The 20th Anniversary SLN Top 50
Posted: September 4th, 2024, 12:26 am
The 20th Anniversary
SLN 50 Greatest Players of All Time
SLN 50 Greatest Players of All Time
TL;DR – so you like anniversary content, huh? Then how bout you smoke a whole CARTON of anniversary content and see how you like it then?!
In 1996, on the NBA’s 50th anniversary, David Stern announced the list of the NBA’s top 50 players of all time, based on voting from a “blue-ribbon panel of media, former players and coaches, current and former general managers and team executives.” That would probably be the right way to do this for SLN, but then I might have to share the RP, and God knows Taurean Prince isn’t going to supercamp himself.
Anyways, I did the same thing for SLN to honor our 20th anniversary. The major inputs to my list are career stats (both averages and totals, keeping in mind height and length of peak), FBB accolades, titles, and, of course, aura. Like the NBA’s Top 50, these players are not in any particular order, but I did group them into 5 primary categories because I felt like I needed some level of differentiation to think through it all.
After each player’s name, I’ve listed the team and year they retired, so you can go back and look at their career stats page. This took forever, but honestly it was a ton of fun and took me many times down memory lane. I think it’ll also be interesting for GMs that joined later on to learn a lil’ history!
S/o to @Josh and @tonger who gave me the base data set that I used to run some averages and rankings for stats!
Category 1: Ringless Stat-Stuffers & Award Whores
These guys may have been in bad situations, not PTP-ers, or just unlucky; they never got that hardware, but they made sure they did some damage on the stat sheet.
1. Jamal Mashburn (2008 Heat): His career 26.6ppg is good enough for 15th all time, his FTA rate is 10th all-time among wings, his 36.6ppg was by far the high water mark of his era, and he was an above average rebounder. Are these stats jumping off the page? No, but he was the first transcendent Inside+Outside scorer and gets in on crazy aura, especially given his significance as a part of the TP trade. Aura: 9/10
2. Ben Wallace (2010 Bullets): Bet you didn’t realize he never got that ring with the Bulls. A 2-time DPOY, the clear top Butt in town since Mutumbo, and the first to be drafted as a rookie and play a full career. Was old at draft and career was marred with multiple season-ending injuries, resulting in him falling outside the top 10 in all time rebounding and blocks, but when he was at his peak, he was the most sought after pair of cheeks in the league for nearly a decade. Aura: 7/10
3. Allen Iverson (2011 Hornets): 10th all time in PPG, 3rd best rebounding point guard of all-time despite his 5'11 stature. Did not go to practice, and thus his teams never won a title. Didn't particularly care about the league’s dress code either. Aura: Shoulda been way higher but weirdly wasn't.
4. Ray Allen (2013 Mavs): 5th all time scorer in SLN history, and second all time in rebounds by a SG (2 boards behind Manu!). Was borderline perfect until the day he retired, definitely was not his fault he didn’t get a ring, the clock just kinda ran out on him. Aura: 6/10
5. Eddie Jones (2007 Mavs): One of the bigger what-if stories in the league’s history. Was probably good enough to be top dog on a championship team, but he toiled night in and night out on Hawks squads that never quite had enough supporting cast for him. Top 10 all-time in steals and SPG. Aura: 4/10
6. Alonzo Mourning (2005 Heat): Perhaps most frequently remembered as the Center of a significant FRACAS around a veto’d trade in the league’s early days, Zo was a statistical monster who unfortunately wasted much of his prime under the woefully irresponsible GM-ship of Prad and Grant. Though he only played 10 seasons, he finished with career averages of 19 and 12 with 4 stocks and 45.2% from the field. Aura: enough that David Stern had to step in.
7. Terrell Brandon (2005 Lakers): The perfect FBB point guard, few remember that TB was the core of SLN’s very first league-landscape-shifting trade rape, and karma has been dealing the Timberwolves number 1 lottery picks ever since to make up for it. 7th best scoring average of all time, but alas, tied with Joseph “Beef” Roberson in career titles. Aura: 7/10
8. Kobe Bryant (2017 Sixers): The last man standing from the Creation Draft, Kobe is an absolute ironman and the league’s all-time leading scorer until Lebron completely obliterates that record in a few years. His career statline is nearly flawless, but somehow he never got talked about among the top tier of players at any point in his career, and a monster third deal made it almost impossible to build a championship team around him (not that Calvin would have been able to regardless). Aura: 2/10, and it’s fucking sad.
