NBA 1k970 Draft Class: 90 Potential (1970s)

What would NBA 2K games have looked like in 1969?

I mean graphically, they would have looked like nothing. They would have been pixelated DOS-vomit, impossible for the human eye to decipher. Pong hadn’t even come out 50 years ago. But theoretically, if you were to send today’s technology back to 1969 — a world where Luka Doncic’s hot Eurostep and hot Euro mom hadn’t even been born yet — what would NBA 2k 1k970 look like?

It may surprise you to learn this, but things were different in 1969. In basketball, this was the “college is more popular than the pros” era. The two professional basketball leagues struggled for viewership and relevancy. The NBA was seen as boring and stuffy, and their rival American Basketball Association, while being innovative and crucial to modern basketball, (inventing such basketball staples as the “three point shot” and “dunking” and “fun”) was seen as a sideshow, not financially solvent or organized enough to last.

Bill Russell ‘s Boston Celtics had won 11 of the last 13 NBA Championships, with Russell retiring after the 1968-69 season as the undisputed Greatest Of All-Time (so far). However, Russell was so off-put by the people of Boston that he called the city a “flea market of racism” and refused to have fans at his jersey retirement. Conversely, the Los Angeles Lakers had yet to win their first NBA Championship since their move from Minnesota, and the New York Knicks had yet to win their first anything ever on Planet Earth. College phenom Lew Alcindor was about to enter the league out of UCLA as the undisputed greatest college player ever, the one who rules were altered for, to be the next true challenger to Bill Russell’s throne. Teams like the Cincinnati Royals, the San Diego Rockets, the Kentucky Colonels and the Carolina Cougars existed and played professional basketball. The Phoenix Suns were two years old. The Portland Trailblazers and Houston Rockets weren’t NBA teams yet. The Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs weren’t even ABA teams yet. The Toronto Raptors were two and a half decades away (though the NBA almost expanded to Toronto in 1976, a thing I read in the ABA Book Loose Balls and cannot find proof of anywhere online).

What would NBA/ABA video games have looked like, with all of that ^ going on? What would they have played like? What about in 1979, with Larry and Magic set to break into in our living rooms and hearts? What about in 1989, with Larry and Magic on their way out and the Bad Boy Pistons facing young Michael’s Bulls for NBA supremacy? What about the 90s MJ era, where the pace of play slowed to a crawl and one star emerged from the muck? Or the 97-98 MJ RETURNS era, where 28 different NBA teams tried to stop an aging Michael Jordan and only the expansion Toronto Raptors could (lol). WHAT WOULD NBA 2K HAVE LOOKED LIKE IN THE YEAR 2000?! (note: scientists estimate that 2k in the 00s would have looked like this).

We at Sportsfap are attempting to answer these highly pressing and important questions. Using NBA 2k20 on the PS4, we will be recreating the last 50 years of basketball history — starting with an accurate 1969-70 roster, we’re doing each of the previous 50 NBA seasons, playoffs and drafts over again and just totally punting on a social life here for a minute. Thankfully this is a devastating time-waster that can be enjoyed by everybody, like a model airplane that actually flies. Use these sliders, rosters and drafts to create your own version of basketball history! Save careers, move teams, rewrite the record books, and never work or speak to your spouse again!

But NBA 1k970 isn’t *only* an excuse to play video games until we stop leaving the house and grow weird sores on our faces. It’s also an excuse for me to write about the top 250 prospects over the last 50 years of basketball. The following is a list of players from the 1970’s (Draft Classes 1970-79) with a 90 potential rating. We’re going to give you the player, their rookie rating, and a quick (hopefully) entertaining blurb about their career, which is sometimes just straight up their wiki copied and pasted.

Draft Rules fer Nerds

If you just want to read about old basketball players, skip this part.

For anybody playing the vidya game portion of this, we are trying to approach these drafts with the following minutae/ “rules” in mind:

• A player’s “Potential” = the 2k Rating of the best possible version of that player. Example, LeBron James is a 99 potential, because the best version of LeBron (the one we got say, in the 2016 NBA Finals) is a 99 overall player on 2k and in real life. Someone like Tariq Abdul-Wahad is in the neighborhood of 75-80 potential — a solid but inconsistent player who was pretty good on his best day. Rafael ‘Hoffa’ Arujao was a 50 potential on his best day, or his worst day, or any day that ends in Y in the recorded history of mankind.
• There’s no guarantee that players’ careers will play out the same way this time around, of course. But we do know how players were in real life, and they will be playing as true to that skill-set as possible. 1974 Bill Walton is still a dominant NCAA star with sky-high potential who might revolutionize the NBA yes, but in this universe he also still broke his leg as a 15 year old high school sophomore, and is likely looking at some serious health issues long-term. We know how it went for Bill Walton. It’s up to you to decide whether or not to risk it. Hope you hire a good trainer.
• In an attempt to keep things somewhat uniform, only 10% or 250 of the 2500 players in the 50 drafts have a potential rating of 90 or above. Those are the players we’re talking about today.
• 100 players get a 90 potential rating (potential Multi-time All stars). 150 players are at 91 Potential or above.
• 50 Players are at 95 Potential or above (Potential NBA Superstars / HOFers, one per year on avg), and
• 10 players have a 99 potential (one every 5 years, Potential GOATS / 2k godzz)
• Any 3-time NBA All-Star (post-1976 NBA/ABA merger) is at least a 90 potential. Any player in the Top 25 in points scored in NBA History, or Top 15 for rebounds or assists in NBA History is at least a 90 potential.
• Certain players who never panned out / made it into the NBA or ABA at all may also come in with a 90+ potential. Special consideration is given to players who had careers/runs outside of the NBA that could be described as “prodigious”. Call it the Len Bias rule.

