)

Conference Finals - 4 (1993,1994,1999,2000)

NBA Finals - 1 (1994)

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

Rookie of the Year - 1986

All-NBA First Team - 1 (1990,1993,1994)

All-NBA Second Team - 6 (1988,1989,1991,1992,1993,1995,1997)

All-NBA Third Team - 0 (1988,1996)

Hall of Fame - 2008

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Total Blocks - #8

Blocks Per Game - #11

Total Rebounds - #26

Total Points - #28

Points Per Game - #45

Rebounds Per Game - #66

League Leads

Total Blocks (#2-1988,1989,1991, #3-1992, #4-1989,1997, #5-1994)

Blocks Per Game (#2-1990, #3-1988,1989,1991, #4-1992)

Total Points (#3-1990,1991, #4-1992, #5-1993,1994)

Total Rebounds (#4-1997, #5-1990,1991,1992)

Rebounds Per Game (#4-1995, #5-1990,1991,1997)

Points Per Game (#3-1990, #5-1991,1992)

Field Goal Percentage (#4-1989)

During his 4-year career at Georgetown, Patrick Ewing led the Hoyas to the NCAA Championship Game 3 times, losing to Michael Jordan and North Carolina in 1982, beating Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston in 1984, and losing to Villanova in 1985. He averaged 15.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.4 blocks in college, and was picked with the #1 overall pick by the New York Knicks in 1985.

Ewing missed 32 games due to injury as a rookie, but was still the runaway Rookie of the Year after averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds when he played. The next-best choice for top rookie that year was probably Manute Bol, who led the league with 5 blocks per game, but only averaged 6 rebounds and 3.7 points, so the award went to Ewing.

Ewing moved up into the ranks of the elite in just a few years, hitting his peak in 1989-90, when he set career highs in scoring with 28.6 per game and blocks with 4.0 per game, along with 10.9 rebounds, which was his career high at the time. It was also the only time in his career that he was named to the All-NBA First Team, missing out a couple of times later in his career because there were so many great centers who overlapped his career.

In 1992-93, Ewing set his personal best in rebounding with 12.1 per game, while also averaging 24.2 points and 2.0 blocks, and for the first time led the Knicks past the second round of the playoffs. New York had the top seed in the East, but they ran into Michael Jordan and the two-time defending champs in the Conference Finals, and they fell to the Bulls in 6 games.

With Jordan retired the next year, it looked like New York had a chance to finally break through and win a title, and after another of his trademark solid high-level regular seasons, Ewing led the Knicks through a tough playoff run, beating the Bulls and Pacers in 7 games each to advance to the Finals, where they lost a tough 7-game series to the Rockets.

Ewing continued to play at the same level for the next 3 years, but they were never able to make it back to the Finals during that time, falling in the second round in each of those seasons. In 1997-98, Ewing suffered a major wrist injury that caused him to miss most of the season, but he returned in the second round of the playoffs, but for the 4th straight year, that's as far as New York would advance.

Ewing finally started to slow down a bit the next year, with his scoring average dipping below 20 for the first time in his career, and his rebounding average dropping below 10 for the first time in a decade, but the Knicks were able to pull off 3 straight upsets in the playoffs to advance to the NBA Finals. Ewing, unfortunately, did not join them there, as he suffered an Achilles injury that forced him to miss the Finals, where the Knicks fell to the Spurs in 5 games.

New York kept the momentum going the next year, and after Ewing made a series-winning dunk over Alonzo Mourning in Game 7 of the second round, New York reached the Conference Finals for the 4th time in Ewing's career, but Indiana stopped their progress there, and Ewing was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics after the season, as the team was ready to move on and focus more on its younger players. He started for the Sonics for one year before playing a season as a backup in Orlando before retiring from the NBA.

