20 Second Timeout

Player Comparisons and Analysis Must Be Based on Facts

The sad state of sports journalism is not a new story, nor is it a story whose narrative is likely to improve any time soon. It is striking and disappointing how frequently player comparisons are made that contain inaccurate factual statements--and some of the most prominent, respected commentators have been guilty of this. For example, during Kobe Bryant's prime when there were heated debates about Michael Jordan versus Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant versus Steve Nash, and so forth, Mike Wilbon appeared on Dan Patrick's podcast and told Patrick that he had just been researching some numbers--whereupon Wilbon then incorrectly cited Jordan's field goal attempts per game and field goal percentage, while also incorrectly citing Bryant's field goal attempts per game! Not surprisingly, Wilbon's analysis and conclusions were skewed by the inaccurate statistics that he cited.

Charley Rosen has been writing about basketball for decades, and his observations are often insightful. However, a trip through the archives reveals that he has repeatedly made basic factual errors that skewed his analysis. Here are two examples.

In a 2005 FoxSports.com article titled "All-Time Overrated NBA Players," Rosen included Bob McAdoo. Rosen's critique of McAdoo began, "Here's all anyone needs to know about McAdoo's game" and then Rosen based his entire argument on a description of McAdoo's matchups versus Dave Cowens. Rosen claimed that Cowens' physical defense wore McAdoo down to such a great extent that "By the end of the fourth quarter, he'd be looking to receive the ball near the three point line. Anything to avoid contact. In other words, McAdoo was nothing more than a big, quick, soft, jump-shooter deluxe."

The specific details provided by Rosen add superficial credibility to his analysis--but that credibility is shattered by the fact that Cowens and McAdoo faced each other in 38 regular season games, but just four of those games took place after the NBA added the three point shot in the 1979-80 season (none of their 12 head to head playoff games took place during the NBA's three point shot era). McAdoo shot just 1-6 from three point range in those four games--at that time, the three pointer was more of a desperation shot at the end of a quarter than a regular part of the offense--but he also scored 28, 29, 32 and 19 points (27.0 ppg) compared to 10, 15, 4 and 10 points scored (9.8 ppg) by Cowens. BasketballReference.com only has overall field goal percentage data for three of those four games, but the numbers that they have show that McAdoo outshot Cowens .596 (31-52) to .392 (11-28). Rosen's case against McAdoo is destroyed by Rosen's sloppy research. If there is a valid argument to be made against McAdoo, that argument is clearly not that Cowens had great success defending McAdoo by pushing McAdoo out past the three point line; the numbers show that McAdoo gave Cowens--and anyone else who might have been guarding him--the business with a capital "B" during those games. By the way, if you extend the comparison to before 1979-80 you do not save Rosen's argument: McAdoo outscored Cowens 28.6 ppg to 17.9 ppg head to head overall in the regular season, and McAdoo outscored Cowens 29.3 ppg to 21.8 ppg head to head in the playoffs. While it may be true that there was more to those matchups than just scoring, that is not what Rosen argued; Rosen specifically stated that "all you need to know about McAdoo's game" is how well Cowens defended McAdoo.

The second example is even worse. In a companion piece titled "All-Time Underrated NBA Players," Rosen sung Willis Reed's praises: "Reed was a reliable and versatile scorer from the high post, the pivot and along either baseline. Possessed of a soft jumper, and deadly hooks and fadeaways, Reed was the Knicks' fail-safe option on offense...It's not surprising that Reed also played rock-'em-sock-'em defense." So far, so good--but Rosen concluded by asking, "Why isn't he in the Hall of Fame?" Say what? Reed was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982!

Rosen's mistake is not just a random throwaway line, either. Rosen then goes into detail about how a hip injury curtailed Reed's career and prevented him from playing long enough to be a Hall of Fame candidate.

This is not like calling a player a nine time All-Star when that player actually made the All-Star team 10 times. That is sloppy but it does not reframe the entire conversation. Rosen's error is just breathtaking ignorance not only by the writer, but by the editor as well. Rosen wrote a book about the 1972 Lakers, who played Reed's Knicks in the NBA Finals. Did Rosen's research never uncover the basic fact that Reed was inducted in the Hall of Fame just 10 years after that series?

It is important to consider any media coverage or commentary with a critical eye and informed brain--and that is true not just regarding sports media, but the media in general.

Labels: Bob McAdoo, Charley Rosen, Dave Cowens, Willis Reed

posted by David Friedman @ 7:06 PM

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Revising the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, Part II

In 2008, Athlon Sports published a list of the 50 Greatest Pro Basketball Players, ranking each player in order and providing a one sentence summary of each player's accomplishments. Here is Athlon Sports' list (an asterisk indicates that the player was not on the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List):

1) Michael Jordan
2) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3) Bill Russell
4) Wilt Chamberlain
5) Oscar Robertson
6) Magic Johnson
7) Larry Bird
8) Jerry West
9) Karl Malone
10) Elgin Baylor
11) Bob Pettit
12) John Havlicek
13) Shaquille O'Neal
14) Hakeem Olajuwon
15) Tim Duncan*
16) George Mikan
17) Kobe Bryant*
18) Julius Erving
19) Moses Malone
20) Bob Cousy
21) John Stockton
22) Kevin Garnett*
23) Charles Barkley
24) Dolph Schayes
25) Rick Barry
26) Scottie Pippen
27) Isiah Thomas
28) David Robinson
29) Elvin Hayes
30) Allen Iverson*
31) Bob McAdoo*
32) Nate Archibald
33) Dave Bing
34) Bill Sharman
35) Billy Cunningham
36) Kevin McHale
37) Dave Cowens
38) Walt Frazier
39) Jason Kidd*
40) George Gervin
41) Patrick Ewing
42) Clyde Drexler
43) Willis Reed
44) Pete Maravich
45) Gary Payton*
46) George McGinnis*
47) Connie Hawkins*
48) Paul Arizin
49) Dennis Rodman*
50) Walt Bellamy*

Thus, Athlon Sports added Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Bob McAdoo, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, George McGinnis, Connie Hawkins, Dennis Rodman and Walt Bellamy to the list and did not include Dave DeBusschere, Hal Greer, Sam Jones, Jerry Lucas, Earl Monroe, Robert Parish, Nate Thurmond, Wes Unseld, Bill Walton, James Worthy and Lenny Wilkens from the NBA's 1996 list.

This article will not reevaluate the entire 50 Greatest Players List but will only compare the 11 players Athlon Sports added to the 11 players Athlon Sports did not include. Keep in mind that Athlon Sports' list is from 10 years ago, before LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry or Russell Westbrook had won a single MVP or championship. The Top 50 candidacies of those players--and other players of more recent vintage, including Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade--will be discussed in a future article in this series.

Duncan and Bryant had not entered the NBA when the original list was selected. Garnett had just completed his rookie season and Iverson was just starting his rookie season. This raises an interesting question: Is there some "magic" number of players who should be included on a greatest players list or should the list’s size continue to grow as the league gets older and more great players complete their careers?

This is a subjective question and my subjective answer is that any greatest players list that is larger than 100 is a bit too large to wrap one's mind around as a fan and probably a bit too large to properly construct as an analyst. My inclination is that 50 is not a "magic number"--it was only chosen originally because the NBA was celebrating its 50^th anniversary--but it is a good number and that there is nothing wrong with Pantheon-level players like Duncan and Bryant knocking some players off of the list. However, I also do not have a serious problem with pushing the list to 75 or even 100.

In Part I of this series, I listed four methodologies that should be used in no particular order to compare players from different eras:

1) How great was a particular player in his own era?
2) How highly does a player rank overall in key statistical categories?
3) Based on a skill set evaluation, how well would a player have performed in a different era when facing different rules and circumstances?
4) Did the player have a historical impact on the game, in terms of forcing rules changes and/or influencing shifts in style of play?

Using those standards (or just about any other standards, for that matter), the inclusion of Duncan and Bryant is obvious and indisputable.  

Duncan won two regular season MVPs (2002-03; he ranked in the top five in MVP balloting nine times), three Finals MVPs (1999, 2003, 2005), one All-Star Game MVP (2000) and the 1998 Rookie of the Year award. He made the All-NBA Team 15 times (tied with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant for the most all-time), including 10 First Team selections. Duncan made the All-Defensive Team a record 15 times, including eight First Team selections. He also made the All-Star team 15 times.

Duncan ranks seventh all-time in ABA/NBA regular season rebounds (15,091), sixth all-time in ABA/NBA regular season blocked shots (3020), sixth all-time in ABA/NBA playoff points scored (5172), third all-time in ABA/NBA playoff rebounds (2859) and first all-time in ABA/NBA playoff blocked shots (568). Blocked shots have only been an official statistic for the NBA since 1973-74; the ABA began tracking blocked shots in 1972-73.

Duncan could score in the post or facing the basket within 15-18 feet. He was an excellent screener and a very good passer. Duncan was a top notch defender and rebounder. Perhaps his only skill set weakness was free throw shooting (.696 career free throw percentage, including four seasons below .640).

