Tag Archives: Philadelphia 76ers

ProHoopsHistory HOF: George McGinnis

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George McGinnis (philly.com)

George McGinnis (philly.com)

If this were the NBA Hall of Fame, then George McGinnis likely wouldn’t be a member of the club. He definitely had a fine NBA career. Over his first four NBA seasons McGinnis averaged 22 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals a game. He was a member of the All-NBA 1st Team, made the All-Star game, and along with Julius Erving helped lead the Philadelphia 76ers to the 1977 NBA Finals.

After those first four seasons, McGinnis quickly faded. He lasted only three more seasons averaging 10.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.4 steals. Not bad numbers by any means, but it’s not blowing anyone away.

But that’s just McGinnis’ NBA career. If you take in his days in the ABA, you don’t just have a pretty good career. You achieve Hall of Fame status. As a rookie on the Indiana Pacers in 1972, McGinnis helped push the Pacers to the ABA title. The next season (1973), McGinnis was named the Finals MVP as the Pacers once again won the ABA title. By 1974 he was a member of the All-ABA 1st Team. In 1975 he was awarded the league’s regular season MVP award after averaging an absurd 30 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 2.5 steals a game.

After that mammoth season, McGinnis jumped ship to the NBA where the Philadelphia 76ers were ecstatic to receive an MVP caliber player:

As his averages attest, McGinnis was one of the finest all-around players basketball has ever seen. As a power forward, he certainly lived up to the typical job description. He tussled aggressively on the boards and was one of the strongest men in basketball. McGinnis’ chiseled physique didn’t mean a lumbering giant, though. He was able to grab a board and dribble the length of the court to flush home a dunk or perform duty as point forward.

His combination of power and speed grew from the seeds planted by Maurice Stokes in the 1950s and McGinnis helped pass it on to the likes of Karl Malone and LeBron James. Taking in McGinnis’ entire pro basketball career easily propels him to the status of Hall of Famer.

And if you need to see more reasons why, just click here

Seasons Played: 1972 – 1982

Accolades

ABA -
MVP (1975)
2x Champion (1972-’73), Finals MVP (1973)
2x All-ABA 1st Team (1974-’75), All ABA 2nd Team (1973)
3x All-Star (1973-’75)
All-Rookie 1st Team (1972)

NBA -
All-NBA 1st Team (1976)
All-NBA 2nd Team (1977)
3x All-Star (1976-’77, 1979)

Statistics

ABA – 314 Games
25.2 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 3.5 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.6 BPG, 47.0% FG, 68.2% FT
PPG Leader (1975)
6th All-Time in Steals, 21st All-Time in Points
22nd in Rebounds, 23rd in FTs Made, 24th in FGs Made

NBA - 528 Games
17.2 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.7 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 44.8% FG, 65.1% FT

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Charles Barkley

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Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley

Gregarious, opinionated, and larger-than-life, Charles Barkley has been one of the NBA’s most dominant media personalities since he retired from playing in 2000.  This isn’t surprising given that during his playing days, Sir Charles was also one of the NBA’s most dominant personalities.

Oh, and he was a hell of a basketball player too.

Generously listed at 6’6″, the rotund Barkley in actuality barely edged 6’4″ in height. What he lacked in vertical stature, he made up with boundless energy and strength. He’s the shortest player to ever lead the NBA in rebounds per game for a season. He could sky high for spectacular blocked shots. His tremendous power in the post allowed him to mercilessly back-down defenders. The dexterous Barkley was also a remarkable passer able to whip wrap-around and behind-the-back passes with ease.

Most excitingly, Barkley was an  absolute freight train on the break. Not a soul alive would plant their feet firmly in the paint to take a charge from the Barkley locomotive.

Best known for his days in Phoenix where captured the 1993 MVP award and led the Suns to the NBA Finals, but Barkley’s beginning was in Philadelphia. He broke into the league alongside sage veterans like Andrew Toney, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks, Julius Erving, and most importantly for Barkley, Moses Malone. A ferocious rebounder himself, Moses helped show Barkley the ropes of being a big man in the NBA.

Unfortunately for Charles, he caught these sage vets toward the end of their careers. Erving and Jones retired soon after his arrival. Toney succumbed to injuries. Moses was prematurely traded to the Washington Bullets. Philly went from the Eastern Conference Finals in 1985 (Barkley’s rookie year) to the Eastern Semis in ’86 to the 1st Round in ’87 to out of the playoffs in ’88.

