NBA- My Favorite Players Part One

By: Greg Rector

This will be a list of my favorite NBA players from every franchise. Now as a Lakers fan, I could quickly put on my top five and top-ten players for the Lakers,’ so I decided to go with every franchise. Some of these names will surprise many of the younger crowd since I have been watching NBA games for over 50 years. I will keep this list strictly to the players I have witnessed in over 50 years of watching NBA basketball. I am doing this article in two parts.

Atlanta Hawks

The Human Highlight Film Dominique Wilkins hands down is my favorite Atlanta Hawks player.

Wilkins was simply amazing to watch play basketball. A nine-time All-Star and a seven-time member of the All-NBA team player Wilkins was simply incredibly gifted as an NBA player. He entered the league with the Human Highlight Film player coming along with him from his time with the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Dominique Wilkins delivered for awfully bad Atlanta Hawks teams. What most people forget is he was drafted third overall by the Utah Jazz who wanted Wilkins as a power forward and he was admittedly committed to being a small forward, the Jazz were also cash-strapped back then so they traded him to the Atlanta Hawks for John Drew Freeman Williams and a $1 million dollar fee.

A nine-time NBA All-Star and the winner of two NBA slam dunk contests, Wilkins registered 26,668 points and 7,169 rebounds in his NBA career. As of 2021, he ranks 14th on the NBA scoring list.

Boston Celtics

Well here we go with the team I despise the most and always will despise them more than any other franchise. My “favorite: Boston Celtics player easily for me to select was John “Hondo” Havlicek. Havlicek was a swing player for the Celtics and ended up winning 8 NBA titles with the Celtics. Hondo Havlicek was just a tough solid player who still is the all-time leading scorer for the Celtics. Havlicek is the Celtics’ all-time leading scorer with 26,395 points (20.8 points per game), which ranks 16th all-time in the NBA. He was the NBA finals MVP in the 1974 season and was also known as a great defender who was constantly on the floor battling for balls and had a tenacious tactic of deflecting balls away.

The Brooklyn Nets

I am going back in time with the former New Jersey Nets with this selection. The Nets have never been a great organization however for me when they drafted Charles Linwood “Buck” Williams from the University of Maryland they landed a great player.

Williams was a great rebounder and a tremendous Rookie of the Year winner in 1982. In his first season with the Nets, he averaged 15.5 points and led the team with 12.3 rebounds per game, helping New Jersey win 20 more games (a 44–38 win–loss record) than the previous year and earning 1982 Rookie of the Year honors. Williams established himself as a premier player at the power forward position over the next eight seasons with the Nets; in six of those he was ranked among the best three rebounders in the league, never averaging less than twelve rebounds per game.

Charlotte Hornets

Now this franchise has never been very good. So when is said and done for the Charlotte Hornets I have to say Kemba Walker is my favorite player ever for the Hornets franchise. The NBA must be pleased that Michael Jordan will no longer be the owner of the Hornets.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are up next and for me, it’s not MJ or even Scottie Pippen. Nope, my favorite Bulls player I have seen in my over 50 years of watching NBA games was Derrick Rose. You see for me Michael Jordan was too much unto himself and didn’t follow through on his teachings of the “Carolina Way” of basketball from Coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. Pippen and his comments are crazy at times as well.

For me, Derrick Rose gets my nod as my favorite Bulls player. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2009 and became the youngest player to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2011 at age 22. It’s simply a shame that his career was derailed by injuries. I was so excited by watching Derrick Rose play as a young guy.

Cleveland Cavaliers

There is only one name to belong here. LeBron James. What else can you say about the guy who came and went elsewhere before coming back to the Cavaliers and winning the NBA title?

We all know his story so I don’t need to say anything more about King James.

Dallas Mavericks

This one is really hard for me. I am a Canadian so Steve Nash means plenty to me as a Dallas Mavericks player to be my favorite. Dirk Nowitzki legitimized a big player who could hit from three-point territory. But neither is my favorite player for the Dallas Mavericks. I have to say Luka Doncic. Doncic was a highlight delight while playing in Europe as a teenager against men. He has brought his game to the NBA and we’ve all seen what I did when he was playing in Europe. Simply an incredibly gifted player.

