From Wilt to Magic: NBA Picks Its Top 50

NEW YORK — Some were so good their nicknames alone bring back memories. Wilt. Dr. J. Cooz. Magic. Pistol Pete. Pearl. Hondo. Tiny.

Some were simply big, as in Big E and Big O.

Others needed no more mention than their first names: Michael. Charles. Larry. Hakeem. Shaquille. Scottie.

Then there were those who played before the NBA became a multibillion-dollar industry: George Mikan, Bob Pettit. Paul Arizin. Hal Greer. Bill Sharman.

Tremendous basketball players, all of them.

And on the 50th anniversary of the NBA, the league announced Tuesday they were among the 50 chosen as the greatest to play the game.

“We’ve had an extraordinary array of extraordinary athletes come through the doors of the NBA over the past 50 years,” commissioner David Stern said. “Had some of them played before the type of global audience that we have now, the world would have an extraordinarily different opinion of them.”

With that invocation, Stern kicked off the NBA’s 50th anniversary celebration and announced the 50 players chosen by a panel of 50 former players and coaches, current and former general managers, team executives and media.

The list, chosen without regard for position, includes 11 current players and 16 others who retired in the 1980s or ‘90s. Six of the 50 spent time in the ABA, and two others were in the National Basketball League, which merged with the 3-year-old Basketball Association of America in 1949 and eventually was renamed the NBA.

As a group, the 50 players accumulated 107 NBA championships, 49 Most Valuable Player awards, 17 Rookie of the Year honors, 447 All-Star selections and 36 scoring titles.

Vote totals were not released, and the 50 players were announced alphabetically rather than being ranked.

As for who was the best of all, five players who can make a stake to that claim -- Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan and Julius Erving -- were on hand for the announcement and diplomatically ducked that particular question.

“I don’t think there is one,” Russell opined. “Nobody could ever play better than Oscar. Period. There are guys who could tie Oscar, but not beat him. Same thing with Bird, Magic, Jordan, Mikan, (Bob) Pettit. To say who was the best player is impossible.”

Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a March 2, 1962 game and averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds that season, has heard the topic discussed countless times.

“Personally, I’m a bit tired of the question. It’s up to the fans to decide who in their opinion is the best player,” Chamberlain said.

Perhaps the most surprising choice was Shaquille O’Neal, who has been in the league only four years and whose teams have been swept from the playoffs the past three seasons.

Also an iffy choice was Bill Walton, who played more than 60 games only three times during a 14-year, injury-riddled career.

Notable by their absence were David Thompson, Alex English, Dominique Wilkins, Bob Lanier, Connie Hawkins, Bob McAdoo and Joe Fulks.

Other active players on the list were Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton.

The others on the list are: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Arizin, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Dave Bing, Bird, Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere, Erving, Walt Frazier, George Gervin, Hal Greer, John Havlicek, Elvin Hayes, Magic Johnson, Sam Jones, Jerry Lucas, Moses Malone, Pete Maravich, Kevin McHale, Mikan, Earl Monroe, Pettit, Willis Reed, Robertson, Russell, Dolph Schayes, Bill Sharman, Isiah Thomas, Nate Thurmond, Wes Unseld, Bill Walton, Jerry West, Lenny Wilkens and James Worthy.

“It’d be a hell of a thing to pick a starting five out of that group,” Mikan said.

NBA’s 50 Greatest

The 50 greatest players in NBA history, announced by the league Tuesday:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, center

Nate Archibald, guard

Paul Arizin, forward-guard

Charles Barkley, forward

Rick Barry, forward

Elgin Baylor, forward

Dave Bing, guard

Larry Bird, forward

Wilt Chamberlain, center

Bob Cousy, guard

Dave Cowens, center

Billy Cunningham, forward

Dave DeBusschere, forward

Clyde Drexler, guard

Julius Erving, forward

Patrick Ewing, center

Walt Frazier, guard

George Gervin, guard

Hal Greer, guard

John Havlicek, forward-guard

Elvin Hayes, forward-center

Magic Johnson, guard

Sam Jones, guard

Michael Jordan, guard

Jerry Lucas, forward-center

Karl Malone, forward

Moses Malone, center

Pete Maravich, guard

Kevin McHale, forward

George Mikan, center

Earl Monroe, guard

Hakeem Olajuwon, center

Shaquille O’Neal, center

Robert Parish, center

Bob Pettit, forward

Scottie Pippen, forward

Willis Reed, center

Oscar Robertson, guard

David Robinson, center

Bill Russell, center

Dolph Schayes, forward-center

Bill Sharman, guard

John Stockton, guard

Isiah Thomas, guard

Nate Thurmond, center-forward

Wes Unseld, center-forward

Bill Walton, center

Jerry West, guard

Lenny Wilkens, guard

James Worthy, forward

*

Notable players not on the NBA’s 50 greatest list:

Walt Bellamy, center

Adrian Dantley, forward

Alex English, forward

Artis Gilmore, center

Gail Goodrich, guard

Connie Hawkins, forward

Dan Issel, center

Dennis Johnson, guard

Gus Johnson, forward

Bernard King, forward

Bob Lanier, center

Bob McAdoo, forward

Dominique Wilkins, forward

George Yardley, forward