Duncan did not force rules changes or influence shifts in style of play but he was the centerpiece of one of pro basketball’s most dominant franchises for nearly two decades, playing a major role on five San Antonio championship teams (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014).

Bryant won one regular season MVP (2008; he ranked in the top five in MVP balloting 11 times), two Finals MVPs (2009-10) and a record-tying four All-Star Game MVPs (2002, 2007, 2009, 2011). He won two regular season scoring titles (2006-07) and he led the league in playoff scoring average three times (2003, 2007-08). Bryant made the All-NBA Team 15 times (tied for the most all-time), including 11 First Team selections (tied for the most all-time with Karl Malone and LeBron James). Bryant made the All-Defensive Team 12 times, including nine First Team selections (tied for the most all-time with Michael Jordan, Gary Payton and Kevin Garnett). He made the All-Star team 18 times, second only to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19).

Bryant ranks third all-time in ABA/NBA regular season scoring (33,643 points), fourth all-time in ABA/NBA playoff points (5640), ninth all-time in ABA/NBA playoff assists (1040) and sixth all-time in ABA/NBA playoff steals (310). Steals have only been an official statistic for the NBA since 1973-74; the ABA began tracking steals in 1972-73.

Bryant also ranks sixth all-time in ABA/NBA regular season field goals made (11,719), third all-time in ABA/NBA regular season free throws made (8378) and eighth all-time in ABA/NBA regular season minutes played (48,637)

Bryant is one of the few players in pro basketball history who had no skill set weaknesses. He could
score in the post, facing the basket or off the dribble. He was an excellent free throw shooter and a great passer who excelled at drawing double teams; even when he did not make the pass that led directly to the basket, his presence often tilted the defense to create the scoring opportunity. Bryant was an elite defender for most of his career and he was an excellent rebounder for his position.

Bryant's combination of high level athleticism grounded in solid fundamentals emulated Michael Jordan. Some people criticized Bryant for copying Jordan but why not copy someone who has a similar body type and is the greatest ever at that position (and arguably the greatest player of all-time)? Bryant was an All-NBA level performer for five championship teams (2000-02, 2009-10), plus two other teams that advanced to the NBA Finals (2004, 2008).

Kevin Garnett did not dominate to the same extent that Duncan or Bryant did but he is a worthy addition to the 50 Greatest Players List. Garnett won the 2004 regular season MVP and he ranked in the top five in MVP balloting five times. He won the 2003 All-Star Game MVP and was selected as the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year. Garnett made the All-NBA Team nine times, including four First Team selections. He made the All-Defensive Team 12 times, including a record-tying nine First Team selections. Garnett was a 15-time All-Star. He won four regular season rebounding titles (2004-07).

Garnett ranks 10^th all-time in ABA/NBA regular season rebounds (14,662) and fourth all-time in ABA/NBA regular season minutes played (50,418).

Garnett's greatest skill set strengths were defense and rebounding. He also had a very high motor and his energy/enthusiasm could be contagious. Garnett had a reliable face up jumper out to 15-18 feet. He could score in the post but he was not a dominant post player and he preferred to face the basket. Garnett was an outstanding screener and a good passer. Garnett needed more help around him to win a championship than Duncan or Bryant did but when Garnett had that help his Boston Celtics won the 2008 NBA title and advanced to the 2010 NBA Finals.

Although Garnett was not a three point shooter, his versatility and his preference to play facing the basket from the power forward position presaged to some extent the “stretch four” role that has now become prevalent in the NBA.

Allen Iverson should not be a controversial selection but some people may balk at adding him to the list because of his off-court controversies and/or because his playing style did not translate well in terms of "advanced basketball statistics." Iverson won the 2001 regular season MVP, he ranked in the top five in MVP balloting three times and he won two All-Star Game MVPs (2001, 2005). Iverson won the 1997 Rookie of the Year award. He captured four regular season scoring titles (1999, 2001-02, 05) and he ranks seventh in ABA/NBA regular season scoring average (26.7 ppg). Iverson also led the league in playoff scoring twice (1999, 2005) and he ranks second to Michael Jordan in ABA/NBA playoff scoring average (29.7 ppg). Iverson made the All-NBA Team seven times, including three First Team selections. Iverson was an 11-time All-Star.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Iverson's career is his durability, which is even more incredible considering that he was listed at 6-0, 165 pounds. Iverson ranks fourth in ABA/NBA regular season mpg (41.1) behind only Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson. Iverson led the NBA in regular season mpg seven times (1999, 2002-04, 06-08), a mark exceeded only by Chamberlain’s nine. Iverson averaged 45.1 mpg in the playoffs, third behind Chamberlain and Russell, and he led the NBA in playoff mpg three times (1999, 2001, 05).

In addition to his durability, Iverson's greatest skill set strength was his ability to relentlessly attack the basket to score, get fouled or draw so much defensive attention that his missed shots were--as Doug Collins astutely pointed out--essentially assists that enabled his teammates to have easy putbacks. He was not a great three point shooter but he could hit them in the clutch at times. Iverson was an underrated passer who averaged 6.2 apg during his career and who four times ranked in the top 10 in assists. Iverson was not a great one on one defender but he excelled in playing the passing lanes; he ranks 10^th all-time in ABA/NBA regular season steals per game (2.2). Iverson was a solid rebounder considering his size and the other responsibilities that he shouldered.

Iverson's personal style and attitude carried significant cultural influence, plus his ability to excel in the NBA at his size inspired many of the players who came after him. He would thrive even more in today's era of drive and kick basketball during which handchecking is not permitted.

Bob McAdoo won the 1975 NBA regular season MVP and he finished in the top five in MVP balloting three times. He was the only player who had won an NBA regular season MVP as of 1996 who was not selected to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List. I would not say that winning a regular season MVP should automatically qualify a player for top 50 status but I would say that a player who was the best player in the league during a given season should probably make the cut provided that he sustained excellence for a reasonable period of time; McAdoo certainly fits that description and he should have been on the original list.

McAdoo was an elite player in the mid-1970s, winning three straight scoring titles (1974-76) and making the All-Star team five consecutive times (1974-78). He won the 1973 Rookie of the Year Award and he earned two All-NBA selections, including a First Team nod in 1975.

He bounced around to a few different teams in the middle of his career before becoming a valuable sixth man for two L.A. Lakers' championship teams (1982, 85). Pat Riley, who coached the Lakers to five championships during the Showtime era, has stated that the Lakers would not have won the 1982 and 1985 titles without McAdoo’s contributions at both ends of the court.

Stylistically, McAdoo was a hybrid big forward/small center who had tremendous shooting range. The NBA did not adopt the three point shot until midway through his career and the trey did not feature as a prominent weapon in the league until after McAdoo retired but his ability to operate facing the basket on offense combined with his mobility and his ability to defend multiple positions mean that he would be a prototype "stretch four" in the modern game.

Jason Kidd shared the 1995 Rookie of the Year award with Grant Hill. He never won a regular season MVP but he placed in the top five twice, including a second place finish to Duncan in 2002. Kidd made the All-NBA Team six times, including five First Team selections. He made the All-Defensive Team nine times, including four First Team selections. Kidd was a 10-time All-Star.

Kidd led the NBA in assists five times (1999-01, 2003-04) and he ranks eighth in ABA/NBA regular season apg (8.7). He also ranks second in ABA/NBA regular season assists (12,091). Kidd ranks fourth all-time in ABA/NBA playoff assists (1263), trailing only Magic Johnson, John Stockton and LeBron James. He is second in ABA/NBA regular season steals (2684) and seventh in ABA/NBA playoff steals (302).

Kidd resurrected a moribund Nets franchise, leading the team to consecutive NBA Finals (2002, 03). He was a key contributor for the 2011 Dallas Mavericks team that upset the favored Miami Heat in the Finals.

Kidd showed remarkable skill set development during his career. The player who was derisively called "Ason" because he had no "J" transformed himself into a very good three point shooter while also elevating his free throw percentage from the high .600s to the high .700s/low .800s. Kidd was always a superb playmaker and top notch defensive player. Above all, Kidd was a winner who consistently helped his teams improve, while teams that he left consistently got worse.

Gary Payton's career largely overlapped Kidd's and for several years they battled for the unofficial title as the league's best point guard. Payton never won a regular season MVP but he placed in the top five once and he finished sixth five times. Payton made the All-NBA Team nine times, including two First Team selections. He made the All-Defensive Team nine times, each time receiving First Team honors (tied for the most all-time First Team selections). Payton won the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year award, the same season that he led the league in steals for the only time. Payton made the All-Star team nine times.

Payton ranks eighth in ABA/NBA regular season assists (8966) and he finished in the top 10 in apg in seven seasons. He ranks fourth in ABA/NBA regular season steals (2445).

