The 30 Greatest Basketball Players to Never Play in the NBA

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Accolades: One of 24 ESPN Rucker Park Legends

The man is nicknamed "Helicopter" with good reason; Herman Knowings had bounce that could seemingly take him to the stratosphere. Knowings, who was 6'7" with a long wingspan, was a Rucker Park standout in the 1960s and '70s. His career remains New York streetball legend. Knowings was revered by NBA legends such as Hall of Famer Bernard King, who once said, "When I was in ninth grade, I saw the Helicopter, with my own two eyes, pick a quarter off the top of the backboard to win a bet, and I was in complete shock." He also garnered the respect of Wilt Chamberlain, who said Knowings' vertical "was absolutely awesome." Knowings died in a car accident in 1980 at 37 years old.

Accolades: First-team All-ACC (1975)

Skip Wise was a high school phenom in Baltimore back in the '70s. He led his Dunbar squad to a huge victory over powerhouse DeMatha and its star, Adrian Dantley, who became a Basketball Hall of Famer. The 6'2" Wise, a strong guard, went on to shine at Clemson, where he became the first freshman ever to make first-team All-ACC, amassing an average of 18 PPG. Wise was good enough to bolt from college after just one year, signing with the American Basketball Association—but like many on this list, drugs thwarted his career. When he got a shot with the Warriors, he reportedly got caught using heroin and was immediately cut. Wise later signed with the Spurs but only stuck around for two games before he was again let go. He went on to do time for selling drugs. With his career wrapped, Wise returned to Baltimore to work in a community center.

Accolades: 2016-17 EuroLeague MVP, two-time Olympic Medalist

The NBA has flirted with 30-year-old Sergio Llull, but he has remained perfectly happy tearing it up with Real Madrid. Llull, who plays both guard spots, is exceptionally quick and a lights-out deep shooter. He won the EuroLeague MVP award in 2016-17 and has been a fixture on the senior Spanish national team, which has recently produced NBA guards such as Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderon. Llull has won two Summer Olympics medals (silver in 2012, bronze in 2016) with Spain. The Nuggets picked him at No. 34 in the 2009 Draft, then the Rockets purchased his draft rights for $2.25 million (which was a big figure at the time), but he has elected to stick with Real Madrid for his whole career.

Accolades: 1951 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player

Bill Spivey was a 7-foot center who dominated with the Kentucky Wildcats way back in the day, but he never got to show his stuff in the NBA. He was voted Most Outstanding Player of the 1951 NCAA Tournament; in that tournament's title game, he led the Wildcats to a dub while racking up 22 points and 21 rebounds. Spivey's promising career hit a wall when a point-shaving scandal emerged later that year and he was accused of involvement. He left Kentucky in December 1951 and, after testifying before a grand jury, was indicted on charges of perjury. Though he was never convicted, the NBA blackballed all 32 players involved in the scandal, and NBA President Maurice Podoloff wouldn’t allow a team to sign Spivey, who instead led his Eastern Basketball League team to three chips. He passed away at age 66 in 1995.

Accolades: 1996 Olympic Silver medalist, two-time EuroLeague MVP, 2002 FIBA World Cup MVP

Though Dejan Bodiroga isn't a household name in the States, he is an international hoops icon. A 6'9" forward, he played all over the globe, dominating opponents in Yugoslavia, Italy, Spain, and Greece. Dude racked up MVPs everywhere he went, earning two EuroLeague MVPs and a FIBA World Cup MVP in 2002. Bodiroga was basically a guaranteed 20 and 5 every time he stepped on the court. Bodiroga was selected by Sacramento in the second round of the 1995 draft, but he never ended up playing in the NBA, electing instead to be The Man in Europe. He led the Yugoslav national team to a silver medal in the 1996 Olympics; they fell in the title game to a loaded U.S. team featuring Reggie Miller and David Robinson. White Magic retired in 2007.

Accolades: 1972 Olympic Gold medalist, 2007 FIBA Hall of Fame Inductee 

Alexander Belov is not exactly an American favorite—he scored the winning basket in the controversial 1972 gold medal game—but he was a winner and dominated everywhere he went. Belov won a World Championship gold medal in 1974, a Soviet National League title in 1975, and three European Saporta Cup Finals (1971, 1973, and 1975). Tragically, Belov passed away very early, at the age of 26, after a short battle with the rare blood cancer cardiac sarcoma. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991.

