Now Available for Kindle

Ten Thousand Minutes is now available as an e-book for the Amazon Kindle, for the low price of $3.99. Check it out!

Summary of Historical Best Players

team	best player	runner-up	notes
ATL	Bob Pettit	Dominique Wilkins
BOS	Larry Bird	Bill Russell	also: McHale, Havlicek, Pierce, Parish, Cowens, S.Jones, C.Maxwell
BRO	Julius Erving	Jason Kidd
CHA	Gerald Wallace	Emeka Okafor
CHI	Michael Jordan	Scottie Pippen	also: Horace Grant
CLE	LeBron James	Brad Daugherty
DAL	Dirk Nowitzki	Jason Terry
DEN	Dan Issel	Alex English
DET	Chauncey Billups	Isiah Thomas	also: Lanier, Laimbeer, B.Wallace
GSW	Wilt Chamberlain	Rick Barry	also: Arizin, N.Johnston
HTN	Hakeem Olajuwon	Moses Malone
IND	Reggie Miller	Roger Brown
LAC	Elton Brand	Bob McAdoo	Brand by 7.83 points
LAL	Magic Johnson	Kobe Bryant	also: Abdul-Jabbar, West, O'Neal, Baylor, Chamberlain, Gasol, Worthy
MEM	Pau Gasol	Marc Gasol
MIA	Dwyane Wade	Alonzo Mourning
MIL	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Sidney Moncrief	also: Marques Johnson
MIN	Kevin Garnett	Kevin Love
NOH	Chris Paul	Larry Johnson
NYK	Walt Frazier	Patrick Ewing	also: Willis Reed
OKC	Gary Payton	Kevin Durant	also: Kemp, Sikma
ORL	Dwight Howard	Shaquille O'Neal
PHI	Wilt Chamberlain	Julius Erving	also: Barkley, Cheeks, Iverson
PHO	Shawn Marion	Kevin Johnson	also: Nash, Stoudemire, Barkley
POR	Clyde Drexler	Terry Porter
SAC	Oscar Robertson	Peja Stojakovic
SAS	Tim Duncan	David Robinson	also: Gervin, Ginobili, Parker
TOR	Chris Bosh	Vince Carter	Bosh by 5.62 points
UTA	Karl Malone	John Stockton	also: Adrian Dantley
WAS	Wes Unseld	Elvin Hayes

Top 5 Charlotte Bobcats

With this, the "best all-time players for all 30 franchises" project has finally come to an end. In their first 8 seasons, the Charlotte Bobcats have had one winning season, and one trip to the playoffs. Last year, they went 7-59-- the worst season (by winning percentage) in the NBA, ever. They have already equaled last year's win total.

Requirements: Five seasons and 5,000 minutes; or fewer seasons and 7,000 minutes.

5. D.J. Augustin
Point Guard, 2009-2012
Augustin alternated two good seasons with two years where he couldn't throw the ball in the ocean. His 2011 (14 points, 6 assists, 42% FG) was about as good as it got.

4. Boris Diaw
Small Forward, 2009-2012
Diaw's always been a guy with a weird skill set. At one time, he could play-- and guard-- all five positions. He helped the Bobcats to their only playoff appearance, but then put on weight, and developed a near-pathological aversion to shooting the ball, which earned him his release in the middle of last year's 7-59 debacle. Where does he turn up next? On the Spurs, playing key minutes. Go figure.

3. Raymond Felton
Point Guard, 2006-2010
In Charlotte, Felton was a bad shooter with bad shot selection, who struggled to break the Van Exel line. In 2010, Larry Brown seemingly ordered him not to shoot unless he was wide open or the shot clock was winding down, and Felton made a career-high 46% of his shots. Since he bailed in free agency for the Mike D'Antoni Knicks, it's safe to say the lesson wasn't learned.

2. Emeka Okafor
Center, 2005-2009
Okafor was the Dwight Howard consolation prize in the '04 draft, and averaged a double-double over his entire Bobcats career. Thinking they might be better off with someone less offensively inept, they swapped him for Tyson Chandler after the 2009 season. Being the Bobcats, they got the worst year of Chandler's career, and salary dumped him on Dallas for Matt Carroll and Eduardo Najera, who, last I checked, are not wearing championship rings.