He was a below average free throw shooter and outside shooter. Payton's main strength was his tremendous defense. He was also a good playmaker and a capable scorer who was an outstanding postup player at 6-4. Payton was a solid rebounder who averaged a career-high 6.5 rpg in 1999-00 but never averaged more than 5 rpg in any other season. He helped lead Seattle to the 1996 Finals. He started--but did not play well--for the Lakers team that lost in the 2004 Finals. Payton rode Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal to the 2006 title, averaging just 5.8 ppg on .422 field goal shooting during Miami's playoff run that season (though Payton did make a couple big plays).

Payton was a flashier player than Kidd and a more explosive scorer but Kidd was the superior all-around player and he had a bigger impact on winning. A valid case could be made to add Payton to the 50 Greatest Players List but a valid case could also be made to not include him; Athlon Sports ranked Payton 45^th and I would not place him any higher than that.

George McGinnis shared the 1975 ABA regular season MVP with Julius Erving and he finished in the top five in MVP balloting three times. McGinnis won the 1973 ABA Playoff MVP award. He made the All-ABA or All-NBA Team five times, including three First Team selections. McGinnis made the ABA or NBA All-Star team six times and he won the 1975 ABA regular season scoring title (29.8 ppg).

McGinnis played a major role on two Indiana ABA championship teams (1972-73) and on the Philadelphia team that advanced to the 1977 NBA Finals. He was a dominant player in the ABA and a very good player for several NBA seasons but his performance level dropped dramatically at the age of 29. By the age of 31 he was out of the league. In terms of peak value, a credible Top 50 case can be made for McGinnis but his overall body of work is not quite good enough to make the cut.

Connie Hawkins had Top 50 talent without question but he was blackballed from the NBA during a significant portion of his prime. He began his professional career with the Harlem Globetrotters and then he enjoyed a brief but very successful run in the ABA, winning the 1968 regular season and Playoff MVP awards while leading the Pittsburgh Pipers to the league's inaugural championship. Hawkins won the regular season scoring title (26.8 ppg) that year and he also led the league in playoff scoring (29.9 ppg).

An injury limited Hawkins to 47 games in his second ABA season, by which time he had settled a lawsuit that enabled him to jump to the NBA. Hawkins made a sensational NBA debut in 1969-70, earning All-NBA First Team honors and finishing fifth in MVP balloting. The years and the mileage soon caught up with Hawkins. He finished his career with three top five MVP finishes, three All-ABA/All-NBA First Team selections and five All-Star Game appearances.

Hawkins was a flashy player whose huge hands and tremendous leaping ability foreshadowed the brilliant moves made more famous by Julius Erving and Michael Jordan. In terms of peak value and overall impact on the sport Hawkins deserves a spot on the 50 Greatest Players List but in terms of long term sustained excellence he falls short of the mark.

Dennis Rodman was a rebounding machine and a ferocious defender who could guard any position in his prime. He captured seven straight regular season rebounding titles (1992-98) with some rpg averages that had not been seen since Chamberlain and Russell patrolled the paint. Rodman's off court antics seem to have cost him a bit in terms of receiving awards/recognition but he made the All-NBA Team twice and he was a two-time All-Star. Rodman made the All-Defensive Team eight times, including seven First Team selections, and he won back to back Defensive Player of the Year awards (1990-91).

Rodman only averaged 10-plus ppg once during his career but he was a valuable offensive player not only because of his prodigious offensive rebounding but also because he was an excellent screener and an intelligent passer.

Rodman was a key member of two Detroit championship teams (1989-90) and three Chicago championship teams (1996-98). His personal style and his playing style were both unorthodox but his impact on winning is unquestionable.

Walt Bellamy never made the All-NBA Team and never finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. He won the 1962 Rookie of the Year Award and he made the All-Star team four times. Just based on those facts, one might wonder why he is in the Hall of Fame, let alone being potentially considered as one of the 50 greatest players--but Bellamy's career is not so simply summarized. His rookie campaign is one of the most dominant ever: 31.6 ppg, 19.0 rpg, league-best .519 field goal percentage. As I noted in my 2013 obituary for "Big Bells," "Bellamy averaged at least 22.8 ppg and at least 14.6 rpg in each of his first five NBA seasons...Just seven players other than Bellamy have had multiple 22.8 ppg/14.6 rpg seasons and only 18 players in NBA/ABA history accomplished this feat even once." Bellamy ranks eighth in ABA/NBA career regular season rpg average (13.7) and he also averaged 20.1 ppg during his regular season career. No matter how one accounts for pace/style of play/era/level of competition, those numbers are impressive. If Bellamy had not played in the same era as Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, he would probably have been a perennial All-NBA Team member.

The players who Athlon Sports removed from the list have impressive accomplishments worthy of recognition and acknowledgment. Players from earlier eras should not be judged based solely or primarily on numbers, at least not without placing those numbers in the context of the vast differences between eras.

Dave DeBusschere never received serious MVP consideration and he made the All-NBA team just once but he made the All-Star team eight times and he earned six straight All-Defensive First Team selections. DeBusschere was an elite defender, so when looking at his career honors it is important to remember that the All-Defensive Team was first selected in 1969--the seventh season of his 12 year NBA career--and he thus received First Team recognition every season that he could have possibly done so. The Defensive Player of the Year award did not exist during his career and neither steals nor blocked shot became official NBA statistics until his final season.

Field goal percentages were lower and pace was higher during DeBusschere's career, so more rebounds were available than in later eras, but by any standard he was a very good rebounder: he averaged 11.0 rpg during his career and after his first two seasons he never had a season during which he averaged less than 10 rpg.

DeBusschere was a key member of two New York championship teams (1970, 1973). Although he was a rugged defender and rebounder, on offense he often played outside of the paint, spreading the floor by firing long jumpers. The NBA did not have a three point shot during that era but if he played in the current era he would have easily added that weapon to his repertoire.

Hal Greer was the third best guard during an era when two of the best guards in pro basketball history played: Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. Thus, Greer made the All-NBA Second Team for seven straight seasons but he never received a First Team nod. Greer also earned 10 All-Star selections and he won the 1968 All-Star Game MVP.

Greer was a vital member of the 1967 Philadelphia team that went 68-13 during the regular season--the best record ever at that time--and broke Boston's eight year stranglehold on the NBA championship; Greer averaged 22.1 ppg during that season and he increased his scoring to 27.7 ppg during that year's playoffs, best on a squad that included Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Billy Cunningham and Chet Walker. In 1980, this 76ers team was selected by the NBA as the greatest team in the league's first 35 years.

Greer's career regular season point total (21,586) currently ranks 39^th in ABA/NBA history but it must be noted that when he retired he was the fifth leading scorer in pro basketball history behind only Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Greer currently ranks 82^nd in career regular season assists (4540) but he ranked seventh in career assists when he retired.

Sam Jones' legacy is defined by winning and by clutch performances. He won 10 championships (1959-66, 68-69), more than any player in pro basketball history other than his Boston teammate Bill Russell (11). Jones posted a 9-0 record in playoff game sevens with the Boston Celtics, averaging 27.1 ppg in those contests.

Jones twice finished in the top five in MVP voting but--like Greer--because he played in the same era as Robertson and West he never made the All-NBA First Team. Jones earned three All-NBA Second Team selections and he made the All-Star team five times.

Jones scored 15,411 career regular season points, which does not look like an eye-popping total now--but he ranked 12^th on the NBA’s career scoring list when he retired in 1969. He also ranked third on the NBA's career playoff scoring list when he retired, trailing only Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. In the context of his era, Sam Jones was a big-time scorer.

Jerry Lucas was one of the greatest rebounders in pro basketball history. His 15.6 career regular season rpg average ranks fourth in ABA/NBA history behind only Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Bob Pettit. Lucas' 12,492 career regular season rebounds ranked fourth all-time when he retired in 1974 (trailing only Chamberlain, Russell and Walt Bellamy) and Lucas still ranks 18^th all-time more than 40 years later. Lucas twice averaged at least 20 rpg during a season; the only other players who averaged at least 20 rpg during a season are Chamberlain (10 times), Russell (10 times), Nate Thurmond (two times) and Bob Pettit (one time).

Lucas won the 1964 Rookie of the Year award and the 1965 All-Star Game MVP. He finished fifth in the 1966 regular season MVP voting and he made the All-NBA Team five times, including three First Team selections. He was a seven-time All-Star. Lucas was a member of the 1973 New York Knicks' championship team.

Like his New York teammate DeBusschere, Lucas was a rugged player who also had an excellent outside shooting touch. Lucas shot .499 from the field during his regular season career, the fifth best mark in pro basketball history when he retired, and he led the NBA in that category in the 1963-64 season. Lucas ranked eighth in the NBA in free throw percentage in 1964-65 and he shot .783 from the charity stripe for his career, a very good mark for a big man in that era.