Ewing had the misfortune of playing at the same time as many other dominant centers, including Shaq, Hakeem, and David Robinson, along with other superstars like Michael Jordan, which prevented him from being able to win a championship in the NBA. He averaged at least 20 points in each of his first 13 seasons, at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for 9 straight seasons in his prime, and at least 2 blocks per game in each of his first 14 seasons. Even though he never won a championship, Ewing is definitely one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Top 100 NBA Players: #44 - Gary Payton

Gary Payton

Teams

Seattle SuperSonics - 1990-03

Milwaukee Bucks - 2003

Los Angeles Lakers - 2003-04

Boston Celtics - 2004-05

Miami Heat - 2005-07

Playoffs

Appearances - 15 (1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,2000,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007)

Conference Finals - 4 (1993,1996,2004,2006)

NBA Finals - 3 (1996,2004,2006)

Championships - 1 (2006)

Awards and Honors

All-NBA First Team - 2 (1998,1999,2000,2002)

All-NBA Second Team - 5 (1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2001,2002)

All-NBA Third Team - 2 (1994,2001,2003)

Defensive Player of the Year - 1 (1996)

Hall of Fame - 2013

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Total Steals - #4

Total Assists - #10

Steals Per Game - #29

Assists Per Game - #32

Total Points - #40

Three-Pointers Made - #91

League Leads

Total Steals (#1-1996, #2-1995, #3-1997,1998,2000, #4-1993)

Total Assists (#1-2000, #2-2003, #3-1999,2002, #5-1998)

Assists Per Game (#3-2002,2003, #4-1999,2000, #5-2001)

Steals Per Game (#1-1996, #3-1995,1997, #4-1998)

Total Points (#5-1999,2000)

Three-Pointers Made (#1-2000)

Gary Payton played 4 years of college basketball at Oregon State, where he set nearly every school record, and averaged 25.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 3.4 steals during his senior season, which led the Seattle SuperSonics to draft him #2 overall in the 1990 Draft.

Payton wasn't a great scorer right away, scoring only 7.2 per game as a rookie, but he averaged 6.2 assists and 2.0 steals that year, so his other skills were already NBA-ready. He improved over the next couple of years, raising his scoring average to 13.5 per game in his third season, and he helped the Sonics reach the Conference Finals that year, where the team fell to Phoenix in 7 games, but Payton earned his nickname "the Glove" for his tough defense during the series.

The next year, Payton was named to the All-Defensive First Team for the first time, an honor he would receive in each of the next 8 seasons as well, tying him for the record for most appearances on that list with 9. He also made the All-NBA Third Team that year, the first of 9 straight seasons he would be named to one of the All-NBA teams.

In 1995-96, he led the league in steals with 2.9 per game and was named the Defensive Player of the Year, and is still the only point guard to ever win the award. He also averaged 19.3 points and 7.5 assists that year, and Seattle finished with the best record in the West, then went all the way to the NBA Finals, where they faced the Chicago Bulls. Payton guarded Michael Jordan during that series, and Jordan averaged only 27.3 points per game, the lowest he would ever average in the Finals, but the Sonics would still lose in 6 games.

The Sonics were not able to repeat that level of success over the next several years, but Payton continued to improve each year, having his best individual season in 1999-00, when he averaged career-highs of 24.2 points and 6.5 rebounds, along with 8.9 assists, which was his best at the time as well, and he was named to the All-NBA First Team for the second time in 3 seasons.

Payton had two more great individual seasons with Seattle, but the team continued to struggle, and Payton did not get along with the team's new owner, who decided to trade his star, sending him to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2003 in exchange for Ray Allen. He finished out the season with the Bucks, then left as a free agent in search of a championship.

He signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, joining Kobe, Shaq, and Karl Malone on a superteam, and Payton was the only one of the stars to play in every game. They reached the NBA Finals as expected, but were upset by the Pistons in 5 games, with Payton averaging only 4.2 points per game in the series. He was traded to the Boston Celtics after the season.

Payton's averages had started to drop off, and he was traded at the deadline to the Atlanta Hawks for Antoine Walker, but the Hawks waived him later that week, and he then resigned with the Celtics to finish out the season, but that season ended in another first-round playoff disappointment.

He signed with the Miami Heat for the next season, playing as a backup for the first time in his career, and averaged only 7.7 points per game, his lowest since his rookie year. That team, led by Dwyane Wade and Shaq, were able to reach the NBA Finals, and this time Payton finally won his title, though he had little to do with it, scoring only 2.7 points per game in the Finals. He played one more season with Miami before retiring from the game.