The slide reversed in 1989 as Charles loaded the Sixers on his back and carried them to three-straight postseasons, but ultimately the effort proved fruitless. By 1992, Charles successfully demanded a trade from Philly to Phoenix.

While in the Valley of the Sun, Charles submitted some truly amazing games. Just in the 1993 postseason, he tortured San Antonio with a 28-point, 21-rebound effort including a series-winning jumper in Game 6. Against the Seattle SuperSonics, he had a 43/15/10 performance in Game 5 and 44 points and 24 rebounds in the decisive Game 7 to send Phoenix to the Finals. The next year, Barkley eviscerated the Golden State Warriors with 56 points in Game 3 of their opening round series.

However, the good times in Phoenix slowly crumbled too. In back-to-back seasons the Suns lost tough 7-game series against the Houston Rockets in the Western Semis. After a trade to the Rockets, Barkley again enjoyed immediate team success, a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 1997. Thereafter, the Rockets slowly succumbed to age and injury as Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Clyde Drexler trudged to the end of their careers.

Unlike Olajuwon and Drexler, Barkley may never have won a title, but his 16-year career was still a tremendous success by any reasonable measure. 11 times an all-star, an MVP, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and a never-ending stream of monstrous rebounding and scoring games.

Simply put, Charles Barkley has always been and always will be irrepressible.

Seasons Played: 1985 – 2000

Accolades

NBA -
MVP (1993)
5x All-NBA 1st Team (1988-’91, 1993)
5x All-NBA 2nd Team (1986-’87, 1992, 1994-’95)
All-NBA 3rd Team (1996)
All-Rookie 1st Team (1983)
11x All-Star (1987-’97), All-Star Game MVP (1991)

Statistics

NBA - 1073 Games
22.1 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 54.1% FG, 73.5% FT
RPG Leader (1987)
12th All-Time in Free Throws Made, 18th All-Time in Rebounds, 21st All-Time in Steals, 23rd All-Time in Points
19th All-Time in RPG, 21st All-Time in FG%, 26th All-Time in PPG

ProHoopsHistory HOF: Allen Iverson

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Allen Iverson (JERRY LODRIGUSS/Philly.com)

Allen Iverson (JERRY LODRIGUSS/Philly.com)

Few photographs could ever sum up Allen Iverson’s career better than the one of him stepping over, and looking down upon, Tyronn Lue.

Iverson had crumbled Lue with a reverse between the legs dribble and hit a tough jump shot fading away in the corner. The basket was part of Iverson’s larger assault upon the Los Angeles Lakers in Game1 of the 2001 NBA Finals. The Answer scored a remarkable 48 points on an even more remarkable 41 shots. The Sixers triumphed, handing the Lakers their only loss of that postseason.

Of course, if the Lakers only had one loss that postseason, Iverson’s Sixers surely didn’t win the Finals and they would be buried by L.A. over the course of the next four games.

Still, that season and that game was the high-water mark of Allen Iverson. He was a cultural force in the turn-of-the-century NBA  with his clothing, hairstyle, and bravado symbolizing the post-Jordan era. For better or worse, fans loved him. He was voted an all-star starter for 11 straight seasons, even during his lackluster final days in Detroit and his brief Philadelphia return.

For most of those years, though, the fan votes were well cast since Iverson had a stable of showcase moves.

And the Philadelphia 76ers were hitched to his pyrotechnical offensive assaults, for better or worse. Four times Iverson led the NBA in points per game. He was Rookie of the Year in 1997 and MVP by 2001. His blinding quickness led to three steals per game titles, if not technically sound defense. Few players his size have ever attacked the basket with such reckless abandon. Only Jerry West can claim a similar record of foolhardy forays into the lane. He left it all out on the court, which is easy to do when you’re one of just four players in league history to log 40+ minutes per game for your career.

But it was that brazen attitude which a generation of basketball fans latched onto, and it’s what Iverson latched onto as well. In his later years, he never could learn how to dial back. He couldn’t accept that less of him, meaning the Answer in moderate appropriate doses, was better for a team. Other players capable of scoring on their own accord didn’t seem to fit too well, or too long, alongside Iverson who ceaselessly dominated the ball.

In the end, this aversion to moderation spelled the ignominious end to Iverson’s career. But aversion to moderation is what made him such a wonder to watch all those years ago.

