As predicted, once the Super Bowl whistle blows we are onto the next cycle of typical sports media. Who is the GOAT? *fart noises*. This year it might only get worse with the NBA’s 75th Year Anniversary celebration at the All-Star break. It would not be the NBA without the consistent drama about who the best was or is while there is still an ongoing season.
While the talking heads continue to justify who is in the Top 75 even after the picture was taken, here are some guys who’s name not only sound made up, but probably will not be talked about anywhere on the street.
Point Guard for the ST. LOUIS Hawks, so you know we are talking some boomer basketball. Wilkins was known for being an on-floor leader, floor general and was eventually designated as a “player-coach.” Fun fact: He was also a part of the New York Knicks disastrous decade long run, as he took over for the team on January 15, 2004. After the Knicks’ slow start to the 2004–05 season, Wilkens resigned from the team on January 22, 2005.
I guess the NBA did not want to show Boomer Bias with this one, but okay. Dolph Schayes makes the Top 75. Sure. This guy won his only NBA championship when my grandfather couldn’t have a beer! NBA shit the bed on this one, the guy played his college basketball at NYU fresh out of World War II.
Sounds like a fake name I would give at a bar. Sharman played his college hoops at USC right after, you guessed it, serving in the Navy during World War II. After having a brief baseball career with the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league squad, he ended up having a successful NBA career as a 10x Champion: four as a player, one as a coach and five as an executive for the Showtime Lakers in the ’80s.
This guy scored 100 points in a game while he played for Villanova. Here’s the catch. The NCAA does not recognize that state because it was against a junior college. Known for his scoring abilities Paul Arizin left his mark in the NBA as a part of the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1950’s being their go-to scorer winning the 1956 NBA title spanking the Fort Wayne Pistons. Loling at For Wayne.
Billy Cunningham, the guy who ESPN ranked one spot higher than Anthony Davis, who also has one of the better nicknames in NBA history, “Kangaroo Kid.” The original “spark plug” sixth man off the bench, Cunningham was known for bringing new life to the 76ers in the 1960’s. A teammate of Wilt Chamberlin, Cunningham was a part of, at the time, the best basketball team to ever assemble in 1997.
Yes, it may be frustrating to some fans to see these guys make the list rather than stars we have seen. Some names I have seen that should be on this list: T-Mac, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Klay Thompson, Manu Ginobli, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Shawn Kemp, Alonzo Mourning, Kyrie Irving, Chris Webber and some others that may have been deserving to be recognized this past Sunday at the NBA All Star game.
I know it was unfortunate news to some of those guys to not make this list, but it is a cool learning experience to acknowledge the five guys above and see their input directly on the game of basketball and it’s history.
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