#35-31

#35. Jason Kidd

J-Kidd is again one of the premier floor general’s at the point guard position. He played in the league for 19 seasons, and only 3 of them did he not average at least 8 assists a game. He was drafted to Dallas in ‘94 shortly before being traded to Phoenix a couple years later. He led the league in APG 5 times in 6 years from ‘99-’04. His first year in New Jersey, he almost won an MVP barely finishing in 2nd behind Duncan and ahead of Shaq, TMac, and Kobe. In the same year he led New Jersey to their first finals in franchise history, and brought them back again the following year. Back to back appearances in the finals without a star-caliber teammate.

Kidd was also an elite defender, he is arguably the best defender at the PG position ever. When it comes to Kidd vs Stockton debates, it should be clarified that both are worthy of being compared to each other. Both are 1st and 2nd all-time in total assists and total steals, and both led their teams to 2 finals. Stockton was a more efficient scorer in his prime, but suffered some from the Calculator due to being a “Robin” his whole career. Whereas Kidd was nearly winning MVPs and was consistently a top 5-10 player, and THE best PG, for about half a decade (‘99-’04). It truly is splitting hairs when comparing these two, but the Calculator made its choice.

Notable Playoff Series

Rings:

• '11 Finals vs Miami Heat (68.90 Legacy Points)

  • Quality Starter, -20.8% performance, opponent was +2.35 SRS better, won 4-2.

Other notable series:

• '03 Conference Finals vs Detroit Pistons (163.79 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +13.1% performance, opponent was -XXX SRS worse, won 4-0.

• '02 Conference Finals vs Boston Celtics (95.63 Legacy Points)

  • Superstar, +14.9% performance, opponent was -XXX SRS worse, won 4-2.

• '03 CSF's vs Boston Celtics (76.66 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -3.0% performance, opponent was -5.17 SRS worse, won 4-0.

#34. Allen Iverson

Drafted in ‘96 by the 76ers, it didn’t take long for Allen Iverson to become a known superstar in the NBA. He would win 3 scoring titles in his first 6 years in the league, and 4th later in his career. He would also bring home the coveted MVP award in ‘01, beating out the likes of Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kevin Garnett among others. His style grew to become one of his defining traits as a person and as a player, inspiring future generations of fans and players. He arguably both has the best handles ever and was the best player ever under 6’.

In ‘01, he led the 76ers to the 1-seed and all the way to the finals. He beat the Pacers with Reggie and Jermaine, the Raptors and Vince Carter, and the Bucks in 7 with Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson. In the finals, his team was overmatched by the dynastic duo in LA against Shaq and Kobe. The Lakers went undefeated through the West that year, yet AI was able to steal game 1 on the road with a historic 48p, 6a, 5r, and 5s performance.

Notable Playoff Series

Notable series:

• '01 Conference Finals vs Milwaukee Bucks (94.97 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -14.5% performance, opponent was -0.50 SRS worse, won 4-3.

• '01 CSF's vs Toronto Raptors (41.41 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +12.5% performance, opponent was -1.94 SRS worse, won 4-3.

Other notable series:

• '03 First Round vs New Orleans Hornets (36.55 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +24.7% performance, opponent was -0.24 SRS worse, won 4-2.

• '01 First Round vs Indiana Pacers (31.29 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +6.0% performance, opponent was -3.90 SRS worse, won 3-1.

#33. Steve Nash

Here we got a 3rd all-time great PG in the last 5 spots with Steve Nash, so let the debates between these 3 begin. Nash was drafted in ‘96 by the Phoenix Suns but didn’t make his first all-star appearance until he was 27 playing for the Dallas Mavericks. At age 30, he returned to the Phoenix Suns and went from missing the all-star team the previous year with Dallas to now winning back-to-back MVPs. Only 7 PGs ever have won an MVP award, and only 2 of them have won multiple besides Nash. After his 2 MVPs, the very next year in ‘07 was arguably the best year of his career, and it was almost enough for him to 3-peat MVPs. In his career, he led his teams to the West Finals 4 different times but was never quite able to get over that hump, losing to the likes of Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kobe Bryant.

Out of the 3 PGs that recently were just ranked between Nash, Kidd, and Stockton, they all have strong arguments to be placed in any order with each other. Nash has the highest individual peak winning MVPs, Kidd has led his team the most success and has a ring, and Stockton has the best longevity. They all are all-time passers and floor generals, Nash and Stockton were extremely efficient when scoring and shooting the ball, Kidd and Stockton were amazing on defense, and Nash and Kidd peaked the highest in terms of being the best players on their own teams during their primes.