There’s no formula for which players gets what rating, but I’ve tried to do a lot of research on this; looking at players’ reputations among their peers, their physical gifts, their high school / NCAA / European / Olympic production, and of course actual NBA production. I’ve watched an irresponsible amount of YouTube/NBA TV and even attempted to read like, physical, human books.

250 players averages out to be five 90-s per Draft Class, which might seem high, but a) it’s a video game, meant to be fun, and b) DONT YOU TELL ME Eddie Griffin didn’t have at least a 90 potential. I am not Max Kellerman literally passing hot gas live on television, out here telling you why Steph Curry is bad at basketball. Sportsfap is a celebration of sports. Also, much like in real life, not every player will end up reaching their potential. It’s gonna up to you to make it happen for some of these guys.

With all that said;

Are you passionate about a particular player? Is someone way too high or low? Want to help make players, courts or jerseys? Let us know! This is a work in progress. But, keep in mind that if you don’t see a superstar player you like here, there’s a good chance he’s rated higher than a 90 potential. We’re doing each decade of 90 Potentials and then the 91’s, 92’s etc as their own separate post. CONTENT, BABY.

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Calvin Murphy, PG – 1970 Draft Class (Rating – 77)

The original NBA shortboi at 5’9, Calvin Murphy is the shortest player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, and was the shortest to play in an NBA All-Star Game until that bar was (fukn barely) cleared by Isaiah Thomas in 2016. One of the great FT shooters of all time, Murphy’s 95.8% FT in 1980-81 is the 2nd highest FT% in a single NBA season. He was also a world-class baton twirler, something I am not funny enough to have made up. Check it out.

I’m not sure if being a great baton twirler = basketball talent, but I am sure Calvin Murphy didn’t lack hand-eye coordination.

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Randy Smith, SF/SG – 1970 Draft Class (Rating – 74)

First and foremost, he was an outstanding, fabulous athlete,” McAdoo said from Miami, where he is a scout for the Heat after 19 years as an assistant coach. “He was the fastest basketball player I’ve ever encountered. From baseline to baseline, foul line to foul line, I’ve never seen anything like it. He had world-class speed.”

“Run and jump out the gym, man. He used to give me fits. Randy Smith was [Russell] Westbrook before Westbrook,” Knicks Hall of Famer Walt Frazier said. “He came in a little after me. He actually idolized me, ended up with the Rolls-Royce and all that. The guy used to give me hell. He was so fast. Might have been the best athlete in the league . . . I wish he was on my team. I would have slept better.”

What makes Smith’s rise so compelling was that he was not recruited by major college basketball programs. He drew Buffalo State’s interest with a record performance in the state track meet, which was held on campus. He eventually went out for soccer, which was a Division I sport there, and became an All-American.

He figured he might as well try basketball, too. He not only made the squad but led it to three conference championships. As a junior in 1969-70, he averaged 26.5 points and 14.5 rebounds as the team reached the NCAA College Division Final Four. The Braves, a second-year NBA expansion team possibly looking for some good local publicity, chose him in the seventh round of the 1971 draft.

Seventh-round picks rarely made it past the early days of training camp, but Smith hit the ground running and never stopped.

“He could dribble faster than other people could run,” said McAdoo, who joined the team in 1972. “He was the catalyst in making us the fastest team in the NBA. I remember when I got to the Lakers, they talked about Showtime, and when Phoenix had Steve Nash with Mike D’Antoni, they talked about getting downcourt in seven seconds or less. Well, if they looked, they would see that the Buffalo Braves did that long before Showtime or the Phoenix fast break existed. We were just so fast.

Smith began as a defensive specialist and grew so much as a scorer that he averaged more than 20 points four years in a row. The Cavaliers and Knicks each traded a first-round pick to get him. His then-record consecutive-games streak would have gone on longer, but he had to wait 24 hours to clear waivers when he went (by his own request) from the San Diego Clippers to the contending Hawks in 1983. The league ruled that the streak was over because he had missed a game. No hard feelings. He was gracious when A.C. Green broke the mark in 1997, showing up for the game (as did baseball’s Iron Man, Cal Ripken Jr.). Smith had a history of graciousness.

