PostScript Sports

We’re getting to the point in the list of ultimate longevity versus title runs and dominating the league. A few large what-ifs: What if they stayed healthier, what if they won one championship, what if they started or played their career somewhere else?

30

Scottie Pippen:

What if Scottie Pippen was a number one option for his career? Pippen is arguably the league’s best wing defender of all time. Playing alongside Michael Jordan, Pippen captured six NBA Championships with seven All-Star and All-NBA (three first teams) appearances. We saw a year and a half of Pippen being the lead guy in Chicago. That time I don’t think fully paints the picture of where he could have gone talent-wise. He was playing and leading a team that had a hole. He had to pick up, fix, and replace a sports car that just had its engine taken away. Pippen was a late bloomer who grew late and within three years in the league was an NBA All-Star. His ability to defend the wing, create offense as an almost hybrid wing-guard at 6’8” (averaging over 5 assists per game for his career and 7 assists per game in the Bulls’ first championship season in 91-92). Pippen sacrificed the stats and the stardom of a lead guy to help the Bulls and Jordan become the greatest team of the 1990’s and possibly all time.

29

Chris Paul:

What if Chris Paul captured one NBA Championship? Chris Paul is arguably the most talented traditional point guard of all time. Traditional in the sense of controlling the ball and offense, being a pass-first guard, guarding the other team’s point guard, and typically being the smallest player on the court for his team. Chris Paul’s longevity, now going into his final and twenty-first season of his career, is one we don’t see from many players in the league and not very often from players of his 6’0” stature. Paul came into the league out of Wake Forest as the #4 pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. He instantly turned into one of the league’s best guards, winning the Rookie of the Year award in the 2005-06 season and finishing second in the MVP race in just his third season in the league. After carrying undertalented and poorly run New Orleans teams early in his career, he was then traded to the Clippers and instantly turned them into a contender after decades of mediocrity at best from a Clippers franchise. Everywhere Paul went in his career, whether it was New Orleans, Houston, Oklahoma City, or Phoenix, his teams instantly turned into playoff teams with a chance to win it all. The only thing is his teams came up short in the playoffs. A few conference championship appearances and one Finals appearance, Paul was never able to hoist the Larry O’Brien. It’s the one knock on his NBA résumé. Paul is an insatiable talent and was a pleasure to watch for over two decades. Championship or not, Paul is undoubtedly one of the greatest point guards of all time.

28

David Robinson:

There are two what-ifs when it comes to Robinson’s career. What if Robinson entered the league after being drafted (Robinson spent two years serving military service time after being drafted), and what if Robinson and the Spurs never drafted Tim Duncan? Robinson didn’t enter the league until he was 24 after college and military service. He instantly entered the league as one of the league’s best players as the Rookie of the Year and finished 6th in the MVP race. Robinson was a great two-way player and one of the freakiest athletes the league ever saw. A chiseled 7’1” frame made Robinson arguably one of the best athletes we’ve ever seen at the center position. Capturing 10 All-NBA teams, a DPOY, and a league MVP, there wasn’t much missing from The Admiral’s career except for that elusive championship ring. A blessing in disguise came by way of an injury that limited Robinson to just 6 games in the 96-97 season, which led the Spurs to a 20-62 season and landing the #1 overall pick in the 1997 Draft, allowing them to take Tim Duncan. Duncan and Robinson instantly got the team back on track, winning 56 games in their first year together and capturing the 1999 NBA Championship. Robinson won a second championship later in his last year of his career in 2003 as well, but playing a much lesser role for that second ring. Robinson checks every box you could ask for on an NBA résumé, cementing him as an all-time great as he surely stood out in an NBA decade full of great big men.

27

Kawhi Leonard:

What if Zaza Pachulia doesn’t stick his foot under Kawhi in the 2017 Western Conference Finals? Many forget the Spurs won over 60 games in back-to-back years in 2016 and 2017 and were looking like they could defeat the seemingly invincible 2016-2017 Warriors before the injury occurred. Kawhi has one of the most interesting NBA resumes of all-time. He has missed long stretches of games due to injury but when he’s played and is healthy he’s looked every bit as good as the other top guys in the league. A lot of the time when we see a player that has endured injuries and missed time in the league its this big what-if they stayed healthy that team could’ve won a championship (think Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway and Derrick Rose) the odd thing with Kawhi is he stayed healthy enough in stretches he won two championships and has 2 Finals MVP’s to go along with them. Kawhi came into the league as a freaky athlete who was instantly one of the league’s best defenders, the only problem then was he was a terrible jump shooter. To the demise of many eventual scouts and coaching staffs Kawhi figured out how to make himself an elite shooter. Now every time there is a super athletic wing that can’t shoot teams ask themselves if this is their Kawhi. Kawhi is still a very good player when healthy but still struggles with staying on the court. On a Clippers team that is full of veterans and ready to compete in a loaded Western Conference, any follower of basketball still wonders, does he have one more elite full healthy season in him?