9. Lebron James (2017 Sixers): I would put him in the “too soon to tell what category” category if there was any chance DMo ever traded him, but seeing is that’s not going to happen and I don’t see a title in his future in Philadelphia, this is where he’s going to stay, I’m afraid. Irrefutably the greatest statistical player in the league’s history any way you slice it, with 4 MVPs to show for it and sadly zero hardware. Aura: 8/10
10. Tim Duncan (2016 Heat): His 18,725 rebounds lead the league all-time, with a gap of 3200 boards between him and Jermaine O’Neal in second place!?!?!?! Not to mention he’s second all-time in blocks. Lo and behold, the Sim God spoke the truth – Tim Duncan was probably better than DeSagana Diop lolz. Aura: -3/10 though. Jump hooks and bank shots didn’t drop any panties in 1997 and they sure don’t today.
11. Jeff McInnis (2009 Raptors): The greatest defensive point guard of all time – only 13th all time in steals, but obviously first in blocks and has 4 times as many as the second guy on the list. Was selected First Team All-Defensive every year he was in the league, along with some All Star and regular All-League selections. Fucked around and dominated at SG and backup 1-2 late in his career, but was a difference maker til the end. I hope he’s swatting Nick van Exel’s shots into the cheap seats up in heaven. Aura: 13/10.
12. Lamarcus Aldridge (2017 Sixers): He’s got the same title chances as Lebron, because that contract isn’t going anywhere even if Philly wanted it to. Aldridge is still only 32, and incredibly efficient as an inside scorer despite never surpassing A-/B- scoring ratings (10th among bigs all time in FG% and 7th in FT%). Never the best player in the league at his position and gets basically no discussion on the boards, but probably a top 3 or 4 PF for nearly every season he’s been in the league. Aura: 3/10
Category 2: Gilded Champions
Kinda the reverse of Category 1, these guys probably wouldn’t have made the list on stats alone but they’ve got the championship pedigree.
13. Shaun Livingston (2017 Suns): League MVP and Playoff MVP in separate years – a bizarre rating set but clearly effective in the right DC. An excellent rebounder and by far the lowest TOPG rate of any PG that played starter minutes his whole career, but decidedly less impactful in Outside offenses where his lack of 3PT volume hurt team TS%. Still a winning player and a legend of our time though! Aura: 6/10
14. Steve Nash (2008 Bucks): 3 titles, 2 playoff MVPs, 3 regular MVPs – he was really good in a time where there were very few competent point guards, but was he ever really in the conversation for the best player in the league? 24th all-time in scoring average among point guards, and despite being a pass-first PG, he’s only 9th all time in APG. I waffled on him a bit but ultimately decided he makes the list on the merit of his championship accolades, instead of among the full resume fellas. Aura: 2/10 Canadian, which is around 1.4/10 American.
15. Desagana Diop (2016 Grizzlies): Perhaps not technically the greatest big butt of all time, though certainly the purest. 2nd all-time in Stock to TO (Jonathan Bender is #1, go figure), 13th in rebounding and 7th in blocks. Because he was so purely defense-oriented, I’m not sure I can justify putting him in the “Full Resume” bucket, but he did earn himself 3 titles so there’s no question he’s hella gilded. Aura: Cheeks Per Dollar [edit: dollars per cheek, sorry Nick]
16. Jamal Crawford (2017 Rockets): third all time leading scorer in league history, 3rd in 3PT made and 8th in scoring average. People will say he was allergic to defense and rebounding so if I kept Lasagna Plop out of the “Full Resume” category then I gotta keep Crawford out too. But he probably could have led the league in those things if he wanted to because he is the Dr. Manhattan of basketball. Aura: the limit does not exist
17. Michael Finley (2010 Nets): A lot of years as top banana on horrible teams, and a lot of years as 2nd or 3rd banana on title-winning or title-threatening teams. Forgot about this guy, didn't you? Bet you didn’t realize he won two ships. Seemed like he was always the example of the missing piece for a team that couldn’t get over the hump…”if only they had gone out and gotten Michael Finley when he was on the block for 5 seasons, these guys would have a championship.” Aura: 4/10
18. Gilbert Arenas (2017 Rockets): I originally had Steve Francis in Category 1 and left Gilbert off the list because it felt like Francis at least kinda deserved his random league MVP award and Gilbert didn’t deserve his…but I can’t argue with Agent Zero’s 2 playoff MVPs, 2 titles and incredible longevity. Aura: 3/10.
