White Men Can Jump
Ranking the 10 greatest white players in modern NBA history
In what follows, I rank the 10 greatest white NBA players since 1979. Why 1979, you’re wondering?
At the start of the 1979–80 season, three events helped kickstart the most popular decade in league history up to that point: the NBA adopts the three-point field goal, steering the game toward an offensive-minded approach; Larry Legend aka the best white player of all time (I ruined the ending, as if it was a mystery) begins his rookie season; and Earvin Johnson aka Magic aka Bird’s college basketball nemesis, enters the league, beginning a decade-long rivalry, one of the finest in all of sports history.
With all due respect to the legends who played during the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, they are not very familiar to the modern NBA fan. More importantly, they played against inferior competition, and played in a very different league in every discernible way.
Writers often include legends such as Jerry West, John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, and Bob Pettit when discussing all time matters, but in this piece we will choose the 1980s as our starting point.
Some final methodological matters:
For inclusion, a player needs to have retired after 1980. This is reasonable: we’re looking for excellence during a time in league history when the competitive aspects were very high. This lets in players whose primes were in the ’70s, which is good.
And for the purposes of this list, the player must be American-born, with two White parents. Obviously Dirk Nowitzki is white, but I wanted to discover who the best American-born caucasian NBA players were. Dirk, Steve Nash, Manu Ginobili are out of consideration, and so are multi-racial players such as Jason Kidd, Blake Griffin, Mike Bibby, etc.
This is not a Trump-inspired nativist policy. It’s a list about basketball players. I am also interested in exploring the 10 greatest black players (which, apart from Larry Bird, would just simply amount to listing the 10 greatest players, since the greatest players are black) and the 10 greatest foreign-born players as well. But those will come later.
Before we get to the rankings, here are three honorable mentions.
Honorary Streetballer — Jason Williams
Resume: 13 years; NBA Champion; NBA All-Rookie First Team; Career stats: 10.5 PPG — 5.9 APG — 1.2 SPG
If you combine his off-the-court persona with his playing style, Williams would be the starting PG on the “white player who plays like he’s black” team. That goes without saying when your nickname is White Chocolate. For anyone who grew up as part of the And 1 mixtape generation, he will always be remembered for bringing a street-ball mentality to the court.
Honorary Heat-Check — Mike Miller
Resume: 18 years; NBA Rookie of the Year; NBA Sixth Man of the Year; 2X NBA Champion; Career stats: 10.4 PPG — 4.2 RPG — 2.6 APG
To put things into perspective, during his sixth man of the year campaign, Miller averaged 13.7 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 4.8 APG on 46–40–80 percent shooting. After joining the Heat following the LeBron signing, Miller looked like a washed-up veteran chasing a ring. With his body seemingly falling apart after a season riddled by injuries, Miller produced a legacy-defining performance in Game 5 of the 2012 NBA Finals. In 23 minutes, he dropped 23 points, while hitting 7 of 8 three pointers — setting the NBA Finals record for most made three-pointers by a reserve — and steering Miami to a blow-out win and the championship.
Honorary Enforcer — Bill Laimbeer
Resume: 15 years; 4 All-Stars; 2X NBA Champion; Career stats: 12.9 PPG — 9.7 RPG — 0.9 BPG
Laimbeer is easily the most hated NBA player of all-time. Leader of the Bad Boy Pistons, Laimbeer’s role was to ensure no one touched Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars. To put things into perspective, Laimbeer was the alpha-dog enforcer…on a team which also had Rick Mahorn. (Mahorn would’ve been the top enforcer on any other team in NBA history.) With that said, Laimbeer’s career stats and 4 All-Star selections solidify his standing as much more than a hack. Then again, he pridefully inhabited that role, helping the Pistons usurp the Celtics and Lakers, while holding off Michael Jordan’s Bulls as long as he could.
Now, for the Top 10.
#10 — Tom Chambers
Resume: 16 years; 4 All-Stars; All-NBA First Team; Career stats: 18.1 PPG — 6.1 RPG — 2.1 APG
During the league’s most competitive era (1986–93), Chambers was the go-to guy on three conference finalist squads (’87 Sonics, ’89 Suns, and ’90 Suns). He’s inarguably the starting PF on the “white guys who played like black guys team.” Of the ten-greatest in-game dunks ever, Chambers is the only white guy who makes the cut — with this emasculation of Mark Jackson. That dunk alone would give Chambers a spot on here.
#9 — Paul Westphal
Resume: 12 years; 5 All-Stars; 3X All-NBA First Team; Career stats: 15.6 PPG — 4.4 APG — 1.3 SPG
Paul Westphal made five consecutive All-Star games from 1977 through 1981 and was All-NBA four out of those five seasons. After ’81 he was unfortunately slowed by injuries. Even so, in his five-year apex he only missed four games while posting a solid average of 22.5 PPG, while also entering the top 10 in both steals and assists.
#8 — Chris Mullin
Resume: 16 years; 5 All-Stars; All-NBA First Team; Career stats: 18.2 PPG — 4.1 RPG — 3.5 APG
What is it with the Warriors disproportionately claiming top shooting talent of all time for a team that has historically won very little? Mullin’s standing as one of the league’s all time great players is encapsulated by one famous story. After Chuck Daly was selected to coach the Dream Team, his wish for a roster looked like this (in order): Jordan, Magic, Robinson, Ewing, Pippen, Malone, and Mullin. So the NBA’s top coach at the time ranked Mullin behind Jordan and Pippen as the third-best perimeter player during the deepest pool of talent in NBA history. Mullin, who just might have been the inspiration for “Street Fighter’s” Guile, wasn’t simply a great shooter; he was a great scorer.