Randy Smith is still the Pride of Buffalo – Mark Hermann, Newsday (Updated Feb 9 2019) https://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/randy-smith-bellport-nba-mcadoo-1.27074622

An OG Clippers/HORSE legend from the long long ago, Randy Smith is a New York boy who played for his (sort of) hometown Buffalo* in the NCAA and played for his (sort of) hometown Buffalo Braves, before they packed up moved to San Diego to become the Clippers.

Randy Smith is probably best known for being the original NBA Iron Man, rattling off 906 games in a row from November 1971 – March 13, 1983, when Smith was traded from the Clippers to the Atlanta Hawks and the league ruled that he missed a game due to travel (presumably) out of pure spite and evil. The record will show that Randy Smith debuted 6 games into the 1971-72 season, and didn’t miss a day of work for the next 12 years. He wins the NBA 1970’s attendance award. A speed demon who has been described as Westbrook before Westbrook. Sign me up.

*Note – Randy Smith actually played for State University of New York College at Buffalo. The Illustrious!

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Austin Carr, SG – 1971 Draft Class (Rating – 84)

Known as “Mr. Cavalier” (I assume because of his curt and condescending attitude), the #1 overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft averaged 34.5 ppg for Notre Dame during his NCAA career and came into the NBA with that same big usage energy, going for 21.2 ppg in his rookie season. Injuries plagued Austin Carr’s career, but he was a 20+ point scorer and All-star in his prime.

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Sidney Wicks, PF – 1971 Draft Class (Rating – 86)

One of the great forgotten rookies in NBA history, Sidney Wicks’ UCLA teams rattled off four consecutive NCAA championships under coach John Wooden (actually seven consecutive chips, but Wicks was only there for four of them and only played for three), before coming into the NBA as a fully finished product ready to contribute on day one. As a rookie, Wicks averaged hard numbers of 24.5 /11.3 / 4.7 while shooting 71% from the FT line and making the 1972 NBA All-Star game.

His peak isn’t long, and other players will hit higher heights, but the team that drafts Sidney Wicks receives an immediate impact player, and one of the best NBA rookies of all time.

A 6’8″ power forward/center, Wicks was a phenom at UCLA, playing on three straight NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championships from 1969 to 1971, the Bruins’ star player on the latter two, being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970. After averaging 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, Wicks was named NBA Rookie of the Year. He also played in the NBA All-Star Game that season.

Wicks played for the Trail Blazers from 1971 to 1976, earning a total of four selections as an All-Star (1972–1975) and averaging over 20 points per game each of his first four seasons. He holds the Blazers’ franchise record for rebounds in a game, with 27.

Via Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Wicks

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Kevin Porter, PG – 1972 Draft Class (Rating – 68)

One of the most underrated and forgotten passers in NBA history, only five players have won more assists titles than Kevin Porter, and all five of them are in the Hall of Fame (Stockton, Cousy, Robertson, Nash and Kidd). Despite leading the league in assists per game four times, Kevin Porter was never selected to an All Star Game.

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*Krešimir Ćosić, PF – 1972 Draft Class (Rating – 75)

*1 year NCAA Eurostash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2k40KmUYE0

In 1996, Ćosić became only the second international player ever elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. The Croatian Basketball Cup, and KK Zadar’s home arena, are named after him.

Ćosić played in four Summer Olympic Games: 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 in Moscow, when he led his team to the gold medal.

In the summer of 1968, Ćosić was on a European team with Finnish player Veikko Vainio. Vainio, a student at Brigham Young University, told him about life in college, and invited him to play for the BYU Cougars. In his freshman year, he played in 12 games for the freshman team, averaging 17.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. In his sophomore year, he averaged 15.1 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, leading BYU to the 1971 WAC Championship. In his junior year, he again led his team to the WAC Championship, averaging 22.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game, and being awarded All-American honors by the United Press International, making him the first non-American player to achieve that.

In the 1972 NBA Draft, he was picked by the Portland Trail Blazers, in the 10th round (144th overall), but he opted to stay with BYU.

Via Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kre%C5%A1imir_%C4%86osi%C4%87

A FIBA pioneer and one of the OG Euroballers who also had a storied NCAA career, he gets the nod for a 90 here. For accuracy’s sake we’re gonna apply a one-year stash (meaning the player he has to sit out a year and can’t play for your team until the following season begins) and pretend that Cosic plays that final year in the NCAA. Full disclosure: Kresimir Cosic never played in the NBA and quite frankly is someone I’ve never heard of before this project. His resume is impressive though, and I wanted to have a few Euro legends // streetball legends in here. Plz send all questions and concerns to buttmail@mybutt.arse.