Seasons Played: 1997 – 2011

Philadelphia 76ers

Philadelphia 76ers

Accolades

NBA -
MVP (2001)
3x All-NBA 1st Team (1999, 2001, 2005)
3x All-NBA 2nd Team (2000, 2002-’03), All-NBA 3rd Team (2006)
11x All-Star (2000-’10), 2x All-Star Game MVP (2001, 2005)
Rookie of the Year (1997), All-Rookie 1st Team (1997)

Statistics

NBA - 914 Games
26.7 PPG, 6.2 APG, 3.7 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 42.5% FG, 78.0% FT
4x PPG Leader (1999, 2001-’02, 2005), 3x SPG Leader (2001-’03), 7x MPG Leader (1999, 2002-’04, 2006-’08)
4th All-Time in MPG, 8th All-Time in SPG, 6th All-Time in PPG
12th All-Time in Steals, 19th All-Time in Points, 11th All-Time in Free Throws Made, 24th All-Time in Field Goals Made,

The Lowdown: Lee Shaffer

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Years Active: 1962 – 1964
Regular Season Stats: 196 games, 28.1 mpg
16.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 42% FG, 77.6% FT
Postseason Stats: 13 games, 29.8 mpg
19.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg, 41.6% FG, 77.8% FT
Accolades: All-Star (1963)

Few things are as peculiar as someone with an immense talent or acumen voluntarily, willingly setting aside that skill for other endeavors. It’s what made Michael Jordan’s first retirement such a shocking development. Now, Lee Shaffer should not be considered on the same basketball plane as titans like Michael Jordan, but he definitely was an incredibly skilled player who after a mere three years decided to forego the NBA. Even Michael Jordan at least put in 9 seasons of work before quitting… but even he returned… and retired again… and returned again. When Shaffer quit, he was gone for good.

Lee Shaffer was a bit of a basketball prodigy and early bloomer. As a 15-year old high school senior Shaffer, led his Pittsburgh-area team in scoring with 25 points per game. Shaffer thereafter attended the University of North Carolina. His time as a Tar Heel was met with much acclaim. Typical for Shaffer were performances like this one in 1959 where he knocked down 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds against Notre Dame. Just two weeks later the forward emphatically dismissed rival North Carolina State:

Nerveless Lee Shaffer dunked in a layup in the last 22 seconds of an overtime to give third-rated North Carolina a 72-68 victory over top-ranked North Carolina State in an [ACC] showdown here Wednesday night.

Shaffer, a 6-7 blond from Pittsburgh, took a perfect pass under the boards from sophomore [and future ABA all-star and NBA Coach of the Year] Doug Moe and laid in the winning basket.

The small forward played his way onto the All-America 2nd Team and was named ACC Player of the Year in 1960.

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Hall of Fame Snubs: George McGinnis

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Years Active: 1972-1982
Regular Season Stats: 845 games, 33.5 mpg
20.2 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.88 spg, 0.48 bpg, 45.8% FG, 66.4% FT
Postseason Stats: 104 games, 35.7 mpg
20.7 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.41 spg, 0.41 bpg, 43.5% FG, 68.2% FT

ABA Accolades: MVP (1975), 2x All-ABA 1st Team (1974-75), All-ABA 2nd Team (1973), 3x All-Star (1973-75), All-ABA Rookie 1st Team (1972), 2x ABA Champion (1972-73
NBA Accolades: All-NBA 1st Team (1976), All-NBA 2nd Team (1977), 3x NBA All-Star (1976-77, ’79)

Indianapolis Star

New York coach Lou Carnesecca was quoted as saying that Indiana’s muscular 6-foot-8, 235 pound rookie George McGinnis looked like a heavy weight contender. Carnesecca amended his evaluation following the third game [of the ABA Finals] Friday night.

“Now, you can say he’s the champion,” said the diminutive Nets’ coach, who barely would reach McGinnis’ elbow.

Carnesecca made his reevaluation after the burly McGinnis wrecked the Nets, scoring 30 points and grabbing a game high 20 rebounds…

- Via The Evening Independent, May 13, 1972

Burly is indeed the most accurate description for the body and physique of George McGinnis. Just an absolute mammoth of a power forward who, aside from Artis Gilmore, was probably the strongest man in the ABA. Unsurprisingly, he was an absolute beast on the boards trampling and demolishing opponents, particularly on the offensive glass. His career average of 3.7 is 10th all-time amongst players who have appeared in at least 240 games (equivalent to about 3 seasons).

