Chris Paul starred in high school, averaging 25 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 steals in his junior year. and fought Bruce Lee in Game of Death, so his cool quotient is easily the highest of anyone on this list. Can you guess what it is? Anthony Davis is making a legitimate push to steal this title away but fellow Chicago native Dwyane Wade holds it for now. For his career, Spree averaged 18.3 points per game, which is easily the best mark for any player born in Wisconsin. An elite high school player, Elena Delle Donne led Ursuline to three consecutive Delaware state championship titles. It declares everything new the best and the biggest. He led the league in rebounding six times and was a 13-time All-Star who spent time with nine different franchises across the ABA and NBA, winning a championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. Ten Greatest Basketball Players Ever. Hes bigger than a good portion of the players in the NFL and yet he still moves as gracefully as the most nimble guards in basketball. Theres one player that always comes to mind when you think about excellence. Michael also earned the nicknames Air Jordan and His Airness. NBA MVP five times, 14 times NBA All-Star, ten times All-NBA First Team, nine times All-Defensive First Team, Defensive Player of the Year in 1988, etc. But before the WNBA, Levesque helped her high school win two Division I state titles. In college at North Carolina, he scored 40 points as a freshman in the ACC tournament, the most by any freshman in the tournament. Mims scored 80 percent of his teams points and nearly outscored Bangor himself, and he didnt score a point in the first quarter. Please wait for the page to reload. In the WNBA, she spent one season with the Cleveland Rockers before being traded to the Sacramento Monarchs and playing three more seasons. Discussions between basketball fans have been raging over who are the greatest basketball players of all time to take part in the history of this great game. In his senior year at Providence, DiGregorio helped the Friars reach the Final Four, where they lost to Memphis State. 1 pick in the draft. He was born in Takoma Park before eventually playing college ball at Maryland, where his No. Hes been a six-time All-Star and has put up some massive figures in his career so far, averaging 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The school won a back-to-back title, with a 31-0 record in Robertsons senior season. He helped lead his school to back-to-back basketball titles and is the only person to be a high school first team All-American in football, basketball, and baseball. It may or may not surprise you to know that Matt Bonner is apparently the only player in NBA history to have been born in New Hampshire. Brandon, a sub-6-foot point guard, averaged solid numbers for his career, including 13.8 points and 6.1 assists per game. He first tasted glory at Ames High School, leading the school to an Iowa 4A State championship in his junior and senior years. Stevie Franchise was a three-time All-Star with the Houston Rockets in the early 2000s, where he was a consistent 20-point scorer from the point guard position. Going back a little farther to the 1990s, there was TJ Caouette at Winthrop High, who had 63 scholarship offers before choosing to play at Villanova, and Andy Bedard, who went from Mountain Valley High to basketball greenhouse Maine Central Institute (the Montverde Academy of its time) before playing collegiately at Boston College and Maine. Before the two leagues merged in 1976, Haywood was a star with the ABAs Denver Rockets and Seattle SuperSonics, winning MVP honors as a rookie in 1970. Success at the WNBA level followed as she helped lead the Phoenix Mercury to their first WNBA title over the defending champion, Detroit Shock in 2007. Abdul-Jabbar played for UCLA from 1965 to 1969. However, once Jordan and the Bulls got past the Pistons, they went on to three-peat on two separate occasions, and Jordan cemented his legacy as the GOAT. Before he was a two-time All-Star with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Terrell Brandon was born and raised in Portland. Stockton is a 10-time all-star, six-time NBA All-Defensive Second Team, nine-time NBA assists leader and two-time NBA steals leader, among many other accolades. Ceballos led the Lakers in scoring in 1995 and was an All-Star. His Hall-of-Fame NBA career never included a stop with the New Jersey Nets but he played for six franchises, winning four titles with the Lakers and Heat. In the NBA, Robinson made his mark immediately, helping the team turn around a dismal record of 21-61 to 56-26. When people knocked him for not winning championships early in his career, they overlooked that he almost single-handedly took an overmatched Cleveland Cavaliers squad to the 2007 NBA finals at just 22 years old. In 1969, Abdul-Jabbar signed with the Milwaukee Bucks and began his storied professional career. He was a big part of the Bulls winning six championships in eight years, the NBA Finals MVP on all six occasions with two three-peats. Johnsons otherworldly passing set the stage for the Showtime L.A. Lakers teams that captured five championships during his 13 years with the franchise. West Virginia lost to California in the championship game during the 1958-59 season. After getting to the NBA, he became one of the best players and best shooters in league history with the Boston Celtics and forever changed the game. During his career as a center, Abdul-Jabbar was a six-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 19-time NBA All-Star, and an 11-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. Shaquille ONeal is the definition of dominance. While Hinrich had the longer career, Barnes is still working on his and has produced slightly better numbers so far. Hello, I am a passionate and dedicated writer with a deep love for Basketball. Even though he is in his 18th NBA season, the 36-year-old is playing at an MVP level and has said he wants to keep playing until his son, who is in the 10th grade now, is in the league. After that, he