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6th June, 2008 - 1:00 pm
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| Current Features |
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SCOOP DU JOUR: Wade, MJ, Dye, Draft And Burke!
The Heat aren’t worried about losing Dwyane Wade, Knicks almost landed Michael Jordan, the Sox and Reds discuss Jermaine Dye, the Packers are enjoying the Jets’ success, and Brian Burke is turning the Leafs around.
TEAM RANKINGS: The RealGM Team Rankings For The Week Of December 1st
How do the Cavaliers respond to the flood of 2010 talk? They keep winning and winning in dominant fashion, climbing to first in our rankings.
PLAYER RANKINGS: The NBA Player Rankings For The Week Of November 25th
The current top-five players in the NBA according to RealGM's FIC, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh, were all on Team USA's 2008 Gold Medal team. How does the rest of the NBA rank?
LOCKER TALK: Monta: I Was Racing Baron And Elton
Monta Ellis is still at least a full month away from his return to the court for the Warriors, but he recently called RealGM with the full story behind his ankle injury.
MOCK DRAFT: 2008 NBA Mock Draft, Version 13.0 (Draft Day Edition)
Weeks and months of waiting has finally come to an end, and Draft day is officially here.
CLASSICS: Hakeem Vs. Ewing: Who Was The Better Center?
Born within six months of each other in opposite corners of the world, two seven footers who are finalists for the Basketball Hall of Fame this fall are two of the best ever to play the center position.
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In recent weeks I have been grouping two picks together to highlight the ten best players taken within a decent range. With just eight selections left, I have decided to feature each pick individually. As I inch closer to the cream of the crop, more and more Hall of Famers are popping up. Stay tuned to this feature as the names continue to get larger and larger.
10. Rex Chapman – No. 8 in 1988 (Charlotte)
Chapman went down in history as the first player ever signed by the Charlotte Hornets , having been drafted out of Kentucky as an All-SEC player. He posted career averages of 14.6 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.5 rebounds throughout a 666-game career (spooky). He put up a career-high 18.2 points per contest during the 1993-94 season with the Washington Bullets.
He finished his career with Phoenix (1999-2000), averaging under ten points (6.6) per game for the first time. What many people don’t remember is that he competed in the 1990 Slam Dunk Contest, also averaging 17.5 points per game that year. Believe it or not, Chapman was among the first players used by AND1 in their inaugural run of advertisements, as well.
9. Andre Miller – No. 8 in 1999 (Cleveland)
Miller averaged a career-low 11.1 points and 5.8 assists during his rookie season in Cleveland, earning himself a spot on the All-NBA’s Rookie First Team. He improved to lead the league with 10.9 assists in 2001-02, while also putting up 16.5 points per contest. He has played for three teams in his nine-year NBA career, including time with the Nuggets in between his start with the Cavaliers and current home with the 76ers.
He has career averages of 14.4 points, 7.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game, which makes him substantially underrated, in my opinion. He’s a poor three-point shooter but has learned to reel in his shot in recent years. If he is able to play at his current level for another four or five years, he could easily tally 15,000 points and 8,000 assists.
8. Clark Kellogg – No. 8 in 1982 (Indiana)
Who knows how high Kellogg could have placed on this list if his knees didn’t give out on him just a few seasons into his NBA career. He was named to the 1983 All-NBA Rookie Team, averaging 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds per game during his inaugural campaign. He finished his career with averages of 18.9 points and 9.5 boards but struggled mightily to remain healthy in both 1985-86 and 1986-87.
If you isolate his first three seasons where he remained healthy, his numbers spike up just slightly to 19.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest. Out of college, he was rated nearly as high as guys like Isiah Thomas and James Worthy. He now spends his time as a commentator for CBS during each year’s NCAA Tournament.
7. Andrew Toney – No. 8 in 1980 (Philadelphia)
Toney’s career didn’t last all that long, but he made his 468 career games count. He averaged a career-high 20.4 points in 1983-84, the season after the 76ers won the 1983 NBA Title. He was famously nicknamed ‘The Boston Strangler’ after hanging 30 points on the Celtics during an Eastern Conference Finals game.
