The List of Greatness - 1961

1961 was a bit of a slow year for NBA greatness. The next generation of superstars hadn't quite come into their own and the previous one had mostly retired or were on their last legs. (Or had already been inducted onto this list.) Consequently, we've got a couple players this year who most people probably don't know. They were still fairly significant players through the 1950's, but their names don't carry quite the weight of a George Mikan or Dolph Schayes. This brings us to 12 players in 15 years (getting close to one per year...) And, as always, all stats are through 1961.

1. Slater Martin - 160.6
Position: Guard
Height: 5'10"
Experience: 11 Years (retired 1 year)
Teams: Minneapolis Lakers - 1950-1956 (#22), New York Knicks - 1957 (#7), St. Louis Hawks - 1957-1960 (#22)39.8 Win Shares, 0.000 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 5 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 7 All-Star Selections, 5 Championships (1950 Lakers 1952 Lakers, 1953 Lakers, 1954 Lakers, 1958 Hawks), 3.3 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1957 Hawks, 1960 Hawks), 0.3 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1951 Lakers, 1959 Hawks),  0.5 Conference Finals Win Shares

2. Larry Foust - 152.4

Position: Center-Forward

Height: 6'9"

Draft: 1950 - 5th pick

Experience: 11 years

Teams: Fort Wayne Pistons - 1951-1957 (#16), Minneapolis Lakers - 1958-1960 (#14), St. Louis Hawks - 1960-1961 (#13)

66.6 Win Shares, 0.000 MVP Award Shares, 1 All-NBA 1st Team Selection, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 8 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 5 Finals Losses (1955 Pistons, 1956 Pistons, 1959 Lakers, 1960 Hawks 1961 Hawks), 3.6 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1953 Pistons), 1.1 Conference Finals Win Shares

And the rest of the top ten:

3. George Yardley - 145.1 

Position: Forward-Guard

Height: 6'5"

Draft 1950 - 7th pick

Experience: 7 years (retired 1 year)

Teams: Fort Wayne Pistons - 1954-1957 (#12), Detroit Pistons - 1958-1959 (#12), Syracuse Nationals - 1959-1960 (#12)

58.5 Win Shares, 0.382 MVP Award Shares, 1 All-NBA 1st Team Selection, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 6 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1955 Pistons, 1956 Pistons), 3.3 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1958 Pistons, 1959 Nationals), 2.2 Conference Finals Win Shares

4. Cliff Hagan - 137.2

Position: Forward-Guard

Height: 6'4"

Draft: 1953 - 3rd round

Experience: 5 years

Teams: St. Louis Hawks - 1957-1961 (#6 - 1957, #17 - 1957, #16 - 1958-1961)

45.6 Win Shares, 0.043 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 2 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 4 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1958 Hawks), 2.7 Championship Win Shares, 3 Finals Losses (1957 Hawks, 1960 Hawks, 1961 Hawks), 3.9 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1959 Hawks), 1.6 Conference Finals Win Shares

5. Harry Gallatin - 131.9 

Position: Forward-Center

Height: 6'6"

Experience: 10 years (retired 3 years)

Teams: New York Knicks - 1949-1957 (#11), Detroit Pistons - 1958 (#10)
60.1 Win Shares, 0.012 MVP Award Shares, 1 All-NBA 1st Team Selection, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 7 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 3 Finals Losses (1951 Knicks, 1952 Knicks, 1953 Knicks), 2.2 Finals Win Shares, 3 Conference Finals Losses (1949 Knicks, 1950 Knicks, 1958 Pistons), 0.2 Conference Finals Win Shares


6. Elgin Baylor - 130.4 

Position: Forward

Height: 6'5"

Draft: 1958 - 1st pick

Experience: 3 years

Teams: Minneapolis Lakers - 1959-1960 (#22), Los Angeles Lakers - 1961 (#22)
36.1 Win Shares, 0.631 MVP Award Shares, 3 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 3 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 1 Finals Loss (1959 Lakers), 1.2 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1960 Lakers, 1961 Lakers), 5.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


7. Jim Pollard - 126.0 

Position: Forward-Center

Height: 6'4"

Experience: 7 years (retired 6 years)

Teams: Minneapolis Lakers - 1949-1955 (#17)
18.2 Win Shares, 0.000 MVP Award Shares, 2 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 2 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 4 All-Star Selections, 5 Championships (1949 Lakers, 1950 Lakers, 1952 Lakers, 1953 Lakers, 1954 Lakers), 3.7 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1951 Lakers, 1955 Lakers), 0.3 Conference Finals Win Shares


8. Bob Davies - 118.5 

Position: Guard-Forward

Height: 6'1"

Experience: 7 years (retired 6 years)

Teams: Rochester Royals - 1949-1955 (#11)
26.5 Win Shares, 0.000 MVP Award Shares, 4 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 4 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1951 Royals), 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 3 Conference Finals Losses (1949 Royals, 1952 Royals, 1954 Royals), 0.8 Conference Finals Win Shares


9. Clyde Lovellette - 117.2 

Position: Center-Forward

Height: 6'9"

Draft: 1952 - 9th pick

Experience: 8 years

Teams: Minneapolis Lakers - 1954-1957 (#89 - 1954, #34 - 1954-1957), Cincinnati Royals - 1958 (#34), St. Louis Hawks - 1959-1961 (#34)
64.1 Win Shares, 0.013 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 4 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1954 Lakers), 1.3 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Loss (1960 Hawks, 1961 Hawks), 0.9 Finals Win Shares, 3 Conference Finals Losses (1955 Lakers, 1957 Lakers, 1959 Hawks), 2.1 Conference Finals Win Shares


10. Tom Heinsohn - 105.7 

Position: Forward-Center

Height: 6'7"

Draft: 1956 - territorial selection

Experience: 5 years

Teams: Boston Celtics - 1957-1961 (#15)
33.9 Win Shares, 0.053 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 2 All-Star Selections, 4 Championships (1957 Celtics, 1959 Celtics, 1960 Celtics, 1961 Celtics), 4.6 Championship Win Shares, 1 Finals Loss (1958 Celtics), 0.9 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares

And the 15 Greatest Players Ever through 15 years:

(* - Active for next season)

1. Dolph Schayes - 377.7*

2. Bob Cousy - 349.1*

3. Bob Pettit - 327.7*

4. Bill Sharman - 276.2

5. Bill Russell - 260.4*

6. George Mikan - 232.2

7. Paul Arizin - 230.4*

8. Neil Johnston - 209.8

9. Vern Mikkelsen - 190.5

10. Ed Macauley - 179.7

11. Slater Martin - 160.6

12. Larry Foust - 152.4*

13. George Yardley - 145.1

14. Cliff Hagan - 137.2*

15. Harry Gallatin - 131.9

And the next tier:

16. Elgin Baylor - 130.4*

17. Jim Pollard - 126.0

18. Bob Davies - 118.5

19. Clyde Lovellette - 117.2*

20. Tom Heinsohn - 105.7*

21. Wilt Chamberlain - 104.5*

22. Bobby Wanzer - 99.5

23. Dick McGuire - 98.2

24. Carl Braun - 92.1*

25. Andy Phillip - 85.5

26. Paul Seymour - 82.9

27. Gene Shue - 81.3*

28. Jack Twyman - 80.9*

29. Max Zaslofsky - 75.8

30. Larry Costello - 73.3*