bounced around to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. I know I risk getting run out of my beloved Chicago on a rail for daring to suggest His Airness isnt the best player ever but, well, I just dont think he is. In his last NBA game on April 13, 2016, Bryant scored 60 points. The native of Ames was named Iowas Mr. Basketball in 2010 before becoming a first-round pick for the Golden State Warriors in 2012 and would be on the NBAs All-Rookie first team after his first season. Pros: Chicago Bulls (1987-98, 2003-04), Houston Rockets (1998-99), Portland Trail Blazers (1999-2003). Magic helped turn the Lakers team into "Showtime" and led Los Angeles to five NBA championships in nine seasons, including back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988, on his way to becoming the greatest showman the game has ever seen. He was amazing, but he had a lot of help, at least more than the last guy on this list. Born: Oct. 19, 1953, in Arkansas City, Kan. High school: Rancho High School (North Las Vegas, Nev.), College: Dixie State (1971-73), Arizona State (1973-75), Pros: Portland Trail Blazers (1975-80), Philadelphia 76ers (1980-82), San Diego Clippers (1982-83), Detroit Pistons (1983-84), Houston Rockets (1984-85). He led the franchise to its first championship in Los Angeles in 1972. Then she announced she would play basketball for the Blue Hens in 2009, leading the nation in scoring in her junior season in 2012. After several NBA summer league stops, Carroll went to Real Madrid, where he helped them win the EuroLeague championship in 2014-2015 and in May 2018. The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. Its time for BritannicaOK, one editor at Britannicato jump into the perpetually unresolved greatest ever in [insert sport here] fray. Like some other guys on this list, Chambers got to go back to his home state during his NBA tenure, spending a couple of seasons with the Utah Jazz in the mid-1990s. Lets wait to anoint Cooper Flagg as the best basketball player ever from Maine, Varsity Maine boys basketball Player of the Year, Flagg the third-best college basketball prospect nationwide in the Class of 2025. The state is behind only California, New York and Illinois in terms of producing NBA players, and has given us all-time legends like Wilt Chamberlain and Pistol Pete Maravich. Johnson went undrafted, but it did not deter him as he joined the Miami Heat for summer league. It was a toss-up between a pair of legendary Hall of Famers but Moses Malone edged out Allen Iverson for the crown of Virginias best baller. Indeedy. He was also named the NCAAs Most Outstanding Player those three years and was twice named College Player of the Year by The Sporting News. Not only does he routinely pull off feats that Ive never before seen, he has consistently evolved his game to fix the relative weak spots he was previously criticized for. Griffin was the first overall pick in the 2009 draft and, after sitting out his first season with an injury, made an impact right away with the Los Angeles Clippers, being named rookie of the year in 2011. He was born with great genes, and he worked hard to realize his incredible potential. Former rookie of the year Mike Miller is one of just five players from South Dakota in NBA history and he had the best career of any of them by far. At his peak, from 2004-2014, Wade was scoring 25.1 points per game to go with 6.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds, making him one of the most valuable players of his generation. Pete Maravich. In 1975, after six successful seasons with the Bucks, Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he played 14 seasons and also become one of the teams most revered players. Who else could represent Indiana but The Hick from French Lick? Larry Bird was born in West Baden Springs (population: 475), in Indianas French Lick Township and would make his home state proud by taking Indiana State to the NCAA championship game in 1979. Now, with three NBA championships under his belt, a scoring title, a Finals MVP and many other accolades, Wade is one of the greatest shooting guards in the history of the game. The one time in his 14-year career that he was not an All-Star was in 1970, a season in which an injured Chamberlain was limited to just 12 regular-season games and yet he still managed to will his team to the NBA finals upon his return. Adam Morrison became a star as a high school player in Spokane, despite an early diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. Akrons most beloved son has gone out of his way to remain an integral part of that citys fabric even long after becoming the most famous basketball player on the planet. Bill Laimbeer was born in Boston, raised in Chicago and went to high school in Southern California. Michael Jordan: Jordan is widely considered the greatest NBA player of all time. Before Michael Jordan became the greatest basketball player to walk the earth, he played at Emsley A. Laney High School in North Carolina. [This list was originally published in April 2014. Fantasy Basketball. Born: Jan. 15, 1951, in North Providence, R.I. High school: North Providence High School, Pros: Buffalo Braves (1973-77), Los Angeles Lakers (1977-78), Boston Celtics (1978). He was a player to watch in middle school and became a prodigy at St. Vincent-St. Marys High School in Akron, Ohio. In the NBA, Davis bounced around in his career, but had his most productive seasons in Boston, where he averaged 19.7 points per game in 2005 and 19.1 points per game in 2006. Already have a commenting profile? He led Mead to the title game, scoring 37 points with hypoglycemia. Before we crown him, though, lets at least let him get his drivers license. 1 overall to his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. This list may not reflect recent changes . From 1988 to 1999, Price became the second player after Larry Bird to reach the 50-40-90 club with 50 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent from the three-point line and 90 percent from the free-throw line. 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