The 12 Players Who Made The NBA What It Is Today

The NBA, and basketball in general, is still a relatively young sport. The NBA has only been around for a little over 60 years, and is always evolving with each passing generation. The 12 players below have impacted the game in ways you can't just find by looking up statistics. It goes beyond that. They were true inovators who left the game better off than when they entered it. For some, their work is not done yet. Here are those 12 players.



   George Mikan – At close to 6’10”, Mikan towered over
   most in his days. However, he also possessed great
   athleticism for his size, which allowed him to dominate
   the game like no one before had. He is the main reason
   why the lane had to be widened, and began the trend
   of building a team around a big man. To this day, that is
   still the key to success as a team. Few NBA
   championships have been won without a strong center.



   Bill Russell – The term defense wins
   championships in undoubtedly true, although
   perhaps a tad cliché. The way Russell
   revolutionized the defensive game though,
   few can argue with the strategy. Being the
   catalyst of 11 championships in 13 seasons,
   he mostly dominated games as the final line
   of defense near the rim. No block statistics
   were kept during his days, let alone shots
   altered, but he was more than that. It was the
way he turned defense into the best offense, often leading fast breaks with his defense instead of seeing how many rows he could swat the ball.  Coaching strategy adapted to the Celtics' ideas, and they made GMs everywhere search for the next great big man defender.


   Wilt Chamberlain – Video games were not invented until well after Chamberlain 
   retired from the NBA, but gamers now would still struggle to put up the numbers
   Chamberlain did. The Big Dipper became one of the first virtually unstoppable
   offensive forces, overpowering every player in his site. Even going against his
   rival Russell, Chamberlain still got his. Being his size and athletic put him
   decades before his time, and forced the league to catch up or pay the price.



   Connie Hawkins – Before Dr. J, David Thompson or Michael Jordan, Hawkins   
   brought the high-flying game with a playground twist to the mainstream. After  
   growing up around New York City and being a Rucker Park legend, he went to
   Iowa to start his college career. A point shaving scandal, in which most question
   if he was actually involved in, got him thrown out of college and banned from the
   NBA. After years of fighting the ruling, he joined the upstart ABA, before playing
   a few years in the NBA. Despite not getting to play some of his prime years at the
   highest level, the influx on NBA players from the streets of New York City point to
   Hawkins as the player who showed he could take the act to the pros.



   Spencer Haywood – Challenging the system is always a gamble, but for   
   Haywood, it was something he felt like he had to do. He felt he had the right to
   play professional basketball without putting in all four years in college, so he
   challenged the system. The result? Added pro seasons for just about every
   NBA star in the past decade. He also later paved the way for those wanting to j
   jump straight from high school to a professional league.


   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Back when Abdul-Jabbar was Alcindor, he  
   dominated the college game like no other before him. Dunking was banned
   to try and level the playing field, so he developed one of the deadliest shots
   of all time: the sky hook. That shot became his signature move, but he was
   so much more than that. He was really the first national recruit who everyone
   knew about even in high school. Once he got to the NBA, his way of adapting
   his game accordingly allowed him to play one of the longest careers in the
   league’s history. He might not have been as great as Russell on defense or
   Chamberlain on offense, but he was a hybrid of the two who was a force for
   two decades.


      Magic Johnson – Bill Russell and Dave Cowens were the two prominent 
      centers for the most successful team in the NBA before Magic entered the
      league. So, when this point guard came into the NBA with the same size as
      them, everyone knew this guy had the potential to change the league forever.
      He never disappointed, being the first player who could literally play all five
      positions. He’s still arguably had the best court vision ever for a player, and   
      was the catalyst of the Showtime Lakers.



      Larry Bird – Much like Magic, the two of them really could go together. Arriving  
      in 1979, together they saved the NBA from fading into obscurity. Bird never
      possessed the athletic ability of the elite players, but his basketball sense made
      him one of the best players to ever play the game. His shooting skills took off
      with the recently added 3-point line, and his love for the game brought fans back 
      to the game they were ready to abandon. 



   Michael Jordan – Out of the more obvious selections on this list, Jordan
   barely needs an introduction. However, you can’t gloss over all his Airness
   did for the game. Perhaps the best testament to how much he meant to
   the game: more than a decade after his final shot as a Chicago Bull,
   Jordan is still one of the first people thought of when the NBA is
   mentioned. The void he left right after retirement hurt the NBA more than
   any other great. He became the NBA’s first global superstar, marketed
   everywhere by the likes of Nike and Gatorade. On the court, he is arguably
   the best player to ever lace them up. He also showed his ability to adapt
   his game from high-flying in his early years to developing a turnaround
   jumper. His great defensive play was icing on the cake.

   Dražen Petrović – Since basketball became an Olympic sport, Americans
   were never truly challenged. Sure, NBA began to gain interest each year
   overseas, and the former Soviet Union could put some decent teams
   together, but actually play in the NBA? Get real. Although not the first,
   Petrović was a rising NBA star before tragedy hit and he passed away in a
   car accident. The impact of the Croatian directly impacted those European
   stars in the NBA now growing up (Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker,
   Peja Stojakovic to name only a few). He never was able to see just how
   much the NBA could change in a generation, but you have to imagine this
   was exactly the vision he had. 


   Kevin Garnett – It was the mid-1990s, and Michael Jordan was just making
   his first comeback. The Minnesota Timberwolves took a gamble on the first
   guy to come straight out of high school in twenty years. If Garnett had been a
   bust, the idea would have most likely been dismissed and high schoolers
   wouldn’t opt for prom-to-pros. After a slight learning curve, Garnett became
   the cornerstone of the Timberwolves. His impact does not start and end with
   his high school jump. At 6’11” (or 6’12” as he has said before), he refused to
   be relegated to the block. His versatility instantly caused mismatches on
   offense, and gave him advantages of defense. To play in the NBA now, you
   must have some range to go along with your height.

   Yao Ming – Just as Dražen Petrović paved the way for Europeans to have
   success in the NBA, Yao is arguably the most influential player in the NBA
   today. What he has done on the court is only a fraction of what he has done for
   the game. China in general has more than a billion people, and when you start
   counting up other Asian countries, a whole new world has someone who looks
   like them playing the game they love. Also like Petrović, perhaps we won’t see
   the full affects of Yao for another 10-15 years, when those kids who grew up
   watching Houston Rockets games at odd hours have the confidence in
   knowing that they too CAN play in the NBA.

Second team (to add for discussion/debate): Bob Cousy, Allen Iverson, Julius Erving, Ken Sailors, Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O'Neal, Earl Monroe, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Bob Pettit, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Lebron James