Starting today, basketball fans have a chance to win a $100 prize just for voting in a bracket of the greatest 64 basketball players from the past 64 years — made by The Mount Airy News and its sister publications: the Elkin Tribune, Yadkin Ripple, Stokes News and Carroll News.
As I explained two days ago, it’s actually my top 52 players and 12 “Cinderellas” who are made up of great NCAA performances that earned a title, but guys who didn’t go on to have a top-52 NBA career for one reason or another.
On Wednesday I gave a brief introduction to who those 12 Cinderellas are. But who are the next 12 at the bottom of the bracket?
From 52 to 41, here is my personal list and why.
My bottom two choices are young guys who might not seem worthy of inclusion with all-time greats, but they seem well on their way to achieving Hall of Fame status one day.
52. Giannis Antetokounmpo, a 4-time All-Star, 3-time All-NBA, 2-time all-defensive team, 1 MVP award.
While he doesn’t have much in career totals, he has shown a lot so far in efficiency. Giannis is 20th in all-time 2-point shooting, 26th in PER (player efficiency rating), 17th in defensive rating, 41st in win shares per minute (how much a player helps a team win over an average player), 24th in box plus/minus (how many points scored offensively and saved defensively compared to an average player).
51. Kawhi Leonard, 4-time All-Star, 3-time All-NBA, 5-time all-defensive, 1 steals champ, 2-time defensive player of the year, 2 titles, 2 Finals MVPs.
He is 25th in PER, 21st in offensive rating, 10th in win shares per minute, and 9th in box plus/minus. Giannis may pass him in the coming seasons, but for now Leonard has accomplished more.
50. George Gervin, 12-time All-Star, 7-time All-NBA and 2-time All-ABA, 4-time scoring champ.
Gervin led the league in scoring 4 out of 5 years in his prime while shooting about 53% from the field and 83% from the line. He is 16th in points, 10th in points per game, 50th in PER, 56th in win shares and 55th in VORP. When one of the greatest offensive weapons barely makes the list, you know the competition is fierce.
49. Dwight Howard, 8-time All-Star, 8-time All-NBA, 5-time all-defensive, 5-time rebounds champ, 2-time blocks champ, 3-time defensive player of the year.
He is 8th in defensive rebounds and 15th overall, 16th in blocks, 9th in foul shots earned. He is 5th in field goal shooting (59%).
He is 47th in PER, 34th in defensive rating, 16th in defensive win shares, 37th in overall win shares, and 60th in VORP (value over replacement player).
48. Hal Greer, 10-time All-Star, 7-time All-NBA, 1 title. Younger folks won’t know him, but Hal was one of the greatest combo guards of all time.
He played in 79 or more games in 11 seasons. He averaged 20 points in eight seasons.
In the 1967 playoffs he averaged 27.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists in leading Philly to a championship.
He is 40th in points, 85th in assists, 77th in offensive win shares, and 81st in total win shares.
47. Walt Frazier, 7-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA, 7-time all-defensive, 2 titles.
In a time when guards tended to be inefficient scorers, Frazier shot 49% from the floor.
He improved his numbers in the playoffs, averaging 20.7 points and 6.4 assists in the playoffs, leading the Knicks to two titles.
In basically 11 seasons, he didn’t accrue high career totals, but is 47th in win shares per minute played (plus he was better in the playoffs when it mattered most).
46. Rick Barry, 12-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA and 4-time All-ABA, 1 scoring title, 1 NBA title, 1 Finals MVP, rookie of the year.
He averaged 30 points in three seasons and led the league in foul shooting 7 times.
He is 24th in points and 15th in points per game, 30th in free throws made, 7th in foul shooting, 15th in steals per game.
He is 7th in true shooting percentage, 55th in PER and 42nd in win shares.
45. Grant Hill, 7-time All-Star, 5-time All-NBA, rookie of the year.
Hill basically lost five years in his prime (28-33) to ankle problems, then played until he was 40.
His 7-year peak alone is worthy of inclusion. In Detroit he averaged 21.6 points, 8 boards, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals. Despite the injury he is 70th in foul shots earned, 84th in steals, 68th in box plus/minus and 42nd in VORP (so his “value” is high, even in advanced metrics).
44. Reggie Miller, 5-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA. He struggled to get recognition in Jordan’s shadow in the Eastern Conference.
Five times he led the league in foul shooting, 12th overall for his career. He is 2nd to Ray Allen in made 3’s. He is 24th in points, 17th in free throws made, 49th in steals. He is 10th in true shooting percentage, 2nd in offensive rating (yes 2nd), 18th in win shares and 21st in VORP.
One could make a case he was the second-best SG of the 1990s.
43. Clyde Drexler, 10-time All-Star, 5-time All-NBA, 1 title.
He averaged at least 18 points a game for the last 15 seasons of his career, including back-to-back 27-point seasons from 1987-89.
He was a poor 3-point shooter his first 7 seasons, then became much better for the last 9 years.
He is 9th in steals, 37th in points, 34th in assists, 50th in foul shots earned, 50th in offensive rebounds. He is 35th in win shares, 18th in box plus/minus and 19th in VORP.
42. Paul Pierce, 10-time All-Star, 4-time All-NBA, 1 title, 1 Finals MVP.
He had five seasons of 25-26 points before Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett joined the team.
He is 18th in points, 9th in made 3’s, 22nd in steals, 76th in assists, 41st in defensive rebounds. He is 25th in win shares and 22nd in VORP.
41. Ray Allen, 10-time All-Star, 2-time All-NBA, 2 titles.
He averaged 24.6 points, 4 assists and 4.6 rebounds in Seattle before ever joining the Celtics to form the Big Three.
He is 1st in 3-pointers made, 47th in 3-point shooting, 29th in points, 6th in foul shooting, 52nd in steals. He is 18th in offensive win shares, 29th in total win shares and 28th in VORP — and these numbers would be higher if he hadn’t deferred to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett so much when he joined Boston.
As one of my personal favorites, I really want to rank him higher.
* Who didn’t quite make my list? Here are my last two out.
• Carmelo Anthony, 10-time All-Star, 6-time All-NBA, 1 scoring champ.
He is 20th in points and 24th in points per game, 67th in defensive rebounds as a small forward, 24th in free throws made. He is such a great scorer, so why leave him off? Well, he is only 83rd in win shares and 76th in value over replacement player. He doesn’t give enough beyond scoring.
• Mitch Richmond, 6-time All-Star, 5-time All-NBA, 1 title, rookie of the year.
What wing player scored the most points in the 1990s? Jordan? No, Richmond, who averaged 22 points per game over the whole decade, but played on some terrible teams in Sacramento (before the Mike Bibby/Chris Webber years).
He is 46th in points, 43rd in points per game, 90th in steals, 57th in foul shots made, 63rd in foul shooting, 47th in 3’s made, and 81st in 3-point shooting.
To see my list of Cinderellas, see the Wednesday edition of The News or go to our website at bit.ly/2R6Etab.
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