Payton was one of the best defensive guards of all time, and was always a good passer, making him a perfect point guard. As his career went on, he became a very good scorer as well, scoring over 20 points per game 7 times as well. He also rarely missed a game, missing only 11 games in his first 16 seasons, with 3 of those happening because he had been traded and hadn't arrived with his new team yet. He only reached the NBA Finals once during his prime years, and didn't win a title until he was well past his prime, but he is still one of the greatest to ever play the game.

Top 100 NBA Players: #81 - Ray Allen

Ray Allen

Teams

Milwaukee Bucks - 1996-03

Seattle SuperSonics - 2003-07

Boston Celtics - 2007-12

Miami Heat - 2012-14

Playoffs

Appearances - 11 (1999,2000,2001,2005,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014)

Conference Finals - 6 (2001,2008,2010,2012,2013,2014)

NBA Finals - 4 (2008,2010,2013,2014)

Championships - 2 (2008,2013)

Awards and Honors

All-NBA Second Team - 1 (2001,2005)

All-NBA Third Team - 1 (2001,2005)

Hall of Fame - 2018

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Three-Pointers Made - #1

Free Throw Percentage - #6

Total Points - #29

Three-Point Percentage - #48

Total Steals - #54

Total Assists - #98

League Leads

Free Throw Percentage (#2-2003,2009, #3-1998,2006,2010, #4-1999,2004,2007,2008, #5-2000,2013)

Three Pointers Made (#1-2002,2003,2006, #2-2000,2001,2009, #4-2005, #5-2008,2011)

Three Point Percentage (#2-2011, #4-2012)

Ray Allen was a great shooter and scorer at the University of Connecticut, and after being drafted #5 overall in 1996, he became a very good scorer in the NBA, and one of only a handful of players in the conversation for the best shooter of all time.

He was drafted by Minnesota, but immediately traded to Milwaukee for Stephon Marbury, who was drafted right before him. He was named to the All-Rookie Second Team, then quickly improved to become an All-Star within just a few years. In his 4th season, he averaged 22.1 points per game, the first of 8 consecutive seasons where he scored at least 21 per game, and he made his first of 10 All-Star appearances in a 12-year period.

In 2001, he, along with Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell, led the Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals, his deepest playoff run to that point, but they fell to Allen Iverson and the 76ers in 7 games, even with Allen scoring 27.1 points per game, including 41 in a big Game 6 win.

The Bucks were not able to replicate that success the next year, and early in 2003 Allen was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in a deal involving Gary Payton. His 4 full seasons in Seattle were the 4 highest-scoring of his career, but they would only make one playoff appearance, losing in the second round in 2005. After averaging a career-high 26.4 points per game in 2007, but missing the end of the season after double ankle surgery, Allen was traded to the Boston Celtics.

It was in Boston that Allen began to gain his reputation as a clutch playoff performer. In his first season with the Celtics, his scoring average dropped by 9 points per game due to having superstars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett as teammates, but Allen stepped up in important moments, like Game 6 of the NBA Finals, when he set a Finals record with 7 three-pointers as they finished the series and he won his first championship.

As great as Allen was as a three-point shooter, he was even better from the free throw line. Although he never led the league in free throw shooting, he was in the top five 11 different times, and currently ranks as the 6th-best free throw shooter of all time. In 2008-09, he hit 72 straight free throws, breaking the Celtics franchise record that was previously held by Larry Bird.

In 2010, Allen would break his own record for most 3-pointers in a Finals game when he hit 8 of them in Game 2, but the Celtics fell to the Lakers in 7 games. In 2011, he passed Reggie Miller to become the all-time leader in three-pointers made, a distinction he still holds, and in 2013 he passed Miller to take over first place in playoff three-pointers, though he has since fallen to third behind Stephen Curry and LeBron James.

Allen finished out his career with 2 seasons in Miami, where he won another championship in 2013 after hitting one of the greatest 3-pointers in playoff history to tie game 6 in the closing seconds, and making a 4th Finals appearance in his final season, this time losing to the Spurs in 5 games. Allen considered returning to the league several time over the next few seasons, but eventually made his retirement official in 2016.