Category 3: Full Resume Superstars
Probably in the conversation for the GOAT list at their position or the GOAT list overall.
19. Jason Kidd (2009 Knicks): The undisputed greatest PG of all time until TP decided that would no longer be the case. The beneficiary of many Pick’em shooting camps, he quickly grew from imperfect, defense-and-rebounding-oriented point guard to all-around two-way mega star. 2 titles, 2 MVPs, All League First Team, All League Defensive, you name it. Aura: 8/10
20. Rasheed Wallace (2012 Magic): The perfect FBB combo forward, sported F+ Handles for much of his career, which always looked hilarious next to his A+ Defense. Equally dominant at different points in his career at the 3, 4 and 5 positions, Sheed could do it all, and won himself 2 titles to go along with numerous accolades over an illustrious 17 year career. Aura: 9/10
21. Chauncey Billups (2012 Lakers): His hatred of passing kept him from the league MVP awards that guys like Kidd, Nash and Arenas earned, but for multiple years Billups was recognized by GMs as the #1 or #2 most valuable floor general in the league. 4th all-time in scoring among point guards, trailing Crawford, TP and Lebron, and also rocked flat A defense for most of his career to boot. Got his title and his playoff MVP award and finished out his 16 year career scoring an efficient 23 ppg with 2.3 TOs as a geezer. Aura: 7/10
22. Dirk Nowitzki (2013 Heat): The greatest pure scorer the league has ever seen, and the only player to ever average 40 ppg for a full season. 2nd all-time in ppg and 4th in total points with a trifecta of rings on his big German sausage fingers. Aura: 10/10
23. Kevin Garnett (2014 Pistons): The first multi-positional uber-star to grace the league (if we don’t count when Bobby played Jordan at the PF, that sick fuck). KG and Dirk hold the auspicious accolade of being two of very few non-point guards to win a playoff MVP. Pretty much broken from the first minute he set foot in the league after the creation draft. Aura: 9/10
24. Manu Ginobili (2014 Bullets): The greatest scoring guard of all-time, and probably the only guy to average 30ppg on perfect splits and then retire that offseason with a full tank of gas. He won a league MVP at SG, something that is basically unheard of in FBB, but that’s just how good he was. Every important stat was maxed out, no notes, right there in the all-position GOAT conversation. A shame he was mired on the Pacers for so long and only got one title. Aura: 9/10. I still remember hating his guts before draft, how far we've come
25. Shaquille O’Neal (2007 Heat): One of the very few one-team Hall of Famers. The most efficient big man scorer to ever grace our message boards. All-time leader in FG% for PF/C, including Dirk, Boban and Hakeem! Dominant and gamebreaking in a way that only Shaq can be, he led the Heat to the franchise’s lone title but fucked the Celtics in the ass many times more than that. Aura: 9/10
26. Dikembe Mutombo (2005 Hornets): And on the 6th day, Sim God created the First Butt. Was sadly already old-ish when the Creation Draft occurred, otherwise would have had much more sustained greatness. In his era, he was the top shotblocker and perhaps the second best rebounder after Shaq. His nearly 4 finger-waggin’ blocks per game for his first few seasons were head and shoulders above just about everyone else, which gave him massively outsized value and significant aura. Got his ring in his year 39 season playing key minutes for the Hornets and peaced the fuck out. Aura: 9/10
27. Michael Jordan (2000 Clippers): His peak was very short, and it was made even shorter by our missing 1998 data, but what a peak it was. His Airness got his ring, his playoff MVP, and even went back to the finals as a starting power forward. His ridiculous combination of physical attributes allowed him to play pretty much any position but PG effectively, especially in the early days of the league. Does he make it a little bit on brand equity? Sure, but if you tell him that, there’s a good chance you he’ll take it personally. Aura: 10/10
28. Hakeem Olajuwon (99 Blazers / 01 Kings): The Sim God’s one true son. The Dream was only with us for a short time, but he made sure that his presence was felt, with 2 league MVPs and 4 DPOYs. There are some players who we remember as great in their era, but perhaps their stats wouldn’t impress quite as much in 2017 (e.g., Dikembe Mutombo). Hakeem is not one of those guys. Just go back and look at the line he put up year after year, it was completely stupid. Aura: 12/10, gone too soon
