by Patrick ‘Rey’ Reynell
Pickin’ Splinters has concluded its voting for adding fifteen players to the original 50 greatest NBA players list. You can view the voting here:
The selection process was simple. Pick any players past or present who you would deem worthy to join the original 50 greatest players.
Without further ado, here are the Pickin’ Splinters additions to make the NBA’s greatest 65 players:
Tim Duncan
Kobe Bryant
Bob McAdoo
Adrian Dantley
Artis Gilmore
Chet Walker
Allen Iverson
Maurice Stokes
Alex English
Dennis Johnson
Steve Nash
Gary Payton
Calvin Murphy
Dominique Wilkins
LeBron James
I think I could put together a pretty good pick-up game with those fifteen. And who’s to say we can’t start thinking about the next five for the NBA’s 70th anniversary celebration? Plenty were voted for but did not quite make the cut for 65. We also have a handful of young stars who will merit a spot in this discussion several seasons from now.
Allow me to consider our next 5 additions: Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett, and Reggie Miller. I’m probably missing some worthy old-schoolers like Dan Issel and others, but the four current players will be hard to argue against in another six or seven seasons.
This has been a great summer conversation. Thank you to all involved in the voting.
Here’s hoping Curry has a good enough career to be included somewhere along the line.
Wait. Where’s Ray Allen??
I have Ray Allen with only one vote.
Great list. Kinda feels “wrong” that D Wade is not in the Top 65. But we all had a chance to vote. I see he’s “on the wrong side of the bubble” with Kevin Garnett and Reggie Miller. IMO, two guys on the bubble who made the cut somehow are Calvin Murphy and Dom Wilkins.
Thanks, Rey!
Casey – I’m going to address your Pippen comment here.
I guess I need to know your case against him to comment. Defensively, who was better? A 6’8″ wing who is sixth all-time in steals. When MJ was gone, I think he was top 5 in MVP voting for both of those years. The Bulls did go to the 2nd round both years MJ was gone, too. I think they even took the Knicks to Game 7 one of those years.
Thanks, Wally. It does seem wrong, but if we do this again in 2 years, DWade is going to be one of our top 5 to go in first without a doubt. I think most of us were voting with our heart anyway.
Rey —
No problemo on Wade …. and I’m totally with you on Pippen. He was a GREAT player. My full response to Casey’s suggestion otherwise is posted on “Open Thread”.
Good job Rey. Good basketball discussion in the heat of summer…not bad!
Pretty good list.. Watched Dennis Johnson a lot.. he was good but don’t remember him being top 65 good. Stokes, a legend but not enough playing time.
Boy does that Evan Turner look smooth !! Look out !
Thanks, Joe. I think a lot of us voting had a DJ vote in our hearts. I’m not a Celtics fan, but I have a soft spot for a quality PG that can run a team and play some great D. Stokes might have had a short career, but gosh darn he made the most of it. Who knows what he would have accomplished had he played another ten seasons.
I like Turner’s chances, too, even though I heard he had a rough summer.
I am probably not the one to make the call, but of all the guys we added, Johnson was not a “heart” pick for me. He was the ’79 finals MVP. He played on three title teams. He had 5,499 career assists to 2,448 turnovers. He was better than 2:1 for his career. He was not a guy who was going to blow you away with athleticism. He was a basketball player first, athlete second. We would be hard pressed to find anyone in the history of the game with a better court sense.
Oh yeah, and Johnson was a 6-time 1st team all-defense.
Scottie Pippen’s career stats (per game):
points: 16.1; assists: 5.2; rebounds 6.4; steals 2.0, plus he was 8-time 1st team all defense.
Dennis Johnson career:
points: 14.1; assists: 5.0; rebounds 3.9; steals 1.3
As great as DJ was, Pippen was even better. We forget that he was really a “point-forward” … maybe the first of those. Who woulda thought he out-assisted someone like DJ??? And look at the rebounds and steals.
No question …. Top 50. 😉
Just realized that Paul Pierce’s name did not come up at all in this discussion. Any thoughts?