Image via Complex Original
It’s no shocker that New York City has boasted hundreds of players who’ve made an impact on the NBA. In fact, it’d be shocking if it hadn’t. When you’ve got 8.5 million people never sleeping in a city with a legendary hoops scene, you’re bound to pump out an abundance of top talent. Sifting the nation’s most gargantuan metropolis down to 10 players was no easy feat, but it should serve to show how elite you have to be to make the cut (in fact, everybody on here is a Hall of Famer).
The standards for this list are simple: The players had to be born and raised in NYC to be eligible. That means ballers like Carmelo Anthony and Michael Jordan (both from Brooklyn) are out since they left as children. You may consider Jordan the GOAT, but he probably wasn’t at that level as a toddler when his family relocated to North Carolina. As such, he’s axed. We’re sure he’s devastated. Oh, also no Long Islanders. Here are the 10 Greatest Basketball Players From New York City.
10. Richie Guerin
Born in: The Bronx
High School: Mount Saint Michael (Bronx)
NBA Stats: 17.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 5.0 APG
Richie Guerin was on active duty with the Marine Corps when the hometown Knicks drafted him in the second round in 1954. Because of that, he had to wait for two years before he could play in his first NBA game. After getting his rookie season out of the way, he made six straight All-Star games, topping out in 1961–62 when he averaged 29.5 points per contest (which was overshadowed slightly by Wilt Chamberlain’s 50.4). Unfortunately, he starred in an era when the Knicks stunk, finishing last in the Eastern Division for every season he was on the team except for one. Two games into 1963 he was dealt to the St. Louis Hawks where he saw his responsibility increase as a player-coach. When he returned to MSG he got a five-minute standing O. After his playing career, like a man who bleeds all things New York, he became a Wall Street broker.
9. Billy Cunningham
Born in: Brooklyn
High School: Erasmus Hall (Brooklyn)
NBA Stats: 20.8 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.2 SPG
The man known as “The Kangaroo Kid” because of a pouch in his stomach his insane jumping ability was Brooklyn born and raised, and was drafted fifth overall by the 76ers after an All-American career at UNC. In 1968 he was given the unenviable task of replacing Wilt Chamberlain as the face of the Sixers. And while nobody could handle the expectations (or the women) that went with such a position, Cunningham did an admirable job rattling off four straight All-Star seasons, averaging a double-double in each. After two years with the ABA’s Carolina Cougars (where he won the league MVP award) he returned to Philly where he played until his “knee exploded.” Without two functioning knees he was no longer comparable to a rocket-legged marsupial and thus he retired. Later he returned to coach the team, leading them to their last NBA championship in 1983, which is a statement that, unfortunately, looks like it’ll still be true when the sun burns out.
8. Lenny Wilkens
Born in: Brooklyn
High School: Boys (Brooklyn)
NBA Stats: 16.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 6.7 APG, 1.3 SPG
Lenny Wilkens learned the game from the playgrounds of Brooklyn, which he called “tremendous training grounds.” And though he made his high school squad as a freshman, he skipped tryouts as a sophomore and junior because he didn’t think he was good enough. That turned out to be a truly awful assessment, as he’d eventually go into a 15-year NBA career that saw him become an All-Star point guard for three different franchises. After 8 years in St. Louis, he was traded to Seattle where the brass turned him into a player-coach, marking his first of 32 seasons running a team. Luckily, he was a better judge of other people’s talent than his own, and because of that he rattled off 1,332 career wins, good for an NBA record. At least until Don Nelson broke it five years later.
7. Dolph Schayes
Born in: The Bronx
High School: Dewitt Clinton (Bronx)
NBA Stats: 18.5 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 3.1 APG
Schayes was a star in the NBA when the league was learning to walk. In a 15-season run, he made the playoffs 14 times. What we’re saying is there was room for improvement. It’s very possible Schayes would’ve spent his entire career as a Knick, but they didn’t pony up enough money so he chose to be a Syracuse National instead. Schayes had a versatile game, able to shoot at 6 foot 7 (in an era where that height was rare) and simultaneously drive the lane. He even developed his off-hand shooting after playing a season with his right arm wrapped in a cast. That is to say, the 12-time All-Star didn’t miss games, playing in every one from February 1952 through December 1961 (706 straight). When he wrapped up his career he was second on the league’s all-time scoring list, a place he’d still stand at…if 56 other people hadn’t passed him up since.