Earl Monroe won the 1968 NBA Rookie of the Year award. The next season, he earned his only All-NBA First Team selection and he made the first of his four All-Star Game appearances. He scored at least 21.9 ppg in each of his first four NBA seasons with the Baltimore Bullets. Monroe was traded to the New York Knicks early in the 1971-72 season and he blended his talents with fellow future Hall of Famer Walt Frazier to form the "Rolls Royce" backcourt that led the Knicks to the 1972 NBA Finals before winning the 1973 championship. Monroe's scoring dipped early in his Knicks tenure but then he averaged 20.9 ppg, 20.7 ppg and 19.9 ppg in the three seasons after he turned 30; this is one example of individual numbers not telling the whole story: Monroe sacrificed personal glory for the greater good of winning a championship and then when the Knicks needed more scoring after some of their other great players retired, Monroe stepped up.

Players should be evaluated on skill set and impact and not just on statistics. Monroe had a tremendous skill set as a scorer and ballhandler and he had an outsized impact on the sport that goes far beyond his numbers. Before becoming an NBA star, Monroe set many records at Winston-Salem State while leading the team to the 1967 NCAA College Division title. Monroe averaged 41.5 ppg and he earned the "Earl the Pearl" nickname after a newspaper published a list of his high scoring games titled "Earl's Pearls." On the playgrounds, Earl was already known as "Black Jesus."

Robert Parish finished in the top five in the regular season MVP voting once and he earned two All-NBA selections but his prime years overlapped with the careers of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone so he never made the All-NBA First Team. Parish made the All-Star team nine times, including seven straight selections during the 1980s (1981-87). He never averaged 20 ppg in a season, nor did he ever average more than 12.5 rpg in a season; his career was defined by consistency and durability as opposed to dominance. Parish was a key member of three Boston championship teams (1981, 84, 86) and he formed the "Big Three" with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, a trio that is perhaps the best frontcourt of all-time. Parish lasted in the NBA until he was 43 and he picked up a fourth championship ring as a little-used reserve for the 1997 Chicago Bulls. Parish never led the NBA in rebounding but he accumulated 10 top 10 finishes and he ranks ninth in ABA/NBA regular season rebounds (14,715).

Nate Thurmond finished second in the 1967 NBA regular season MVP voting but he never made the All-NBA Team while playing in an era dominated by Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell (the MVP voting was conducted by the players at that time, while the All-NBA Team was selected by the media). The All-Defensive Team was not created until Thurmond's sixth season but he still made the squad five times, including two First Team selections. Thurmond was a seven-time All-Star.

Thurmond specialized in defense and rebounding but he averaged at least 20 ppg in five straight seasons during his prime. He averaged at least 10.4 rpg in each of this first 12 seasons but despite twice averaging over 20 rpg he never won a rebounding title. Thurmond was a great center who was overshadowed by Chamberlain and Russell early in his career and then Wes Unseld, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Willis Reed and Dave Cowens later in his career; each of those centers won at least one regular season MVP.

Unseld won the 1969 NBA Rookie of the Year and the 1969 NBA regular season MVP; that dual feat has only been matched by Chamberlain (1960 NBA), Spencer Haywood (1970 ABA), and Artis Gilmore (1972 ABA). He also earned his only All-NBA First Team selection that season. Unseld had a very good career but he never made the All-NBA Team after his rookie season and he never again finished higher than eighth in regular season MVP voting, though he did win the 1978 Finals MVP after leading the Washington Bullets to the title. Unseld made the All-Star team five times.

Unseld averaged at least 10 rpg in 12 of his 13 seasons, falling short only in his injury-riddled 1973-74 campaign--but he bounced back to lead the league with 14.8 rpg in 1974-75 and he also led the NBA in field goal percentage in 1975-76 (.561). Unseld's strengths were rebounding, passing (particularly outlet passing) and screen-setting. He never averaged more than 16.2 ppg and he only averaged more than 10 ppg once in his final eight seasons.

Bill Walton is perhaps the most difficult Top 50 candidate to evaluate. He led the league in rebounding and blocked shots in 1976-77 before capturing the 1977 Finals MVP as his Portland Trailblazers defeated the favored Philadelphia 76ers 4-2. Walton won the 1978 regular season MVP despite being limited to 58 games due to injury; the Trailblazers began the season 50-10 when Walton was healthy before going 8-14 down the stretch without him. Injuries forced Walton to miss three of the next four seasons and he only played 14 games in 1979-80.

Walton played in just 33, 55 and 67 games in the 1983-85 seasons, with his minutes per game averages declining each year. He was a solid player when he was on the court but he was not an All-Star; Walton's only All-Star selections happened in 1977 and 1978 and those were the only years that he earned All-NBA and All-Defensive Team honors, making the All-Defensive First Team both seasons and the All-NBA First Team in 1978.

Walton joined the Boston Celtics for the 1985-86 season. Playing less than 20 mpg, he appeared in a career-high 80 games, shot a career-high .562 from the field and earned the Sixth Man of the Year Award as a key contributor to arguably the best of Larry Bird's three championship teams. Injuries limited Walton to 10 games in 1986-87 and he retired at 34 years of age after playing in just 468 regular season games.

Walton is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, but of course the Hall of Fame also recognizes a player's collegiate career--and Walton is one of the greatest college basketball players of all-time. Walton played the equivalent of less than six NBA seasons. When he was healthy he was an elite player but he was healthy for a very limited amount of time.

Lenny Wilkens finished second to Wilt Chamberlain in the 1968 NBA regular season MVP voting and he won the 1971 All-Star Game MVP. He made the All-Star team nine times and he led the league in assists in 1969-70 but he never was selected to the All-NBA team. Wilkens ranked in the top 10 in assists 12 times in his 15 seasons and he finished his career second on the all-time regular season assists list (he currently ranks 14^th). Wilkens was primarily a playmaker but he was also a first rate scorer: he averaged at least 20 ppg in three different seasons and he has a higher career regular season scoring average (16.5 ppg) than several guards who are perhaps more renowned for scoring, including Gary Payton, Joe Dumars and Tony Parker. Wilkens, John Wooden, Bill Sharman and Tommy Heinsohn are the only individuals inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach; Wilkens was inducted a third time as a member of the coaching staff of the 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team."

James Worthy made the All-NBA Team just twice (as a Third Team selection in 1990 and 1991) but he made the All-Star team seven times and he won the 1988 Finals MVP. He was a key contributor to three Lakers' championship teams (1985, 87-88). He shot at least .531 from the field in each of his first eight seasons, using a tremendous first step and an outstanding ability to finish above the rim to frustrate even the league's best defensive players. Worthy averaged at least 20 ppg in four different regular seasons but he could have scored more points if he had not been playing alongside fellow future Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. He earned the nickname "Big Game James" and he lived up to that by increasing his scoring average from 17.6 ppg in the regular season to 21.1 ppg in the playoffs. He was a below average rebounder considering his 6-9 size and his leaping ability; Worthy never averaged more than 6.4 rpg in a season and he finished his career with a 5.1 rpg average. He was a solid passer and a decent defensive player. 

Before evaluating Athlon Sports' choices, it is clear from the capsule biographies above that the 11 players Athlon Sports did not include each accomplished a lot and each played at a very high level. There is a lamentable tendency in many quarters to reflexively discount the meaning or significance of anything that happened more than 20 or 30 years ago.

That being said, if the size of the list is being kept at 50 then Duncan, Bryant, Garnett and Iverson--four players who had not achieved prominence as of 1996--clearly deserve inclusion. I also agree with Athlon Sports' inclusion of Bellamy, McAdoo, Payton and Kidd. Bellamy was one of the most dominant scorers/rebounders ever and he put up his numbers while having to regularly face Chamberlain and Russell. McAdoo also should have made the cut the first time. Kidd had such an impact on winning that I cannot leave him off of the list. Payton's longevity as a two-way player is noteworthy.

So, among the 22 players that Athlon Sports shuffled, I disagree about six of them: I would keep Greer, Lucas and DeBusschere in the Top 50 and I would thus decline to include Hawkins, McGinnis and Rodman. My reasoning is that Greer, Lucas and DeBusschere sustained a high level of play for longer than Hawkins and McGinnis, while Rodman was not quite multi-dimensional enough to move past Lucas or DeBusschere—two championship winning forwards who not only rebounded and defended but who also scored. It is tough to not include MVP winners Hawkins and McGinnis--who would each likely be on a list of the 50 most talented players of all-time--but sustained excellence is important.

Regarding the other players mentioned in this article, none of them quite measure up to their counterparts. Jones was a clutch performer but his individual resume does not stack up against his contemporary Greer and he was never in the running for best guard in the league like Kidd and Payton later were. Monroe had a short peak and was not as versatile as the guards ranked ahead of him.

Parish and Thurmond were great centers but they were never the best or even second best in the league at their position during their careers. Unseld had one great year and then many very good ones; if he had not won one MVP then he probably would not be considered at all, so that one outlier season does not outweigh the body of work produced by the players ranked ahead of him. If Walton had been healthy, he might have been a top 10 or top 20 player--but he was not healthy and thus we are forced to evaluate him based on what he actually accomplished, not what might have been.

Wilkens was a marvelous two-way player but in a 15 year career he never made the All-NBA First or Second Team and it is just hard to accept the notion that a player who was never ranked among the top four at his position during his career should be listed among the top 50 players of all-time. Wilkens did finish second in MVP voting once but he just was not quite as dominant as the some of the other all-time greats.