26

Kevin Garnett:

What if Kevin Garnett got out of Minnesota earlier? Out of high school, Garnett quickly became a star in the league, capturing his first of 15 All-Star appearances at just 20 years old in his second year in the league. Garnett flourished, becoming a perennial All-NBA, All-Defense First Team member yearly and capturing a league MVP in 2003-2004 while also taking the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals. That was as far as he was able to take Minnesota, and mostly due to the fault of the front office never surrounding Garnett with adequate talent to compete with Duncan and the Spurs or Kobe and Shaq and the Lakers in the West during the early 2000’s. We saw Garnett get traded to Boston going into the 2007-2008 campaign, where he was able to win Defensive Player of the Year, finish third in MVP voting, and capture his lone NBA Championship. Garnett is the embodiment of a ferocious competitor, if not a belligerently crazy competitor. For over a decade, Garnett was one of the league’s best players and at times may have been the league’s best player. He had an amazing NBA career, has every trophy imaginable, the what-if is only what if he was given help earlier or in a better organization earlier.

25

Charles Barkley:

The obvious is what if Charles was able to win one ring, but that feels like a tired talking point. What if Charles Barkley was 6’10”? Making this list fascinated me, how many of the elite power forwards of all time clumped together here in the 15-30 range. All of them with their own unique skill set. But Barkley has possibly the most unique skill set of them all, being his ability to rebound at 6’6” (which some say is a stretch). Barkley averaged double-digit rebounds every year aside from his rookie campaign. Like many stars of the 90’s, Barkley was never able to capture a championship, that really being the only knock on his résumé. Capturing a league MVP in 1992-93 plus 11 All-NBA nods, Barkley’s accolades match his charismatic persona as one of the most beloved and humorous personalities the sport has ever had.

24

Karl Malone:

What if Karl Malone didn’t have John Stockton? Stockton made our top-50 at number 39 in our last article that you can read here. They ran one of the most efficient and best 2-man games the league has ever seen for almost two decades. Their ability to play full seasons for the span they did is something that I feel is often overlooked in their careers. Malone gets the slight nod over Barkley for capturing 2 league MVP’s and 2 Finals appearances to Barkley’s 1 MVP and 1 Finals appearance, but all of these power forwards are neck and neck. Malone was an efficient scorer of the basketball for the era and a strong presence on both sides of the floor, and in general, he’s often regarded as one of the strongest and most intimidating power forwards ever.

23

Dirk Nowitzki:

What if Dirk didn’t capture the 2011 NBA title? For a lot of guys on this list, the question is what if they won a ring, and it’s often the one thing missing from their career accolades. Dirk was able to shake that off in what might be the single most impressive playoff run a single player has put together. On a team that had no other stars in their prime, Nowitzki led and dominated a playoff run, defeating the likes of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook’s Thunder, the reigning champion Kobe and Pau-led Lakers (swept them), a persistently good Trail Blazers team, and ultimately defeating the Miami Big 3 (LeBron, Wade, and Bosh) in the Finals. During that playoff run, Dirk averaged almost 40 minutes a game and carried the offensive burden, averaging 27.7 points. Dirk played a 21-year career, coming into the league at 20 out of Germany. He captured a league MVP, Finals MVP, 12-time All-NBA, 14-time All-Star, and something that can’t be given an award for — which was to change the way a 7-footer could play basketball. Dirk was truly the first great shooting big, and the league has changed forever because of that. Every European player over 6’10” that could shoot instantly has been compared to the German legend, and even after 7-plus years out of the league, that narrative still holds true.

22

Dwyane Wade:

What if the Big 3 never came together in Miami? I want to preface that by saying Wade, without those rings, is still one of the greatest shooting guards ever, and his positioning on this list wouldn’t have been so different without that run. That being said, I don’t think it’s crazy to say he probably only has one championship if Bosh and LeBron don’t join him in Miami. Wade is one of the best and quickest athletes to ever play the guard position. Wade was a late bloomer, coming into the league after 3 years at Marquette. He quickly became a star in the league, capturing his first of 13 All-Star appearances in his second year in the league. In his third season, Wade led the Miami Heat to their first NBA Championship at just 24 years old. After the departure of Shaquille O’Neal during the 2007-2008 season, there was a few-year stretch where Wade really had to carry the burden of doing everything in Miami, averaging over 30 points per game in 2008-2009. Wade was able to recruit fellow draft classmates LeBron James and Chris Bosh to Miami for the 2010-2011 season, where the trio made the Finals four straight years and captured two NBA Championships. Wade fell into more of a sixth-man role shortly after the departure of LeBron. He is the greatest member of the Miami Heat ever and is one of my personal favorite players to have ever watched play basketball.

21

John Havlicek:

What if Havlicek played in the 1990’s? Havlicek is, in my opinion, one of the most overlooked stars this league has ever had. Winner of 8 Championships, Havlicek helped transfer the Celtics’ dominance into the 1970s after Bill Russell retired. Havlicek was an iron man, playing fewer than 75 games only once in his career (71 games in 1965-1966, where they won another championship) and averaged 36.6 minutes a game. Often overlooked among guards and wings of this era, Havlicek averaged in the mid-20 points per game range for the peak of his career with no three-point line and an often crowded paint area. It makes you wonder, especially with his athleticism and basketball IQ, if Havlicek played in the 1990s, would he be remembered more and could his game have flourished in a more modern style of basketball? Havlicek is often overlooked because of the era he played in, but 8 Championships and his numbers land him at our #21 slot.