Prior to becoming "The Logo," Jerry West was a star at West Virginia, helping the Mountaineers grab a Final Four appearance in his junior season. ", Pros: Golden State Warriors (2012-16), Dallas Mavericks (2016-present). High school: Bethel High School (Hampton, Va.), Pros: Philadelphia 76ers (1996-2006, 2009-10), Denver Nuggets (2006-08), Detroit Pistons (2008-09), Memphis Grizzlies (2009), Besiktas (2010-11). Bryant made the leap from high school to the NBA but success was not instant, and he did not become an elite guard until the 1998-99 season, when the Lakers were swept by the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. While LaMarcus Aldridge has deeper ties to Texas basketball in general, Hall of Famer Bill Sharman had the best career of anyone from the Lone Star State so far. WebInitially, in 1994, with Olajuwon as the teams best player, the Rockets won their first NBA title by defeating the New York Knicks. Davis was a career 13.5-point scorer but had his best season with Cleveland in 2002-03, when he started 76 games and averaged 20.6 points per game. Unfortunately, Kobe died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. Then, she helped lead UConn to a couple of NCAA championships in 2009 and 2010. All-Time #NBArank continues with a countdown of the game's greatest giants -- the best centers in NBA history. James won two titles in Miami, and then in 2014, he left Miami to come back to Cleveland to fulfill a promise of winning a championship, which he did in 2016 by leading a comeback down 3-1 against the 73-win Warriors. WebList of all the NBA and ABA Players Born in Maine | Basketball-Reference.com Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. In the WNBA, Swoopes was the second player to win the MVP and All-Star game MVP in the same season. A Celtics icon in the 1970s, the Newport native helped that franchise win two championships as one of the best defenders of his era. has been obsessively watching sports for nearly three decades and arguing about them with friends for nearly as long. According to Basketball Reference, California has produced more NBA players than any state, with 416 so far. as a member of the Miami Heat. The information for this article is taken from Wikipedia. He helped Golden State win a title in 2015 and became a solid contributor for the Dallas Mavericks after the 2016 season. The NBA had three very good players from Kansas all playing at the same time starting in the mid-1970s. Before he left his mark on the NBA, he starred at Bethel High School, where he led both the football and basketball programs to state championships. While Hinrich had the longer career, Barnes is still working on his and has produced slightly better numbers so far. While his famously vanilla playing style and quiet demeanor kept him from having a cultural impact similar to the other greats, his four championships, 14 All-Star Games, and two NBA MVP awards are indisputable evidence of his fantastic ability. Robinson, who was born in York, is currently in his third year as a pro and has spent it all in Miami, which is as far down the East Coast from his home state that he could possibly go. A forward, Turner played 10 years in the Before that, Scott played three years of college basketball at Arizona State. In this article, we have listed the 5 greatest basketball players ever. She was the No. This season, the 6-foot-7 Flagg averaged 20.5 points, 10 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals, and 3.7 blocks per game. But to give him that label now is at best premature, and at worst willfully ignorant of history. Where Timmy would work his way around an opponent in the post with his superb footwork, Shaq would often use his extraordinary bulk (71 and 315 pounds) to bully his way to the basket. As a senior, he averaged a triple-double with 29.2 points, 11.6 rebounds and 10.1 assists, and made the McDonalds All-American team. Mario Chalmers always has been a winner. Position: Small forward, power forward, point guard, shooting guard, High school: St. Vincent-St. Mary High School (Akron, Ohio), Pros: Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-10, 2014-18), Miami Heat (2010-14), Los Angeles Lakers (2018-present). Bryant entered the NBA directly from high school. White, seen on the right here with teammate John Havlicek, was an All-Star in seven consecutive seasons while playing there, winning two championships and being named NBA Finals MVP in 1976 after averaging nearly 22 points per game during the series. Calvin Murphy was born and raised in Norwalk, which is in the New York City metro area. He has had an amazing career and has many achievements. The mans desire to be the best is legendary and propelled him to six championships, five MVP awards, All-Star appearances in every full season he played, and the status as possibly the best defender ever. Johnson, who was born and raised in Cheyenne, had his best years with the Heat during the mid-2010s, when he was averaging more than 11 points a game. Jordan Hooper was a member of the Tulsa Shock for the 2014 season and has bounced around in her WNBA career. High school: Wagner High School (San Antonio, Texas), Pros: Oklahoma City Thunder (2013-20), Brooklyn Nets (2021-present). 