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Doug Collins, SG – 1973 Draft Class (Rating – 74)

The #1 overall pick in the 1973 NBA draft, Doug Collins played eight seasons for Philadelphia, where he became a 4x All-Star. A rash of injuries to Collins’ feet and left knee would bring his career to an early close in 1981, but Collins stayed in the spotlight with a very good (or at least highly notable) NBA coaching career:

In May 1986, Collins was named head coach of the Chicago Bulls; the team featured a young Michael Jordan who was entering his third season. Despite having Jordan, the Bulls were coming off a 30-52 season and had fired their past two coaches after one season each. Collins immediately helped the Bulls turn around their fortunes, showing an improvement of 10 games in each of his first two seasons, coaching Chicago to a 50-32 record in his second year. In his third year as coach, he brought Chicago to their first Eastern Conference Finals Appearance in 15 years, however, they were unable to get past their Central Division rival the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons. Despite the Bulls’ success and his popularity in Chicago, Collins was fired in the summer of 1989.

Collins was named the head coach of the Detroit Pistons in 1995. His arrival in Detroit was similar to his in Chicago, as the Pistons had a second-year star who drew comparisons to Michael Jordan, Grant Hill. In his first season, he was able to improve the team’s previous season’s record by 18 games and lead them back to the playoffs, though they would be swept by the Orlando Magic. A fast start in his second season pushed Hill to the top of MVP consideration and Collins was named the Eastern Conference All-Star team’s coach. The Pistons finished 54-28 and lost in the first round of playoffs to the Atlanta Hawks, 3–2 in the best-of-five series. He served as Pistons’ head coach until February 2, 1998, when he was fired and replaced by Alvin Gentry.

Collins was hired to coach the Washington Wizards for the start of the 2001–02 NBA season. In Washington, Collins was reunited with Michael Jordan and Charles Oakley. Once again, in his first season with his new team, Collins improved the team’s previous season’s record by 18 games.

On May 21, 2010, Collins was hired as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.While the 76ers initially started out poorly with a record of 3-13, the team showed great improvement as the season went on, and clinched the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs. Under Collins, the team increased its win total by 14 games over the previous season. They lost to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in the first round, but were able to avoid a sweep that had been predicted. Collins finished second in Coach of the Year voting that season. In the lockout-shortened 2011–2012 season, Collins led the Sixers to an improved record, but Philadelphia was only able to take the eighth seed in the playoffs. Against the top seeded Chicago Bulls, Collins led the Sixers to their first playoff series victory since 2003. It was the fifth time in NBA history that an eighth seed defeated a first seed in a playoff series. They took the next series against the Boston Celtics to seven games, but lost.

Collins resigned as 76ers coach on April 18, 2013, citing a need to spend more time with his five grandchildren.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Collins_(basketball)

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*Maurice Lucas, PF – 1973 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

*1 year NCAAEurostash

An NBA Champion and 5x ABA/NBA All-star, Maurice Lucas was an interesting character; an “intimidator”/”enforcer” who stood at the forefront of such unmanly techniques as vegetarianism, proper rest and stretching (things his teammates openly made fun of him for in 1973). The book Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association by Terry Pluto does a good job of covering how the hard-working Lucas was the opposite of ABA-contemporary Marvin Barnes in every conceivable way.

After being selected by the ABA in their 1973 draft, Lucas played another year in college before being drafted by Portland in the 1974 NBA Draft. We’re gonna put him in the 1973 Draft Class with a one year stash (again, meaning he has to sit out a year and can’t play for your team until the following season begins).

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John Drew, SF/SG – 1974 Draft Class (Rating – 83)

There are a lot of stories of NBA players from 1970-89ish whose careers were directly hurt or ruined by cocaine or alcohol, and this is not an attack on John Drew or those other NBA players of the time who struggled — cocaine also hit football, and baseball, and hockey (still is all over hockey!), and actors, and like, factory workers and bus drivers. Watch an SNL episode from 1980 or a WWF promo from 1979-92 and tell me you can’t see the cocaine in their eyes. Cocaine wasn’t fucking around back then. In an era when drugs were not fully appreciated/understood/treated/respected, drug use ruined promising careers. It still ruins careers, and we understand exactly what drugs are and what they do. In the 70s? No chance, hot pants. There is no arguing or denying the fact that cocaine was a humongous factor in all pro sports. It’s just a fact.

But yeah all of that ^ is to couch the following statement: if you made an All-Coke team, John Drew is the starting small forward. An Alabama Sports Hall-of-Famer (the illustrious!), Drew was a prolific scorer and NCAA star at Gardner–Webb University, something that unfortunately I cannot find statistical evidence of anywhere on the internet. In his prime for the Atlanta Hawks, John Drew could sleepwalk his way to 20 points. And often had to.

A 6’6″ guard/forward from Gardner–Webb University, Drew was a two-time NBA All-Star, and was one of the earliest casualties of the drug policy instituted by commissioner David Stern. Selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 7th pick (in the 2nd round) of the 1974 NBA draft, Drew quickly made an impact with the club, averaging 18.5 points per game, 10.7 rebounds per game, and leading the NBA in offensive rebounding during his rookie season (Drew was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team for his efforts). From 1974 to 1982, the immensely talented Drew starred for the Hawks, with whom he was a two-time All-Star, averaging more than 20 points per game on five occasions.

