AtTheDriveIn Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 When we delve into conversation of the history of the NBA’s greatest pivot men, the same names are often brought up; Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcindor), Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal. These athletes were undoubtedly the best big man in their eras, however, with their greatness in mind, we tend to forget past players who were equally as important and vital to their team’s success, and perhaps even equally as skilled, but for one reason or another, did not leave the same lasting legacy as what we consider to be the greatest NBA centers ever. Today, we explore the careers of the underrated centers that also helped to revolutionize the game. http://i29.tinypic.com/2vmstue.jpg Neil Johnston The 6’9”, 225 bruiser was today’s equivalent to Al Jefferson; a big man playing out of position, but making it look easy and doing it at an effective rate. A little known fact about Johnston is that during the 1954-1955 season, one year before the Most Valuable Player came into existence, Johnston was voted the Most Valuable Player for that season playing for the Philadelphia Warriors and had the award been ‘official’, he would have gone down as the only undrafted player in history to win an MVP award. He was also the first Head Coach that a young Wilt Chamberlain encountered. Johnston was a dynamic scorer, winning the scoring title three times in his eight year career, but was also a force on the glass, winning the rebounding title once, with an average of 15.1 rebounds per game. Though his career numbers are boast-worthy in any era, sporting averages of 19.4 points per game, 11.3 rebounds per game and a strong for the time shooting percentage of .444 as well as a better than average free throw percentage of .768, his injury hampered career, which, not co-incidentally, forced him into retirement after only eight years in the NBA, as well as the rise of the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics during the late 1950’s were the factors that stood in the way of Johnston being universally recognized as the first truly dominant offensive center. Johnston was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990 as a player. Willis Reed Hoopedia describes Reed’s playing career with the words “endurance, pride, dignity, obligation, hard work and courage”. Certainly, they all seem to fit the persona of Willis Reed. No other memory stands out, which exemplifies all these qualities as well as Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals, in which an injury hampered Reed, whom many thought was not going to participate in the, limped into center court, won the jump ball miraculously versus Wilt Chamberlain and proceeded to score the first four points of the game. Though his contribution was minimal, as he was substituted out immediately following this string of plays, the lift that Reed gave his teammates ultimately led the Knicks to the 1970 NBA Championship. This one moment described Reed’s passion and contribution to basketball. Reed began his career out of Grambling State University as a second round draft choice by the Knicks in 1964, primarily as a Power Forward. However, with the departure of Walt Bellamy, Reed was free to assume the Center position. With Bellamy gone, the Knicks emphasized defense and with Reed in the post and Frazier pressuring the ball, the Knicks stingy defense eventually led them to two NBA Championship’s, both of which Reed was the Finals Most Valuable Player. Though he was a unanimous choice for the Hall of Fame, being elected in 1982 - ten years after his retirement - the 1960 and 1970’s, unfortunately for Reed, were the years where Abdul-Jabbar amassed over 25,000 career points, where Wilt Chamberlain reigned as the supreme and ultimate center, and where the All-NBA Teams just didn’t make sense without mention of Bill Russell. Robert Parish Robert Parish’s NBA career lasted 21 seasons and 1611 games, which still stands as the most games played in NBA history, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trailing Parish by 61 games. Parish was nicknamed ‘The Chief’ by a former teammate because of his stoic nature; fellow Hall of Fame teammate Bill Walton called Parish, “the greatest shooting big man of all time”. You can see that Parish’s skills, and his persona was held in high regard by those around him. A spectacular defensive presence, Parish anchored the Boston Celtics defense to 3 NBA championships during the 1980’s and was also named to 2 All-NBA teams as well as numerous selections to the NBA All-Star game. He was known as the third player in Boston’s original ‘big three’ behind star forwards Larry Bird and Kevin McHale. However, in his own right, Parish was a very effective player; his season high in points and rebounds stand at 19.9 and 12.5, respectively. Though he had a spectacular career, Parish was always known as the third option behind his more skilled and famous teammates. However, that has not stopped NBA analysts from acknowledging how gifted and important to the Celtics the 7’1” center really was. He, along with Bird and McHale were named as part of the list of the 50 greatest players of all-time in 1996, his #00 jersey that he was so famously known for was retired by the Boston Celtics in 1998, in a half-time ceremony and he was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003. Mark Eaton Mark Eaton’s story takes a different way than the others mentioned here. Eaton, standing at 7’4” and 290lbs, was working as a mechanic and was then discovered by a scout from Cypress Junior College. He led CYC to a California title before transferring to UCLA for two seasons. Eaton applied for the Draft in 1979 and went in the fifth round (72nd Overall) and did