And… this man didn’t get into the Hall of Fame until 2011. He doesn’t have his jersey retired by any team. He didn’t make the NBA 50th or 75th anniversary teams.
Why is he so underrated? He played his prime in the 1970s in the ABA, he then played for smaller market teams like the Bulls (wasn’t a big market team pre-Jordan), and Spurs. He didn’t make any All-NBA teams. His game wasn’t flashy. Although he was athletic in the ABA and a very strong player, when he came to the NBA he was much slower and more of a lumbering giant that clogged the lanes. He wasn’t memorable because his game wasn’t memorable. That’s unfortunate because he should be a top 50 player by all measures.
what if the ABA didn’t exist and all ABA players and blackballed players played in the NBA?
Thus you would have guys like Connie Hawkins playing in his prime in the NBA
Hawkins only had a short 3 year prime in the NBA due to injuries + being blackballed but to give you an idea of how good he was, he was able to take the 1970 Lakers with Wilt/West/Baylor to 7 games pretty much by himself and a young Gail Goodrich.
Roger Brown could have played in the NBA..
How good was Roger Brown? Well I would recommend watching the documentary Undefeated: The Roger Brown Story about him but every player who played against him said he was unguardable and that 1v1 he was on the level of Gervin, Kobe, Dr J etc so you can imagine how good he could have been in the NBA
and then there’s a few massive what ifs if the ABA didnt exist:
–Dr J’s draft rights were held by the Milwaukee Bucks. Dr J would have joined a team that already had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and Bob Dandridge. Imagine how dominant that would have been.
–Artis Gilmore (the ABA version of Wilt) would have joined a talented 70s Bulls team that was literally one piece away from a championship. He would have been the perfect compliment to Chet Walker, Bob Love, Norm Van Lier and Jerry Sloan. and what a defensive juggernaut that team would have been.
-The Cincinnati Royals would have acquired Mel Daniels (the ABA’s version of Willis Reed) and would have added him to a roster with Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. Mel’s ABA teammate Freddie Lewis would have stayed with the Royals as well. That would have been quite a team too.
-Dan Issel, a man who scored 27,000 points in his career, would have joined the Pistons, which already had Dave Bing and Bob Lanier at the time. That would have been a great team.
–George McGinnis would have started on the 76ers, which had Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham (who btw would not have jumped to the ABA either). Pairing McGinnis + Cunningham together would have resulted in TWO players who both won MVPs in the ABA and averaged 20/10/4 in their careers
–Rick Barry would not have jumped to the ABA and stayed with the Warriors instead. Given that he and Nate Thurmond took the 1967 76ers (one of the greatest teams all time) to 6 games when Barry was only in his second season, it’s likely that Barry and Thurmond would have been a huge obstacle for the Lakers and Bucks to face and might have won a ring or two had they stayed together.
Another basketball post! yay! In this post I want to talk about just how underrated ABA players.
Edit: I made a video about the top 10 underrated players here:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z9tVTAuHHA
For those of you who don’t know, the American Basketball Association or ABA, was founded as an alternative league to the NBA and at that time alot of players who felt that the NBA wasn’t paying them enough or too traditional took to the ABA which had a lot of modern rules like the 3 point range, a colored ball, etc
However, the ABA eventually merged with the NBA in 1976, but the NBA refuses to merge ABA player’s career records with the NBA, which is a disservice to former ABA players who later went to the NBA. As a result, several former great ABA players are underrated by the public both because ABA games were not readily televised back in the day, and because their career totals are not fully accounted for in the NBA.
Some of these great players include:
1. Mel Daniels
Mel Daniels
Has anyone ever heard of Mel Daniels? Well before I looked him up I haven’t. Probably the most underrated ABA player ever. He was a 6’9 Center that played for the Indiana Pacers, his awards include: 7 time ABA All Star 3 time ABA champion 2 time ABA MVP 1 time ABA all star game MVP 4 time All ABA first team ABA Rookie of the Year
and his career averages: 18.4ppg/14.9rpg/1.8apg
Now tell me how someone like that could be forgotten? A 3 time champion and 2 time MVP and averaged 15 rebounds a game?? My awards based ranking places him as the 30th best player of all time (!!), right between Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Arizin.
2. Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore
Along with Julius Erving, probably the greatest ABA player of all time. And yet he wasn’t elected to the Hall of Fame until 2011. How is this possible? His awards: 11 time ABA/NBA All Star 3 time ABA champion 1 time ABA Finals MVP 1 time ABA MVP 1 time ABA all star game MVP 5 time All ABA first team ABA Rookie of the Year
and averaged.. 18.8ppg/12.3rpg/2.4bpg
My awards based ranking places him as the 36th best player of all time (!!), right between Isiah Thomas and Dwight Howard. This guy should be a top 10 center of all time, but its always left out of conversations.
3. George McGinnis
George McGinnis
He was one of the most important players in the ABA along with Julius Erving, yet he isn’t even in the Hall of Fame yet! How is that possible? His awards:
6 time ABA/NBA All Star 2 time ABA champion 1 time ABA MVP 3 time All ABA first team
and averaged.. 20.2ppg/11.0rpg/3.7apg
How can a former MVP and 2 time champion who averaged 20/11 be forgotten?? My awards based ranking places him as the 39th best player of all time, right between John Stockton and Willis Reed.
4. Rick Barry
Rick Barry
Rick Barry does get acknowledge as one of the great small forwards, but I think not enough as he deserves. Look at his awards and stats:
12 time ABA/NBA All Star 2 time ABA/NBA champion 1 time NBA Finals MVP 9 time All ABA/NBA First Team NBA All Star game MVP NBA Rookie of the Year 1 time NBA scoring champion
and averaged.. 24.8ppg/6.7rpg/4.9apg
Rick Barry doesn’t get the credit he deserves. His stats and awards using my ranking makes him the 19th best player of all time, right between Karl Malone and Elgin Baylor. He has better stats than Kobe Bryant. He averaged 27 points a game in the playoffs. He lead the ABA AND NBA in scoring. He lead the Golden State Warriors to their only championship in 1975 almost by himself. He is one of the greatest players of all time, period, yet gets left off the all time nba fantasy draft. He is hardly ever mentioned by modern players. Most players place Scottie Pippen over him. Why??
5. Connie Hawkins
Connie Hawkins
Connie Hawkins was basically another Julius Erving, except not remembered as much. Why not? He started kind of late in the NBA, due to the NBA banning him for a scandal that he wasn’t a part of, but his awards include:
5 time ABA/NBA All Star 1 time ABA Finals MVP 1 time ABA MVP 3 time All ABA/NBA First Team
and averaged.. 18.7ppg/8.8rpg/4.1apg
My awards based ranking places him as the 41th best player of all time, right between Willis Reed and Chris Paul. Again, no one talks about him or mentions him but the dude averaged 25/12 in the playoffs.
Other forgotten former ABA players include
6. Spencer Haywood, a former ABA MVP, averaged 20/10 yet isn’t in the hall of fame.
7. Roger Brown, an all but forgotten ABA star that averaged 17/6/4 for his career.
8. Billy Cunningham isn’t mentioned that much either, even though he is a former ABA MVP, 21/10 player, and one of the top 50 greatest of all time.
9. David Thompson, a former ABA player who averaged 22/3/4, scored 73 points in a game before, and one of the greatest dunkers of all time, is often forgotten.
10. Dan Issel, a 22/9 ABA player who helped Gilmore win his championship but isn’t mentioned amongst the great power forwards.