#7 — Pete Maravich
Resume: 10 years; 5 All-Stars; 2X All-NBA First Team; Career stats: 24.2 PPG — 4.2 RPG — 5.4 APG
Maravich is the greatest collegiate player in history with an average of 44.2 PPG for his career at LSU. Some college teams average that much throughout the season — as a team total; last Saturday Virginia, a 5th seed in the NCAA Tournament scored 39 points. That should put Maravich’s stats in perspective.
During the 1970s, the league’s best point guards — Oscar Robertson, Walt Frazier, and Tiny Archibald — were known for their scoring ability. While Pistol Pete could score, he transcended the PG position with his tremendous ball handling and dazzling passing ability, influencing the modern-day passing/dribbling greats — Kidd, Nash, Chris Paul, and Steph Curry.
#6 — Kevin McHale
Resume: 13 years; 7 All-Stars; All-NBA First Team; 6X All-Defense; 3X NBA Champion; Career stats: 17.9 PPG — 7.3 RPG — 1.7 BPG
Although he was perennially overshadowed; cast as the Robin to Bird’s Batman, McHale was one of the league’s best big men during his heyday. Nobody could score more ways down low; not even Hakeem. His jump hook, fadeaway, and step-back jumper were unstoppable. On top of that, he was the NBA’s best defensive player during the mid ’80s, establishing himself as a player who protected the rim and defended any low-post scorer or perimeter player.
#5 — Dave Cowens
Resume: 11 years; 8 All-Stars; NBA MVP; Rookie of the Year; 3X All-NBA Second Team; 2X All-Defense; 2X NBA Champion; Career stats: 17.6 PPG — 13.6 RPG — 3.8 APG
At 6'9", Cowens compensated for his small size at the Center position with his hustle, durability, and athleticism. If it was still a question, his ’73 MVP award established him as the second-best player on Bill Russell’s Celtics. His legacy-defining performance — 28 and 14 in Game 7 of the 1974 NBA Finals — helped end Boston’s four-year title drought. Granted, that last statement was tongue-in-cheek, but for a team that had won 11 in 13 years, four years was an eternity.
#4 — Bill Walton
Resume: 10 years; 2 All-Stars; NBA Finals MVP; NBA MVP; All-NBA First Team; 2X All-Defense; NBA Champion (1977); Career stats: 13.3 PPG — 10.5 RPG — 2.2 BPG
For as much as we romanticize over the would-be Hall-of-Famers who saw their careers derailed by injury — Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Penny Hardaway, Derrick Rose, and Chris Webber — we overlook a far superior tragedy in Bill Walton. At the age of 25, Walton averaged 19–19–5 in the ’77 Finals, capped off with an ungodly 20–23–8, along with seven blocks, in the deciding game. Look at those numbers again. After winning the league MVP the following year, his basketball ceiling was unlimited. That same year, his body broke down and he was never the same.
#3 — Rick Barry
Resume: 14 years; 12 All-Stars; NBA MVP; 9X All-NBA First Team; NBA Champion; Career stats: 23.2 PPG —6.5 RPG — 5.1 APG
I admit: this one was a cheeky inclusion. Barry retired the very season I marked off as a transformative point in NBA history. But he retired in the decade I’m beginning with, so he’s in. Plus, his game suggests he would’ve been just as good in the decade that followed.
Known for his under-handed free-throw motion (which would definitely not fly in our current era), Barry’s game was much more than that. He was one of the best offensive scorers in league history, averaging 35.6 PPG in his second season (trailing only Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Michael Jordan as the highest ever). He was the third-best passing forward ever — behind Bird and LeBron — and made everyone around him better.
#2 — John Stockton
Resume: 19 years; 10 All-Stars; 2X All-NBA First Team; Career stats: 13.2 PPG — 10.5 APG — 2.2 SPG
Arguably the second-best point guard of all-time behind Magic, Stockton is the runaway NBA leader in career assists (15,806) and steals (3,265). Alongside Malone, Stockton led the Jazz to back-to-back crushing Finals defeats at the hands of Jordan’s Bulls. (It is very likely the Jazz would’ve won at least one of those, possibly up to three or four titles, in a Jordan-less universe.) With that said, his durability was unprecedented. 41 years old during his final season in 2002–03, Stockton’s averages would’ve been viewed as exceptional for half of the league’s starting PGs (10.8–7.7–1.7).
#1 — Larry Bird
Resume: 13 years; 12 All-Stars; 2X NBA Finals MVP; 3X NBA MVP; Rookie of the Year (over Magic); 9X All-NBA First Team; 3X NBA Champion; Career stats: 24.3 PPG — 6.3 APG — 10.0 RPG
Larry Bird is not simply the best white player of all time, but one of the best of all time, full stop. Bill Simmons, of fellow Medium site The Ringer — and also a notorious homer, but let that pass for the moment — places Bird 5th in his “NBA Pyramid.” What can you say about Bird that hasn’t already been said? His resume, his game, and his influence on basketball is unprecedented for anyone…especially for a white boy from the farms of Indiana. If you still need convincing, I’ll leave you with his 1986 NBA Finals averages — 24–10–10.
Larry Legend: The White G.O.A.T.