Accolades: 1998 Washington HS Player of the Year

Doug Wrenn used to do his thing in Seattle. He would give Jamal Crawford, Brandon Roy, and Nate Robinson the business on city courts. He was a 6'6" scorer with a bad temper. In 2003, he was a top-10 high school prospect along with Melo, LeBron, and Wade. Doug averaged 22 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 7.3 APG as a senior in high school and was expected to put up similar numbers in college.

Wrenn attended UConn, but then transferred back home to the Washington Huskies. Back in Washington, he found himself unhappy with playing time and his role with the team. Nowadays, Doug can't stay out of trouble. He had to do some time for pulling out a gun during a traffic dispute in 2009, then he was convicted on a separate charge of harassment in 2012. If it weren't for his bad temper, Wrenn probably could've been in the league sonning his hometown friends all over again.

Accolades: 2001-10 EuroLeague All-Decade Team Member, EuroLeague Basketball Legend Award Winner

We told you about White Magic earlier. Now get acquainted with the man known as Greek Magic: Theodoros Papaloukas. The wing was a dynamic playmaker and is a legend in his home country. A four-time All-EuroLeague selection, Papaloukas made the 2001-10 EuroLeague All-Decade Team. Papaloukas was an assist machine and led the Greek national team to a FIBA World Cup silver medal in 2006. He also played on two Olympic teams, in 2004 and 2008, and was named FIBA Europe Men’s Player of the Year in 2006, topping now-NBA stars like Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker. He received a EuroLeague Basketball Legend Award in 2013. Though a bunch of NBA teams pursued him, he elected to stay in Europe, where he was making bank. Now 40, Greek Magic retired in 2013.

Accolades: 1951 Sporting News Player of the Year

Sherman White was an unstoppable scorer at Long Island University in the '50s. Back in 1951, he averaged 27.7 points per game, narrowly missing the NCAA's single-season all-time mark. However, he got caught up in the same point-shaving scandal as Bill Spivey. It led to White being stripped of his honors and awards and serving 8 months in jail.

After the scandal, White was prohibited from ever playing in the NBA. White told the New York Times in 1998 how he got caught up in the scandal. A friend had told him: "'We control the game. We’re good enough to beat these guys anyway and we can make some money. They ain't giving you no money here at L.I.U.' The same old story. We can control the game and nobody will get hurt except the gamblers." White, of course, ended up getting hurt because of his involvement. He died at the age of 82 in 2011, leaving college basketball fans wondering what could have been if he hadn't given in to his friend's peer pressure.

Accolades: Named to FIBA's 50 Greatest Players list, FIBA World Championship MVP (1963)

Some consider Wlamir Marques the best Brazilian hooper of all time. This guy shined when Brazilian basketball was at its brightest. He played during Brazil basketball's golden era alongside other stars like the renowned Rosa Branca, who just missed this list. Nicknamed "The Flying Saucer" and "The Blonde Devil," Marques was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He was only 6'1", but he played small forward. He won two gold medals and two silver medals with Team Brazil and was the FIBA World Championship MVP in 1963. Marques went on to work as a coach for 27 years and longtime ESPN commentator.

Accolades: NYC Streetball legend, averaged 26 PPG in HS

Black Jack Ryan was and still is a deadly three-point shooter. His jumper is so money his other nickname is "Water." The game came so effortlessly to Jack, he never took it seriously until it was too late. He had a drinking problem and was never in shape, but it didn't matter. Ryan still became a legend.

When he was 29, he got a tryout with the Nets, but injured his knee and was told to go to the CBA to get in shape. He wasn't feeling that and went back to running pick-up games in his hometown of Brooklyn. Chris Mullin once said Jack was the best shooter he had ever seen that never played in the NBA. These days he travels the country as the "Hoop Wizard" performing magic tricks with basketballs like spinning eight at a time during halftime shows and birthday parties.

Accolades: 2000 adidas ABCD MVP

There was actually a player ranked higher than LeBron James in high school: Lenny Cooke. A year older than James, Cooke was a 6'6" man-child who could do no wrong on the basketball court. All that changed one fateful day at the 2001 ABCD camp. Lenny's team beat Carmelo's squad to set up a showdown between him and James. With LeBron's team down by 2, King James hit a game-winning 3-pointer in Cooke's mouth to win the game. LeBron outscored Lenny 24-9. That was the day Cooke started to head in the wrong direction. He lost confidence, took advice from the wrong people, put on a lot of weight, and the rest is history.

