-#21 was won by Tim Duncan
-#22 will probably end up a race between two players
-You can vote for players in any way you want: On-court impact, Off-court impact, championships etc.
Nominees:
1. Elgin Baylor (1958-59 to 1971-72)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 24.6 | 12.2 | 3.9 | .494 | Nr | Nr | 22.7 | .148 |
* Elgin Baylor is one example how life is unfair. People call Jerry West Mr. Clutch and Baylor a loser. They played for the same teams that lost in the Finals year after year.
Elgin isn't mentioned enough, but then again who other than Russell, Wilt and Oscar is. At least from that era.
He was a big rebounder. A 6-5 guy to get almost 20 rebounds a game one season is crazy. Nevermind the era, it's crazy. He was 6-5 people!
Dude had a season where he averaged 34.8/19.8/5.1 on 28.2 PER and a .227 Ws/48. WHAT? How is that season not mentioned in the greatest individual seasons in history? How ? A perimeter player in that era to post a PER as high as that? Even Oscar couldn't do it, and he had a triple double season.
Elgin was just a victim of playing in the wrong time for a wrong team. His prime was unreal. It didn't last long, which hurts him a lot, but for around 4 and a half years he was the best perimeter player in league history (to that point of course, I just want it to sound better).
2. Rolando Blackman (1981-82 to 1991-92)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 20.2 | 3.7 | 3.3 | .559 | 113 | 113 | 17.2 | .114 |
* So Blacman wasn't the best defender, wasn't the best rebounder and was an average passer for his position. Elgin ruined other man (perimeter players) for me (for today).
Why is he even on the list ? I don't know, but I already entered the stats and started writing about him, so I might as well finish it.
To be fair, Blackam was a very good offensive player. He has 4 straight seasons with a Ortg 115 or higher, but never cracked the 120 mark. Nothing wrong with that. 113 Ortg for his career is damn good.
He was around a 20 point per game scorer in his prime, and had some efficient years shooting the basketball. All in all, he does deserve to be on the list, but how will I respect other perimeter players on the list after Elgin ?
3. Clyde Drexler (1983-84 to 1997-98)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 21.3 | 6.4 | 5.9 | .547 | 114 | 105 | 21.1 | .173 |
* Here is how. Elgin's only nemesis. Not as good, but people watched him play, so he poses a serious threat.
Peak Drexler was a top 5 shooting guard of the three point era. He was. But the rivalry to Michael Jordan was a media thing. He's great, but come on.
23/6.5/6 on 115+ Ortg and .550+ TS%. Yep, that sounds like prime Clyde. What an in-game dunker by the way.
Drexler was better for a longer time, but in their prime, Baylor was the man.
4. Michael Redd (2000-01 to 2011-12)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 21.4 | 4.3 | 2.4 | .558 | 113 | 111 | 19.5 | .134 |
* Damn you injuries, just as he peaks and has the best years of his career, you have to fuck it up.
What type of player was prime Redd? Well, sort of like Richmond, but a tad better.
Redd had some truly good seasons in Milwaukee, it's funny how quickly people forgot about them. 24 points on 115 Ortg, a PER of 22 and .580 TS% doesn't happen that often.
Like Richmond, his teams never accomplished anything (he played 6 games in 2001), but he was still a deadly shooter and a good offensive player in his prime.
5. John Drew (1974-75 to 1984-85)
| P/36 | R/36 | A/36 | TS% | Ortg | Drtg | PER | Ws/48 |
| 25.2 | 8.4 | 2.0 | .538 | 107 | 102 | 20.7 | .152 |
* Not that anyone actually reads what I write, but do you remember when I called Dominique a ballhog in the previous number ?
This guy is even better at it. Possibly the best.
How about leading the league in USG% for two straight seasons (could've been 5 but they didn't have that stat in his first 3 seasons) with a AST% lower than 10%. In fact, it's lower than 10% for his whole career. His USG% is higher than 30%, for his career !
Let's compare that to some ballhogs.
Iverson obviously comes to mind, but he was a guard. He had some seasons where his AST% was more than three times higher than that of Drew. 3 times ! Allen Iverson ! but that's now a fair comparison, since he is a guard.
Adrian Dantley? Other than being miles ahead in efficiency, Dantley has a career AST% of 13%. That's better than Dominique Wilkins. How about Bernard King ? Even better than Dantley in AST%. Alex English? Nope. Trust me, it's hard to find anyone to bring to the discussion.
Drew was a big volume scorer for his whole career, but only had one season that was elite level. He led the league in OBPM that year. He was also a good offensive rebounder in his career and a rebounder in general, so that added something to his overall value.
He still is the perfect definition of a ballhog.
Other Notable Player Shoutout
Matt Barnes wore it for a good chunk of his career, always being a physical guy. Jim Chones was a double double center in Cleveland during the 70s. He got in a lot of foul trouble. Rudy Gay continues to be one of the most overrated wing players in the league today. Poor offensive rankings, doesn't shoot well, doesn't defend that good and doesn't get to the line that much, but has the talent to be good at everything. Gus Gerald was an okay forward that feels the trade pain Luke Ridnour is experiencing. Taj Gibson has been a hustle role players, and is good at some things. Rod Higgins peaked at Golden State and was a great offensive player there. Bernard King wore it before he became one of the best offensive players in the league. Kevin Loughery was a combo guard that took a lot of shots while not being very efficient. That is such a cliche that I bore myself to death while coming across players like him. Ed Macauley wore it in Boston and was a surprisingly bad rebounding center for that era. Good player otherwise. One of the best offensive players of that era. Khris Middleton is a good player that just got a big paycheck from Milwaukee. He still has some room to improve. Johny Newman wore it in some teams, as he was a bench scorer for most of his career. Sonny Parker had some really decent years in Golden State. Ricky Pierce was a scorer. A very good scorer. An underrated scorer on that underrated Milwaukee 80s teams. He has a 116 Ortg for his career. Also had some .600+ TS% years. Tayshaun Prince was a perfect fit for the Pistons. Solid on both ends and didn't have trouble not being the star. He could've gotten a bigger opportunity to pound his stats somewhere else, but stayed in Detroit during his prime. Speaking of Detroit, John Salley was a part of probably my favourite team of All-time: The Bad Boys. Well, if not the favorite, they surely are top 5. Tiaggo Splitter was a very good player in San Antonio. It remains to be seen if it was a result of their system. Probably. Andrew Toney was the so called best player Charles Barkley ever played with. I just can't see why. He was a good scorer, but come on. Barkley played with Dr. J, Moses, KJ, Olajuwon, Scottie...Then again, Barkley is famous for saying dumb things that make you shake your head. Larry Drew was a solid scoring point guard. Larry Nance is underrated. He was an efficient offensive player and a decent rebounder. Nance has 6 seasons where he scored 18 points per game or more, his career Ortg is 116 with 125 being the peak number, and his TS% is good. Dave DeBusschere was a part of everything meaningful that ever happened in New York. He won two titles and drafted Patrick Ewing.
It is literally impossible to read this in any other voice.