Worthy was never close to being the best forward in the NBA and--while it is possible that he would have posted gaudier individual numbers had he been a headliner for a less talented team--it must be noted that he benefited a lot from playing alongside many other great players. Worthy's resume is impressive and it is Hall of Fame caliber but he just did not accomplish enough to make this list; he should not have made it over, for instance, McAdoo back in 1996 and Athlon Sports was correct to leave him off in 2008.

---

Further Reading:

Part I of this series can be found here.

Labels: Allen Iverson, Bob McAdoo, Connie Hawkins, Dennis Rodman, Gary Payton, George McGinnis, Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Walt Bellamy

posted by David Friedman @ 7:32 AM

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Honoring the Past, Anticipating the Future (2006 NBA All-Star Weekend)

Note: This article was originally published on February 18, 2006 at HoopsHype.com but the link no longer works, so I have reprinted the article in its entirety below.

My first stop on Friday was the Hilton-Americas Hotel, site of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame press conference announcing the 2006 Finalists for election. Dick Stockton stood on a stage flanked by Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Dr. Jack Ramsay, Gail Goodrich, David Thompson, Clyde Drexler and Moses Malone and read off each of the names of the 16 Finalists, followed by brief career summaries. Ten candidates were nominated by the North American Screening Committee--players Charles Barkley, Ralph Sampson, Chet Walker, Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars and Dominique Wilkins, coaches Don Nelson and Gene Keady and contributors David Gavitt and Dick Vitale. The Women's Screening Committee selected coaches Van Chancellor and Geno Auriemma, the International Screening Committee chose coaches Pedro Ferrandiz and Sandro Gamba and the Veterans Screening Committee tapped player John Isaacs and contributor Ben Kerner. The final vote takes place later in the year and the results will be announced on April 3 during Final Four weekend; at least 18 votes from the 24 member Honors Committee are required to earn induction.

When Stockton concluded, Barkley came to the podium and addressed the assembled media, saying "Moses Malone was most influential in my career" while also acknowledging guidance provided by Adrian Dantley and John Drew. He thanked the Hall of Famers for taking the time to come to the event and offered much respect to Oscar Robertson, saying that there is a "short list" of players who can legitimately be considered for the title of greatest ever: Bill Russell, Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson.

After Barkley's remarks, the Hall of Famers were available for media interviews. Barkley was the center of attention, attracting a media horde three rows deep packed tightly around him, jockeying for position and lobbing questions toward him. Asked about the difference between playing in the Olympics in 1992 and 1996, Barkley noted that in 1992 the players from other countries did not mind losing by 40 or 50 points as long as they received some signed jerseys or shoes but by 1996 the foreign players were telling Barkley where he could stick the shoes--the intimidation factor was gone and Barkley knew then that it was only a matter of time before the U.S. lost to a foreign team.

I asked Drexler if he thinks that Kobe Bryant has a realistic shot to break Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star Game record of 42 points. He thinks that this is very unlikely because of the energy expenditure it would require and because it is difficult for one player to cast up so many shots in an All-Star Game. When I mentioned that Michael Jordan once had 40 points in an All-Star Game, Drexler correctly noted that that took place in Jordan's home city of Chicago and that when you are playing in your home city, the other players are more apt to feed you the ball.

Next came the media availability sessions for the All-Star Saturday participants, followed by the All-Stars themselves. That rapidly turned into a three-ring--or, to be precise, dozen-plus table--circus. The crowd at Kobe Bryant's table dwarfed the one that had been around Barkley and some media members seemed to be employing martial arts maneuvers in an effort to cut in front of others and get better access. Of course, that meant that it was the perfect time to talk to other players.

Slam-dunk contestant Hakim Warrick told me that Dr. J was his favorite dunk artist as a kid; his pick among recent dunkers is Vince Carter: "He raised the bar," Warrick said. He noted that his Memphis teammate Shane Battier has been offering unsolicited dunk contest advice and claims to have won a dunk contest in the county where he grew up. Warrick agreed with me that he needs to see some footage of that before he listens to Battier, who is not known as a high flyer.

Shooting Stars contestant Steve Kerr has done no preparation for the event other than playing in some pickup games but believes that shooting, like riding a bike, is something that you never forget how to do. I asked him who he thinks will win the Three Point Shootout and he chose Ray Allen. Allen, however, does not consider himself the favorite and thinks that any of the contestants could be hot or cold on a given night. He told me that he does not have a strategy for the contest and does not consider contest shooting to be fundamentally different from game shooting, although he noted that some players rush because they don't think that they will have enough time to shoot all of the basketballs.

Vince Carter likes Josh Smith's chances to defend his Slam Dunk title, but he added that he thinks most people do not really know how well Nate Robinson can dunk; Carter played against him in the preseason and was very impressed. One reporter noted that this was his first All-Star Weekend and asked Carter, a veteran All-Star, to tell him one "do" and one "don't." Carter's "do" was to see the Slam Dunk Contest in person to fully appreciate it. He drew some laughs when he hesitated before offering his "don't," finally saying, "Don't try to go to every party because you might miss the game." Rasheed Wallace likes Warrick, who he calls "my Philly boy," to win the Slam Dunk Contest.

Now that it is all but impossible for Detroit to win 70 games, I asked Detroit assistant coach (and a player on the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that won a record 72 games) Ron Harper if he thought that any team would ever win 70. He doubts it, saying that the Pistons faltered because too much was made of it too soon. He thinks that it just has to happen, that you can't set it as a goal at the start of the year. I also asked him to name some players who simply have to be on TNT's Next 10 List (a supplement to the 50 Greatest Players List from 1996) and he chose Bob McAdoo and Dominique Wilkins. He also mentioned Sidney Moncrief.

At 5 p.m. the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania and the Lithuanian National Men's Basketball Team Foundation held a "Lithuanian Basketball Party" at the Hilton-Americas. The back wall featured a big screen showing footage of great Lithuanian stars, many of whom are quite familiar to American fans, including NBA players Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis (the first Lithuanian in the NBA) and Sarunas Jasikevicius.

The wall to the left as you entered the party had giant posters of numerous Lithuanian stars with NBA ties plus one of Donn Nelson, son of Hall of Fame Finalist Don Nelson, who has worked with the Lithuanian national team since 1992. Regimantas Silinskas entertained the partygoers by playing a traditional Lithuanian instrument known as a skrabalai (wooden bells), which bears some resemblance to a xylophone that is standing upright instead of flat. Later, Zilvinas Zvagulis and Irena Starosaite performed Lithuanian folk music.

NBA Commissioner David Stern and NBA Vice President for International Basketball Operations Kim Bohuny each received The Cross Commander of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. Both gave brief speeches discussing the longstanding ties between the NBA and Lithuanian basketball. Bohuny recalled that she brought Lithuanian sharpshooter Rimas Kurtinaitis to the 1989 All-Star Game in Houston for the Three Point Shootout. He was jet lagged and fared poorly in the event, but when the two of them went to a bar afterward no one knew who he was and they played Pop-a-Shot for drinks, wiping out everybody in the place. Detroit coach Flip Saunders, Dallas assistant coach Del Harris, Donn Nelson and Rolando Blackman and TNT's Craig Sager were among those in attendance.

Blackman's favorite All-Star moment is obviously his two free throws with no time left in regulation to send the 1987 game to overtime. Isiah Thomas memorably tried to distract Blackman before he went to the free throw line; Blackman told me that Isiah was just messing around but to him those free throws were "life and death." He believes that making them was a big milestone in his career. As he declared while the ball was going through the hoop, "Confidence, baby, confidence."

Many people wanted to get their picture taken with Manute Bol when he arrived. He walks with a cane now but seemed to be in good spirits, particularly when he exchanged a warm greeting with Marciulionis, his Golden State teammate.

It is only a short walk from the Hilton-Americas to the Toyota Center and I easily arrived in time to see the Rookie Challenge. Andre Iguodala offered a possible preview of tomorrow's Slam Dunk Contest, delivering nine dunks en route to 30 points and MVP honors in a 106-96 victory for the Sophomores over the Rookies. In his postgame remarks, winning coach Del Harris noted that he was pleased not only with the victory but the fact that this contest more closely resembled a real game than many previous Rookie Challenges, which have all too often degenerated into sloppy play. Harris noted that this is one of the few times that a team has been held below 100 points in the Challenge.

After the game I headed over to the 1001 McKinney Building, site of the Air Jordan XXI Launch Party. In honor of the 21st edition of Air Jordans, Michael Jordan brought in three-time Grammy winner John Legend and a host of other performers to entertain some of the most well-known figures in sports and entertainment. At the end of the evening, a special auction of items--including a rare set of one pair of each of the 21 Jordan shoes--was held to benefit Habitat for Humanity Relief for Hurricane Katrina.

I received a media credential for this event. Unfortunately, most of the attending players and celebrities chose not to be interviewed by the assembled media, which would seem to defeat the purpose of assembling us there in the first place. As a writer for People Magazine commented to me, no one wants to read an article listing the names of a bunch of people who refused to talk. I'll leave it to People to list their names if they so choose.