This steady stream of offensive boards and subsequent putbacks partially fed his healthy point production. Also of aid were his sweet mid-range jumpers and his cunning-but-not-quite-graceful drives to the hoop. For 7 straight seasons he averaged above 20 points a game culminating in 1975 when he topped off at 29.8 per game.

And as if this wasn’t enough of an offensive threat, he could pass the ball extremely well. 6 straight seasons he held an assist per game average above 3.5., including 3 seasons above 4.5 in that stretch. Big George also had quick, strong hands which led to a career steals per game average of 1.9. That’s an incredibly high total for anyone let alone a power forward. In fact, that 1.9 is 4th all time amongst forwards and 26th overall.

McGinnis, however, surly had pitfalls to his game. For starters, he turned the ball over with a galling frequency: 4 a game over the course of his career. Also his free throw shooting was always poor. It showed signs of improvement until 1975 (74%) and thereafter it plummeted to embarrassing levels by his retirement (45.3%).

The Indiana Pacers, though, weren’t complaining of these deficiencies in 1971 when they acquired the homegrown talent. McGinnis was from Indianapolis and was attending Indiana University when the allure of big time professional dollars led him to leave college after his freshman season. A very unusual move at the time, but given his 30 ppg and 15 rpg averages that one season, he was ready for tougher competition.

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The Lowdown: Billy Cunningham

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Years Active: 1966 – 1976
Regular Seasons Stats: 770 games, 34.9 mpg
21.2 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.8 spg, 0.5 bpg, 45.2% FG, 73.0% FT
Playoff Stats: 54 games, 32.4 mpg
19.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 3.6 apg, 44% FG, 68.8% FT
ABA Accolades:  MVP (1973), All-ABA 1st Team (1973), ABA All-Star (1973)
NBA Accolades: 3x All-NBA 1st Team (1969-’71), All-NBA 2nd Team (1972), All-Rookie 1st Team (1966), 4x All-Star (1969-’72), NBA Champion (1967)

There are three distinct Billy Cunninghams. For the first three years of his career, he was the 6th Man for the 76ers entering games and delivering a hot dose of instant offense. For the next several years after that, he was perhaps the best forward in all of basketball. His game flourished beyond scoring and encompassed tremendous rebounding and deft passing. However, the last three years of his career were filled with frustrating injuries that eroded a unique and sparkling talent.

Before his hotshot pro career, Cunningham grew up in New York City and then headed down south to attend the University of North Carolina. In his 4 years at Chapel Hill, Cunningham averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds. At the conclusion of his senior year, 1965, he was named ACC Player of the Year. With such play, it’s unsurprising the Philadelphia 76ers made him the 5th overall pick in the 1965 Draft and back north Billy headed and was immediately injected into one of the great rivalries in the NBA.

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The Lowdown: Bobby Jones

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Years Active: 1975 – 1986
Career Stats: 12.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.4 bpg, 1.5 spg, 55.8% FG, 76.6% FT
Accolades: ABA – All-Rookie 1st Team (1975), ABA All-Star (1976), All-ABA 2nd Team (1976), 2x ABA All-Defensive 1st Team (1975-76)
NBA – Sixth Man of the Year (1983), 4x NBA All-Star (1977-78, 1981-82), 8x All-Defensive 1st Team (1977-84), All-Defensive 2nd Team (1985), NBA Champion (1983)

Bobby Jones, 6’9″ second-year man out of North Carolina. Best defensive forward in basketball. Shot 60.5% last year (only man other than Wilt Chamberlain ever over 60). Leading league again this season at 59% despite worst form and shortest range in history of mankind. Just never takes bad shot. Great leaper. Denver MVP, easy. Thrifty, devoted, straight arrow. Brown says that during pregame talks, while other players scratch, read, go to bathroom, Jones “stares at me and actually listens. He’s scary.” Bob Goldsholl, Nets TV announcer, says Jones is so clean that when he went to the movie Story of O, he walked out when he discovered it was not the life of Oscar Robertson.

Via “They Run And They Gun-and They’re A Mile High” by Curry Kirkpatrick

Bobby Jones: an average name for maybe the best defensive small forward of all-time. The only real competition for the honor is Scottie Pippen and Tom “Satch” Sanders. But during Jones’s playing days, he was certainly the best. Possessing a wiry, yet toned 6’9″ frame, Jones had the perfect height, length, speed and, above all, desire to frustrate and dominate his opponents.

