Former NBA greats who are forgotten.

[JakeTheDog]

I love the Boneyard where forgotten NBA greats range from Ric Smits and John Starks to Sandy Koufax and Kevin Ollie.

 

[ktuck911]

MAGIC JOHNSON! Everybody seems to forget how he was the one how was the lead of The Lake Show

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I guess I don't know what "forgotten" means. These guys were all big stars and immediately come to mind when considering the 80s (Ice Man going back a little earlier).

This is the big question. I have some teen relatives that play NBA2K, and some of the editions have classic teams that you can play, so a lot of the younger fans actually know a lot more about the stars of the past than most people would think. They have all played the 80's Celtics and Lakers teams, and most have tried the Pistons teams from that era too.

Any kid who plays NBA2K classic teams (or whatever it is called) will know who Dominique Wilkins is. He is definitely not forgotten by the younger generation that plays NBA2K. Wilkins also comes up any time a player blows out his Achilles, since to this day, Wilkins is the only player in NBA history to come back better from an Achilles injury than he was before. It is kind of weird that Wilkins did that, because Wilkins was not renowned for his work ethic in his playing days.

I would say that Bernard King is a little forgotten because he played on such bad teams his whole career, and he had that major knee injury right in his prime. He was amazing to watch on the Knicks before his knee injury.

Sidney Moncrief played on good, not great, Bucks' teams but also had his prime diminished by injuries. He would have been amazing in the modern NBA.

Alex English is definitely a forgotten player, and he wanted it that way. He was unstoppable offensively in his prime, and was a class act.

Chambers is forgotten because everyone hated him. Players of that era truly hated him, especially his teammates. I remember one fist fight with Dale Ellis, but there were others.

One player that people still remember because he had a memorable name, Moses Malone, is still not remembered for just how awesome a player he was in his prime. The 76ers went to two NBA Finals with Dr. J before Malone showed up, and lost both. They barely got out of the second round in 1982. Then Malone showed up, and they were a wrecking crew in 1983, and Dr. J had already lost a step by that point in his career. Malone's domination of Kareem in the 1983 NBA Finals goes down in one of the all time lopsided outcomes from two great players going head to head. Malone also took a bad Houston team to the 1981 NBA Finals against the Celtics. Malone is truly one of the best of all time, and most young fans barely know who he is.

Clyde Drexler is another one that younger players may know, but they won't know how incredible a player he was. He could do almost anything, but he never had the team around him to really challenge for a ring. The 1992 team was the best one he had, and it was good and took the Bulls to 6, but it had some holes.

He was also snakebit by history. He was almost traded to Houston along with the 2nd pick of the 1984 draft for Ralph Sampson. Houston turned down a trade that would have given them the first two picks of the draft, which would have been Olajuwon, and then, since they wouldn't have needed a center with an injury history (Sam Bowie), they would have picked Michael Jordan with the second pick. Can you imagine how incredible that team would have been for the next 10 years with Michael, Clyde and the Dream?

The second weird thing that happened with Drexler was Arvydas Sabonis. Portland had the rights to Sabonis in the late 80's, and even got him to Portland for training in 1988, but he went back to Europe to play in Spain. Sabonis was amazing in his prime. There is no question in my mind that Portland would have won multiple titles if they could have gotten Sabonis in 1988. By the time he got to Portland in 1995, he was 30, his knees were shot, and his body was pickled in vodka. He was still a very good player, but nowhere near what he was in the late 80's. Instead, Drexler had to try to win titles with Kevin Duckworth at center, and that wasn't going to happen.

 

[nomar]

There is no rhyme or reason to the posts in this thread. I don't want to pick on anyone in particular but I'm just seeing a lot of All Stars that literally 90-95% of the people here haven't "forgotten."

I suppose it's dependent on age to a large extent, although as a kid I was obsessed with sports history and knew all about the MLB, NBA and NFL players of lore. And that was without the internet.

It's not happening, but I think the only way to test this is by putting all of these players' names in front of 1000 18-24 year old kids and seeing how they register.

 

[ucp990411]

Bob Gibson?

Absolutely one of the best. A good argument could be for several pitchers. Gibson, Catfish, Palmer, Seaver, Maddox, Rivera, Marichal just to name a few. My point was if you asked me who I thought were best 2 my answer would be Koufax and Pedro. In that order.

 

[Northbound]

James Worthy

And of course Ken Reeves, Coolidge, Hayward and CJ. But to be fair inly Ken was an NBA vet.

 

[Dogdeacon]

One of my sons is 15 and a huge basketball nut. We were talking about gyms & I mentioned working out a gym called the Sky Club in Boston in late 90's and Dino Radja (a forgotten player yet somehow kind of the 2nd best Celtic for a few yrs) would show up with a trainer and listlessly go thru a workout, would bench 135 for 6 or so slow reps & stop. Dino could have been better.

