#25 Scottie Pippen

This is part of my list of the 50 Greatest NBA Players Ever, where I will go through each player in a random order. #25 on the list is Scottie Pippen.


When you mention Scottie Pippen, you tend to get a lot of varying opinions. Typically what I hear most is that Scottie Pippen is very overrated and wouldn't have been nearly the player he was had he not been with Michael Jordan his whole career. I tend to take the complete opposite position.

Scottie Pippen is one of the most underrated players ever because he played with Michael Jordan. Some people might say 25 is too high of a spot for Pippen, but honestly I would be more likely to make him higher on the list than I would to put him lower. Obviously Michael Jordan was great, I think he was the best NBA player ever, but he's not winning all those titles without Scottie Pippen.

Scottie was a jack-of-all-trades. He was never a great scorer or great shooter, but he didn't have to be. And that's just a small complaint against a guy that did almost everything else well.

What was it that he did well? For starters, he's one of the best defensive players ever. He was quick enough to guard and disrupt PGs such as Mark Jackson in the 1998 playoffs, his long arms wreaked havoc with offensive players on the wing, and at 6'7'' he was tall enough and quick enough to guard guys down low. He's 5th in the NBA in career steals, nearly had 1000 career blocks, and was on either the 1st or 2nd team All-NBA Defense every year from 1991 to 2000.

But he was far from a defensive specialist. With his unique skills he practically started the concept of a "point forward." With his size and ballhandling skills that added another dimension to whatever offense he was in. He was also a great passer that averaged over 5 assists a game for his career. In 1992 he averaged 21 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 7.0 APG. Which reminds me, he was a pretty darn good rebounder as well, averaging 6.4 a game for his career but pulling down 7 or 8 a game during his prime.

And this was not all because of Jordan. In 1994 when Jordan retired for the first time, Pippen stepped up his game. He averaged 22 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 5.6 APG, 2.9 SPG, and finished 3rd in the NBA MVP voting. The team didn't do so bad either, winning 55 games on a team whose 2nd and 3rd leading scorers were Horace Grant and BJ Armstrong.

Later in his career as he joined Portland he lost a step or two athletically but still did whatever he could to help the Blazers come within a quarter of going to the Finals.The points when down a little as Pip scaled back shooting, but he kept rebounding, passing, and playing excellent defense.

Those that don't like Scottie will point out how he refused to re-enter the end of a playoff game after not having the final shot drawn up for him... and while I can't defend that action, I'm willing to forgive.

So while some might call Scottie Pippen overrated, I lean the opposite way. He was one of the great all-around players ever... he scored some, played great defense, rebounded, and was unselfish with the ball. He played with the greatest player ever, but that doesn't make him any less of a player.

#32 Dominique Wilkins

This is part of my list of the 50 Greatest NBA Players Ever, where I will go through each player in a random order. #32 on the list is Dominique Wilkins.


Known best for his dazzling highlights and superb nickname - "The Human Highlight Film" - Dominique Wilkins was a very good all-around player and one of the best scorers of all-time, which is why he ranks in here at #32.

In his prime, Wilkins averaged close to 30 PPG, grabbed about 7 RPG, and added in a few assists and a couple of steals. He could dunk over anyone, he had a decent jump shot, and he was able to use his athleticism to get to the line.

Never was this more evident than in 1986 through 1988. At that point, he didn't have a great jumpshot (18.6%, 29.2%, and 29.5% from behind the 3-point in those years), but he was almost scoring at will. In 1986 he led the league with 30.3 PPG, in 1987 he was 2nd at 29.0 PPG, and in 1988 he was 2nd with 30.7 PPG. Some guy named Michael Jordan led the league in 1987 and 1988.

For his career, he finished at 24.8 PPG, but from age 25-34 Wilkins was consistently in the high 20s/low 30s. Rebounding the ball was not his strong suit, but he did averaged almost 7 a game for his career, topping out at 9.0 in 1991. But when you're as good as he was offensively, you didn't need to do a whole lot in other areas to be considered a very good player.

All in all, because of his athleticism, scoring ability, and the fact that he was able to do his part in other areas of the game lands him as the 32nd best player ever in the NBA. No, he never got past the conference semifinals, but I find that hard to hold against him since basketball is, after all, a team sport.

