The List of Greatness - 1978

Last week, one of my readers made a guarantee that Chet Walker would be 1978's inductee. Was he right? Click ahead to find out.


(Also, no "Honorary Members" this year, which is good, because I don't want to end up with too many of those guys.)


1. Julius Erving - 204.2
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'6"
College Massachusetts
Draft: 1972 - 12th pick (signed in the ABA instead as an unrestricted free agent)
Experience: 2 years/5 ABA years
Teams: Virginia Squires - 1972-1973 (#32), New York Nets - 1974-1976 (#32), Philadelphia 76ers - 1977-1978 (#6)
20.6 Win Shares, 0.032 MVP Award Shares, 1 All-NBA 1st Team Selection, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 2 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0 Championship Win Shares, 1 Finals Loss (1977 76ers), 3.4 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1978 76ers), 1.3 Conference Finals Win Shares
74.9 ABA Win Shares, 3 ABA MVP's (1974, 1975, 1976), 4 All-ABA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-ABA 2nd Team Selection, 5 ABA All-Star Selections, 2 ABA Championships (1974 Nets, 1976 Nets), 6.7 ABA Championship Win Shares, 1 ABA Conference Finals Loss (1972 Squires), 2.8 ABA Conference Finals Win Shares


And the rest of the top ten:
2. Chet Walker - 190.4
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'6"
Draft: 1962 - 12th pick
Experience: 13 years (retired 3 years)
Teams: Syracuse Nationals - 1963 (#25), Philadelphia 76ers - 1964-1969 (#25), Chicago Bulls - 1970-1975 (#25)
117.5 Win Shares, 0.005 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 7 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1967 76ers), 2.3 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 5 Conference Finals Losses (1965 76ers, 1966 76ers, 1968 76ers, 1974 Bulls, 1975 Bulls), 5.9 Conference Finals Win Shares


3. Wes Unseld - 188.1
Position: Center-Forward
Height: 6'7"
College: Louisville
Draft: 1968 - 2nd pick
Teams: Baltimore Bullets - 1969-1973 (#41), Capital Bullets - 1974 (#41), Washington Bullets - 1975-1978 (#41)
87.6 Win Shares, 0.640 MVP Award Shares (1 MVP - 1969), 1 All-NBA 1st Team Selection, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 5 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1978 Bullets), 2.0 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1971 Bullets, 1975 Bullets), 4.9 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


4. Cliff Hagan - 183.3
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'4"
College: Kentucky
Draft: 1953 - 24th pick
Experience: 10 years/3 ABA years (retired 11 years/7 years from ABA)
Teams: St. Louis Hawks - 1957-1966 (#6 - 1957, #17 - 1957, #16 - 1958-1966), Dallas Chaparrals - 1968-1970 (#16)
75.1 Win Shares, 0.043 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 2 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 5 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, 4 Conference Finals Losses (1959 Hawks, 1963 Hawks, 1964 Hawks, 1966 Hawks)
10.2 ABA Win Shares, 1 ABA All-Star Selection


5. Billy Cunningham - 176.3
Position: Forward-Center
Height: 6'6"
College: North Carolina
Draft: 1965 - 5th pick
Experience: 9 years/2 ABA years (retired 2 years)
Teams: Philadelphia 76ers - 1966-1972 (#32), Carolina Cougars - 1973-1974 (#32), Philadelphia 76ers - 1975-1976 (#32)
63.2 Win Shares, 0.288 MVP Award Shares, 3 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 4 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1967 76ers), 0.4 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1966 76ers, 1968 76ers), 0.4 Conference Finals Win Shares
15.4 Win Shares, 1 ABA MVP (1973), 1 All-ABA 1st Team Selection, 1 ABA All-Star Selection, 1 ABA Conference Finals Loss (1973 Cougars), 1.7 ABA Conference Finals Win Shares


6. Larry Foust - 160.1
Position: Center-Forward
College: La Salle
Draft: 1950 - 7th pick
Experience: 12 years (retired 16 years)
Teams: Fort Wayne Pistons - 1951-1957 (#16), Minneapolis Lakers - 1958-1960 (#14), St. Louis Hawks - 1960-1962 (#13 - 1960-1961, #14 - 1962)
69.8 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


