The List of Greatness - 1964

We're finally caught up with this year's inductees, insofar as we have 18 players after 18 years of the NBA's existence. Starting with 1965, we'll have one inductee every year - which was what I wanted to do originally anyway, but since the only component of my greatness rating formula that existed prior to 1951 was the All-NBA team there was a five-way tie for first place between Joe Fulks, Bob Feerick, Stan Miasek, Bones McKinney (yes, that Bones McKinney), and Max Zaslofsky. All were tied with a greatness rating of 15.0... No offense to any of those guys' careers, but they're not exactly all-time greats. And 15 isn't exactly an awe inspiring number. (In case anyone was wondering, the All-NBA teams started in 1947 - the league's first year, the All-Star Game started in 1951, win share data is available starting in 1952, and the first MVP was handed out in 1956.)


Getting back to this year's inductees, we've got one player who's an all-time legend, and one player who you're probably not familiar with unless you're really into old-school hoops.


1. Oscar Robertson - 199.5
Position: Guard-Forward
Height: 6'5"
Draft: 1960 - 1st pick
Experience: 4 years
Teams: Cincinnati Royals - 1961-1964 (#14)
66.2 Win Shares, 1.661 MVP Award Shares (1 MVP - 1964), 4 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 4 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1963 Royals, 1964 Royals), 4.7 Conference Finals Win Shares


2. George Yardley - 145.1
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'5"
Draft: 1950 - 7th pick
Experience: 7 years (retired 4 years)
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


And the rest of the top ten:
3. Jerry West - 140.7
Position: Guard
Height: 6'2"
Draft: 1960 - 2nd pick
Experience: 4 years
Teams: Los Angeles Lakers - 1961-1964 (#44)
41.6 Win Shares, 0.275 MVP Award Shares, 3 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 4 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1962 Lakers, 1963 Lakers), 4.5 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1961 Lakers), 1.9 Conference Finals Win Shares


4. Harry Gallatin - 131.9
Position: Forward-Center
Height: 6'6"
Experience: 10 years (retired 6 years)
Teams: New York Knicks - 1949-1957 (#11), Detroit Pistons - 1958 (#10)
60.1 Win Shares, 0.012 MVP Award Shares, 1 All-NBA Team Selection, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 7 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 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


5. Jack Twyman - 126.1
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'6"
Draft: 1955 - 8th pick
Experience: 9 years
Teams: Rochester Royals - 1956-1957 (#10), Cincinnati Royals - 1958-1964 (#27 - 1958-1960,  #31 - 1961-1964)
69.4 Win Shares, 0.066 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 2 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 6 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1963 Royals, 1964 Royals), 2.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


6. Jim Pollard - 126.0
Position: Forward-Center
Height: 6'4"
Experience: 7 years (retired 9 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 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1951 Lakers, 1955 Lakers), 0.3 Conference Win Shares


7. Clyde Lovellette - 119.2
Position: Center-Forward
Height: 6'9"
Draft: 1952 - 9th pick
Experience: 11 years
Teams: Minneapolis Lakers - 1954-1957 (#89 - 1954, #34 - 1954-1957), Cincinnati Royals - 1958 (#34), St. Louis Hawks - 1959-1962 (#34), Boston Celtics - 1963-1964 (#4 - 1963, #34 - 1964)
71.1  Win Shares, 0.013 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 4 All-Star Selections, 3 Championships (1954 Lakers, 1963 Celtics, 1964 Celtics), 0.8 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


8. Bob Davies - 118.5
Position: Guard-Forward
Height: 6'1"
Experience: 7 years (retired 8 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. Richie Guerin - 115.8
Position: Guard
Height: 6'4"
Draft: 1954 - 17th pick
Experience: 8 years
Teams: New York Knicks - 1957-1964 (#9), St. Louis Hawks - 1964 (#15)
52.0 Win Shares, 0.032 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 3 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 6 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1964 Hawks), 1.2 Conference Finals Win Shares


10. Sam Jones - 108.7
Position: Guard-Forward
Height: 6'4"
Draft: 1957 - 8th pick
Experience: 7 years
Teams: Boston Celtics - 1958-1964 (#24)
49.5 Win Shares, 0.002 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 2 All-Star Selections, 6 Championships (1959 Celtics, 1960 Celtics, 1961 Celtics, 1962 Celtics, 1963 Celtics, 1964 Celtics), 6.9 Championship Win Shares, 1 Finals Loss (1958 Celtics), 0.4 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


And the 18 Greatest Players Ever after 18 seasons:
Inducted List of Greatness members in bold; Retired players highlighted in silver
(Previous rank and rating, if applicable, in parentheses)
1. Bill Russell - 486.5 (1 - 426.5)
2. Bob Pettit - 446.2 (2 - 405.5)
3. Bob Cousy - 402.1 (3)
4. Dolph Schayes - 388.2 - (4)
5. Bill Sharman - 276.2 - (5)
6. Wilt Chamberlain - 275.8 (10 - 200.6)
7. Elgin Baylor - 255.5 (8 - 228.1)
8. Paul Arizin - 244.5 (6)
9. George Mikan - 232.2 (7)
10. Neil Johnston - 209.8 (9)
11. Tom Heinsohn - 208.0 (13 - 177.8)
12. Oscar Robertson - 199.5 (18 - 134.0)
13. Vern Mikkelsen - 190.5 (11)
14. Ed Macauley - 179.7 (12)
15. Cliff Hagan - 167.4 (15 - 159.4)
16. Slater Martin - 160.6 (14)
17. Larry Foust - 155.6 (16)
18. George Yardley - 145.1 (17)


And the next tier:
19. Jerry West - 140.7 (25 - 104.7)
20. Harry Gallatin - 131.9 (19)
21. Jack Twyman - 126.1 (22 - 119.0)
22. Jim Pollard - 126.0 (20)
23. Clyde Lovellette - 119.2 (21 - 120.9)
24. Bob Davies - 118.5 (23)
25. Richie Guerin - 115.8 (24 - 106.5)
26. Sam Jones - 108.7 (NR - 63.8)
27. Bobby Wanzer - 99.5 (26)
28. Dick McGuire - 98.2 (27)
29. Tom Gola - 98.2 (30 - 91.5)
30. Larry Costello - 93.4 (31 - 89.9)
31. Carl Braun - 92.6 (29)
32. Gene Shue - 92.5 (28 - 93.6)
33. Bailey Howell - 86.4 (NR - 71.6)
34. Andy Phillip - 85.5 (32)
35. Hal Greer - 85.2 (NR - 61.9)
36. Red Kerr - 83.3 (34 - 78.4)