Denver Nuggets

Sorry to my brother in the fight to keep Nikola Jokic as the three-time winner of the NBA MVP award winner but Keith Richards my favorite Nuggets player isn’t even Jamal Murray. My guy goes back in time with the Nuggets. My guy for the Nuggets is David Thompson. Thompson and his University of Maryland teammate Mario Tome are the inventors of the alley-oop pass folks. Thompson was nicknamed “SkyWalker” as he defied gravity at an unreal rate for the era he played in.

Detroit Pistons

I will say while I enjoyed Isiah Thomas playing point guard for the Pistons he’s not my favorite Pistons player. My favorite Detroit Piston has always been Dennis Rodman. Say what you will of his off-the-court activities. Say what you want about his lack of scoring prowess that’s all fair and valid. But no one has come into the NBA and dominated. He played such strong defense that the NBA stated he “could shut down any opposing player, from point guard to center.” I would marvel at watching him rebound and then we learned he spent hours in the gym studying how the ball would come off the hoop or the glass. He was something special to watch.

Golden State Warriors

Well, I certainly won’t select Draymond Green or Klay Thompson. This one is easy as pie to select Steph Curry.

Curry has changed the game forever with his three-point scoring. Besides he learned plenty of his game from his dad who was a former Toronto Raptors player and Steph married a Canadian so he gets added bonus points for that.

Houston Rockets

Here’s another easy one. Hakeem Olajuwon and it’s simply not even close to any other Houston Rockets player. Olajuwon was simply magnificent and led the Rockets to the NBA title in two straight seasons oh yeah those two years Michael Jordan was missing from the Bulls. For me, the Bulls would have lost to those two Houston Rocket teams at least once.

Indiana Pacers

Well here’s another easy player for me to select, Reggie Miller. Now I’m not saying I enjoy Reggie’s TV commentary anywhere near as much as I absolutely loved watching Miller put down the New York Knicks and his bantering with Spike Lee especially at Madison Square Garden. Miller was a great three-point shooter long before the days of Steph Curry. Had the three-point shot been as prevalent in his era there’s no doubt he would have ended up scoring a whole lot more points than his 25,279 career points.

Los Angeles Clippers

I really hate using that team name. Yes, I am a Lakers fan who firmly believes the Clippers don’t belong anywhere near Los Angeles. However, my favorite Clippers player certainly isn’t on their current roster. My favorite San Diego Clippers player was Lloyd World B Free. He was nicknamed “World” because of his 44″ vertical leap and his ability to do 360-degree dunks as a kid in Brooklyn. World B Free was a highlight package all on his own on many awful Clippers teams.

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers of course have so many great players to select. I could say Kareem Abdul Jabbar Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and many others. However, for me, I am going with James “Big Game” Worthy. Yes, I am a huge North Carolina Tar Heels fan and I loved James Worthy from his time with the Tar Heels. Even as a professional, it was his determined effort to always play the “Carolina Way” that I will never forget.

Memphis Grizzlies

There’s only one guy and it’s Ja Morant. Yes, he has his issues off the court, and even on the court he sometimes plays too out of control which has led to injuries. The simple fact is when Ja Morant is playing basketball I am often jumping off my seat and that means he’s definitely worth watching.

Miami Heat

Long before the first big three came to Miami I was a huge fan of Alonzo Mourning as a member of the Miami Heat. This will make the bossman around here happy right Joe? Mourning played college basketball for John Thompson at Georgetown University. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, starting all 34 games for the Hoyas, averaging 13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. But his most notable accomplishment was leading the nation in total blocked shots (169) and blocks per game (5.0); both figures led the nation and set NCAA records for a freshman at that time. Yes, he started out with Charlotte but his impact as a member of the Miami Heat goes unquestioned in my opinion.