Allen never had a ton of rebounds or assists in his career, never reaching 6 rebounds or 5 assists per game in any season of his career. He was primarily a shooter and a scorer, but he was great at what he did. He is among the all-time leaders in both three-point and free throw percentage, with career averages of .400 and .894, which are both amazing numbers, and made important contributions to 2 title teams late in his career, which makes him one of the greatest players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #87 - Gus Williams

Gus Williams

Teams

Golden State Warriors - 1975-77

Seattle SuperSonics - 1977-84

Washington Bullets - 1984-86

Atlanta Hawks - 1986-87

Playoffs

Appearances - 10 (1976,1977,1978,1979,1980,1982,1983,1984,1985,1986)

Conference Finals - 4 (1976,1978,1979,1980)

NBA Finals - 2 (1978,1979)

Championships - 1 (1979)

Awards and Honors

All-NBA First Team - 1 (1982)

All-NBA Second Team - 1 (1980,1983)

NBA Finals MVP - 0 (1979)

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Steals Per Game - #16

Total Steals - #29

Assists Per Game - #81

Total Assists - #86

League Leads

Total Steals (#3-1978,1984, #4-1980)

Steals Per Game (#2-1978, #3-1984, #4-1980)

Total Assists (#4-1983, #5-1984)

Three Pointers Made (#5-1985)

After a very strong senior season at USC, Gus Williams was a first-round pick by the Spirits of Saint Louis of the ABA and a second-round pick by the Golden State Warriors of the NBA, ultimately deciding to go with the Warriors, as the ABA was on its last legs and would merge with the NBA just a year later.

He spent 2 years with the Warriors, and was good, but not spectacular, being named to the All-Rookie Team in 1976 before being allowed to leave in free agency in 1977, when he signed with the Seattle SuperSonics, which was the best move he made in his career.

Williams' first three seasons in Seattle were great. He got better each season, reaching averages of 22.1 points, 4.8 assists, and 2.4 steals per game in 1980, which was the first time he was named to the All-NBA Team, and it was well-deserved. He also helped lead the Sonics on deep playoff runs in each of those seasons, reaching the Finals in 1978 and 1979, winning the title in 1979. Dennis Johnson was named the MVP of those Finals, but Johnson was the higher scorer in that series 29.0 to 22.6.

After reaching the Conference Finals in 1980, the third straight season making it at least that far in the playoffs, Johnson sat out a full season in a contract dispute. Based on his career trajectory, that could have been his best season, but we'll never know. Still, when he returned after a year off, he had by far his best regular season, 23.4 points, 6.9 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, earning him his only All-NBA First Team berth.

Williams played 2 more seasons with Seattle, averaging at least 18 points and 8 assists per game each season, but failed to be named to the All-NBA Team (which he deserved in 1983) or make another deep playoff run. After the 1984 season, he was traded to the Washington Bullets, the team he had faced twice in the NBA Finals a few years earlier.

Williams had one more really good season for the Bullets before his numbers started to dip significantly, and after two seasons in Washington, he signed with the Atlanta Hawks for his farewell season. 

He didn't have a long career, with only 11 seasons on the court, and he missed a full season at his peak, but he was a very good player on both ends of the court for many years, especially during his time in Seattle. He was also a proven winner, putting up the best numbers of his career in the NBA Finals, but he was overlooked when it came to the Finals MVP and the Hall of Fame. He is not being overlooked here, he has earned this spot among the greatest players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #95 - Shawn Kemp

Shawn Kemp

Teams

Seattle SuperSonics - 1989-97

Cleveland Cavaliers - 1997-00

Portland Trail Blazers - 2000-02

Orlando Magic - 2002-03

Playoffs

Appearances - 10 (1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,2002,2003)

Conference Finals - 2 (1993,1996)

NBA Finals - 1 (1996)

Championships - 0

Awards and Honors

All-NBA Second Team - 3 (1994,1995,1996)

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)

All-Time Ranks

Total Blocks - #55

Total Rebounds - #64

League Leads

Total Rebounds (#3-1995,1996)

Field Goal Percentage (#5-1994,1996)

Rebounds Per Game (#5-1996)

Shawn Kemp is the first player in this countdown who did not play college basketball. He committed to play for Kentucky, but didn't score high enough on the SAT to be eligible as a freshman, and after an issue with a teammate, he transferred to Trinity Valley Community College, where he didn't play. After what would have been his freshman year, he declared for the NBA Draft, where he was picked #17 by the Seattle SuperSonics.

