36. Steve Nash -- Nash edges out all of the great players I have identified in my run-up to the Top 36 primarily because he won 2 MVPs and then finished 2nd (in a year he arguably was better than his MVP years). Nash was a remarkable offensive player - top 20 all-time in Offensive Win Shares, Offensive Rating, Offensive Box Plus-Minus. 36th in VORP, 41st in Win Shares. So he has a ridiculously high peak and excellent longevity. His adjusted shooting was over 2,000, meaning as a shooter (ignoring his assists) he was far more accurate and impactful than league average.
Plus he always wins all Twitter polls I ever post, so people perceive him as a great player. Not that this is worth much, but when you are fighting for that last spot....
Why not higher? Only 3x All-NBA and one of the absolutely worst defenders of all-time.
35. Gary Payton - I am sorry, NBA Champion Gary Payton (2006 Miami). He also has 2x Western Conference titles. Payton is 28th all-time in Win Shares and 26th all-time in VORP. He has EIGHTEEN All-NBA designations (9x 1st team all-defense and 9x All-NBA (2-5-2). One of the greatest defenders of all-time. The Glove. While never top 2 in MVP (3-6-6-6-6-6) he was 6 times deemed a top 6 player by MVP voters (more than Wade, more than Pippen, more than Havlicek).
34. Patrick Ewing - Patrick Ewing was only 1x First-Team All-NBA, and his best MVP placements are 4-4-4-5-5-5. But his FIVE second-team All-NBAs were to Hakeem (3x) and David Robinson (2x) who, spoiler alert, are in my Top 20 players. So if the league had two centers like it had two guard and two forwards on All-NBA, Ewing would be 6x 1st team. His Knicks blew before he got there and he led them into a consistent power. If John Starks doesn't completely crap the bed in Game 7 1994, Ewing has a title and ESPN does a special on his Knicks instead of Hakeem's Rockets.
33. Dwyane Wade - Wade is, perhaps, a cautionary tale of rating guys too high assuming that they will have a reasonable run-out to their careers. I had him higher in 2015, and he is sinking, and by 2024 he may be the last one thrown overboard as the young guys enter the list. Wade was only 2x 1st team All-NBA. His best MVP placements are 3-5-6-7-8, which is remarkable because, if anything, I have always found that people tend to overrate Wade as a player (so you'd expect his awards to be higher). That said, he is a 3x champions and is top 25 in the stats that reward high usage players (PER, OBPM, VORP). He was an excellent defender when healthy. 22 Playoff Win Shares and 12 Playoff VORP.
32. Bob Cousy - Now, as the years have gone by, people have run down Bob Cousy due to his poor Advanced Stats and his low shooting percentages. His Adjusted Shooting (shooting versus league average) is better than either Isiah Thomas's or Jason Kidd's. He won 6 titles. We was 10x first-team All-NBA. His MVP placements are 1-3-4-4-6-6 which is remarkable for a point guard. He led the regular season in assists 8x, the playoffs 8x. He led the playoffs in points per game 3 times and once scored 50 points in a playoff game. He would have led the playoffs in PPG five times, but twice his team did not play enough games for him to qualify. Imagine 50 years from now if Steph Curry is considered and people say, "Well, gee, who did he play against?" Cousy v. Curry - 6 titles to 3; 10 All-NBAs to 3, led playoffs in scoring and assists more often. I mean, he probably has an argument for higher than Top 32. But I will concede that his advanced and shooting numbers are not the greatest and I will drop him off here.
31. Scottie Pippen -- 3x First team All-NBA, 6 titles, 8x 1st team All-Defense. Despite playing much of his career with Jordan, finished 3-5-7-9 in MVP. Basically Gary Payton with 6 titles. I never liked the guy, and I really still don't. But as Charlie Daniels Band used to say, "You play pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the Devil his due...."
30. John Havlicek - It would be his 81st birthday today. Hondo, like Cousy, really doesn't have the advanced stats or shooting stats to justify this high of a placement. Like Pippen, however, he has titles - 8 in his case. From 1969 to 1974, Havlicek was probably the second best non-center in the NBA (Jerry West - spoiler alert, West much higher up the list). He was 11x All-NBA (4x first, 7x second). Counting 1st and 2nd teams, Hondo is 19x some sort of All-NBA (11X All-League, 8x All-Defense).
UPDATE NOTE -
As you can see from comparing the old and new listings, Harden and Curry have moved ahead of these 7 guys. How far can they rise? Stay tuned.
Hoops Maven
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