He was near-perfect at every conceivable defensive measure: ball denial, man-to-man defense, weakside help, steals, blocks, interceptions, miraculous saves. Jones did all of this dirty grunt work with an air of nobility: “If I have to play defense by holding on, that’s when I quit. If I have to use an elbow to get position, then I’m going to have to settle for another position.”

Although he shined brightest on defense, Jones was a complete basketball player. A smart passer, he could quickly ignite a fastbreak with an outlet pass after one of his rebounds, blocks or steals. His jumper was taken straight out of the set shot 50s, but it worked. Most excitingly, he could jump out of the gym. It’s what made him such a skilled shot blocker, but it also allowed Bobby to finish on offense what he started on defense via a thunderous slam.

Drafted by the NBA’s Houston Rockets and the ABA’s Denver Nuggets, Jones opted for the ABA after graduating from the University of North Carolina. A man who was almost always at peace with himself, Jones rarely attempted a shot out of haste or to satisfy a selfish trigger finger. He took prudent, needed shots. Leading the ABA in FG% in his first two seasons (at 60% and 57%) testifies to that. His stat lines from those early days are the stuff of fantasy basketball dreams. Over his 1st four seasons (all with Denver split between the ABA and NBA), Jones averaged 15 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 58% shooting from the field.

Nuggets coach Larry Brown, yes that Larry Brown, deemed Jones “the best defensive player in the world” by his 2nd season. Teamed with Dan Issel and David Thompson in a high-octane frontcourt, the Nuggets reached the ABA Finals in 1976 where Jones was tasked with stopping Julius Erving, who was playing for the opposing Nets. Jones would be absolutely torched by the Doctor who averaged 37 points and 14 rebounds as the Nets won in 6 games. Sometimes great offense trumps great defense.

Jones and Erving would go from legendary ABA opponents to successful NBA teammates two years later as the Philadelphia 76ers traded superfluous scoring and turnover machine George McGinnis to Denver for Bobby. It was a much needed injection of positivity for Philly in the wake of the failed McGinnis-Erving pairing. Charles Barkley in 1986 noted the good vibes exuded by Jones: “If everyone in the world was like Bobby Jones, the world wouldn’t have any problems.”

The trade didn’t just change Bobby’s playing venue, it changed his role. Gone were his days of 30+ minutes and starting, he was now slotted as the 6th man behind Dr. J, Doug Collins, and, later, Andrew Toney. Jones’ demeanor and skills made him the perfect man for the job. Instead of griping about lost minutes, Jones decided to give a more intense performance in his slashed minutes. Unsurprisingly, he continued his stellar play as one of the NBA’s most clutch players. Hitting game-winners wasn’t his brand of clutch, though. Disrupting and denying the opposition a chance at doing that to Philly was his crunch time hallmark. And there were certainly many clutch, crunch and otherwise Maalox moments for Philadelphia during this era playing in 3 NBA Finals and 2 more Eastern Conference Finals.

The lone championship for the Sixers came in 1983 when Moses Malone arrived to lead Jones, Toney, Erving, and Maurice Cheeks to the Promised Land. For Jones though, 1983 wasn’t just the pinnacle of team success, he was recognized for his stellar bench play by winning the inaugural Sixth Man of the Year Award. Fitting for a Sixer. However, for the first time in his career he averaged less than 10 points and 25 minutes a game as Moses, rightfully, demanded a larger portion of the offense and Jones himself hit 31 years of age. Father Time would beckon Jones into retirement three years later in 1986.

Bobby’s streak of All-Defensive 1st Teams is unparalleled with 10 straight selections starting in his rookie season. He managed another All-Defensive 2nd Team appearance in 1985, before finally missing out in his last season. Despite his lofty total, Jones is the only one of 11 players with at least 6 All-Defensive 1st Team appearances who is either not in the Hall of Fame or soon-to-be (Duncan, Garnett, Kobe, and Gary Payton). On top of this, Jones averaged 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks for his career. Only teammate Julius Erving along with Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson have done that.

To consistently be in the company of Hall of Famers and yet not be one must be a frustrating feeling for anyone except, probably, Bobby Jones. The man’s devout Christianity has given him peace for decades so it’s unimaginable he would let this slight bother him much: “When I’m in there, I just play as hard as I can. In the Bible, it says we’re supposed to give 100 percent in whatever it is we do and that’s what I do.” Yep, sounds like a man who’s probably off somewhere focusing on some new endeavor instead of seething at slights.