The List of Greatness - 1984

I hope everyone's enjoying their Saturday. I'm currently putting off doing homework for my graduate degree by brushing up on some Big Ten football (as a newly minted Big Ten man/Nebraska alum, I need to start figuring this stuff out) and putting together basketball stats. I just watched Ohio State barely hold off Toledo (yeesh...) and I'm currently watching Iowa-Iowa State go into triple overtime. I love overtime in college football. Especially when you hit the third and you gotta start going for two after every touchdown. Anyway, we've got a Legend joining the List today (and a surprise joining the supplementary list, as well.)




1. Larry Bird - 314.0
Position: Forward
Height: 6'9"
College: Indiana State
Draft: 1978 - 6th pick
Experience: 5 years
Teams: Boston Celtics - 1980-1984 (#33)
62.1 Win Shares, 2.685 MVP Award Shares (1 MVP - 1984), 5 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 5 All-Star Selections, 2 Championships (1981 Celtics, 1984 Celtics), 7.8 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1980 Celtics, 1982 Celtics), 2.7 Conference Finals Win Shares


And the rest of the top ten:
2. Magic Johnson - 218.8
Position: Guard-Forward
Height: 6'8"
College: Michigan State
Draft: 1979 - 1st pick
Experience: 5 years
Teams: Los Angeles Lakers - 1980-1984 (#32)
52.5 Win Shares, 0.930 MVP Award Shares, 2 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 4 All-Star Selections, 2 Championships (1980 Lakers, 1982 Lakers), 5.5 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1983 Lakers, 1984 Lakers), 5.6 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


3. Tiny Archibald - 206.0
Position: Guard
Height: 6'1"
College: Texas-El Paso
Draft: 1970 - 19th pick
Experience: 13 years
Teams: Cincinnati Royals - 1971-1972 (#10), Kansas City-Omaha Kings - 1973-1975 (#10 - 1973-1974, #1 - 1975), Kansas City Kings - 1976 (#1), New York Nets - 1977 (#1), Boston Celtics - 1979-1983 (#7), Milwaukee Bucks - 1984 (#7)
83.4 Win Shares, 0.465 MVP Award Shares, 3 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 2 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 6 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1981 Celtics), 1.3 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1980 Celtics, 1982 Celtics), 1.2 Conference Finals Win Shares


4. Bob McAdoo - 188.8
Position: Center-Forward
Height: 6'9"
College: North Carolina
Draft: 1972 - 2nd pick
Experience: 12 years
Teams: Buffalo Braves - 1973-1977 (#11), New York Knicks - 1977-1979 (#11), Boston Celtics - 1979 (#11), Detroit Pistons - 1980-1981 (#11), New Jersey Nets - 1981 (#21), Los Angeles Lakers - 1982-1984 (#11)
85.4 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, 1 Championship (1982 Lakers), 1.0 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1983 Lakers, 1984 Lakers), 1.2 Finals Win Shares, 0 Conference Finals Losses, 0.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


5. Cliff Hagan - 183.3
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'4"
College: Kentucky
Draft: 1953 - 24th pick
Experience: 10 years/3 ABA years (retired 16 years/12 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


6. Bob Dandridge - 176.4
Position: Forward-Guard
Height: 6'6"
College: Norfolk State
Draft: 1969 - 45th pick
Experience: 13 years (retired 2 years)
Teams: Milwaukee Bucks - 1970-1977 (#10), Washington Bullets - 1978-1981 (#10), Milwaukee Bucks - 1982 (#10)
80.3 Win Shares, 0.034 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 4 All-Star Selections, 2 Championships (1971 Bucks, 1978 Bullets), 3.7 Championship Win Shares, 2 Finals Losses (1974 Bucks, 1979 Bullets), 4.4 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1970 Bucks, 1972 Bucks), 2.5 Conference Finals Win Shares


Dandridge joins the supplementary list this year as a "Top 6" player for six years in the top six. This is why I love doing these things. I never, ever would have predicted Bob Dandridge ranking that high when I first started this project.


7. Billy Cunningham - 176.3
Position: Forward-Center
Height: 6'6"
College: North Carolina
Draft: 1965 - 5th pick
Experience: 9 years/2 ABA years (retired 8 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 ABA Win Shares, 1 ABA MVP (1973), 1 All-ABA 1st Team Selection, 1 ABA Conference Finals Loss (1973 Cougars), 1.7 ABA Conference Finals Win Shares


8. Dan Issel - 175.3
Position: Center-Forward
Height: 6'9"
College: Kentucky
Draft: 1970 - 122nd pick (signed with ABA instead)
Experience: 8 years/6 ABA years
Teams: Kentucky Colonels - 1971-1975 (#44), Denver Nuggets - 1976 (#25), Denver Nuggets - 1977-1984 (#25 - 1977, #44 - 1978-1984)
78.1 Win Shares, 0.004 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 1 All-Star Selection, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1978 Nuggets), 1.3 Conference Finals Win Shares
75.6 Win Shares, 1 All-ABA 1st Team Selection, 4 All-ABA 2nd Team Selections, 6 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1975 Colonels), 1.7 Championship Win Shares, 3 Finals Losses (1971 Colonels, 1973 Colonels, 1976 Nuggets), 8.5 Finals Win Shares, 1 Conference Finals Loss (1974 Colonels), 0.8 Conference Finals Win Shares