I did get a chance to ask Antoine Walker some questions. He told me that the All-Star event that he is most looking forward to is the Slam Dunk Contest. He expects Josh Smith to repeat as champion but added, "Don't sleep on Iguodala." Walker had just seen Iguodala's Rookie Challenge performance and was very impressed. As for the Three Point Shootout, Walker said, "I've got to go with Chicago--Quentin Richardson, the defending champion.”

Labels: 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, Antoine Walker, Bob McAdoo, Clyde Drexler, Hakim Warrick, Kobe Bryant, Rolando Blackman, Vince Carter

posted by David Friedman @ 3:24 AM

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Observations from Barkley and Naismith (2006 NBA All-Star Weekend)

Note: This article was originally published on February 17, 2006 at HoopsHype.com but the link no longer works, so I have reprinted the article in its entirety below. 

All-Star Weekend actually began several days before most of the players, celebrities and fans arrived in Houston. The NBA Read to Achieve Caravan, led by Bob Lanier, conducted Reading Timeouts at three Houston elementary schools on Monday. Three Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA fitness clinics were held on Tuesday and on Wednesday the NBA and NBA Players Association partnered with Habitat for Humanity to break ground on the first of two houses that they will build this week. Thursday activities included an NBA Cares hospital visit and the eighth National Wheelchair Basketball Association All-Star Classic at the NBA All-Star Jam Session, which is located in the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The 13th NBA All-Star Jam Session opened to the public at 4 p.m. on Thursday and it will be open daily starting at 9 a.m., Friday through Monday. It features clinics, contests, basketball collectibles for sale and the opportunity to get autographs from NBA players and legends.

Thursday night it was also the site for TNT's studio show featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and Kenny Smith (who left after the halftime of the first game to go host his party). Fans ringed the set to take pictures and get autographs. After the halftime show for the Chicago-Philadelphia game, I had the opportunity to speak with Barkley as he and the rest of the TNT group relaxed in their trailer to watch the second half of the game.

I had introduced myself to Barkley a few minutes before the interview, but wasn't sure that he heard what I was saying with all of the Jam Session commotion, so when I came into the trailer I introduced myself again. Barkley, looking serious, remarked that I had just told him that a minute ago and he hadn't forgotten my name. When I mentioned the noise outside, he retorted that he had read my name tag also. Then he paused a beat and said, "Relax, man. I'm just messing with you."

With my "initiation" out of the way, I asked Barkley what he is most looking forward to this weekend. He answered, "I get nominated for the Hall of Fame tomorrow, so that makes it a little bit more special for me. I would be disingenuous if I said that I am thinking about something else. I am really honored and flattered. It's going to be pretty special. This is the first time that I've been eligible and when my name is mentioned tomorrow it’s going to be special."

I said that I thought that his induction is a foregone conclusion and Barkley replied, "That would be cocky of me to say. This is the first time that I've been eligible and when my name is mentioned tomorrow it's going to be very special. Obviously I feel good about my chances, but it's a long, drawn-out process. I don't even know when they do the voting, but everything starts tomorrow."

Ernie Johnson walked by and deadpanned, "You didn't hear?" and Barkley quipped, "Me and Dominique both got left off?"

I asked Barkley what his favorite All-Star memories are and he said, "The first time that I played, in Seattle, that's special--the first time is always special--and the time that I received the MVP (1991)."

Naturally, Barkley can't reveal who TNT's "Next 10"-–their additions to the 50 Greatest Players List--will be but I asked him to speak a little about Bob McAdoo, the subject of my recent HoopsHype.com article and a teammate of his in 1985-86. Barkley said, "I can't remember, but I think that I put McAdoo on my next 10...He was nice and quiet. I grew up watching him as a little kid. He was a prolific jump shooter. It's pretty cool to play with somebody you watched as a little kid."

Barkley had not seen Michael Jordan's new shoe commercial, so we stopped talking when it came on the air. Before it came on, Miller told Barkley that it was good and that Barkley should watch it. After seeing it, Barkley agreed and added that he is not a big fan of the "LeBrons" commercial: "Let him talk and show his personality. I don't know what they're doing with his commercials--he's dressed up as his grandfather. He needs to showcase his personality. He's a terrific player (but) when you are out there to represent your league and sell products you have to let people get to know you."

Barkley is a fan of Bob Lanier, another player who did not make the 50 Greatest Players List but was nominated for TNT's Next 10: "I know Bob personally. He lives in Arizona. Obviously, he was a great, great, great player, but the one thing that I'll say about Bob is that Bob is one of the nicest men I've met in my life, period. He's a wonderful person. You can look at his stats and the fact that he's in the Hall of Fame and see that he was a great player. Living in Phoenix, I've gotten to know him really well and he's just a wonderful person."

After talking with Barkley, I walked through the Hall of Fame exhibition at Jam Session, which displayed items ranging from a 1974-75 ABA basketball to a pair of Dr. J's shoes to a photo of Michael Jordan playing against Chris Mullin in the 1982 Hall of Fame tipoff classic and much more.

My next stop was a display organized by the Naismith International Basketball Foundation. Sitting behind the counter was none other than Ian Naismith, the non-profit organization's founding director and the grandson of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. Ian Naismith opened up a bulletproof briefcase and showed me the original 13 rules of basketball that were typed up by his grandfather. The Foundation is offering the document for sale, but with some important stipulations: the buyer must donate it to the Smithsonian Institution and the funds must go to support children's charities.

Naismith told me that he gets varying reactions when people hear his last name, depending on how well versed they are in basketball history. My first thought was to wonder if he had a chance to talk to his grandfather about inventing basketball.

This is what he told me: "I was born in Dallas, Texas and my grandfather lived in Lawrence, Kansas for 41 years after he invented the game. When I was born he took a train from Lawrence, Kansas to Dallas and baptized me. He stayed for three days with my parents and then he went home and passed away three months later. I didn't get to know him, but he baptized me, which is very important to me. He put his hands on my head and the family joke is that he called me the first dribbler."

Naismith is conducting a 43-city tour to spread the word about his Foundation and to promote good sportsmanship. He feels very passionately about how the game should be played and since 1998 the Foundation has honored individuals and groups who represent the game positively. Michael Jordan was the first player who won the award; winners are selected by a nine-member committee whose names are not divulged to the public. The Naismith Good Sportsmanship Tour is in its fifth year and has made stops at each All-Star Game and Final Four during this time. Over 1.5 million visitors have seen it. Naismith says that his grandfather stood for "respect, dignity, positive role-modeling and teamwork. Sportsmanship was his biggest thing." He cited Steve Nash, Tim Duncan and John Stockton as three players who embody these traits.

I couldn't have asked for a better start to All-Star Weekend than talking to Charles Barkley and Ian Naismith. Here are some things that I am looking forward to seeing during the rest of the weekend:

*The moment when Flip Saunders puts four Detroit Pistons on the court at the same time facing off against the Western Conference’s best players.

*Watching 5-9 Nate Robinson in the Slam Dunk Contest. Many people are down on this event, saying that it is played out, but Robinson will almost certainly bring the fans out of their seats. It is unfortunate that we won't get to see Kobe, Vince or LeBron but Andre Iguodala, Hakim Warrick and defending champion Josh Smith are all outstanding dunkers.

*Will Kobe Bryant make a run a Wilt Chamberlain's All-Star Game record of 42 points?

*Watching Ray Allen in the Three-Point Shootout. Allen has the game's sweetest, most effortless looking shooting stroke from deep--it's like watching a healthy Ken Griffey, Jr. swing a baseball bat.

*A moment or play that no one predicted--and no one will ever forget.

