50 Greatest Players in NBA History
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 50 Greatest Players in National Basketball Association History (also referred to as the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team) were chosen in 1996 on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The list comprises the fifty best and most influential players of the first half-century of the NBA, with respect not only to performance at the professional level but in consideration of sportsmanship, team leadership, and contributions to the growth of basketball. The list was selected irrespective of positions played; only players to have played at least a portion of their careers in the NBA were eligible for selection. Selected and announced in conjunction with the 50th anniversary team were a list of the ten best head coaches and ten best single season teams in NBA history.
Contents |
Players
NBA team
The list was compiled based upon unranked voting completed by fifty selected panelists. Sixteen of the panelists were former players voting in their roles as players, thirteen were members of the print and broadcast news media, and twenty-one were team representatives: contemporary and former general managers, head coaches, and executives. Of the last group, seven were former players. Players were proscribed from voting for themselves, but only three voting players (Bill Bradley, Johnny Kerr, and Bob Lanier) were not selected to the team.
The announcement of the team, undertaken by commissioner David Stern in New York City, New York, United States on October 29, 1996, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which occupied the site of the former Commodore Hotel, where the original NBA charter was signed on June 6, 1946, began a season-long celebration of the league's anniversary. The players were assembled in Cleveland, Ohio, during the 1997 All-Star Game Weekend, and only three were absent. Pete Maravich, having died in 1988, aged just 40 years, was represented by his two sons, Joshua and Jaeson; Shaquille O'Neal was injured and could not attend; Jerry West was undergoing surgery.
At the time of the announcement of the team, ten of the fifty players were active. Only Shaquille O'Neal was still active upon the opening of the 2007-08 season.
Players selected
Players italicized were active during the 1996-97 season during which the team was announced. Players with an asterisk (*) have, as of April 2008, been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as players (or in the case of Hakeem Olajuwon, had been announced as a September 2008 inductee); Bill Sharman and Lenny Wilkens were each inducted as both player and coach.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
L
M
O
P
R
S
T
U
W
TNT addendum
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the release of the fiftieth anniversary team, fourteen broadcasters employed by the American television network Turner Network Television, a broadcaster of NBA games and the network on which the programs The NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA air, released a list of the Next 10 Greatest Players. The panel, which included four former players and two panelists who voted on the initial NBA list, considered contemporary players who were unestablished in 1996 and historical players not already included on the original list. Released on February 18, 2006, the ranked list was presented in conjunction with the NBA's 2006 All-Star Weekend.
Players selected
Players italicized were active during the 2005-06 season during which the team was announced, and are still playing as of 2008. Players starred had, upon the close of the 2005-06 season, been inducted as players into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Players with daggers (†) were inducted after 2006.
- Kobe Bryant
- Tim Duncan
- Kevin Garnett
- Connie Hawkins*
- Allen Iverson
- Jason Kidd
- Bob McAdoo*
- Reggie Miller
- Gary Payton
- Dominique Wilkins*
Other Nominees
- Walt Bellamy*
- Joe Dumars*
- Adrian Dantley†
- Alex English*
- LeBron James
- Dennis Johnson
- Bernard King
- Tracy McGrady
- Artis Gilmore
- Bob Lanier*
- Dennis Rodman
Other Pre-Nominees
- Mark Aguirre
- Maurice Cheeks
- Bob Davies*
- Joe Fulks*
- Tommy Heinsohn*
- Dan Issel*
- Kevin Johnson
- Dirk Nowitzki
- Steve Nash
- JoJo White
- Dwyane Wade
Coaches
Alongside the selection of the greatest players was completed the unranked selection, undertaken exclusively by members of the print and broadcast media, of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History. Four of the coaches—Phil Jackson, Don Nelson, Pat Riley, and Lenny Wilkens—were active at the time of the list's announcement. Only Jackson, Nelson, and Riley coached teams during the 2006-07 season. Wilkens was also the only member of the coaches list to have been a member of the players list; Nelson was the only member not to have won a championship (although he has five as a player).
Coaches selected
Teams
Alongside the selection of the NBA's fifty greatest players was the unranked selection, undertaken exclusively by members of the print and broadcast media, of the Top 10 Teams in NBA History, chosen from among all single season individual teams. Each won its league championship, and the teams combined to average 66 wins per season.