29. Pau Gasol (2016 Hornets): Incredible two-way big who was a true-shooting monster in addition to a defensive anchor on those often-Finals-bound Grizzlies teams. He tailed off in his last couple seasons as many scoring bigs do, but he got that elusive ring and can rest easy on his yacht in Barcelona. Aura: 6/10
30. Yao Ming (2017 Hornets): A combination of incredible Jumpshot, Inside and Strength made Yao an instant impact player as a rookie. He was a terror in the playoffs for the Hornets, winning back-to-back titles by fouling out myriad opposing bigs and always hitting his free throws. All time leader in FTs made by a margin of 820, and he made them at a 93% clip for his career. It's pretty funny to see a guy that tall get fat in his post-playing career, his golf polos have to be 6XL. Aura: 9/10
31. Dwyane Wade (2017 Heat): Take Jeff McInnis’s defense and pair it with 95% of Manu’s offense, that’s D-Wade. He got multiple potential boosts during his career and they turned his rating set borderline pornographic. He’s the greatest shot-blocking 2-guard of all time by a factor of 2, and his career scoring would look a lot more like Manu’s if he hadn’t been asked to play SF for much of his career - shame! Earned 2 titles with 2 different teams, and doesn’t seem to be slowing down much in year 15. Aura: 7/10
32. Carmelo Anthony (2017 Knicks): The Charizard of Jamal Mashburn’s Charmander, despite playing in an era of stronger frontcourt defense. Totally maxed out offensively, an elite rebounder and careful caretaker of the basketball. #8 on the all-time leading scorers list, and just pumped out the best season of his career at age 33 for the best team in the league, so I expect he’ll finish his career well higher than that. Aura: 9/10
33. Chris Bosh (2017 Pacers): Mercurial early in his career, a few well-directed Pickem camps and a pinch of TC luck turned Bosh into a more consistent Inside/Outside monster. He still has a season here and there where he’s less than ideal offensively, but his value drawing free throws while blocking shots and rebounding is nearly unmatched. Aura: 6/10, pretty ugly tbh
34. Tony Parker (2017 Raptors): The greatest point guard of all time, made even greater by the fact that he got paid an average of like $9M a year for his career. #6 in scoring among all positions, with a preposterously low TO rate despite his immense volume. 3 ships with 3 different teams and the Playoff MVP each time, like clockwork. Aura: 8/10, -2 for being French and probably not wearing deodorant
35. Eddy Curry (2017 Magic): The closest thing to Shaq since Shaq; not quite as efficient offensively but a better FT shooter, stronger rim protector and with quite a bit more longevity. The centerpiece of the vaunted 2012 Rockets title team. 5th all-time in rebounding and 9th in blocks, one of, if not THE greatest NDL success story ever. Aura: 7/10
36. Eddie Griffin (2017 Clips): Like DWade, Griffin benefited from a high-variance stip and blossomed into a defensive wrecking machine. He ranged between dominant and passable on offense, but shotblocking and rebounding were always his calling card. #1 in blocks and 7th in rebounds historically, and still pumping out both in his 17th year. Aura: 9/10
37. Steph Curry (2017 Magic): As the prophets foretold, Steph’s skillset matches FBB perfectly. Even though he only has 9 seasons under his belt, he has numerous offensive and defensive accolades and one big fat championship in Denver. His 26.6 career scoring average on perfect splits is good enough for 11th all time, and he’s become an above average rebounder in his mid-prime too. Aura: 8/10
38. Jrue Holiday (2017 Pacers): The youngest player in this category was still a relatively easy choice in my book. At age 27, Jrue already has a title, a playoff MVP, a league MVP, multiple First-Team All League and All-Defensive selections, perfect ratings and perfect stats to his name. Seems to be getting better every year. Aura: 6/10
Category 4: Weird-Shaped Positionless Unicorns
Probably aren’t going to top any of the all-time lists stats wise, but these freakshows brought a combination of stats that offered totally unique, non-traditionally-shaped value in a single player that we may never see again. Many of them changed positions throughout their careers depending on team construction and allowed for GMs to do positively wacky things with their DCs.