Labels: 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, Bob Lanier, Bob McAdoo, Charles Barkley, Ian Naismith, Kobe Bryant

posted by David Friedman @ 2:54 AM

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Happy Birthday, Coach Dean Smith

Hall of Fame Coach Dean Smith celebrated his 80th birthday today. I have not interviewed or met Coach Smith and, as the name of this site indicates, I focus more on NBA basketball than college basketball. Coach Smith's influence on college basketball goes without saying but it is also striking how much impact he has had on so many people who have gone on to play and/or coach at the professional level. I am currently tinkering with the right hand sidebar of 20 Second Timeout's main page--organizing some of the archival links thematically to make it easier for readers to find the articles that most interest them--and this little project reminded me of how many people I have interviewed/written about who were mentored by Coach Smith in some fashion; I have created a new sidebar category titled "Carolina Connection" to spotlight those individuals. Here are a few North Carolina-themed interviews/articles:

Bob McAdoo starred for Coach Smith at North Carolina before becoming a three-time NBA scoring champion. I first wrote about the underrated McAdoo for Basketball Digest and I am really proud of how I summarized McAdoo's greatness (though I am still disappointed about the ridiculous way that editor Brett Ballantini ruined the article's title, which is why I restored the original title when I reprinted the article at 20 Second Timeout):

Bob McAdoo Reconsidered

Less than two years after I wrote that Basketball Digest piece, I interviewed McAdoo and wrote a longer profile of him for HoopsHype.com:

The Numbers Don't Lie

Bobby Jones embodies everything Coach Smith stands for on and off the court. Jones is most remembered for two things: being a great defensive player and pointing to a teammate to acknowledge a great pass. When I interviewed Jones, he told me that he learned the "point" from Coach Smith:

The Ultimate Team Player

TNT's pregame, halftime and postgame shows contain a lot of humor but when the time comes to really break down the action few people on any platform speak with more intelligence and insight than Kenny Smith; I attribute this to three factors: (1) Smith has the perspective of being a star player in college and then being a nearly All-Star level player in the NBA before finishing his NBA career as a role player (Smith would note that all players are "role players," though some have bigger roles than others), so he sees the game from many angles (unlike someone who was always a star or always a role player); (2) Smith played for Dean Smith in college and clearly soaked up the "Carolina Way" of doing things; (3) Smith absorbed many lessons from his first NBA coach, Bill Russell. I interviewed Kenny Smith four years ago:

Always Ahead of the Game

Larry Brown played for Coach Smith before becoming an ABA All-Star point guard and one of the most successful collegiate/professional coaches ever. Brown's "jump/switch" trapping defense helped him win both an NCAA title (Kansas, 1988) and an NBA title (Detroit, 2004), a dual feat no other coach has accomplished. Joe Caldwell, who Brown coached in the ABA, explained to me the finer points of Brown's defensive scheme:

The Art and Science of NBA Defense

Of course, basketball historians realize that Brown did not invent the "jump/switch" defense but merely adapted it from principles employed by Coach Smith. Hank Egan--the former Air Force coach who later won an NBA championship as Gregg Popovich's assistant in San Antonio--later told me that Coach Smith actually learned this defense from Air Force Coach Bob Spear, who in turn had borrowed the concepts from Hall of Fame Coach Ben Carnevale (Egan's coach at the Naval Academy back in the 1950s). Here is my interview with Egan, a must-read for anyone who loves basketball history and is interested in the evolution of defensive strategies:

Hank Egan Interview

Labels: Bob McAdoo, Bobby Jones, Dean Smith, Kenny Smith, Larry Brown

posted by David Friedman @ 4:59 PM

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The NBA in the 1970s: Celtic Pride Reborn

I wrote the chapter about the NBA in the 1970s for the 2005 anthology Basketball in America: From the Playgrounds to Jordan's Game and Beyond. This is the fifth of 12 installments reprinting that chapter in its entirety.

I have removed the footnotes that accompanied the original text; direct quotations are now acknowledged in the body of the work and I will post a bibliography at the end of the final installment. I hope that you enjoy my take on one of the most fascinating and eventful decades in NBA history.

Celtic Pride Reborn

Wilt Chamberlain jumped to the ABA to be a player coach for the San Diego Conquistadors in the 1973-1974 season, but the Lakers successfully sought an injunction that kept him from playing for San Diego for one year. This was the same option clause that forced Rick Barry to sit out a year before joining the Oaks and that Connie Hawkins' representatives removed from his Pipers' contract so that he could join the NBA as soon as his case was resolved. The option only existed from the point of view of the team, which could choose to sign a player to a new contract when the original one expired or else restrain the player from signing with another team for a year; the player's "option" consisted of re-signing with the same team on their terms or losing a year's worth of earnings. This was a convenient way for the owners to restrict player movement and contain salaries but the cases of Rick Barry, Spencer Haywood and others were the first steps in eliminating this clause from standard player contracts.

The Lakers' championship hopes were dealt a second blow by injuries that limited Jerry West to 31 regular season games and a 14 minute cameo appearance in one playoff game before he retired. The Lakers acquired Hawkins from the Suns but he was no longer a star player. They also dealt Jim McMillian to the Buffalo Braves for journeyman center Elmore Smith, who led the league in blocked shots with a 4.85 per game average in the first year that the NBA recorded this statistic; Portland's aptly named Larry Steele averaged 2.68 steals per game as the NBA's first official leader in that category. The 47-35 Lakers won their fourth consecutive Pacific Division title but were no longer a legitimate title contender.

Oscar Robertson struggled with age and injuries in his last season but he, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob Dandridge combined to lead the Bucks to their fourth straight Midwest Division crown with a league best 59-23 record. The Bulls and a fine Detroit Pistons team led by center Bob Lanier (22.5 points per game, 13.3 rebounds per game and 3.05 blocked shots per game) rounded out the playoff field in the Western Conference.

Similarly, the Eastern Conference playoffs featured three established playoff teams and one newcomer. The Celtics won the Atlantic Division for the third straight year, this time with a conference best 56 victories, while the 47-35 Capital (formerly Baltimore) Bullets took their fourth Central Division title in a row. The veteran Knicks (49-33) and young Buffalo Braves (42-40) were the other participants in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Buffalo featured Bob McAdoo, a center who won the first of three straight scoring titles (30.6 points per game) while leading the league in field goal percentage (54.7), ranking third in rebounding (15.1 rebounds per game) and third in blocked shots (3.32 blocks per game). His shooting prowess was remarkable considering that many of his attempts were long jump shots, while his rebounding and shot blocking were impressive because he was undersized (6-9, 215) for a center. No less an authority than Bill Russell offered this high praise: "He's the greatest shooter of all time, period. Forget that bit about 'greatest shooting big man.'"

McAdoo scored 31.7 points per game versus Boston in the playoffs, but the Celtics won the series four games to two. The Knicks and Bullets squared off for the sixth year in a row and the Knicks won for the fifth time, taking game seven 91-81 in New York. The Bucks annihilated the Lakers in five games, while Chicago and Detroit slugged it out for seven games before the Bulls advanced after a 96-94 triumph at home. The Celtics avenged the previous year's loss to the Knicks with a five game victory in the Eastern Conference Finals, while the Bucks swept the Bulls in the Western Conference Finals.

The Finals proved to be a seesaw affair. Milwaukee won a dramatic 102-101 double overtime game six in Boston and seemed to have matters in control heading home for game seven. Instead the Celtics blew the Bucks out, 102-87. Dave Cowens scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. During an 18 minute stretch Abdul-Jabbar went 0-3 from the field, due mainly to Cowens' physical, aggressive defense, the Celtics' double teaming in the post, and tremendous defensive pressure on the Bucks' ball handlers. "Their team concept of pressure was more than we could handle. With all the adjustments we tried, we just couldn't cope with it. Boston is a great team with no weaknesses. At least I haven't been able to find any," commented Bucks' Coach Larry Costello. Havlicek averaged 27.1 points per game during the postseason and won the Finals MVP.

Labels: Bob Lanier, Bob McAdoo, Boston Celtics, Dave Cowens, John Havlicek

posted by David Friedman @ 12:34 AM

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Bob McAdoo Reconsidered

This article was originally published in the June 2004 issue of Basketball Digest under the title "Top-50 Gyp." I prefer my original title because it clearly tells the reader who the article is about and it does not besmirch the Romani people, who are colloquially known as "gypsies."

Check out this resume: three scoring titles, two NBA championships, one MVP, Rookie of the Year. These credentials would seem to be more than enough to earn admission into any basketball pantheon, but this particular applicant was rejected when the NBA selected its 50 Greatest Players list--the only regular season MVP who did not make the cut. Bob McAdoo is the Stealth Bomber of great players--he flies underneath the radar.

McAdoo, a center in college, began his NBA career in 1972-73 with the Buffalo Braves (now known as the Los Angeles Clippers) as a 6-9, 215 pound forward chasing around smaller forwards. Despite playing out of position McAdoo claimed Rookie of the Year honors, averaging 18.0 ppg and 9.1 rpg.

Buffalo traded Elmore Smith and installed McAdoo as the starting center in 1973-74. McAdoo responded by leading the NBA in scoring (30.6 ppg) and field goal percentage (.547), a remarkable feat considering that a large number of his attempts came on outside jump shots. The only other players to lead the NBA in field goal percentage and scoring in the same season are Wilt Chamberlain (four times) and Shaquille O'Neal (once). At 22 McAdoo remains the youngest scoring champion in NBA history (Spencer Haywood, a future teammate of McAdoo's with the New York Knicks, won the ABA scoring title as a 20 year old rookie).

McAdoo also ranked third in rebounding (15.1 rpg) and third in blocked shots (3.32 bpg) while carrying the fourth year Braves to a 21 game improvement in the standings and their first playoff berth. McAdoo finished second in regular season MVP voting to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar despite ranking ahead of him in scoring, field goal percentage and rebounds and trailing only slightly in blocked shots.

The Braves fell 4-2 to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in a hard fought Eastern Conference Semifinal series. McAdoo averaged 31.7 ppg in defeat, highlighted by 44 points in a 104-102 game four victory.