Teams selected
| Team and season | Regular season record (winning percentage in parentheses) | NBA Playoffs result | Head coach | Most common starting lineup and sixth man | Players inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame[2] | Players placed on the 50 Greatest Players list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964-65 Boston Celtics | 62-18 (.775) | Won 1965 championship | Red Auerbach[3] | Point guard K.C. Jones, shooting guard Sam Jones, small forward Tom Heinsohn, power forward Tom Sanders, center Bill Russell, small forward John Havlicek | Five (K. Jones, S. Jones, Heinsohn, Russell, Havlicek) | Three (S. Jones, Russell, Havlicek) |
| 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers | 68-13 (.840) | Won 1967 championship | Alex Hannum | point guard Wali Jones, shooting guard Hal Greer, small forward Chet Walker, power forward Luke Jackson, center Wilt Chamberlain, combo forward Billy Cunningham | Three (Greer, Chamberlain, Cunningham) | Three (Greer, Chamberlain, Cunningham) |
| 1969-70 New York Knicks | 60-22 (.732) | Won 1970 championship | Red Holzman | Point guard Walt Frazier, shooting guard Dick Barnett, small forward Bill Bradley, power forward Dave DeBusschere, center Willis Reed, small forward Cazzie Russell | Four (Frazier, Bradley, DeBusschere, Reed) | Three (Frazier, DeBusschere, Reed) |
| 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers | 69-13 (.841) | Won 1972 championship | Bill Sharman | Point guard Gail Goodrich, shooting guard Jerry West, small forward Jim McMillian, power forward Happy Hairston, center Wilt Chamberlain, shooting guard Flynn Robinson | Four (Goodrich, West, Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor[4]) | Three (West, Chamberlain, Baylor) |
| 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers | 65-17 (.793) | Won 1983 championship | Billy Cunningham | Point guard Maurice Cheeks, shooting guard Andrew Toney, small forward Julius Erving, power forward Marc Iavaroni, center Moses Malone, power forward Bobby Jones | Two (Erving, Malone) | Two (Erving, Malone) |
| 1985-86 Boston Celtics | 67-15 (.817) | Won 1986 championship | K.C. Jones | Point guard Dennis Johnson, shooting guard Danny Ainge, small forward Larry Bird, power forward Kevin McHale, center Robert Parish, center Bill Walton | Four (McHale, Bird, Parish, Walton) | Four (McHale, Bird, Parish, Walton) |
| 1986-87 Los Angeles Lakers | 65-17 (.793) | Won 1987 championship | Pat Riley[5] | Point guard Magic Johnson, shooting guard Byron Scott, small forward James Worthy, power forward A.C. Green, center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, small forward Michael Cooper | Three (Johnson, Worthy, Abdul-Jabbar) | Three (Johnson, Worthy, Abdul-Jabbar) |
| 1988-89 Detroit Pistons | 63-19 (.768) | Won 1989 championship | Chuck Daly[3] | Point guard Isiah Thomas, shooting guard Joe Dumars, small forward Mark Aguirre, power forward Rick Mahorn, center Bill Laimbeer, shooting guard Vinnie Johnson | Three (Thomas, Dumars, Adrian Dantley) | One (Thomas) |
| 1991-92 Chicago Bulls | 67-15 (.817) | Won 1992 championship | Phil Jackson | Point guard John Paxson, shooting guard Michael Jordan, small forward Scottie Pippen, power forward Horace Grant, center Bill Cartwright, point guard B.J. Armstrong | None | Two (Jordan, Pippen) |
| 1995-96 Chicago Bulls | 72-10 (.878) | Won 1996 championship | Phil Jackson | Point guard Ron Harper, shooting guard Michael Jordan, small forward Scottie Pippen, power forward Dennis Rodman, center Luc Longley, small forward Toni Kukoc | None | Two (Jordan, Pippen) |
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Bracketed record and winning percentage reflect all games played through the 2005-06 NBA season; the preceding record is that of the coach at the time of his selection.
- ^ Italicized players were inducted subsequent to the announcement of the ten best teams.
- ^ a b Inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame as coach.
- ^ Having been injured during the ninth game of the season, Baylor did not play for the team after November 11, 1971, and retired from professional basketball soon after the completion of the season.
- ^ Having neither been fully retired for five years nor an active head coach for at least 25 years, coach is as yet ineligible for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coach.
External links
- NBA's 50 Greatest Players page
- National Basketball Association Top 10 Coaches page
- National Basketball Association Top 10 Teams page
- TNT article detailing "Ten Next" selection process
- Article on SI.com about quick overview of 31 pre-nominees
|
|||||