9. Bob Lanier - 174.5
Position: Center
Height: 6'11"
College: St. Bonaventure
Draft: 1970 - 1st pick
Experience: 14 years
Teams: Detroit Pistons - 1971-1980 (#16), Milwaukee Bucks - 1980-1984 (#16)
117.1 Win Shares, 0.504 MVP Award Shares, 0 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 0 All-NBA 2nd Team Selections, 8 All-Star Selections, 0 Championships, 0.0 Championship Win Shares, 0 Finals Losses, 0.0 Finals Win Shares, 2 Conference Finals Losses (1983 Bucks, 1984 Bucks), 1.9 Conference Finals Win Shares


10. Paul Westphal - 167.6
Position: Guard
Height: 6'4"
College: Southern California
Draft: 1972 - 10th pick
Experience: 12 years
Teams: Boston Celtics - 1973-1975 (#44), Phoenix Suns - 1977-1980 (#44), Seattle SuperSonics - 1981 (#44), New York Knicks - 1982-1983 (#44), Phoenix Suns - 1984 (#44)
67.7 Win Shares, 0.014 MVP Award Shares, 3 All-NBA 1st Team Selections, 1 All-NBA 2nd Team Selection, 5 All-Star Selections, 1 Championship (1974 Celtics), 0.5 Championship Win Shares, 1 Finals Loss (1976 Suns), 1.9 Finals Win Shares, 4 Conference Finals Losses (1973 Celtics, 1975 Celtics, 1979 Suns, 1984 Suns), 2.0 Conference Finals Win Shares


And the 38 Greatest Players Ever after 38 seasons:
(Inducted List of Greatness members in bold; supplementary members in underlined italics)
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 774.7
2. Bill Russell - 739.6
3. Wilt Chamberlain - 712.6
4. Jerry West - 584.6
5. Oscar Robertson - 511.2
6. John Havlicek - 479.1
7. Bob Pettit - 468.2
8. Julius Erving - 450.5
9. Dolph Schayes - 431.8
10. Elgin Baylor - 416.2
11. Bob Cousy - 406.2
12. George Mikan - 380.0
13. Rick Barry - 329.3
14. Moses Malone - 324.9
15. Elvin Hayes - 322.1
16. Walt Frazier - 321.8
17. Larry Bird - 314.0
18. Sam Jones - 283.0
19. Bill Sharman - 278.7
20. George Gervin - 275.0
21. Paul Arizin - 258.2
22. Hal Greer - 251.9
23. Dave Cowens - 239.8
24. Willis Reed - 234.5
25. Vern Mikkelsen - 225.8
26. Wes Unseld - 221.6
27. Jerry Lucas - 221.6
28. Artis Gilmore - 218.8
29. Magic Johnson - 218.8
30. Tom Heinsohn - 217.8
31. Neil Johnston - 209.8
32. Tiny Archibald - 206.0
33. Ed Macauley - 204.7
34. Bailey Howell - 200.7
35. Chet Walker - 190.4
36. Bob McAdoo - 188.8
37. Cliff Hagan - 183.3
38. Slater Martin - 178.9


And the next tier:
39. Bob Dandridge - 176.4
40. Billy Cunningham - 176.3
41. Dan Issel - 175.3
42. Bob Lanier - 174.3
43. Paul Westphal - 167.6
44. Spencer Haywood - 161.7
45. Larry Foust - 160.1
46. Harry Gallatin - 159.0
47. Lenny Wilkens - 158.8
48. Walt Bellamy - 156.1
49. Jim Pollard - 154.2
50. Dave Bing - 153.5
51. Gail Goodrich - 151.8
52. Bobby Wanzer - 151.4
53. Bob Davies - 150.7
54. Jo Jo White - 150.2
55. George McGinnis - 149.1
56. George Yardley - 145.1
57. Earl Monroe - 144.8
58. Dennis Johnson - 144.7
59. Gus Williams - 142.7
60. Nate Thurmond - 141.8
61. Dave DeBusschere - 141.4
62. Bobby Jones - 140.9
63. Richie Guerin - 138.0
64. Robert Parish - 136.1
65. Connie Hawkins - 135.1
66. Max Zaslofsky - 134.9
67. Marques Johnson - 134.7
68. Zelmo Beaty - 133.7
69. Jamaal Wilkes - 132.4
70. Jack Twyman - 131.7
71. Lou Hudson - 127.5
72. Adrian Dantley - 127.0
73. Joe Fulks - 126.7
74. Jack Sikma - 126.2
75. Sidney Moncrief - 124.8
76. Pete Maravich - 124.8