McAdoo was even better in 1974-75, winning the regular season MVP and again claiming the scoring title (34.5 ppg). He put on some dazzling shooting displays, including a 44 point outburst against a tough Washington Bullets team in which 14 of his 19 made field goals came on medium or long range jump shots. Performances like that are probably why Celtic Hall of Famer John Havlicek once said, "I've never seen a better outside threat." Bill Russell, another Celtic Hall of Famer, coached the Seattle Supersonics during McAdoo's prime, and went even further in his praise: "He's the greatest shooter of all time, period. Forget that bit about 'greatest shooting big man.'"

McAdoo's tenure in Buffalo ended in 1976 when the team, unwilling to pay him a market value contract and fearful of losing him for nothing when he became a free agent, dealt him to the New York Knicks. McAdoo received unwarranted criticism when the Knicks--a hodgepodge collection of players haphazardly thrown together--failed to recapture past glory. McAdoo's time as a Knick tends to be overlooked, but during this period he averaged 26.7 ppg--which still ranks first in franchise history--and became the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 career points (Kobe Bryant broke this record in 2002-03).

McAdoo next made brief stops in Boston, Detroit and New Jersey. His career was stuck in a quagmire consisting of poorly managed teams, unrealistic expectations and nagging injuries.

McAdoo's fortunes turned around in December 1981, when he was acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers, who had just lost high priced free agent pickup Mitch Kupchak to a season-ending knee injury. The change of scenery revitalized his career and proved to be a major boost for the Lakers. McAdoo played in four straight Finals as a Laker. Pat Riley coached the Showtime Lakers and flatly states that they would not have won the 1982 and 1985 championships without McAdoo's significant contributions.

McAdoo was an excellent rebounder and shot blocker, but his best attribute was his incredible shooting ability. His career scoring average (22.1 ppg) is higher than the averages of more than half of the members of the 50 Greatest Players list--and he shot .503 from the field. Hall of Famer Jack Ramsay coached McAdoo in Buffalo and lists him among the five greatest players he coached. The other four--Bill Walton, Billy Cunningham, Clyde Drexler and Hal Greer--each made the 50 Greatest Players list.

Note: I started doing these "Reconsidered" articles in 2004 when John Hollinger's book publisher agreed to purchase advertising in Basketball Digest in exchange for Basketball Digest awarding him a stat-based column. Hollinger's column replaced "Digits," the stat-based column that I had been doing since 2001, but editor Brett Ballantini liked my work so he gave me the opportunity to do two regular columns that would appear in each issue: a "Reconsidered" column about an underrated/forgotten player and a "Classic Confrontation" column about a great rivalry (I selected the names for both of those columns). Although I did not like the way that my stat-based column was canceled after I had done such a fine job with it, in the long run things turned out for the best because I got the opportunity to prove that I was not just a numbers guy but that I could do interviews and write feature stories that were not primarily numbers oriented--and that led directly to one of my favorite articles ever, my oral history of the two ABA-NBA Supergames. Hollinger got handed a position on a silver platter and parlayed that into a job at ESPN--but I got to interview Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Mel Daniels, Slick Leonard and Paul Silas!

Labels: Bob McAdoo, Buffalo Braves, L.A. Lakers

posted by David Friedman @ 1:42 AM

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Julius Erving's 40 Point Games

Last Friday, LeBron James notched the 34th 40 point game of his NBA career. According to ESPN, James ranks sixth on the list for most 40 point games before turning 25 (his 25th birthday is December 30, 2009):

Wilt Chamberlain--67
Michael Jordan--52
Bob McAdoo--47
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar--38
Rick Barry--35

The problem with this list is that it does not include ABA statistics; I have insisted for years that ABA numbers should also count. Barry played his first two seasons for the NBA Warriors before jumping to the ABA for four seasons. He tallied nine 40 point games in the 1968-69 season as a member of the ABA's Oakland Oaks, so Barry actually had 44 40 point games before the age of 25; it is also worth noting that the NBA forced Barry to sit out his option year (1967-68) prior to switching leagues and that an injury limited Barry to just 35 games in 1968-69, so Barry easily could have beaten Jordan's total if he had not missed 120-plus games during that period.

Julius Erving spent his first five professional seasons in the ABA, so the methodology used to compile the above list essentially pretends that the first third of his career never happened. Erving had 39 40 point games in the ABA, including 30 prior to his 25th birthday, one on his 25th birthday (he dropped 51 on February 22, 1975) and eight more after he turned 25. I have never seen a published list of all of Erving's 40 point games; the information necessary to put together such a list is available--though not easy to find--and several years ago I made a complete chart of Erving's 48 regular season and seven playoff 40 point games:

Julius Erving's ABA/NBA 40 Point Games

1971-72

(0-5)

Virginia Squires

Date		Team	Opp	Total
1/20/72		VIR 115	KEN 118	40
3/4/72		VIR 117	at FLA 124	45
3/12/72		VIR 101	at KEN 104	40
3/26/72		VIR 130	at PIT 131	41
3/28/72		VIR 121	CAR 127	45

Playoffs

(1-0)

4/4/72

VIR 118

at FLA 113

53

Erving tied the ABA playoff single game
scoring record, a mark that he still shares
with Roger Brown. Erving also tied Wilt
Chamberlain's record for most points by a
rookie in a playoff game.

1972-73

(9-4)

Virginia

Squires

11/5/72		VIR 121	at SD 132	42
11/17/72		VIR 122	KEN 115	45
11/25/72		VIR 122	MEM 108	46
12/7/72		VIR 132	IND 129	41
12/8/72		VIR 124	at NYN 126	41
12/23/72		VIR 112	DAL 107	41
1/16/73		VIR 127	at MEM 122	46
1/31/73		VIR 100	at NYN 94	47
2/8/73		VIR 123	NYN 108	58
2/10/73		VIR 105	KEN 100	44
2/17/73		VIR 105	KEN 112	44
3/9/73		VIR 113	KEN 119	42
3/14/73		VIR 125	at DAL 114	44

Playoffs

(1-0)

4/1/73

VIR 109

at KEN 104

41

1973-74

(4-3)

New York Nets

10/10/73		NYN 99	at IND 118	42
11/25/73		NYN 124	IND 126	43
1/27/74		NYN 133	CAR 114	46
2/6/74		NYN 121	at IND 100	40
3/16/74	(OT)	NYN 114	at KEN 112	41
3/17/74		NYN 105	at IND 117	41
3/27/74		NYN 102	DEN 96	43

Playoffs

(1-0)

4/30/74

NYN 89

UTA 85

47

Erving's outburst in game one of the Finals
versus top defensive forward Willie Wise
set the tone for New York's 4-1 series win.

1974-75

(5-4)

New York Nets

11/13/74	(2OT)	NYN 129	at KEN 132	44
1/17/75		NYN 108	KEN 93	40
1/24/75		NYN 112	KEN 110	42
2/3/75		NYN 106	at UTA 111	40
2/14/75	(4OT)	NYN 166	SD 176	63
2/22/75		NYN 126	SD 93	51
3/19/75		NYN 119	at IND 110	42
3/23/75		NYN 111	DEN 114	40
3/30/75		NYN 130	SAN 104	40

1975-76

(2-3)

New York Nets

10/31/75	(OT)	NYN 116	STL 120	42
1/10/76	(2OT)	NYN 130	STL 141	49
1/18/76	(OT)	NYN 134	SAN 130	51
2/5/76		NYN 116	SAN 124	44
2/8/76		NYN 110	at IND 104	40

Playoffs

(1-2)

4/21/76		NYN 105	at SAN 106	41
5/1/76		NYN 120	at DEN 118	45
5/4/76		NYN 121	at DEN 127	48

Erving scored 40-plus points in each of
the first two games of the Finals en route to
averaging 37.7 ppg as the Nets triumphed
4-2 to claim the ABA's last championship.

1976-77

(1-0)

Philadelphia 76ers

4/9/77

PHI 125

WAS 93

40

Playoffs

(0-1)

6/5/77

PHI 107

at POR 109

40

Erving averaged 30.3 ppg in the 76ers'
six game loss to the Blazers in the Finals,
including 40 points in the last game of
the series.

1977-78

(0-1)

Philadelphia 76ers

1/19/78

PHI 109

at CLE 117

43

1979-80

(3-1)

Philadelphia 76ers

10/13/79		PHI 113	HOU 105	44
11/23/79		PHI 113	HOU 102	41
3/12/80		PHI 105	WAS 98	40
3/16/80		PHI 109	at CLE 123	41

1980-81

(1-0)

Philadelphia 76ers

11/1/80

(OT)

PHI 117

BOS 113

45

1982-83

(1-0)

Philadelphia 76ers

12/11/82

PHI 128

DET 111

44

1983-84

(1-0)

Philadelphia 76ers

2/8/84

PHI 118

HOU 107

42

Sources: Various Philadelphia 76ers Media Guides, John Grasso's ABA regular season game by game logs, personal correspondence with John Grasso.

Labels: Bob McAdoo, Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, New York Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Rick Barry, Virginia Squires, Wilt Chamberlain

posted by David Friedman @ 6:36 PM

5 comments