39. Kris Clack (2015 Pacers): The prototypical 1-5 backup, if there is such a thing, I’m pretty sure Clack is the only guy to win 6th Man of the Year and First Team All League in the same season. Impeccable handles and efficient shooting to go along with stocks and boards, this former 27th overall pick did it all, and got himself a ring too. Aura: CLICK CLACK CLICK CLACK
40. Andrei Kirilenko (2016 Hornets): Twice DPOY and perennial Defensive First Team, AK47 owned the stock game like prime Nancy Pelosi. He never did win a title, but his 5 x 5 potential on any given night puts him in a value category of his own. His offense was solid, if low volume, and his rebounding exceptional from the 3. Aura: If he dies, he dies
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41. Tracy McGrady (2016 Spurs): Was probably a threat to make this list based on his Boston tenure alone, but his emergence as the best PF in the game during his time in Houston vaults him to certain enshrinement. 20 years of freakish stockiness, lockdown playoff defense on some of the league’s greatest wing scorers, 2 rings, a DPOY and some of the most outlandish boxes the league has ever seen. Aura: 10/10
42. Paul Pierce (2017 Grizz): Though he began his career as a mostly traditional wing with a bit of a turnover problem, Pierce is one of the craziest late-career SF development stories in the league’s young history. His stocks and rebounds went gangbusters while his jumpshot ticked up steadily every year for 20 seasons. Was the perfect foil for Dirk in Seattle, who never played defense or turned it over, because Pierce played enough defense and had enough turnovers for two players combined. Aura: who smeared poop all over this wheelchair?
43. Antawn Jamison (2011 Nuggets): The unsung hero of the Bucks back to back titles in 2000 and 2001, Jamison retired too early to make many of the all-time lists. Still, in his prime he was regarded as one of the most valuable players in the league due to his positional flexibility, inside and outside scoring, and preposterous FT rate. He would have led the league in scoring at 33ppg in 2002 had Mashburn not had his legendary nuclear season. Aura: 5/10
44. Shawn Marion (2014 Sonics): There was about half a decade when the valuable player in the league debate was between Marion and KG, and I think I was usually on the Matrix’s side due to his rookie max deal. Much like Rasheed Wallace, Marion sported a handle rating for most of his career that would get most students sent to summer school. Stocks, elite rebounding, and some of the best TO efficiency of all time, but alas, no title. Aura: 8/10
Category 5: Too Soon To Tell What Category But They Nice
Current players that have sustained greatness for several seasons and pass the eye test but haven’t finished their SLN journey so we can’t categorize them yet.
45. Greg Oden (2017 Jazz): Already 4th all time in RPG, and only 30 with the arrow pointed either flat or upwards. If he plays at a high level until his age 36 or 37 season (which seems possible), he has a legitimate chance to challenge Duncan as the league’s all time rebounder. Whether his offense is a plus, a minus or a neutral in the long haul remains to be seen, but the league’s current best shotblocker and rebounder simultaneously. Aura: 6/10
46. Kevin Durant (2017 Hawks): Statically could make this list as a positionless unicorn or a stat-stuffer, and accolades-wise he’s got everything but a championship to be considered a Category 3 Full Resume Superstar. If Lebron only counts as a point guard, you could probably make an argument that Durant is the current best 2, 3 and 4 in the league. Aura: 8/10
47. Jameer Nelson (2017 Jazz): He’s got 1, maybe 2 last hurrahs with the Jazz for a chance at that elusive title. While not gamebreaking in any single statistical category, Nelson was pretty much Jrue Holiday before Jrue Holiday (and ironically also picked outside the top 5). MVP, All League First-Team, All Defensive, yadda yadda. It don’t mean a thing if you don’t got that ring! Aura: 4/10
48. Kyrie Irving (2017 Mavs): A migraine and an orgasm all at once. The current best player in the league in terms of production, playing FBB’s most important position, and quite possibly the best FBB player I’ve ever seen. At age 25, he’s 5th all time in PPG, 2nd among PGs in FG%, and 9th among PGs in TOPG. He appears to be getting better each year as a defender and rebounder and could threaten double digit league MVPs at this rate. Aura: listens to audiobooks while asleep for extra learning.
49. Marvin Williams (2017 Jazz): The Pikachu of all the starter Pokemon. Williams, like many SFs, was a decidedly late bloomer, and is now challenging the likes of Durant and Melo in terms of his deadly combo of scoring volume + turnover efficiency. At age 31, his runway to a potential title has plenty of asphalt left, but might be dependent on Jameer Nelson’s retirement decision. Aura: 7/10
50. Al Jefferson (2017 Jazz): Kinda weird that all of these guys are on the Jazz – if they win this year, this category shrinks pretty quick. Al Jeff is Lamarcus Aldridge with more blocking and rebounding (11th in FG% among bigs all-time and 4th in FT%), and a bit more hope of securing a title before he retires. Despite rating declines, he’s still pumping out elite numbers at age 33 and should be safely near the top of a bunch of lists when all’s said and done. Aura: 5/10
Whew, that's it. Sound off on who you think should have made the cut or not!
my son! ZW we did it