Notable Playoff Series

Notable series:

• '10 CSF's vs San Antonio Spurs (91.99 Legacy Points)

  • Superstar, +7.6% performance, opponent was +0.40 SRS better, won 4-0.

• '05 CSF's vs Dallas Mavericks (49.314 Legacy Points)

  • Superstar, +57.8% performance, opponent was -1.24 SRS worse, won 4-2.

Other notable series:

• '06 CSF's vs Los Angeles Clippers (38.057 Legacy Points)

  • Superstar, -5.6% performance, opponent was -3.73 SRS worse, won 4-3.

• '07 First Round vs Los Angeles Lakers (28.56 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -15.6% performance, opponent was -7.04 SRS worse, won 4-1.

#32. Patrick Ewing

Ewing might have been the most astounding placement for me when I started seeing the results from this project, as personally I never before had ranked him anywhere near this highly. But seeing how the Calculator ranks him, it has helped me to learn a lot more about Ewing, his legacy, and what makes him so great and so underrated when looking back through history. Some of you might be surprised to see that Ewing was recognized for having 7 Legendary seasons from ‘89-’95. He never won an MVP, only finished on the 1st Team once in his career, and missed the All-NBA teams entirely in ‘94 and ‘95. How could he possibly have any claim to being a Legendary tier player for 7 seasons?

I contemplated the same thing myself, but I started to realize that Ewing got shorted in the 90s in a very similar way that Embiid has today. The 90s was dominated by Jordan and a bunch of big men. Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaq and Ewing to be specific. We have heard fans complain today that Embiid should have been shoe-horned into the 1st Team honors next to Jokic because it wouldn’t be fair otherwise. Could you imagine if there were 2 more Legendary centers for Embiid to compete with today? Imagine being a top-5 player in the league, consistently finishing top-5 in MVP voting for almost a decade, but because of positions you often get stuck with 3rd Team honors or miss it entirely? Fans today would riot. Yet that is exactly what happened with Ewing. He was a Legendary player in an era that was dominated by Legendary centers and MJ, and for this reason I believe that more fans forget or underrate how great Ewing actually was.

Notable Playoff Series

Notable series:

• '94 Conference Finals vs Indiana Pacers (76.98 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -7.0% performance, opponent was -3.22 SRS worse, won 4-3.

• '93 CSF's vs Charlotte Hornets (60.94 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +6.9% performance, opponent was -5.89 SRS worse, won 4-1.

Other notable series:

• '90 First Round vs Boston Celtics (54.14 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +11.8% performance, opponent was +2.45 SRS better, won 3-2.

• '94 CSF's vs Chicago Bulls (44.02 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +0.5% performance, opponent was -3.61 SRS worse, won 4-3.

#31. Bob Pettit

After 11 seasons with the Hawks, Bob Pettit retired having become the first player ever to reach 20,000 points. He also averaged over 16 rebounds per game for his career. Pettit was undoubtedly the greatest forward of his era, and he was an all-star and All-NBA player in all his 11 seasons, with 1st Team honors 10 times. Relative to his era, Pettit was absolutely a Legendary player. He won the first ever MVP award, and won a 2nd one a couple years later. Pettit never finished lower than 6th in MVP his entire career.

He led the Hawks to make the finals 4 times in 5 years, a feat only accomplished by a Legendary tier player just 9 times (LeBron, Curry, Shaq, Magic, Bird, West, BRussell, Pettit, & Mikan), and only 6 of them won multiple MVPs like Pettit. This is a historic group to be a part of. In ‘58, Pettit was able to defeat the dynastic Boston Celtics with Bill Russell, something Wilt was not able to do for another decade. Pettit averaged 29 and 17 on +6.3 rTS% in the finals. And in the finals-clinching game 6, he ended it with a 50 and 19 game on +16.7 rTS%, and every single play was needed as they eliminated Boston by 1 point. An absolutely historic finals performance to be sure, one of the greatest championship-clinching games of all-time!

Notable Playoff Series

Rings:

• '58 Finals vs Boston Celtics (234.77 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +16.1% performance, opponent was +4.19 SRS better, won 4-2.

Other notable series:

• '57 Conference Finals vs Minneapolis Lakers (224.20 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, +24.3% performance, opponent was -0.62 SRS worse, won 3-0.

• '58 Conference Finals vs Detroit Pistons (96.55 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -29.6% performance, opponent was -3.14 SRS worse, won 4-1.

• '61 Conference Finals vs Los Angeles Lakers (95.05 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -4.1% performance, opponent was -3.10 SRS worse, won 4-3.

• '60 Conference Finals vs Minneapolis Lakers (63.16 Legacy Points)

  • Legendary, -1.8% performance, opponent was -5.91 SRS worse, won 4-3.