Anyway, he knew who Radja was - had used him a few times in NBA2K.
Also there's a bunch of online trivia games he & his buddies play where you are rewarded from coming up with various obscure nba players, Immaculate Grid is one that I've tried.

 

[Waquoit]

James Worthy

And of course Ken Reeves, Coolidge, Hayward and CJ

Ken Reeves and Warren Coolidge both played at BCU. Coolidge blew out his knee, lost his scholarship and ended up being a janitor at St Eligious Hospital.

 

[superjohn]

One of my sons is 15 and a huge basketball nut. We were talking about gyms & I mentioned working out a gym called the Sky Club in Boston in late 90's and Dino Radja (a forgotten player yet somehow kind of the 2nd best Celtic for a few yrs) would show up with a trainer and listlessly go thru a workout, would bench 135 for 6 or so slow reps & stop. Dino could have been better.

Anyway, he knew who Radja was - had used him a few times in NBA2K.
Also there's a bunch of online trivia games he & his buddies play where you are rewarded from coming up with various obscure nba players, Immaculate Grid is one that I've tried.

Dino Radja is in the Hall of Fame, his approach worked pretty well for him.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

There is no rhyme or reason to the posts in this thread. I don't want to pick on anyone in particular but I'm just seeing a lot of All Stars that literally 90-95% of the people here haven't "forgotten."

I suppose it's dependent on age to a large extent, although as a kid I was obsessed with sports history and knew all about the MLB, NBA and NFL players of lore. And that was without the internet.

It's not happening, but I think the only way to test this is by putting all of these players' names in front of 1000 18-24 year old kids and seeing how they register.

But if those kids play Madden or 2K, or whatever the baseball game is, they will know a lot of the old-timers too. Video games are great for pulling forward the history of the games. For a player to be "forgotten", they had to have been on a secondary team (like Moncrief or English) that was good but not great, and didn't make the video game, or at least wasn't on a team that anyone wants to play in the video game.

 

[UCLJ0211]

A more recent one is Gilbert Arenas. His off the court troubles probably contribute to people forgetting about him.

 

[superjohn]

A more recent one is Gilbert Arenas. His off the court troubles probably contribute to people forgetting about him.

Arenas is such a weird one, on his way to a Hall of Fame career and then decides to act like a gangster. Ja Morant is on the same path.

 

[ucp990411]

Chuck Connors Dave DeBusherre and Gene Conley. All played baseball and basketball

 

[Samoo]

Is Bill Walton on the list? Is he an "all time great"?

Certainly not forgotten. You can't turn on the television during basketball season without seeing his mug.

 

[Samoo]

Bobby Jones
Robert Parish
John Starks
Manu Ginobli

Inhale to the Chief!

Kiki Vandeweghe

 

[dennismenace]

Been a baseball fanatic since the early 60's through today and the best 2 pitchers during that time are Koufax and Pedro in my opinion

I like Koufax and Bob Gibson, neither of whom I saw very often because they were NL. Gibson was a fearless terror on the mound. Pedro right up there as well.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Dino Radja is in the Hall of Fame, his approach worked pretty well for him.

Wow, didn't think someone from Radja-stan would respond! I did say he was the 2nd best Celtic for a short time (and actually typed best at first but didn't want to spark a depressing debate about whether Dino or David Wesley was their most important player).
Can we at least agree it is not the bodybuilding hall of fame.

a bit dough-ee

 

[AZHuskiePop]

I

He had his issues but he was a straight hooper: Michael Ray Richardson

I also enjoyed Rip’s Hamilton’s Detroit teams that once beat the mighty Lakers for an improbable title .
Chauncey Billups
Tayshaun Prince ( made Rip look fat )
Raysheed & and Ben Wallace

 

[Waquoit]

A more recent one is Gilbert Arenas. His off the court troubles probably contribute to people forgetting about him.

KEA busted him in college.

 

[JSB60]

George Gervin, Nate Archibald, Chet Walker

 

[ktuck911]

Caron Butler wasn't too shabby either.. solid NBA career

 

[RichZ]

The Knick’s great’s
Willis , Clyde, Earl the Pearl , Dave Debusschere

Monroe will always be a Bullet in my mind.
Which brings us to Wes Unseld, who could be the captain of the team of forgotten greats.

 

[BlueJayFan]

David Thompson and Sidney Moncrief were my two entries but both have been mentioned here.

I’ll add John Brisker, for being both really really good, as well as the maybe the meanest player in history. Died in Uganda where he was likely a mercenary in the late 70s.

As an off topic aside, I collect autographed sports cards and a signed Brisker Topps card is probably 4 figures.

 

[Deepster]

How is Bill Walton forgotten? Announces games on ESPN and had a 30 for 30 this summer.

Because he’s known as an announcer. Not a collegian. Not as someone who led Portland to a title or resurrected for the Cs.

 

[Deepster]

MAGIC JOHNSON! Everybody seems to forget how he was the one how was the lead of The Lake Show

That’s a great call. Do kids today know just how great he was???