Drew battled cocaine addiction during his professional basketball career. He missed 38 games during the 1982-83 season as he spent eight weeks in drug rehab. He made a successful return in 1983-84 and won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award, but relapsed the next season and was waived by the Jazz, then was arrested in 1985 for passing bad checks. After seeking treatment for the fourth time in his career, Drew became the first player to be banned by NBA commissioner David Stern for multiple violations of the league’s new substance abuse policy.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Drew_(basketball)

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Bobby Jones, SF/PF – 1974 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

A defensive bulldog at the SF position. Here is a glowing review of Bobby Jones’ career on wiki, obviously written by a white person.

Bobby Jones was one of the most admired defenders ever to wear an NBA uniform; he was also considered one of the most virtuous. While most other players depended on the occasional thrown elbow, hip-check, or grab of the uniform to gain an advantage, Jones relied on hustle and determination. It was Jones’ stellar defense along with his other specialties such as leadership, that made him a standout sixth man. Opposing teams could ill afford to relax on defense when Jones came off the bench, and they also had to work a lot harder on offense to get the ball in or even near the basket.

Jones’s coaches would marvel that he was so good at things they had trouble getting many other players to do at all, such as blocking shots, moving without the ball, hustling back on defense, tipping passes, diving after loose balls, and giving up an open outside shot so a teammate could hit from inside—all things that rarely, if ever, show up in a box score. Jones was as unselfish as a player could be, so much so that coaches had to implore him to take more shots.

What that work added up to was a 12-year pro career that featured eight selections to the NBA All-Defensive First Team; the first-ever NBA Sixth Man Award; membership on the ABA All-Rookie Team; four appearances in the NBA All-Star Game and one in the ABA All-Star Game; and perhaps most prized, an NBA Championship with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. Above all, Jones’s value as a player was evidenced by the fact that his teams never missed the playoffs.

“Bobby Jones gives you two hours of his blood, showers and goes home,” former Sixers General Manager Pat Williams told NBA Today. “If I was going to ask a youngster to model after someone, I would pick Bobby Jones.”

lol Jesus Christ breathe buddy. Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Jones_(basketball,_born_1951)

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Truck Robinson, PF – 1974 Draft Class (Rating – 70)

Two-time All-star whose name was fucking Truck Robinson. Sometimes you just have to make a judgement call guys.

Known throughout the league as “Truck”, Leonard Robinson used his rugged body, intelligent playmaking, and sure shot to become one of the game’s best forwards in the 1970s and 1980s. Fundamentally sound in every area, he had the strength and physical attributes of a power forward along with the mobility of a small forward. He delivered a consistent cargo of offensive firepower and uncanny rebounding for 11 years in the NBA. A two-time All-Star, Robinson had his finest season with the New Orleans Jazz in 1977–78, when he averaged 22.7 points and led the NBA with 15.7 rebounds per game.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_Robinson

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Darryl Dawkins, C – 1975 Draft Class (Rating – 65)

Similar to the previous example, “Chocolate Thunder” Darryl Dawkins is something of a judgement call here. The first player ever drafted out of high school into the NBA, Dawkins’ overall stats are lacking, but his heights were towering, and his physical gifts unquestionable. Nevermind the fact that he literally broke basketball (rims) ^^, Dawkins once recorded 13 (THIRTEEN!!) blocks in an NBA game. He also allegedly ripped a sink out of the wall in the Portland Rose Garden after being ejected from Game 2 of the 1977 NBA Final. That is the kind of story that I choose to believe and reward accordingly.

Counterpoint, Dawkins was also described/dismissed by Stephen A. Smith as a “walking foul”, which doesn’t change how I feel about him ripping the sink out of the wall, but it does help explain it.

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World B. Free, PG/SG – 1975 Draft Class

Speaking of superbly-named players. World B. (born Lloyd) Free is one of the great names and great, underrated scorers in NBA history. In fact, Free may go down as the only man to score 30 points per game over an NBA season and not go to the Hall of Fame.

Free played for the San Diego Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association. He got his name from his days in Brooklyn, where a friend nicknamed him “World” because of his 44-inch vertical leap and 360 degree dunks. Free was known for his “rainbow” jump shots, referring to the extreme arch of the ball during the shot. He was also known for taking high risk shots and playing flamboyantly. During Free’s time playing for the San Diego Clippers, fans would shout “shoot, shoot, shoot” whenever Free took possession of the ball.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_B._Free

I am instantly in. Hook World B. Free to my veins. I do not need to hear any more, but please, tell me much much more.

In that 1984-85 season, Free would carry the team on his back to the playoffs after a wretched 2-19 start. He would average 22.5 points and 4.5 assists during the regular season. Helping the team make the playoffs for the first time in seven years was not his only contribution to Cleveland Basketball. More importantly, it was the way he played the game that got people to actually become fans of the Cavs. After years of attendance figures more suitable for junior high sports, the Cavs were selling out seats for the first time.