23 jersey is now honored by the program. This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login. Soon after, Wade led Marquette in scoring on multiple occasions and helped them reach the Final Four in his junior season. Please wait for the page to reload. Hes also one of just eight players in history to win league MVP honors at least three times. He also ranks third on the leagues all-time regular-season scoring and fourth on the all-time postseason scoring list. Kevin Garnett was one of the fiercest competitors in basketball. Russell was the ultimate winner in the history of the NBA. But lets take a look at the best basketball players to come from the United States. On the womens side, Shaftsbury native Nicole Levesque is the only Vermonter to have ever played in the WNBA. Pros: Tulsa Shock/Dallas Wings (2014-16), Besiktas (2014-15), South East Queensland Stars (2015-16), Connecticut Sun (2017), Atlanta Dream (2017), Chicago Sky (2017). The late big man was born in Petersburg and was one of the first truly great NBA stars to come to the pros straight out of high school. In more than 1,000 career NBA games, Billups averaged 15.2 points and was a five-time All-Star. Then Ceballos went the junior college route and played at Ventura College, before catching the attention of NBA scouts at Cal State Fullerton. In high school, he broke a city record for points scored in one game. He's now known as "Larry Legend. Diana Taurasi is the best offensive player in WNBA history (and No. High school: David Tobias Howard High School, Pros: New York Knicks (1967-77), Cleveland Cavaliers (1977-80). High school: Osbourn Park High School (Manassas, Va.). But he was so much more than a dazzling smile. Nokomis freshman Cooper Flagg takes a jump shot against Falmouth during the Class A state final on March 5 in Portland. In the NBA, Miller became a proficient three-point sniper with a career average of 40.7 percent from beyond the arc. Hall of Famers Bob Pettit, Elvin Hayes, Clyde Drexler and Bill Russell all came from the Bayou State but none of them could match Karl Malones superhuman production and longevity in the league. Olajuwon led his college squad to three straight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships and also earned a reputation as a dominating defensive player with an agile ability to hit shots from all over the court. He also won numerous awards and achieved many accolades. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born on April 16, 1947, in New York City. Through the publication of this list, James has averaged a Robertson-esque 27.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 6.9 steals per game andunlike the Big Ohe was doing so against teams stocked with elite athletes and not players who smoked cigarettes at halftime. He stayed home and played college ball at Colorado, where his number has also since been put in the rafters. In the NBA, Billups is most known for his first stint with the Detroit Pistons and helping the franchise win the NBA title in 2004. Speaking of guards who are still in the league as of this writing, Tyler Johnson represents his home state of North Dakota, which hasnt exactly cranked out the ballers so far. Allen Iverson is one of the greatest pound-for-pound players in NBA history. That means that even far-flung countries like Estonia, Iran and Luxembourg have given the NBA more players than the Green Mountain State. Position: Power forward and small forward, Pros: Philadelphia 76ers (1984-1992), Phoenix Suns (1992-96), Houston Rockets (1996-2000). In his two seasons in the ABA, Barnes averaged more than 24 points per game, which landed on the leagues All-Time Team in 1997. A member of six NBA championship teams as a player and two as an assistant coach, Abdul-Jabbar was also voted NBA Finals MVP twice. Can you believe that no player from Vermont has ever played a game in the NBA? The 6-foot-7 shooting guard/small forward honed his skills at the University of Colorado, finishing third in rebounding in the 2011-2012 season and second in 2012-2013. He was rookie of the year in 1971, league MVP in 1973, a three-time member of the All-Defensive first team and an eight-time All-Star. He was named to the All-Mountain West Conference second team in his senior year in 2014. Before retiring in 2015, he spent 12 seasons in the league, splitting his time with five different franchises but in Seattle for the majority of them. #39 Paul Arizin (1951-1962) Amazon The products and services mentioned below were selected independent of sales and advertising. Maine Basketball Rankings Latest Fight Club More drama than you could hope for in AA. Michael Jordan was a player who had it all. Before Tyler Johnson developed his all-around game at Fresno State, averaging 10.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals. Quite possibly. Combine that with the fact that Maine produces fewer NCAA Division I basketball players than most other states, so when a player of Flaggs caliber comes along, memory gets shorter and cloudy. Shaq then found great success at LSU, becoming a two-time All-American and SEC Player of the Year. He spent most of his career with the Hawks, spanning time between the franchises eras in St. Louis and Atlanta. Its the only state in the union that has never produced a player in the league, despite having several who have been drafted but never ended up playing. Plus upsets! Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. The native of Anchorage eventually played high school ball there before departing for a warmer climate at the University of Kansas, where hed lead the Jayhawks to an NCAA championship in 2008. Oh jeez, this guy. His Hall-of-Fame NBA career never included a stop with the New Jersey Nets but he played for six franchises, winning four titles with the Lakers and Heat. 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