"He was really my hero because the way he could dominate a game was unbelievable to me," said his former teammate Joakim Noah.

Accolades: 2x Olympic Gold medalist, 1961 Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee

Bob Kurland was a dominant big man before that term ever existed. The 7-foot Kurland was such a force that the NCAA banned defensive goaltending in 1945. He played six years of Amateur Athletic Union basketball for Phillips Petroleum, winning three championships. Because he never played professionally, he was eligible as an amateur for the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and won gold medals both times. Kurland passed up the National Basketball League and Basketball Association of America, which had not yet merged to form the NBA. Kurland passed away at the age of 88 in 2013.

Accolades: 1964 Olympic Gold medalist, 1969 ABA Champion, 3x ABA All-Star, 1968 All-ABA Second Team

We know Larry Brown as one of the greatest coaches of all-time. He's the only coach to win a championship in both the NCAA and NBA. People forget that Larry Brown used to ball out, though. He was the first ABA All-Star Game MVP, he led the ABA in assists three years in a row, and he has the record for the most assists in an ABA game with 23. Although his run leading the Olympic struggle team in 2004 ended with a bronze medal, he does have a gold medal as a player from the 1964 Olympics. 

Accolades: NYC Streetball legend, 2x Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) Champion in Puerto Rico

Monch was a little guy who dominated the streets of NYC. He had a successful career in Puerto Rico and was a fixture on their national team. Cruz had a heated rivalry with another streetball legend named Nate "Tiny" Archibald and, at times, got the best of him. He also had memorable performances against guys like Drazen Petrovic in international play. Angelo played 13 years in Puerto Rico, averaging 15 PPG and 5 APG. He went missing in 1998 and has not been heard from since, but his legend still looms large on the playgrounds of NYC.

Accolades: Featured in Soul in the Hole and on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1997

Ask anybody that has seen Booger play and they'll tell you he could've played in the NBA. He did things with the basketball reminiscent of the likes of God Shammgod and Rafer Alston. His handle was crazy and his passes were magical. But like many who came before him, Smith chose to make fast money on the streets rather than develop his skills in college.

How many guys can say they had a classic basketball documentary made about them at 17? Booger was featured in the 1997 film Soul in the Hole and was also on the cover of Sports Illustrated the same year. He began hustling at the age of 9, often making fiends wait for him to finish games so he could serve them. Booger Smith is perhaps the last streetball star who gained popularity through word of mouth, before the internet.

Accolades: Six-time Greek League MVP, EuroLeague all-time leader in assists and steals

Dimitris Diamantidis played for one team—Panathinaikos Athens—for all 12 years of his pro career. This dude racked up nine Greek League championships in those 12 years and won a miraculous six Greek League MVPs. He won MVP in half of his seasons! He is the EuroLeague's all-time leader in assists and steals. He was also named Greek Athlete of the Year in 2007. He went undrafted in the 2002 draft, but people didn't really know at that point how great he was going to be. Dimitris, 6'5", was considered the most versatile player in Europe and is now considered one of Europe's GOATs. Like Theodoros Papaloukas, he also made the 2001-10 EuroLeague All-Decade Team and received the EuroLeague Basketball Legend award in 2016. Now 37, he retired in 2016.

Accolades: 3x Parade All-American, Consensus First Team All-American (Parade, USA Today, McDonald's), Third All-Time leading scorer in Chicago Public League history (2,619)

The 6'3" guard played high school ball with Kevin Garnett at Farragut Academy and was a legend in the playgrounds of Chicago. Ronnie could jump out of the gym with his 50" vertical. He averaged 34 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, four steals, and four blocks a game in high school—no, that's not a typo. The Big Ticket once said that Ronnie was better than him, but Fields never got a chance to prove his teammate right. He broke his neck in a car accident during his senior year and when he finally healed, he couldn't get into a DI school because of his grades—the same reason KG skipped college.

