NBA Next 25 Jerseys/Autosby wamk - 19 cards (Last updated on Jun 15, 2013) |
12. 2003-04 Fleer Focus - Home and Aways #6HA Jason Kidd
Easy choice for this list. 1 ring, 10 All Star, 5x NBA assist leader, 2 Gold Medals, 9x 1st or 2nd Team All Defense, 100+ triple-doubles, only player in league history with 15,000 pts, 10,000 assists, and 7,000 rebounds. One of 4 guys with at least 10,000 assists, he's 2nd all time in steals (John Stockton). He's also 56-0 in International play. Along with Magic and Wilt, he's the only player to average a triple-double in multiple playoff series. He is also the second player to average a triple-double for an entire postseason. |
14. 2005-06 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection - Ultimate Game Jerseys #UJ-SN Steve Nash
Nash will breeze onto the Top 75 team. He has 2 NBA MVP, 8 All Star, 5 Assists titles, and won the All Star skills competition twice. He'll finish his career as one of the best in NBA history with FT percentage, 3 pt percentage, assists, and assists per game.
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15. 2012-13 Panini Totally Certified - Totally Blue Memorabilia #64 Dirk Nowitzki
1 ring, 1 MVP, 1 Finals MVP, 11 All Star, 3 Point shooting Champ, first Euro player to start in an NBA All Star game, only player in NBA history with 150 3PT and 100 BLK in same season, 1 of 4 in NBA history to have NBA career avg of 25 PPG and 10 RPG, 1 of 3 in history to have 1000 3PT and 1000 BLK in career, great FT shooter, and was a stud in Europe before coming to the NBA. A lock to make the Top 75 team.
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17. 1999-00 Fleer Mystique - Feel the Game Memorabilia #NNO Gary Payton
"The Glove" should make the Top 75. Easily the best defensive guard ever (he's the only PG to ever win Defensive Player of the Year), was a 9-time 1st Team defensive player, won 2 Gold Medals, 1 ring (with Shaq and the Heat), 9 All Star, probably one of the most complete players at the guard position. He was also an incredible trash talker-his style was to talk to everyone on the opposing team except the guy he was guarding. Dude was also an iron man, missing only 25 games in his 17-year career. He's the only player in NBA history to have 20,000 pts, 5,000 rebounds, 8,000 assists, and 2,000 steals.
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18. 2006-07 Bowman Sterling #28 Dennis Rodman
"The Worm" makes the list easily-5 rings, 2 Defensive POY, 7 times 1st Team All Defense, 7 time Rebounding Champion (consecutively, no less!), unquestionably the best rebounder of his era. He dove for the loose balls, had an uncanny ability to guess where the rebound was going, was a great passer, and couldn't care less about scoring. When paired with a Coach that understood how to manage him, Rodman thrived. Dude could ball. |
Comments
Interesting list you having going...I've pondered this myself. it's hard to narrow down the top 75 players in a league that's seen thousands, but some stand out as better than the rest. I'm also looking forward to seeing what cards you choose to represent them.
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Tanks, Billy. Some are no-brainers (Kobe, LeBron, Garnett, Duncan), some are easier to pick/guess when you look at their body of work. Some will have to be flat-out guesses, as the Top 75 won't be announced for another 8-10 years. THOSE are the tough ones!
I did start with the listing of all-time All Stars, and compared who made the Top 50, with some of the current guys, and some of the better guys from the past. Guys like Alex English were probably before a lot of current NBA fans' time, but his accomplishments and stats speak for themselves.
Stay tuned for more additions!
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Forgot to ask-any wrong choices I have made so far? :)
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I think you're right on so far! The one that stands out for me that is not here yet is Jason Kidd...second all time in steals and assists, 3rd in triple doubles, almost single handedly took the Nets to the NBA finals two years in a row from being a lottery team the year before, and with a career due to be 21 seasons, one of the longest lasting players in NBA history. I unfortunatly didn't get to see English or Gilmore or lots of others playing live, but seeing the footage after the fact, and reading the stats, I agree with you that they will make the list for sure.
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Billy: I've got Kidd on my list as well. His numbers might be somewhat inflated due to his long career, but that also means he stayed productive in his later years, right?! He's one of those guys that never jumps in your mind as a dominant player, but when you review his body of work, numbers don't lie.
I saw Gilmore play on the backside of his career. He was of that era where if you drove the lane, you expected to get hit, and hit hard to earn that layup. Today's finesse big men would get manhandled by Gilmore today.
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Alex English was not the best scorer in the eighties, forget a guy by the name of Michael Jordan?
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