Kemp was the youngest player in the league as a rookie, and it took him a little time to find his footing, but in his second year he showed huge improvement, jumping up to 15 points and 8.4 rebounds per game after just 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a rookie. It was also that season that Kemp was given one of the coolest nicknames in sports, "Reign Man", by the team's announcer.

Kemp was well-known during his Seattle year for his thunderous dunks, but he was a very solid player who continued to improve every year until 1996, when he and Gary Payton led Seattle to the NBA Finals. They lost that series to the 72-win Chicago Bulls, but they pushed the series to 6 games, which was quite an accomplishment against what may be the greatest team of all time.

Before the next season, Seattle signed Jim McIlvaine, a young center who never panned out, to a huge contract, one that paid him more than Kemp, and Kemp threatened to sit out the season as a result, even though his contracted could not be negotiated until after the next season. He did end up playing the entire season and nearly matched his previous season's career-best output, but with his relationship with the team deteriorating, he was traded to Cleveland following the season.

In Cleveland he continued to put up All-Star numbers, even averaging a career-high 20.5 points per game in 1999, but his efficiency declined significantly. He shot at least 49% in each of his final 7 seasons in Seattle, all while averaging at least 15 points per game, but in his 3 years in Cleveland, he finished below that number each season, dropping as low at .417 from the field in his third season with the Cavaliers.

He was traded to Portland in the summer of 2000, where he was never able to live up to his former glory. He had battled weight problems since leaving Seattle, and his first season in Portland ended early so he could enter drug rehab. After 2 seasons in which he averaged just over 6 points per game, he was waived in 2002. He then played one season with Orlando with similar results before his NBA career ended in 2003.

His career may not have ended up the way it should have, given his quick rise and solid peak, and it ended quite early, when Kemp was only 33, but he was one of the big reasons that Seattle was a perennial playoff team throughout the 1990s and was the best player on an NBA Finals team, so he definitely deserves a spot among the best players of all time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #22 - Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant is easily the youngest player to be ranked among my top 25, and although he is still only 27 years old, he has done some very impressive things in the early stages of his career.

In his first season in the NBA, playing for the Seattle SuperSonics, Durant won the Rookie of the Year award by averaging 20.3 points per game while starting every single night. It turns out that his rookie season would start to look weak after what he started doing in year two. At only 20 years old, he was one of the top 10 players in the entire league and ranked #5 in scoring at 25.3 points per game, while also increasing his rebounding average from 4.4 to 6.5.

The next season he became the youngest player ever to lead the league in scoring, averaging 30.1 points per game and supplanting Max Zaslofsky as the youngest scoring leader, breaking a record that had stood for 62 years. He was also named to the All-NBA First Team, came in second in the MVP race, and led the Thunder to the playoffs. He also grabbed 7.6 rebounds per game and shot 90% from the free throw line while leading all players in minutes played.

His fourth season was even better somehow. His stats may have slipped slightly in each major category, but he was still one of the top 5 players in the league and led Oklahoma City to the Western Conference Finals as the best player on a very good Thunder team. He led the league in scoring for the second straight season and matched that feat in the playoffs, where he averaged 28.6 over 17 games.

He led the league in scoring again the following season, becoming just the 7th player ever to lead the league in three straight seasons. He established himself as the #2 player in the league, behind only LeBron James, then took the Thunder all the way to the Finals. He raised his scoring average the next season, but ended up behind Carmelo in the scoring race, and the Thunder failed to match their previous playoff success.

His 6th season was easily his best. He led the league in scoring again with a career-high 32 per game to go along with 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists, and he took the Thunder back to the Conference Finals. He suffered an unfortunate foot injury that cost him most of the following season, and when he got back, Russell Westbrook had taken over as the best player on the team, though Durant was still one of the top 5 players in the league, and they reached the conference finals yet again.

At this point in his career it's impossible to tell exactly where he'll end up at the end of his career. He has the highest scoring average of any active player, and the third highest average of all time, behind only MJ and Wilt. He has yet to win a championship, and there is only one player ahead of him in these rankings who never won one, but Durant is still young and should have a lot of chances to finish on top. We could be looking at one of the top 10 players of all time by the time his career ends.