Accolades: Third-team All-American (1974)

James "Fly" Williams is a prime example of why streetballers rarely make it to the NBA. Sometimes organized ball restricts a playground player's game, taking away his showmanship. Williams was a dynamic scorer who often shot from 30 feet with efficiency; his game lent itself to today's Curry/Trae Young era. His journey was documented in the streetball scripture Heaven is a Playground by Rick Telander. Fly attended Austin Peay and put them on the map, twice leading them to a NCAA tournament bid. He put up 29 points a game during his freshman year and nearly 28 in his sophomore season. Williams could never fully adapt to team ball and never played in the NBA because of his attitude, though he did play in the ABA for the Spirits of St. Louis. Williams was known for being intimate with the drug world, and in 2017 he was arrested for involvement in a major Brooklyn heroin ring.

Accolades: Featured in Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell

Your favorite early 2000s point guards like Gary Payton and Jason Kidd played with Hook Mitchell growing up in Oakland. He was the West Coast version of Earl "The Goat" Manigault (more on him in a bit). At 5'10", Hook had crazy hops and often dunked over cars during playground dunk contests. He played a couple years in college, but could never turn his back on drugs and a life of crime; he has been incarcerated twice. The documentary Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell tells of his days on the Oakland playgrounds where he made his name. Kidd and Payton believe had he made it to the L, Hook had the talent to be even better than they were. 

Accolades: Scored 73 points in a college game

Raymond Lewis was known as a force. As a freshman at Cal State-LA, he averaged 38.9 points per game and shot nearly 60 percent from the floor. At the time, Lewis was the youngest player ever drafted and signed in the NBA. He was the 18th player taken in the first round of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Lewis reportedly scored 60 points against Doug Collins by halftime in a full-court scrimmage. But Lewis never played a game in the NBA after a contract dispute with the Sixers. He proceeded to torch NBA players in the highly-regarded Los Angeles Summer Pro League, dropping 54 a game. Lewis claims he was blackballed, as he tried out for multiple NBA and ABA teams, but never got a contract. In February 2001, he died at the age of 41 following a lengthy illness.

Accolades: 1998 Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee

There was no better ball-handling point guard than Marques Haynes, who inspired legends like Bob Cousy and "Pistol" Pete Maravich. Haynes could reportedly dribble a ball six times in a second. He revolutionized ball-handling, and his exploits in that field led to a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. Haynes even started his own barnstorming basketball team, the Harlem Magicians. He retired in 1992 after a 46-year professional career, and was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. Haynes died at the age of 89 in 2015.

Accolades: Set a Rucker Park single-game record with 82 points

Joe Hammond had the Lakers knocking on his door with only a high school career and word of mouth to go by. And like some other streetball legends of his era, he turned them down because he was making more money in the streets. They call him "The Destroyer" because he destroyed defenses. Homie once walked into a game against Dr. J during the second half and torched him for 50 points. Hammond could've been one of the greats, but he had no desire to. He played ball in his spare time and figured the drug game would last forever. He's now a recovering addict that did a couple bids in prison. In 2010, he sued Nike and Foot Locker for using his name on merch without his permission.

Accolades: FIBA Hall of Famer, Five-time Greek League MVP, 2017 Basketball Hall of Fame Inductee

Though Nikos Galis won one fewer Greek League MVP than Dimitris Diamantidis, he is known as perhaps the most prolific scorer in European hoops history. Galis had the ultimate scorer’s mentality and his offensive game lacked nothing. He averaged 31.2 PPG for his career. He led the Greek League in scoring for 11 years and won the Greek League title eight times. Galis was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. Though he was offered contracts by the Celtics and Nets, Galis turned them down because FIBA at the time didn’t allow NBA players to compete for their national team. In 2017, Galis made the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Galis is basically a god in Greek hoops. Urban legend has it that he once dropped 50 on M.J.

Accolades: 1984 No. 1 HS Basketball Player, 1984 IHSA State Champion, 1984 Chicago Public League City Champion

Benji Wilson never had a chance to show the world what he was fully capable of. He dominated the Chicago Public League and is heralded as the greatest player the Windy City has ever produced. When Michael Jordan was making his mark with the Bulls, Benji was taking the amateur hoops world by storm. By all accounts, Wilson was a good kid who took basketball very seriously. He was a perfectionist and practiced new moves constantly. Benji was a 6'7" guard/forward with a lanky build, handles like a point, and a smooth jump shot—the type of swingman who would thrive in today’s NBA. As a junior, he led the now-storied Simeon High School to its first state championship in 1984.

