But George was ultra-competitive, and he already knew what I had done earlier in the day. If it had been any player other than 'The Iceman,' I wouldn't have even bothered. "When I finally made it home, I scanned the dial on the radio and attempted to pick up the San Antonio versus New Orleans broadcast.
In the final game of his 1977-78 campaign, Gervin dropped 63 points to wrap up his first scoring crown.ĭavid Thompson, who finished second that season, recounted his experience with Gervin's 63-point game after scoring 73 earlier in the day (h/t NBA.com): Gervin may have been more of a lightning bolt than a shock to his new league.ĭuring his 10-year NBA run, Gervin's 26.2 points per game trailed only Adrian Dantley's 26.5. And he won four scoring titles, topping out at 33.1 points in 1979-80. They always say Magic and Bird saved them. I think the ABA merger really helped the foundation. "It was the best thing that could happen to us when we made that merger," Gervin told The Post Game's Jeff Eisenband. And his transition-along with those of his ABA contemporaries-to the NBA helped energize the league.
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Even with his first four professional campaigns omitted, the Iceman did enough to get into the top 10. His ABA numbers across four seasons were great, especially on the boards, but this is an NBA list. Per 75 Possessions: 26.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.9 blocksīefore we dive into George Gervin's resume, it should be noted that his numbers come exclusively from his NBA seasons: 1976-77 to 1985-86. Per Game: 26.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.8 blocks Injuries eventually derailed McGrady's Hall of Fame career, but that peak stacks up favorably against those of most NBA wings. Over his first four years there, Houston was fifth in the NBA in simple rating system (a metric that combines point differential and strength of schedule). Then, he was off to lead the Houston Rockets. He led the league in scoring the next season, as well. "But of primary importance has been his increasing sense of leadership." " Besides his scoring, McGrady has drawn raves for his overall usefulness, adding significant rebounds, assists and an assiduous defense to his game," Ira Berkow wrote for the New York Times in 2003. That season, on top of the passing and work on the glass, McGrady grew into a star. His 9.8 offensive box plus/minus from that season is seventh all-time. He averaged 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and a league-leading 32.1 points per game. His 2002-03 box plus/minus of 9.7 ranks 30th all-time among individual campaigns. In the heart of that run, McGrady had a season for the ages. Tracy McGrady had a seven-year run in which he was one of the NBA's best players.įrom 2000-01 to 2006-07, T-Mac averaged 26.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.7 threes, 1.5 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. In that stretch, his 6.5 box plus/minus trailed only those of Kevin Garnett (7.7), LeBron James (6.8) and Tim Duncan (6.6). Per 75 Possessions: 23.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.4 threes, 1.5 steals, 1.0 blocks Per Game: 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.2 threes, 1.2 steals, 0.9 blocks One final housekeeping note: We'll consider Basketball Reference the arbiter of positional determinations for this piece and subsequent top 10s for small forwards, power forwards and centers.Īnd with that out of the way, let's do this. But intangibles have to be factored into these conversations as well. And you'll see pace- and playing-time-adjusted numbers (in the form of "per 75 possessions"). It's largely subjective but influenced by the advanced numbers available for a given player's era.Ĭatch-all metrics like box plus/minus (available from the 1973-74 season on) and win shares per 48 minutes came into play. The criteria here will be the same as that used to determine the top 10 point guards. Some omissions were analytically painful. And this particular exercise caused serious consternation over who would be No. There are legitimate arguments for three different players to snag the No. That doesn't mean a list of the NBA's 10 best shooting guards of all time doesn't offer plenty of intrigue, though.
After all, Michael Jordan's closest competitor in the GOAT debate is a forward by the name of LeBron James. In contrast with the discussion on point guards, there isn't a lot of suspense regarding this question.
Who's the greatest shooting guard of all time?
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