Top 100 NBA Players: #41 - Gary Payton

Gary Payton

Gary Payton may have been the best two-way point guard in the history of the league, getting it done consistently on both ends of the floor for more than a decade, and he played on some pretty good teams, missing the playoffs just twice in his 17-year career.

In 1995-96, Michael Jordan had just returned from his first retirement, and the Bulls had set an NBA record with 72 wins in the regular season, and then they walked right through the first three rounds of the playoffs with an 11-1 record, giving them an overall record of 83-11 up to that point. It may not seem like much, but the Sonics took two games from the Bulls in the Finals, which was quite an accomplishment considering that Chicago had only lost about once every three weeks during the previous 7 months. Payton was the star of that team, and probably would have won a title in any other season.

Payton's teammate, Shawn Kemp, started to go downhill after that season, leaving Payton without a teammate to help him return to the Finals. Over the next two years Seattle lost in the second round, but Payton was still putting up great numbers, which are below:

Payton - 23.9 pts, 4.5 reb, 7.9 ast, 2.0 stl, .438 FG%, .352 3P%, .874 FT%

He had his best overall season in 2000, at the age of 31, when he averaged 24.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, and was probably the best guard in the entire league, but the season was followed by a first-round playoff exit.

He did eventually get back to the NBA Finals twice, once in 2004 with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he was just an average starter, then again with Miami in 2006, when he was no longer a relevant player, but still earned himself a championship ring in his 16th season.

As I mentioned above, Payton was more than just a great offensive player, he was also one of the top defensive point guards of all time. He led the league in steals once, in 1996, the same year he was named Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged over 2 steals per game 8 times, and still ranks #4 all time in total steals. In addition, he was named to the All-Defensive First Team 9 straight times, meaning that he was considered the best defensive point guard in the league for almost an entire decade.

Top 100 NBA Players: #45 - Dennis Johnson

Dennis Johnson

Dennis Johnson is one of the most underrated guards of all time, as evidenced by the fact that he wasn't even elected to the Hall of Fame until after his death, which was a full 17 seasons after he retired. Not only did he win three championships, but he was an integral part of each of those teams.

He started his career with the Seattle SuperSonics, where in just his second season he helped take the extreme underdogs all the way to the NBA Finals. His averages went from 12.7 points and 3.6 rebounds in the regular season to 16.1 points and 4.6 rebounds in the playoffs, but in the last game of the NBA Finals, he choked, going 0-14 as the Sonics lost to the Bullets.

The next season, he came back at the same level at which he finished the previous season, matching the averages above and taking Seattle back to the Finals, and because he performed well throughout the playoffs and redeemed his previous failing, he was awarded the Finals MVP. In my profile of Gus Williams (#55) I showed why I thought the award should have gone to him instead, but there is no arguing that Johnson was one of the two stars on the title team, and that was in just his third season.

Johnson was even better the next season, averaging 19 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while being named to the All-Defensive Team for the second of what would become nine straight seasons. Unfortunately, the Sonics lost in the Western Conference Finals that year to the Lakers, who featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a rookie named Magic Johnson.

He was traded to the Phoenix Suns after that season in exchange for Paul Westphal, and while he continued to put up big numbers, he was not able to replicate the playoff success he enjoyed in Seattle. While he was a Sun, he made his only appearance on the All-NBA First Team and enjoyed his most impressive personal seasons.

After three season in Phoenix, he made his way to Boston via another trade, and was able to use his experience to help the Celtics make it to four straight NBA Finals, two of which earned him additional championship rings. While Kevin McHale and Robert Parish tend to be more recognized as stars during that period for Boston, more often than not it was Dennis Johnson playing second fiddle to Larry Bird on those great teams.

Above it all, Dennis Johnson was a winner, making the playoffs in every season after his rookie year ended. He made it at least to the Conference Finals 8 times in his career, and played in 6 NBA Finals. He was twice the second-best player on a champion, and he was always in the top 4 on those 8 teams that made deep playoff runs. Even though he never averaged 20 points per game for a full season, he was a huge asset if you wanted a winner.