He would only play one more season in Cleveland, but his play almost single-handedly saved the franchise from moving to another city. World B. Free now spends his time as a great ambassador for the game and is a front office member of the Philadelphia 76ers.Among his many duties, Free runs basketball clinics and does public speaking, helping young children learn the game of basketball as well as the game of life.

If or when the Cavaliers hang a National Basketball Association Championship banner from the ceiling of Quicken Loans Arena, the team should hang the jersey of World B. Free right beside it. Were it not for Free, Cleveland fans might not be watching the exploits of MVP LeBron James right now.

Steve Tater, WORLD B FREE: THE MAN WHO SAVED PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN CLEVELAND, Bleacher Report 2019 https://bleacherreport.com/articles/176800-world-b-free-the-man-who-saved-professional-basketball-in-cleveland

For both the 1978–79 and 1979–80 campaigns, George Gervin and Free were number 1 and 2 in the league in scoring. His best season was 1979–80 with the Clippers, averaging 30.2 points per game, as well as 4.2 assists per game and 3.5 rebounds per game in 68 games. He was an All-Star that season as well, although the Clippers failed to make the playoffs.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_B._Free

Lol, Classic San Diego Clipping. a 30-ppg scorer (again, THIRTY) who shot from anywhere he wanted to (within the 2-point boundary), who jammed on clowns like you on the b-ball court with a then-unseen 44 inch vertical, and who saved the lovable Cleveland Cavaliers, which indirectly (or absolutely 100% directly) led to LeBron James bringing that city a professional sports title/sweet sweet parade. I’m winning 9 titles with World B. Free. He’s going to be the new Jordan in my universe. Do not dispute this.

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Dan Roundfield, PF – 1975 NBA Draft Class (Rating – 68)

Known as DR ROUNDS, Dan Roundfield was a 5x All-defense and 3x All-star power forward // a two-way wrecking ball in his prime. Tragically, Roundfield passed away in 2012 in Aruba, after saving his wife from drowning. There’s not a whole lot about Dr. Rounds out there, truly the definition of a lost NBA star. I’d watch a doc about him.

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Gus Williams, PG/SG – 1975 Draft Class (Rating – 72)

Another forgotten legend, Gus Williams was the best player on the 1979 NBA Champion Seattle Supersonics. A two-way guard with an explosive first step that baffled 70s/80s defenders, Gus Williams was a 1st team All-NBA selection in 1982 after becoming one of the first professional athletes to sit out an entire season as a contract holdout. It remains unclear as to why Gus sat out, as something called the “Christian Science Monitor” explains

Most fans figured Williams had stayed away strictly because of the money – that he felt he was being underpaid by the Sonics compared with what other top guards in the league were getting. But now Gus says that money was only part of the reason.

”I have certain principles as a man and they weren’t being met,” Williams told me recently while here for a game against the Lakers. ”The contract adjustment was part of it, sure. But there were other things I also had to get clear in my mind.”

Williams, who currently leads the Sonics with a 23.2 average, could probably top the entire NBA in scoring some year if he just concentrated on shooting the basketball. He has that quick first step to the basket that the defense is rarely able to anticipate, and if the traffic inside is too heavy, he has the ability to mail the ball to the hoop from outside. The fact that Gus prefers to play a complete game is what makes him so valuable; so hard to replace; so tough to contain; so important to the game of those around him; and such fun to watch.

Higher scorers than Williams have always been commonplace in the NBA. But a man with his great overall game and willingness to play the tough defense is hard to find. So, presumably, is another player with a contract that reportedly numbers 45 pages!

Phil Elderkin – Williams rejoins Sonics, and team meshes again. Money, he explains, was only a part of the problem. (NOTE: that’s actually the title) – Christian Science Monitor, January 18, 1982 https://www.csmonitor.com/1982/0118/011829.html

Lol, sassy blowline there by the Christian Science Monitor in 1982. I have no idea what the Christian Science Monitor is or why they have articles from 1982 about the NBA, so let’s gets a second source on this

Williams became a free agent at the end of the 1979-80 season, and for almost 13 months he negotiated with the Sonics. But every time they neared an agreement, something went wrong. Meanwhile, Williams found it difficult to sign with another team because the Sonics would have been entitled to compensation under the old free agency system.

During the controversy, Telford Taylor, the Federal court-appointed arbitrator, ruled that Williams was a free agent and that, if he had signed with another team, the Sonics would not be entitled to compensation.

But the Sonics appealed Mr. Taylor’s ruling to Federal Judge Robert L. Carter, and Judge Carter recently reversed the ruling. ”In the beginning, I thought it was the right thing to do,” Williams said, referring to his sitting out last season. ”Some nights I couldn’t sleep because I wanted to play so much.”.

The Sonics led the league in attendance last season and will will enter the pay-television market next season. They will telecast all 82 games for $120 a subscriber.

