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THE 50 GREATEST PLAYERS IN NBA HISTORY

One of the most frequently asked questions that I encounter besides “how tall are you?” is either “who is the greatest player you’ve ever played against?” or “who is the toughest player you’ve ever played against?”  Depending on who's asking the question and their knowledge of basketball, I typically give a couple of different responses.  There's a big difference between “the greatest” and “the toughest.”

The game of basketball has been around for a long time now and it has evolved over the years from when Dr. James Naismith first tied a peach basket to an old barn post and the players were shooting two-hand set shots, to today where the game is played on a global scale with some of the finest athletes in the world.  There were great players back in the beginning of the game, just as there are great players now.  I don't know if it's ever totally fair to compare players from one era with players of another.  Periodically you see sports aficionados coming up with hypothetical computerized scenarios of, say, the great Green Bay Packers of the Sixties versus the New England Patriots of the new millennium.  It's impossible to really say who the best players are or which team would come out on top.  But it's a fun exercise and it creates a lot of heated conversation among the fanatics and all of us.

I was lucky to play during perhaps the greatest era of NBA basketball.  My NBA career spanned two decades essentially, 1980 – 1996.  Some of the greatest NBA players ever to play the game played during those years.  I remember as a rookie in 1980 marveling at the incredible Dr. J. and I’ve also been able to witness the new era of NBA basketball that was brought to us by Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.

All in all, I was privileged to play against over thirty of the all-time fifty greatest NBA players.  I'm going to go through the whole list and share my thoughts with you in regards to either actually playing against them or watching them while I was still a youngster.  They are listed in alphabetical order, and if you want to find the actual numerical order in which they are listed by the NBA, you can check out their website at NBA.com

 

 

Patrick Ewing

There's a very short list of players who played with the tenacity that Patrick Ewing played with throughout his entire career.  There have been those players who played hard and ferocious because they were trying to make up for lack of talent, but Patrick had tremendous talent and yet he still played with a fire and determination that inspired the rest of his team.

Patrick doesn't get nearly the recognition and respect due him for almost single-handedly carrying a New York Knicks team that was routinely overmatched in the talent department in all the key positions, except at center.  He became even more of a force to be reckoned with when he was coached by Pat Riley, who had a way of bringing out the best in all his players… or you just weren’t going to play, no matter how good you thought you were.

I was fortunate to be a teammate of Patrick Ewing for a short time during the 1991 - 92 season after I was traded to the New York Knicks from the Dallas Mavericks.  I got to see for myself up close and personal the preparation, determination, leadership, and consistency that Patrick brought to his team.  Patrick is one of the classic examples of an all-time great falling just short of an NBA championship ring, and it just goes to show you that sometimes it's the luck of the draw and that this is still a team game even when you have one of the top five players of his era.  

I mention from time to time throughout the book those players whom I would welcome into “the foxhole” if we had to fight our way out of any situation in the heat of battle.  Patrick Ewing tops the list!

 

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Happy Holidays!

James Donaldson