Top 100 NBA Players: #53 - Ray Allen

Ray Allen

Today Ray Allen is best remembered as a 3-point marksman who spent the end of his career chasing rings, but it's easy to forget that before he was traded to Boston he had already established himself as one of the best players in the league. In 2001, he was already the star of the Milwaukee Bucks, despite having veteran stars Sam Cassell and Glenn Robinson on the roster. Here are his stats from that season:

Allen - 22.0 pts, 5.2 reb, 4.6 ast, 1.5 stl, .480 FG%, .433 3P%, .888 FT%

That season he also led the Bucks to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they fell to Allen Iverson and the 76ers, but there's no way they would have made it that far without Allen, who improved in almost every category in the playoffs, averaging 25.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and shot nearly 48% from long range and 92% from the free throw line.

Ray Allen scored at least 20 points per game for 8 straight seasons in the prime of his career, peaking out at 26.4 in 2007, his final season with Seattle. Allen is also known as one of the best free throw shooters of all time, ranking 7th all-time currently with a 89.4% mark.

Allen also holds a record that looked untouchable for a while, the all-time lead in three-pointers made. When Reggie Miller retired in 2005, he had 2560 career 3-pointers, while Allen had totaled only 1486 to that point, leaving him more than 1000 behind. What did Allen do the next season? He set a new NBA record for three-pointers made in a season with 269 and led the league for the 3rd time in his career, cutting into Miller's huge lead and making it seem like it would only be a matter of time until he broke the record, which he did in February of 2011.

Allen finally saw the NBA Finals in 2008, when he helped the Celtics win their first championship in two decades. He was not the star of the team, but he was the third-best player while playing better than most teams' #2 guys. He also made a return trip to the Finals two years later, although his role had diminished a little bit more. He did get another championship ring in 2013 in Miami, although he had just a minor role in that title.

Though he is more remembered for 3-point shooting today, Allen was a superstar and very solid all-around player for years before accepting a reduced role in order to win. Although his 3-point record may eventually fall to Stephen Curry, he should still have it for at least the next 4 seasons, since Curry is almost 1400 three-pointers behind today.

Top 100 NBA Players: #55 - Gus Williams

Gus Williams

Gus Williams played like a superstar for several years in Seattle, yet then and now he is underappreciated for what he accomplished. Most fans today haven't even heard of him, and the professionals who have ranked the all-time greats like I'm doing also ignored him completely, but there are some good reasons to put him on this list.

Williams was the best player on the 1979 NBA Champion Seattle SuperSonics, but even then he was overlooked for a more recognizable teammate, Dennis Johnson, when it came to the voting for Finals MVP. The truth is that Johnson was awarded the MVP because of the way he had bounced back after going 0 for 14 in the deciding game of the Finals the previous season, but Williams was still the better overall player. Here are their stats from the playoffs:

Johnson - 20.9 pts, 6.1 reb, 4.1 ast, 1.6 stl, .450 FG%, .771 FT%
Williams - 26.6 pts, 4.1 reb, 3.7 ast, 2.0 stl, .476 FG%, .709 FT%

There was some pretty good balance between the two guards among these five categories during that postseason, but Williams outscored Johnson by more than 5 points per game, and in my opinion was the real reason that Seattle won the series and the championship.

Williams had been the second-best player on the Sonics during their run to the Finals the previous season, and he was once again the best player for Seattle as they advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 1980. That's 3 straight seasons of making at least the Conference Finals as the star of the team or his top sidekick. He was obviously feeling unappreciated at this point, so he sat out the following season in a contract dispute, a season that most likely would have been his best, judging by his career trajectory.

When he returned after a one-season hiatus, he picked up right where he left off statistically, actually improving in many categories, but he was never able to see the same playoff success as he had before. He never made it past the second round again in his career, but he was still enough of a star to be worthy of some recognition. Here are his stats for the 3 years before and after the holdout season.

Williams (1977-1980) - 19.8 pts, 3.3 reb, 4.2 ast, 2.3 stl
Williams (1981-1984) - 20.7 pts, 2.7 reb, 7.8 ast, 2.3 stl

He may not have received the recognition he deserved back when he was starring for Seattle or today, but he hasn't been forgotten here, and there is no way I can leave a player this talented off of my top 100.

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.