A total of 158 NBA championships, 730 NBA All Star selections, a combined 110 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award, and more than 1.5 million points scored.
These are some of the collective accomplishments of the players who are comprise in the NBA 75th Anniversary Team which was announced this week from October 19–21, with the league starting off its 75th Anniversary Season.
The NBA 75th Anniversary Team was chosen by a panel of current and former NBA players, to coaches, to general managers, to team and league executives, and WNBA legends and sportswriters and broadcasters. They were asked to vote and select the 75 Greatest Players in the entire NBA History regarding position. These players are not ranked, and the current and former players could not vote on themselves.
When it comes to making a list there will always be those who were snubbed. Social media instantly set alight with their opinions on players that should have made the list and those who should not have. There have been thousands and thousands of NBA players coming and going in the league so understanding the difficulty of only being able to chose 75 players is a hard task. Even with that it is strange that there are a few that were surprisingly missing from this list of greats. So then lets take a look at a few names that are omission.
The most surprising would have to be Dwight Howard. He was a flat out snub. Before moving around in the league and age catching up to him, Howard was the most dominant player in the league, especially his time with the Orlando Magic. His resume and accolades are proving to the league that he should have made it onto the 75th team.
Next would have to be Vince Carter, whom is the only player in NBA history to have played 22 seasons, was drafted in 1998 by Toronto Raptors. Over 25,000 career points and he is a on a tiny list that includes Michael Jordan and Lebron James as the only players to top that point mark to go with 4,500 assists, 800 blocks, and 500 3-pointers. Maybe the case to argue here is that Carter made a few Eastern Conference games and did not have much success in the playoffs.
The most recent MVP and one of two MVPs left out of the all 75th team (Derrick Rose being the other). Maybe it is the lack of longevity in the league is the most reasonable explanation for Nikola Jokic’s omission from the 75th team. But most importantly, Jokic is already top 40 in cumulative stats. Some of the players named to the 75th team who trail Jokic include Jason Kidd, Bob Cousy, Willis Reed, and more. This proves that Jokic is another huge snub from the list.
Klay Thompson posted on his Instagram that he believed he was deserving of being on a list that includes his current and former teammates in Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Being the second best shooter behind Curry and strong accolades to back up his reasoning he is seemingly looking for a spot on the 75th team. Maybe the issue for him not making the team is the that he was punished with injuries that made him miss a significant amount of time.
A sensational player coming into the league during his early career was a threat offensively and defensively. Yao Ming just played eight seasons due to injuries cutting his career short, which is a reason why he could have been left off the 75th team list. But he is an 8 time All Star, 5 time All NBA player who also helped opened the door to China and that market for the NBA. Not only was he one of the best players of a generation, he also helped make the game more international. Paved the way for players on and off the court.
With these few players being named to the all snub team for this years 75th Anniversary Team, there is a chance for them to make the 100th team list that will come in the near future, but with that happening more of the younger players like Jokic will be destined to make it over the older players. That being said, only time can tell and a better resume to make for those younger players to establish them onto an all time teams list. So they just have to wait and see. Hopefully these players will be named on the next following list, or any list in the following years.
