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: #66

Carmelo Anthony

(BBR: #53)

Carmelo Anthony has been a star in the NBA since day one, and with eight seasons under his belt, 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 all eight seasons of his career, making him one of just 14 players to accomplish that in his career.

For the past six seasons, he hasn't just been reaching the 20-point plateau, he's been well above it, and he's ended each of those seasons ranked among the top 8 scorers in the league. 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 this season to Amare, although that may change in the coming season.

Not only has Carmelo scored a lot in his career, he has taken his team to the playoffs in each and every season he has been in the league, although he has only seen his team pass through the first round once, in 2009, when he led the Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals.

Carmelo has missed at least five games in six of his eight seasons, for reasons ranging from deaths in the family to suspensions to minor injuries, but he has never spent more than 17 games in street clothes in a single season. His best season was not the one where he scored the most, but the one where he played the most games during his peak years, which came clear back in 2006. He bested that years scoring average twice since then, but both times did it while missing more than 10 games.

Carmelo also owns 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.

Moncrief may have been a much better player than Anthony at his peak, but his peak lasted only six years, and Anthony has been a star player for all eight years of his career so far, and it's not even certain that he has reached his peak yet. The two are exactly even in playoff success, with each leading just one trip to the Conference Finals. I still get the feeling that Anthony can do more than he has so far, but maybe he's that rare player who found his peak early and was able to maintain it for a long time.

Top 100 NBA Players: #67

Sidney Moncrief

(Simmons: #73, BBR: #88)

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 in the middle third of the top 100 players of all time.

Moncrief's early career was very similar to Durant's, but always just a half-step behind his production level. His  peak occurred in year five, which Durant is approaching in a few months, so we'll see if KD is able to match Moncrief again. For now Moncrief is the better player when looking from an all-time perspective, but only because he was able to put together 5 very productive years with one deep playoff run, while Durant still has just 3 productive years and the deep playoff run. There is no doubt in my mind that Durant will eventually pass him, but not this year.