So during the course of discussing Game 4 of the NBA Finals the other day with a co-worker, the subject of Paul Pierce's place in history came up. I argued, using the Sports Guy's boast that the Finals had bumped Pierce into the top 100 players of all-time, that Pierce was among the greats. My co-worker disagreed. As the day went on and we had more time to think about it, we got curious as to what a list like that would look like. Using the NBA's Top 50 at 50 list as a guide -
http://www.nba.com/history/players/50greatest.html
- I set about on this Father's Day to see who the next 50 on that list would be. My criteria for determining my list was simple. First, a player should have good career bulk. Now, guys like LeBron are on this list, and while they may not end up with it - they could get injured and never be the same - guys like him and Dwayne Wade qualify for being exceptional. If a player isn't exceptional, they need to have put some years together. Second, a player should have exceptional averages in the points, rebounds and assists department. For centers, blocks can come into play, and for guards, steals, but the guy should be exceptional in the three main categories. And third, the softer team leader/clutch/playoffs factors. Guys like Vince Carter need not apply.
Some of the guys in my "next 50" are old-timers that probably just missed the cut in 1996. Some are guys that have just retired or are in their primes now, and their greatness is undeniable. And some are guys who are just blossoming now that should have incredible careers if they can play for a long time.
Here is my "next 50," in alphabetical order by position:
PG:
Chauncey Billups
Sam Cassell
Maurice Cheeks
Baron Davis
Tim Hardaway
Mark Jackson
Dennis Johnson
Jason Kidd
Stephon Marbury
Calvin Murphy
Steve Nash
Norm Nixon
Chris Paul
Gary Payton
SG:
Ray Allen
Kobe Bryant
Joe Dumars
Gail Goodrich
Allen Iverson
Fat Lever
Reggie Miller
David Thompson
Dwayne Wade
SF:
Adrian Dantley
Alex English
Richard Hamilton
Grant Hill
LeBron James
Bernard King
Tracy McGrady
Chris Mullin
Paul Pierce
Dominique Wilkins
PF:
Elton Brand
Tom Chambers
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Connie Hawkins
Tom Heinsohn
Dan Issel
Dirk Nowitzki
Dennis Rodman
Amare Stoudemire
Chris Webber
C:
Walt Bellamy
Artis Gilmore
Dwight Howard
Bob Lanier
Bob McAdoo
Alonzo Mourning
Dikembe Mutombo
Just Missing:
PF Chris Bosh
C Marcus Camby
PF Shawn Kemp
SF Shawn Marion
C Buck Williams
Pierce actually makes my list fairly easily. While the list was made with no particular order in mind, I would have Pierce in there before guys like Baron Davis, Tim Hardaway, Maurice Cheeks, David Thompson, Joe Dumars, Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Tom Heinsohn, Connie Hawkins and Alonzo Mourning. For his career, Pierce is sixth on the Celtics all-time points scored list, and 77th overall. In terms of points per game, he is 21st all-time at 23.15 and 29th overall in the playoffs at 22.36. He has essentially been the same player in the playoffs as he has in the regular season, and that is a damned good one. He gets to the line, as evidenced by his being 43rd all-time in free throw attempts, and hits threes, as evidenced by his being 23rd all-time in three-pointers made. He is almost always in the lineup, as evidenced by his being 24th all-time in minutes per game at 37.6. He makes his steals, as evidenced by his having the 74th most steals in basketball history. He has been an All-Star six of the past seven years, missing only last season when the Celtics held him out of the lineup in a now famously poor attempt to try and get the number one pick in the draft.