not play a game until 1982. He began his NBA career at the age of 26 with the Utah Jazz. Though he wasn’t a dynamite scorer, and often looked clumsy on offense, many say that Eaton is and was one of the best defensive players to ever play the game. In his first season, Eaton averaged over 3 blocks per game in less than 18 minutes a game. He then led the NBA in blocks for the next two seasons, the latter season, by averaging a league record 5.56 blocks per game along with 11.3 rebounds per game and 9.7 points. He won the Defensive Player of the Year trophy twice, in the 1984-1985 and 1988-1989, was voted to the All-Defensive team four times and surprisingly played in an All-Star game. Eaton, along with John Stockton and Karl Malone helped to establish the Utah Jazz as one of the premier NBA teams of the late eighties and early nineties. Although his defensive skills were top notch, his offense left a lot to be desired and thus isn’t remembered as clearly as others of that era. However, Eaton is a fan-favourite of the Utah Jazz, having his number (#53) retired by Utah in 1996. Brad Daugherty With Daugherty, we step foot into a more modern era of basketball. Daugherty, coming out of college was highly touted and usually considered one of the greatest Tar Heels ever and was promptly inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Standing at 7 feet tall, and weighing 245lbs, Daugherty was a can’t-miss prospect who was going to change the direction of any NBA franchise he played for. After averaging 20 points per game in his senior year at North Carolina, Daugherty entered the 1986 NBA Draft and was unsurprisingly taken with the 1st overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Daugherty came out of the blocks strong and averaged a strong 16 points and 8 rebounds per game along with nearly 4 assists per game for his rookie season but was unfortunately edged out of the Rookie of the Year award by Chuck Person. Daugherty, unsettled by this, continued his development and by 1991, was a 21 point, 11 rebound per game center that championship teams built their teams around. Unfortunately for Daugherty, his NBA career only lasted eight seasons as he was forced to retire at in 1993-1994 at the age of 28 due to recurring back problems that forced him to miss a large chunk of his final season. It seemed Daugherty was headed for superstardom; constantly appearing in NBA All-Star games and even earning all-NBA team honours. As a tribute to Daugherty, his number (#43) was retired by the team he spent his entire career with, the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1997. However, it seems unlikely that Daugherty will grace the NBA Hall of Fame due to his career shortened injury and rise of many prominent centers at the same time. http://www.alldaynba.com/nbageneral/the-forgotten-nba-centers-their-stories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtTheDriveIn Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 A few comments on the article. It's taken me a while to come out with it, but it was written about a week ago and was just updated recently with some new ideas/useful or interesting information. Secondly, yes, the picture was done in paint by me. Pro photoshop skillz, imo. Other than that, I hope you guys enjoy it. Any kind of criticism or thoughts would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted July 27, 2009 Owner Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 For one, nobody should have forgotten about Robert Parish. Shame on them if they did. To this date, I think that Bird, McHale and Parish (haha, notice I put him third) would be the largest, most-talented frontcourt in NBA history...and Parish had a hand in it, for sure. And man, Brad Daugherty...I really think he could've been something special. A lot of people believed he was going to have a huge, huge battle with Shaq for years to come, once O'Neal was drafted by the Magic. That was a matchup in the making. Nice article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multi-Billionaire Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 One of the few players I knew when I first delved into the NBA was Mark Eaton... I knew of his accomplishments as a shot blocker but little else from reading newspaper. Sorry but aside of this comment, I will read your article later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtTheDriveIn Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Thanks for the comments so far. Appreciate anyone reading my articles, to be honest. Oh and Real Deal, I'll post this on ADN tomorrow sometimes. it's just 11.30pm here right now, and I have a lecture tomorrow morning at 8.30am and my uni is nearly an hour away, so need to get some sleep. But, I'll have a link for ADN for you guys to help us with views over there as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owner Real Deal Posted July 27, 2009 Owner Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Don't worry, I'll add it to the site under your name. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Rat Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I never forgot Reed, Parrish and Daugherty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest N4S Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 I always chuckle for some reason when I see Brad Dougherty commentating and analyzing Nascar. lmao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtTheDriveIn Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 I never forgot Reed, Parrish and Daugherty. Well aren't you just the bee's knees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Universe Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Great read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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