6. Connie Hawkins
Born in: Brooklyn
High School: Boys (Brooklyn)
NBA Stats: 16.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.2 SPG
Julius Erving before Julius Erving, Connie Hawkins was a Rucker Park legend whose exploits were largely anecdotal (for example he was said to be dunking at age 11). He started getting serious organized playing time by his junior year of high school, and as an upperclassman his team never lost a game. Afterwards, Hawkins accepted a scholarship to Iowa, but never got to play due to a point-shaving scandal that alleged he hooked up other players with a dude who fixed games. While it was never proven, the allegation got him booted out of the Hawkeyes’ program, and frozen out of the NBA. As a basketball pariah he played with the Globetrotters and also won the MVP in the doomed ABL (a league that lasted all of a year-and-a-half). At the age of 27 the NBA finally relented and let him in after the association’s commissioner, who vowed to never allow Hawkins to play, settled a lawsuit he brought against the league for $1.3 million. As an NBA rookie he had his best season, averaging 24.6 points and 10.4 boards a night. Unfortunately, after seven years he was forced to retire due to knee problems, never truly allowing the world to see the type of talent he displayed as a youth on courts all around NYC.
5. Chris Mullin
Born in: Brooklyn
High School: Xaverian (Brooklyn)
NBA Stats: 18.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.6 SPG
As a kid, Mullin studied the moves of the Knicks’ finest (see: Walt Frazier/Earl Monroe) and then frequently traveled to Harlem and the Bronx to pit himself against the city’s best. When it came time to pick a college, he stayed local by committing to St. John’s where he was a three-time All-American and a John Wooden Award winner (which is given to the top college player) as a senior. Mullin had a respectable beginning to his pro career, but it really took off after he completed rehab in 1988, leading to five-straight years of 25-plus point averages (and subsequent All-Star games). After his career wrapped up, he jumped from the Warriors front office, to broadcasting, to an advisor position with the Kings, but eventually found himself back home running the St. John’s program he starred for three decades earlier.
4. Nate “Tiny” Archibald
Born in: The Bronx
High School: DeWitt Clinton (Bronx)
NBA Stats: 18.8 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 7.4 APG, 1.1 SPG
The 6-foot-1 point guard grew up in the Patterson Houses in one of the toughest areas of The Bronx. Archibald steered clear of trouble, though, by playing ball or, as he put it, “It’s interesting how guys who are into drugs are always looking to get other guys involved, as if they want company when they go under. Me? I was always into basketball.”
Archibald only played for a year-and-a-half on his high school team after getting cut as a sophomore and later, as a junior, got temporarily kicked off the squad for missing school. When he did get a chance to play he became all-city and went on to become the only NBA player ever to lead the league in both points and assists in a season. When his playing career was done, he came back to work with NYC’s youth, a calling that Mayor David Dinkins honored him for back in 1993.
3. Bernard King
Born in: Brooklyn
High School: Fort Hamilton (Brooklyn)
NBA Stats: 22.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.0 SPG
King finished in the top eight in PPG four times in his career, and was enjoying his best season ever in 1985 with a league leading 32.9 when it abruptly snapped (keyword). While many often dread the thought of being posterized, he proved there are far worse things that can come from a block attempt when he tore his ACL, some knee cartilage, and broke a bone in his leg. The resulting injuries were career-threatening and cost him 169 games over the next three years. By the time he was “healthy” he was an afterthought, at least until he managed a remarkable comeback as a reinvented player and finished third in the league for scoring (behind some guys named Michael Jordan and Karl Malone) at the age of 35. His effort was so appreciated by the fans that he was named an All-Star Game starter which, at that point, made him the oldest in league history to be bestowed with that honor.
2. Bob Cousy
Born in: Manhattan
High School: Andrew Jackson (Queens)
NBA Stats: 18.4 PPG, 7.5 APG, 5.2 RPG
Bob Cousy grew up in New York during a time so ancient that his family was able to rent an apartment for 50 bucks a month. Growing up back then gave him a chance to be an innovator, something that wasn’t exactly welcomed in an era of static (see: boring) basketball, and he found himself in trouble with his college coach for dribbling and passing behind his back. His ball-handling skills, when allowed to flourish, turned him into one of the best players to ever take the court, making him a six-time NBA champ, a 13-time All-Star, an eight-time assists leader, and 1957’s league MVP. The secret to Cousy’s ambidextrous ball skills came after he was forced to use his left hand when he broke his right one falling out of a tree. It’s a lot like how Dolph Schayes adapted after a similar accident (if you forgot, scroll up), which is to say that the key to rounding out your game may be suffering a debilitating injury.
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Born in: Manhattan
High School: Power Memorial (Manhattan)
NBA Stats: 24.6 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 3.6 APG, 0.9 SPG, 2.6 BPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born to play basketball, something that was evident when he emerged from his mom’s womb almost two feet long, weighing 12 pounds and 11 ounces. By high school, he was the tallest student in Harlem’s entire system and easily dominated the local prep scene, setting a new city record for points (2,067) in a program that rattled off 71 straight wins. In college, he was a three-time All-American for a UCLA team that was 88-2 in games he started. His amateur success translated to the pros where he somehow managed to validate the hype that got him drafted first overall in 1969, winning six-MVPs, six championships, being named to 19 All-Star teams, and retiring as the league’s leading scorer (a mark that still stands). NYC’s been a breeding ground for great talent for generations but, frankly, choosing No. 1 on here was as easy as these lists get.