Unfortunately, his career was cut short by injuries (similar to Kellogg). He did average 15.9 points, 4.2 assists,and 2.2 rebounds per game,though. He also shot 50% from the floor and 80% from the foul line. His playoff averages of 17.4 points, 4.5 assists,and 2.3 rebounds are higher than that of his regular season numbers furthering his legend as ‘The Boston Strangler’
6. Ron Harper – No. 8 in 1986 (Cleveland)
Harper nearly won the 1987 Rookie of the Year Award, losing out to Indiana’s Chuck Person. He actually averaged a career-high 22.9 points per game during his first season, never topping that or the 2.5 steals he posted per contest. His career averages were 13.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.7 steals over his 1,009-game career.
Ron took home five championships throughout his career, three coming in Chicago with the final two as a member of the L.A. Lakers . He was a key piece in the Bulls’ famous 72-win season, teaming up with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. He was always heralded for his defense and stands as one of the best defenders of his generation. He is one of just a handful of players to win multiple titles with more than one team.
5. Detlef Schrempf – No. 8 in 1985 (Dallas)
Schrempf finished his career as a three-time NBA All-Star, with the first coming during the 1992-93 season. He averaged 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in the 1,136 games he played in the league. He suited up for Dallas, Indiana, Seattle, and Portland over his sixteen-year career.
He won back-to-back Sixth Man of the Year awards in 1990 and 1991 while playing for the Pacers, but his best season came playing for the Sonics. He posted a career-high 19.6 points in 1994-95, which landed him on the All-NBA Third Team. He averaged a double-double once, tallying 19.1 points and 10.6 rebounds off the bench during the 1991-92 season in Indiana. He was an excellent three-point shooter for his size, making 51.4% of his attempts in 1995.
4. Jack Sikma – No. 8 in 1977 (Seattle)
Sikma, who played for just the Sonics and Bucks in his career, was a seven-time NBA All-Star from 1979 to 1985. He won a title with Seattle in ‘79, playing alongside Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, and Paul Silas. He averaged more than 10.4 points in each of his fourteen seasons in the league.
He was one of the first centers to extend his shooting range well-beyond the paint. He shot 32.8% from beyond the arc (203-618) over his career with an overwhelming majority of his attempts coming during his last three seasons in Milwaukee. He was also a tremendous shooter from the foul line, once making 92.2% (1988) of his attempts. He also led the league in defensive rebounding on a few occasions. He finished his career with 17,287 points (15.6 ppg), and 10,816 rebounds (9.8 rpg).
3. Tom Chambers – No. 8 in 1981 (San Diego)
Chambers is quietly one of the greatest players ever to grace an NBA court, averaging 18.1 points and 6.1 rebounds over his 1,107-game career. He scored 20,049 points, ranking him in the top-thirty all-time. He was named to four All-Star teams during his career, winning the MVP Award during the 1987 game in Seattle (he was playing with the Sonics at the time).
His best statistical season came in 1989-90 when he posted 27.2 points per game for the Phoenix Suns . He played for the Clippers, Sonics, Suns, Jazz, Hornets, and 76ers during his lengthy NBA career. He also played briefly with Maccabi Tel Aviv (1995-96) before rounding out his career with Charlotte and Philadelphia (just thirteen games combined).
2. Sam Jones – No. 8 in 1957 (Boston)
Jones won an amazing ten NBA championships in twelve seasons with the Celtics – including eight in a row from 1959-1966. He is widely thought of as one of the greatest guards in league history, having made five All-Star teams during his time in Boston. He averaged 17.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 871 games during a time when the game was still developing. Steals and blocks weren’t recorded when Jones was wearing the Celtics’ green.
He averaged a career-high 25.9 points per game in 1964-65, kicking off a three-year run as a member of the All-NBA Second Team (1965-67). He was enshrined into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in the 1980s, and was named to both the NBA’s 25th Anniversary Team (1970) and the list of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History (1996).
1. Robert Parish – No. 8 in 1976 (Golden State)
Parish was a member of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, as well, and for good reason. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2003, largely because of the illustrious seasons he enjoyed in Boston. He won three titles with the Celtics (1981, 1984, 1986) and one with the Bulls (1997), and made nine All-Star teams over his twenty-one year career.
He’s the third-oldest player ever to take the court in the NBA, and no one has ever surpassed his mark of 1,611 games played. His number (#00) was retired in Boston in 1998, having posted 23,334 points and 14,715 rebounds in his career. He made both the All-NBA Second and Third Team once each and finished his career with averages of 14.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com and would love to hear what you think about this list. Feel free to e-mail him at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
