NBA - 50 Greatest Players

From Hoopedia

Selected by a blue-ribbon panel of media, former players and coaches, current and former general managers and team executives. NBA Commissioner David Stern announced the 50 Greatest Players at a press luncheon on October 29, 1996, in New York City.

At the start of the 1996-97 season the 50 players had accumulated 107 NBA Championships, 49 Most Valuable Player Awards, 17 Rookie of the Year honors, 447 All-Star Game selections, 36 scoring titles, 923,791 total points and 410,327 total rebounds.

The Official Portrait, 1996 from left to right * Back Row: David Robinson, Bill Russell, Moses Malone, Willis Reed, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Walton * Second to last Row: Scottie Pippen, Patrick Ewing, Jerry Lucas, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, Dave Cowens, Billy Cunningham, Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, Kevin McHale * Middle Row: George Mikan, Wes Unseld, Julius Erving, Elgin Baylor, George Gervin, Dave DeBusschere, James Worthy, Charles Barkley, Nate Thurmond * Second to the Front Row: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lenny Wilkens, Earl Monroe, John Havlicek, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Dave Bing, Clyde Drexler, Rick Barry * Front Row: Paul Arizin, Bill Sharman, Nate Archibald, Isiah Thomas, Sam Jones, John Stockton, Walt Frazier, Bob Cousy, Hal Greer, Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Dolph Schayes * Not Pictured: Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal, Jerry West

1 TNT Addendum
2 See Also
3 External Links

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TNT Addendum

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the release of the fiftieth anniversary team, fourteen broadcasters employed by the American television network Turner Network Television, a broadcaster of NBA games and the network on which the programs The NBA on TNT and Inside the NBA air, released a list of the Next 10 Greatest Players. The panel, which included four former players and two panelists who voted on the initial NBA list, considered contemporary players who were unestablished in 1996 and historical players not already included on the original list. Released on February 18, 2006, the ranked list was presented in conjunction with the NBA's 2006 All-Star Weekend.

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Players Selected

Players italicized were active during the 2005-06 season during which the team was announced, and are still playing as of 2008. Players starred had, upon the close of the 2005-06 season, been inducted as players into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Players with crosses (†) were inducted after 2006.