I leave you with video of the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest, which features Dominique against Michael Jordan, eventually won by Jordan. It shows just how athletic these guys are:

#16 Hakeem Olajuwon

This is part of my list of the 50 Greatest NBA Players Ever, where I will go through each player in a random order. #16 on the list is Hakeem Olajuwon.


Now time for Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon, who just so happens to be my sister Amanda' favorite player of all-time (which is why I'm writing about him early). So congrats to Hakeem for that.

What make Hakeem so great was that for a big man, he did everything well. He scored, he rebounded, be was a solid passer, and he was a beast defensively. This is all evident looking at the numbers.

From 1993-1996 Hakeem put one of the best stretches ever together. During that 4-year stretch he averaged 27.0 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 3.6 APG, 3.6 BPG, and 1.7 SPG. No surprise that he got the MVP in 1994, and the Finals MVP in 1994 and 1995. In 1994 he was the NBA MVP, Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year, which I don't believe has ever been done before.

For all of his offensive prowess, including the classic "Dream Shake", defense is where he made his living. He averaged 3.5 BPG and 2.0 SPG for his career. Most staggering, at least to me, is that he's 7th all-time in the NBA in steals. Everyone above him is a guard. He's also first all-time in blocks. He's the only player in NBA history with 2000 blocks and 2000 steals.

And he's got the rings to back this all up. Look at his averages in 1994 and 1995 playoffs, when the Rockets won the NBA Title:

1994 - 28.9 PPG, 11.0 RPG, 4.3 APG, 4.0 BPG, 1.8 SPG
1995 - 33.0 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.8 BP, 1.2 SPG

Put it all together, and you have the complete package for a center - Efficient offensively, one of the best defensively ever, and excellent in the playoffs. In an era with Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and others, Hakeem owned the early and mid 1990s as far as centers were concerned.

Which is why he comes in as the 16th best player in NBA history.

#1 Michael Jordan

This is part of my list of the 50 Greatest NBA Players Ever, where I will go through each player in a random order. #1 on the list is Michael Jordan.


You could make an argument for Bird or Magic, part of the best individual rivalry the sport has ever seen. Or you could make a case for Wilt Chamberlain, with the greatest individual statistics that the sport has ever seen. Or maybe you can make a case for Bill Russell, who has all of those championship rings.

But in my opinion, any list like this starts with one name: Michael Jordan.

We know the numbers. His 30.1 PPG average is the best all-time. He was a solid rebounder for a guard, and though he put up a lot of shots, he was a good passer and averaged more than 5 assists per game. But that doesn't tell much of the story of his career.

He was also a great defensive player. Nine times in his career he was on the NBA All-Defense First Team. For his career he averaged 2.3 steals per game, which is 5th all-time. He was quick, in the right position at all times, and made the plays.

As I wrote many months ago, Jordan shot nearly 50% from the field, which is a good number for someone that took as many shots as he did. He was never a great 3-point shooter, but he was solid. Best of all, he shot over 80% from the FT line over his career, and he got there more than most people that have ever played the game.

And the titles, 6 of them to be exact (to go along with the 6 Finals MVP Awards). He always played better in the playoffs, which is evident in the stats. All of his numbers went up in the postseason, especially the scoring, where he averaged over 33 points a game. And when it came down to the end of the game, well, I'm not sure there was anyone better ever than Michael Jordan.

For all of these reasons and more, I believe MJ is the best player to ever play in the NBA.

I'll leave with one of my favorite videos, Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Jazz, with MJ nailing the final shot, which, at the time, was thought to be the final shot of his career.

50 Greatest NBA Players Ever

This is an idea I was sorta toying with for a while now... I feel like I don't know enough about NBA History, especially about a lot of the old NBA greats. So I did a little research, looked at some previous lists from others, and came up with my list of the 50 greatest NBA players ever.

So here's my list... this won't be the end of it, because I plan on writing up a post about each of the top 50 at some point, and I'll probably go through all of these guys and write things about them in random order, but I thought it'd be best to give the list first and write the posts later.

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

* active

Good? Bad? Ugly? What are your thoughts?