Sam Goldaper, New York Times May 29, 1981, Section A, Page 17 https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/29/sports/gus-williams-rejoins-sonics-for-3-million.html

Lol at that last paragraph too. So sitting out worked out for Gus Williams in 1980 (I mean he got paid, came back and was immediately 1st team All-NBA in 81-82) which as an aside, I choose to interpret as proof that Le’Veon Bell is going to be absolutely fine and a stud this year. These contract holdouts have been happening across sports for over four decades.

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John Lucas II, PG/SG – 1976 NBA Draft (Rating – 78)

A former #1 overall NBA Draft pick and 2-time NCAA All-American, JLII was member of the 1986 Houston Rockets team that made the NBA Final, although he didn’t make it there himself. Let Wiki tell you:

Lucas’s basketball career took a turn for the worse when longstanding problems with illegal drugs became public. Several of his Rockets teammates, including Mitchell Wiggins and Lewis Lloyd, were banished from the NBA due to positive tests for cocaine usage. Lucas, who was also a cocaine user, submitted voluntarily to anti-drug and anti-alcohol treatment in order to stay in the league. After failing two tests in the 1985-86 season, the Rockets waived him in March, which meant he missed out on the run the Rockets had all the way to the NBA Finals. Lucas was finally given another chance in January 1987 when he was signed to a ten-day contract by the Milwaukee Bucks that led to a full contract for the rest of the season.

Lucas played four more years in the NBA, averaging at age 33 a career-high 17.5 points in 1986–87, before settling into a reserve role the next three years.

After successfully undergoing drug rehabilitation and starting programs of his own to help other athletes rehabilitate, Lucas returned to the NBA as a coach, eventually becoming a head coach.

Lucas runs a wellness and aftercare substance-abuse recovery program for athletes

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lucas_II

John Lucas. much like John Drew, was a cocaine cautionary tale. If John Drew is the SF, John Lucas is the starting 2-guard on the All-Cola team. We don’t hear much about him anymore, but John Lucas II was one of the first “whatever happened to”‘s in NBA History.

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Otis Birdsong, SG – 1977 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

A 4x NBA All-star and University of Houston legend, the superbly named Otis Birdsong was the #2 pick in 1977, and arguably the greatest Kansas City King of all time. He left the University of Houston as the school’s second leading all-time scorer with 2,832 total college career points, and he continues to hold the school record for free throws with a total of 480. Birdsong averaged 15+ points in only 25 minutes per game as a rookie in the NBA, and had four different seasons over 20 ppg.

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Jack Sikma, C/PF – 1977 Draft Class (Rating – 75)

A modern Big ‘n Tall, Sikma was ahead of his time as a catch-and-shoot big man who could pass and space the floor.

He was known for his distinctive curly, blond hair along with his patented step back behind the head jumper during his playing days. During his thirteen-year career, he reached the playoffs eleven times and anomalously established himself as accurate-shooting center. His style of play would become significantly influential for centers at both the amateur and professional levels. Sikma scored 17,287 points in his NBA career.

Sikma was one of the most accurate shooting centers in NBA history. He holds the rare distinction of leading the league in free-throw percentage (92.2%) while playing the center position during the 1987–88 season; he averaged 84.9% in free-throw shooting for his career. Sikma also made over 200 three-pointers during his career with a 32.8% three-point accuracy.

Along with his accurate shooting, Sikma led the league in defensive rebounds in both 1981–82 and 1983–84.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Sikma

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Phil Ford, PG – 1978 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

One of the most prolific players in UNC history, Phil Ford started his NBA career hot and fizzled out quickly, with injury issues (a detached retina and broken eye-socket) and substance issues taking their toll like so many players in the 70s and 80s.

Ford played four years of basketball at the University of North Carolina. After his sophomore season, Ford started for the U.S. Olympic team that won the gold medal in 1976. While a senior, he averaged 20.8 points a game during the 1977–78 season. In 1978, Ford finished his career at Carolina as the leading all-time leading scorer in school history with 2,290 points. Ford was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in May 1991. On December 18, 2008, Tyler Hansbrough surpassed Ford’s total.

He also finished his career as the only player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to score over 2,000 points and register at least 600 assists (a record now shared with Travis Best of Georgia Tech and Greivis Vásquez of Maryland). A consensus All-American in 1976, 1977, and 1978, he was named college player of the year in 1978, when he won the Eastman, USBWA College Player of the Year and John R. Wooden Awards. In 2002 Ford was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team honoring the fifty best players in ACC history.

The second pick in the first round of the draft, Ford was NBA Rookie of the Year with the Kansas City Kings in 1979.

Wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ford_(basketball)

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Purvis Short, SF/SG – 1978 Draft Class (Rating – 67)

Known as the Rainbowman for possessing what was probably the highest-arching jumpshot of all time, Purvis Short was a prolific scorer for the Golden State Warriors. On November 17, 1984 during a game against the New Jersey Nets, Short scored 59 (!!) points in a 131-114 loss (lol) to the New Jersey Nets (lol). Only nine other players in NBA history had ever scored more points in a game at that time. He also scored 57 points against the Spurs and 46 against the Bullets that year, finishing w/ a 28.0 PPG.