7. Lenny Wilkens - 158.8
Position: Guard
Height: 6'1"
College: Providence
Draft: 1960 - 6th pick
Experience: 15 years (retired 3 years)
Teams: St. Louis Hawks - 1961-1968 (#32 - 1961, #15 - 1962, #32 - 1963, #14 - 1964-1968), Seattle SuperSonics - 1969-1972 (#19), Cleveland Cavaliers - 1973-1974 (#19), Portland Trail Blazers - 1975 (#17)
95.5 Win Shares, 0.323 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 9 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 1 Finals Loss (1961 Hawks), 0.5 Finals Win Shares, 4 Conference Finals Losses (1963 Hawks, 1964 Hawks, 1966 Hawks, 1967 Hawks), 3.1 Conference Finals Win Shares


8. Bob McAdoo - 157.1
Position: Center-Forward
Height: 6'9"
College: North Carolina
Draft: 1972 - 2nd pick
Experience: 6 years
Teams: Buffalo Braves - 1973-1977 (#11), New York Knicks - 1977-1978 (#11)
69.7 Win Shares, 1.494 MVP Award Shares (1 MVP - 1975), 1 All-NBA 1st Team Selection, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 5 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


9. Walt Bellamy - 156.1
Position: Center
Height: 6'11"
College: Indiana
Draft: 1961 - 1st pick
Experience: 14 years (retired 3 years)
Teams: Chicago Packers - 1962 (#8), Chicago Zephyrs - 1963 (#8), Baltimore Bullets - 1964-1966 (#8), New York Knicks - 1966-1969 (#8), Detroit Pistons - 1969-1970 (#8), Atlanta Hawks - 1970-1974 (#8), New Orleans Jazz - 1975 (#8)
130.0 Win Shares, 0.002 MVP Award Shares, 0 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 (1965 Bullets, 1970 Hawks), 2.4 Conference Finals Win Shares


10. Dave Bing - 153.5
Position: Guard
Height: 6'3"
College: Syracuse
Draft: 1966 - 2nd pick
Experience: 12 years
Teams: Detroit Pistons - 1967-1975 (#21),  Washington Bullets - 1976-1977 (#21), Boston Celtics - 1978 (#44)
68.8 Win Shares, 0.386 MVP Award Shares, 2 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 7 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


And the 32 Greatest Players Ever after 32 seasons:
(Inducted List of Greatness members in bold; Honorary Members in bold italics)
1. Bill Russell - 739.6
2. Wilt Chamberlain - 712.6
3. Jerry West - 584.6
4. Oscar Robertson - 511.2
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 495.4
6. John Havlicek - 479.1
7. Bob Pettit - 468.2
8. Dolph Schayes - 431.8
9. Elgin Baylor - 416.2
10. Bob Cousy - 406.2
11. George Mikan - 380.0
12. Walt Frazier - 321.8
13. Rick Barry - 321.7
14. Sam Jones - 283.0
15. Bill Sharman - 278.7
16. Paul Arizin - 258.2
17. Elvin Hayes - 255.4
18. Hal Greer - 251.9
19. Willis Reed - 234.5
20. Dave Cowens - 227.0
21. Vern Mikkelsen - 225.8
22. Jerry Lucas - 221.6
23. Tom Heinsohn - 217.8
24. Neil Johnston - 209.8
25. Ed Macauley - 204.7
26. Julius Erving - 204.2
27. Bailey Howell - 200.7
28. Chet Walker - 190.4
29. Wes Unseld - 188.1
30. Cliff Hagan - 183.3
31. Slater Martin - 178.9
32. Billy Cunningham - 176.3


And the next tier:
33. Larry Foust - 160.1
34. Harry Gallatin - 159.0
35. Lenny Wilkens - 158.8
36. Bob McAdoo - 157.1
37. Walt Bellamy - 156.1
38. Jim Pollard - 154.2
39. Dave Bing - 153.5
40. Bobby Wanzer - 151.4
41. Bob Davies - 150.7
42. Spencer Haywood - 150.4
43. Gail Goodrich - 149.9
44. Jo Jo White - 147.3
45. George Yardley - 145.1
46. Nate Thurmond - 141.8
47. Earl Monroe - 141.4
48. Dave DeBusschere - 141.4
49. Richie Guerin - 138.0
50. Bob Dandridge - 137.1
51. Tiny Archibald - 136.8
52. Connie Hawkins - 135.1
53. Max Zaslofsky - 134.9
54. Artis Gilmore - 133.9
55. Zelmo Beaty - 133.7
56. George McGinnis - 132.9
57. Jack Twyman - 131.7
58. Joe Fulks - 126.7
59. Lou Hudson - 124.1
60. Bob Lanier - 124.0
61. Arnie Risen - 120.0
62. Clyde Lovellette - 119.2
63. Dan Issel - 119.1
64. Mel Daniels - 118.4