Sadly, he was gunned down in an altercation near his school during his senior year. He was only 17 and had been named the nation's No.1 high school player a couple months prior to being murdered on the streets of Chicago. The world never got to see the player described as "Magic Johnson with a jump shot." You can learn more of his story by watching the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Benji.

Accolades: 1989 WCC Player of the Year, 2x WCC Tournament MVP (1988, 1989), 1990 Consensus All-American Second Team, 3x All-WCC First Team (1988, 1989, 1990), 2x All-WCC Tournament (1988, 1989)

Anyone who was a fan of college basketball in the late '80s knew about Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble. The duo led Loyola Marymount to national prominence with their high-octane offensive attack. LMU led Division I in scoring in 1988 (110.3 points per game), 1989 (112.5), and 1990 (122.4). Gathers was destined for NBA stardom when he first experienced problems with his heart in 1989, collapsing during a December game.

Gathers found out that he had an abnormal heartbeat, but did not take the necessary medication because he felt that it negatively impacted his performance. After dunking an alley-oop in the 1990 WCC tournament quarterfinals, Gathers suffered a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and passed out on the court. He never recovered, dying only months before he was projected to be the No. 1 pick in that year's NBA Draft. Gathers was immortalized when Kimble shot—and knocked down—a left-handed free throw in his honor. It was one of the most celebrated moments in NCAA basketball history.

Accolades: 2010 FIBA Hall of Fame Inductee, Named to FIBA's 50 Greatest Players list

Oscar Schmidt is like the Jordan of international hoops. He stood at 6'8" and could flat out shoot it. You don't get the name "Mao Santa," AKA "The Holy Hand," for nothing. The Brazilian legend played for 26 years (1974–2003), scoring a total of 49,703 points, about 11,000 more than Kareem. He also scored the most points in an Olympic game with 55 and averaged damn near 30 per contest in his Olympic career. Oscar had plenty of chances to play in the L, but instead chose to stay an amateur so he would be eligible to play for the Brazilian National Team. He once scored 46 points in a Pan-Am game against a US team that featured David Robinson, Danny Manning, and Pervis Ellison—a game Brazil won 120-115 after trailing 68-54 at halftime.

Accolades: Set the NYC Junior High School record by scoring 57 points in a game

The Goat had the skills to become a Hall of Famer, but his drug addiction led to prison stints and death at a relatively young age. Standing at 6'1", Manigault was dunking on legends like Connie Hawkins and Kareem on a regular basis at the Rucker. Kareem said himself that Earl was the best player he ever played against. His story was immortalized in the 1996 HBO movie Rebound, starring Don Cheadle as The Goat. He used his 52" vertical leap to grab money off the tops of backboards and reverse-dunked 36 times to win a $60 bet. He dominated in high school and was recruited by the top colleges in the country. But a heroin addiction kept him from reaching his potential. He died of heart failure at the age of 53 in 1998.

Accolades: NYC Streetball legend

Just like Pusha said, Pee Wee was a legend in two games. He famously turned down a contract to play for the Chicago Bulls because he made more money hustling. Legend has it, Kirkland executed the first crossover and spin to the basket. During the ’60s and ’70s, Pee Wee would pull up to the Rucker in a Rolls Royce and drop 50. While incarcerated, he scored 100+ points a couple times in various prison leagues.

Coaches like John Wooden and Red Holzman were recruiting his services and Sports Illustrated referred to him as "the fastest man in college basketball" when he balled at Norfolk State. He had the opportunity to play with Kareem in UCLA, but was too immersed in the gangster lifestyle. Kirkland was basically unstoppable. If he would've chosen a different path, Pee Wee could’ve become a great NBA player. He appeared in the 2012 documentary Doin’ It in The Park and now travels the country speaking to youth.

Accolades: ACC Athlete of the Year (1986), ACC Player of the Year (1985–86)

Len Bias was the total package for Maryland. In his senior year, Bias averaged 23 PPG along with 7 RPG and was a first-team All-American. He was the two-time ACC Player of the Year. Bias was drafted by the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics with the No. 2 pick in the 1986 NBA draft, but was found dead in his Maryland dorm room from a cocaine overdose only a day after he was drafted, at the age of 22. Bias had a rare mix of talent and athleticism, and many believe he would've helped the Celtics continue their run of Finals appearances during the '80s. He was featured in the 2009 30 for 30 Without Bias.