For his career, he has averaged 23.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game (along with 1.6 steals). He has shot .442 from the field, .363 from three-point land and .795 from the line. The kicker, to me, is a complicated formula used by basketball-reference.com to predict Hall of Famers. On this list, Pierce is 65th all-time. Here is the link:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob_career.html
You will see Vince Carter on this list as well, proving that computer regressions are not all-knowing, but what is interesting is the characteristics used for the model:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/hof_prob.html
Notice that NBA championships is one of the more influential factors. Should Pierce and the Celtics win the NBA championship at some point in the next week, he will climb even further up this list, and really seal his Hall of Fame candidacy and lock him into the 100 best players of all-time. After all, he's The Truth.
http://www.nba.com/history/players/50greatest.html
- I set about on this Father's Day to see who the next 50 on that list would be. My criteria for determining my list was simple. First, a player should have good career bulk. Now, guys like LeBron are on this list, and while they may not end up with it - they could get injured and never be the same - guys like him and Dwayne Wade qualify for being exceptional. If a player isn't exceptional, they need to have put some years together. Second, a player should have exceptional averages in the points, rebounds and assists department. For centers, blocks can come into play, and for guards, steals, but the guy should be exceptional in the three main categories. And third, the softer team leader/clutch/playoffs factors. Guys like Vince Carter need not apply.
Some of the guys in my "next 50" are old-timers that probably just missed the cut in 1996. Some are guys that have just retired or are in their primes now, and their greatness is undeniable. And some are guys who are just blossoming now that should have incredible careers if they can play for a long time.
Here is my "next 50," in alphabetical order by position:
PG:
Chauncey Billups
Sam Cassell
Maurice Cheeks
Baron Davis
Tim Hardaway
Mark Jackson
Dennis Johnson
Jason Kidd
Stephon Marbury
Calvin Murphy
Steve Nash
Norm Nixon
Chris Paul
Gary Payton
SG:
Ray Allen
Kobe Bryant
Joe Dumars
Gail Goodrich
Allen Iverson
Fat Lever
Reggie Miller
David Thompson
Dwayne Wade
SF:
Adrian Dantley
Alex English
Richard Hamilton
Grant Hill
LeBron James
Bernard King
Tracy McGrady
Chris Mullin
Paul Pierce
Dominique Wilkins
PF:
Elton Brand
Tom Chambers
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Connie Hawkins
Tom Heinsohn
Dan Issel
Dirk Nowitzki
Dennis Rodman
Amare Stoudemire
Chris Webber
C:
Walt Bellamy
Artis Gilmore
Dwight Howard
Bob Lanier
Bob McAdoo
Alonzo Mourning
Dikembe Mutombo
Just Missing:
PF Chris Bosh
C Marcus Camby
PF Shawn Kemp
SF Shawn Marion
C Buck Williams
Pierce actually makes my list fairly easily. While the list was made with no particular order in mind, I would have Pierce in there before guys like Baron Davis, Tim Hardaway, Maurice Cheeks, David Thompson, Joe Dumars, Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Tom Heinsohn, Connie Hawkins and Alonzo Mourning. For his career, Pierce is sixth on the Celtics all-time points scored list, and 77th overall. In terms of points per game, he is 21st all-time at 23.15 and 29th overall in the playoffs at 22.36. He has essentially been the same player in the playoffs as he has in the regular season, and that is a damned good one. He gets to the line, as evidenced by his being 43rd all-time in free throw attempts, and hits threes, as evidenced by his being 23rd all-time in three-pointers made. He is almost always in the lineup, as evidenced by his being 24th all-time in minutes per game at 37.6. He makes his steals, as evidenced by his having the 74th most steals in basketball history. He has been an All-Star six of the past seven years, missing only last season when the Celtics held him out of the lineup in a now famously poor attempt to try and get the number one pick in the draft.
For his career, he has averaged 23.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game (along with 1.6 steals). He has shot .442 from the field, .363 from three-point land and .795 from the line. The kicker, to me, is a complicated formula used by basketball-reference.com to predict Hall of Famers. On this list, Pierce is 65th all-time. Here is the link:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/hof_prob_career.html
You will see Vince Carter on this list as well, proving that computer regressions are not all-knowing, but what is interesting is the characteristics used for the model:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/about/hof_prob.html
Notice that NBA championships is one of the more influential factors. Should Pierce and the Celtics win the NBA championship at some point in the next week, he will climb even further up this list, and really seal his Hall of Fame candidacy and lock him into the 100 best players of all-time. After all, he's The Truth.