The Rainbowman shot, and shot a lot. He is also our first (but not last!) Purvis on the list. This guy is probably the captain of the all-Purvis team.

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Freeman Williams, SG – 1978 Draft Class (Rating – 80)

Look at those college stats!!! ^^^ Of all the older players I’d never heard of before starting this project, Freeman Williams might be my favourite. 1978’s NCAA Division I scoring champion, Williams remains the 2nd highest scorer in college basketball history to this day, averaging an absolutely silly 30.7 PPG (without a three-point line) for a college team called the Portland State Vikings. A dunker with Steph Curry range (despite having no incentive to shoot from distance in 1978), Williams left the NBA in his prime simply because they wouldn’t pay him enough, Free Williams was about 4 and a half decades before his time. For more information on Freeman Williams, consult this testimonial written by a nameless old man on NBC Sports.

And I got to thinking, as Jimmer Fredette’s career ends at BYU, that, at least as my memory serves, Fredette looked a lot like Williams did in college. Except, of course, for their skin color.

Neither player had a lot of conscience, when it comes to taking shots. Each guy was willing to take just about any shot he could reasonably — or unreasonably — get. Both guys had the ball in their hands all the time and had to create shots for themselves — although I will say I think Williams had more double screens and set plays run for him than Fredette did. I think he moved more off the ball and got a lot more “catch-and-shoots” than Fredette.

But their jump shots looked a lot alike, they both took a ton of shots with high degree of difficulty and they both did one thing strikingly similar — when they had trouble getting the shot they wanted, they just pulled up and shot from even farther out than they did previously.

Williams was a 6-4, 190-pound guard out of Los Angeles’s Manual Arts High School. The guy shot 46.8 percent from the floor during his college career and that was incredible, given how many difficult shots he took en route to 3,249 points.

https://www.nbcsports.com/northwest/i-saw-version-jimmer-fredette-many-years-ago-and-his-name-was-freeman-williams

Freeman fucking Williams baby. The Free Williams / World B Free FREEDOM BACKCOURT that I establish will change the way virtual NBA fans see the virtual 1970s.

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Nikos Galis, PG/SG – 1979 Draft Class (Rating – 76)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IODN1NHKvEg

The original Greek freak! I think calling any person the “one true God” of anything is a little strong ^^, but passionate European people obviously think this man is good at this basketball stuff. Niko Galis is one of the best FIBA players of all time, and was a prolific scorer in the NCAA.

Named one of FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players in 1991, Galis is an inaugural member of the FIBA Hall of Fame and was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors in 2008. Galis is widely regarded as one of Europe’s greatest scorers to ever play the game, as well as one of the all-time greatest players in FIBA international basketball history. Played NCAA ball with Seton Hall and scored 27.5 PPG. Galis was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 4th round of the 1979 NBA Draft, 68th overall. Due to a severe ankle injury that Galis suffered during the Celtics preseason training camp of the 1979–80 season, the franchise was no longer interested in offering him a contract.

Oh shit, was Danny Ainge already the Celtics’ GM in ’79? Here’s another one about Niko, via FIBAEurope.com

Playing in the 1980‘s and early 1990‘s, Galis literally broke scoring records in almost every competition he entered, playing for Aris Thessaloniki and Panathinaikos Athens. He also masterminded the greatest ever achievement of any Greek national team, a gold medal at the 1987 European Championship.  

“I’d love to play with Galis in the same team,” said the legendary Drazen Petrovic before his death in 1993. “I would assist him the ball and he would put it in the basket.”

http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_wro9VQVdG7cxqdc3r6woH2.coid_TAEWX2DlJdkjxfsVfUULa3.articleMode_on.html

Strong words.

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Bill Laimbeer, C – 1979 Draft Class (Rating – 69)

Our final entry of the 70s, Bill Laimbeer has probably the strangest resume of the entire 250: 4x NBA All-star and 2x Champ, one of the great coaches in WNBA history // current coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, a centre who shot threes (even though he played in the 80s) and easily the runaway pick for dirtiest basketball player/hardest fouler of all time. A truly unique player, Laimbeer was the type of guy that teammates adored and that 29 other teams and fanbases treated like a WWE heel.

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If you made it to the end of this, thank you for reading! We’ll be back with about 10ish more of these things, detailing all 250 players with a 90+ potential.

Are you passionate about a particular player? Is someone way too high or low? Want to help make players, courts or jerseys? Let us know over at Operation Sports! But, keep in mind that if you don’t see a superstar player you like here, there’s a good chance he’s rated higher than a 90 potential. We’re doing each decade of 90 Potentials and then the 91’s, 92’s etc as their own separate post. CONTENT, BABY.

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