Back in 1996, the NBA released their list of the "50 Greatest Players of All Time" for the league's 50th anniversary. Now, I was 10 years old at the time, and I thought this was the coolest thing that mankind had ever produced ever. Yeah, two "ever's," but I can't emphasize enough how cool I thought this whole concept was. I'm always a sucker for any kind of "best of" team. Back when the original Dream Team was... formed? compiled? organized?... I'm not sure what the right word is here, but anyway, back in 1992 when the Dream Team hit the scene was really my first memory of basketball in any form. This had (at least) three direct consequences on my perception of basketball for the next several years:
1.) Charles Barkley became my favorite player. It probably also helped that the Suns were in the Finals in 1993; I'm sure that sealed the deal. But the seeds were planted with his Dream Team performances.
2.) I had absolutely no respect for Isiah Thomas until well after he retired. To my then 6 year old mind, if Isiah was any good, he would have been on the Dream Team. Case closed. I still don't think I appreciate him nearly as much as I should for that very reason. His atrocious coaching/GM careers probably aren't helping, but the Dream Team snub probably has more to do with it.
3.) I actually thought Christian Laettner was a good basketball player. Nay, a great basketball player. No, scratch that. I thought he was one of the 12 best basketball players on the face of the earth. It wasn't until he was traded to Atlanta (with Sean Rooks, no less) for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb that I began to question this assumption. And then either that year or the year after I saw a game where he got absolutely demolished by Shaq and I began to realize he may have been in over his head on the Dream Team.
Anyway, back to my original point: the 50th anniversary team. This was like 4 Dream Teams, plus 2 bonus players. I analyzed that list to no end. I had posters with everyone on it, books with all of their biographies and career stats, etc, etc. I couldn't get enough of it. However, being 10, I didn't realize this was a one time anniversary occasion. I understood 50 players for 50 years clearly enough, but I assumed that they would be adding one player a year, in perpetuity. I mean, I knew that's essentially what the Hall of Fame was for, but I just figured this was like the Super Elite Hall of Basketball Awesomeness.
So, in honor of my childhood misconceptions, and with the 2009 Hall of Fame Inauguration this weekend, I thought it would be a good time to revisit this concept. It's been another 13 years since that list was produced, so I've decided to come up with my own 63 Greatest NBA Players of All Time list. Here's the rules:
1.) The 50 Greatest Players list from 1996 is our starting point. Every one of those players will be on this list.
2.) I'm going to try to imagine that one player has been added to this list every year since 1996. So, we'll have one "election" for 1997, and have a list of 51; then one for 1998 and have a list of 52, and so on.
3.) I'm going to try to imagine the mindset from the year that's being voted on. For example, would Chris Webber make the list in 2009? Probably not. Would he make it 2002? Possibly.
4.) In an effort to prevent something like that from happening, a player has to have been 10 years removed from his rookie season. I mean, Shaq made the 50 Greatest list in 1996, after only 4 years in the league. Now, I think that committee really dodged a bullet on that one. Yes, Shaq is undoubtedly one of the 50 greatest players of all time, but could you safely say that after only 4 years? I don't know about that one. Just look at Sidney Wicks's numbers through 4 years. It certainly looked like he was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career after those first few years.
5.) Once a player is on the list, he cannot be removed. So, let's say we're looking at the 2006 "election." That year would be the first time 3 MVP's (Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash) would be eligible. Only one of them is getting in for the 2006 election. The others will have to wait.
Okay, I think I've got the basics laid out. And for a quick refresher, here's the list as it was formed in 1996:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Nate Archibald
Paul Arizin
Charles Barkley
Rick Barry
Elgin Baylor
Dave Bing
Larry Bird
Wilt Chamberlain
Bob Cousy
Dave Cowens
Billy Cunningham
Dave DeBusschere
Clyde Drexler
Julius Erving
Patrick Ewing
Walt Frazier
George Gervin
Hal Greer
John Havlicek
Elvin Hayes
Magic Johnson
Sam Jones
Michael Jordan
Jerry Lucas
Karl Malone
Moses Malone
Pete Maravich
Kevin McHale
George Mikan
Earl Monroe
Shaquille O'Neal
Hakeem Olajuwon
Robert Parish
Bob Pettit
Scottie Pippen
Willis Reed
Oscar Robertson
David Robinson
Bill Russell
Dolph Schayes
Bill Sharman
John Stockton
Isiah Thomas
Nate Thurmond
Wes Unseld
Bill Walton
Jerry West
Lenny Wilkens
James Worthy
Tomorrow we'll look at each of these guys career stats and check their credentials, so we can see what it takes to join them. Then each day we'll add another player until we get to 63.
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