1. Gerald Wallace
Forward, 2005-2011
Sometimes, a guy just needs playing time. Young Gerald Wallace was buried on the Sacramento Kings' bench, and only allowed out for a garbage-time dunk here and there. The Cats got him in the expansion draft, and he blossomed into the best player they've ever had-- an athletic defensive beast capable of playing both forward spots. "Crash" was raw offensively at first, but became a capable scorer and shooter. He peaked with an 18-10 in 2010, especially impressive since he was playing power forward against bigger guys every night.

Top 10 Memphis Grizzlies

After 6 seasons in Vancouver, where they never won more than 23 games, the Grizzlies moved to Memphis. In Memphis, they have 5 playoff appearances in their last 9 seasons, including a trip to the second round in 2011, and they only seem to be getting better.

Requirements: Five seasons and 5,000 minutes; or fewer seasons and 7,000 minutes.

10. O.J. Mayo
Shooting Guard, 2009-2012
Mayo had a strange career in Memphis. He averaged 18 points as a rookie, and 17 in his second season, and then was benched in favor of Tony Allen. An attempt to make Mayo a sixth man in the mold of Jason Terry or Jamal Crawford was unsuccessful, and Mayo ended up leaving in free agency at the first opportunity.

9. Stromile Swift
Power Forward, 2001-2005, 2007-2008
Swift was the #2 pick in the 2000 draft. He would have been a colossal bust, except the rest of the draft was equally awful (it's not like Darius Miles or Marcus Fizer would have been better). Swift never started more than 26 games in a season, averaged double-figure points twice, and blocked 100 shots three times.

8. Jason Williams
Point Guard, 2002-2005, 2011
"White Chocolate" was better as a highlight reel than a basketball player; given his propensity for bricks and turnovers, "White Rafer Alston" was a more accurate description.

7. Mike Conley
Point Guard, 2008-
The current Grizzlies were just as patient with Conley as they were impatient with O.J. Mayo. Conley hadn't shown any signs of being a guy who could run a winning offense through his first three seasons, but the Grizzlies stuck with him. Conley's a decent defender and shooter whose point guard skills have steadily improved.

6. Rudy Gay
Small Forward, 2007-
Yes, Rudy Gay is overpaid. But the Grizzlies-- who win quite a lot of games with him as their leading scorer these days-- don't have anyone else who can create their own shot from the perimeter, in their collection of pesky guards and bruising big men. Gay has averaged between 18-20 points every year except for his rookie season.

5. Mike Miller
Small Forward, 2003-2008
Miller ended up having one of the best careers of anyone picked in the 2000 draft. He won Rookie of the Year in Orlando, and then spent five and a half years in Memphis drilling three-pointers. He averaged a career-high 18.5 points in 2007.

4. Shane Battier
Small Forward, 2002-2006, 2011
Battier began his career in Memphis, and from day one he was an elite glue guy / wing defender. Battier briefly returned for the Grizzlies' surprising 2011 playoff run (including a first-round defeat of the #1 seed Spurs).

3. Shareef Abdur-Rahim
Forward, 1997-2001
Abdur-Rahim was picked #3 by the Grizz in 1996, and had a pretty good career there, though the team never won much. 'Reef averaged a career-high 23 ppg in 1999. He was an excellent scorer at both forward positions, but didn't have a lot of help, and eventually was traded for the draft rights to Pau Gasol.

2. Marc Gasol
Center, 2009-
Gasol was a second-round pick that the Lakers Euro-stashed, and then sent to Memphis for his older brother Pau. The trade was widely lambasted at the time, but Marc has turned into a player nearly as good as his brother, and still improving.

1. Pau Gasol
Power Forward, 2002-2008
Gasol was the driving force behind Memphis's 2004-2006 run of competence. He peaked with a 20-8-4 in '06, and other than that, just consistently churned out 17-20 ppg seasons. Gasol has just about every skill you want from a big man. He can shoot, score efficiently, pass, defend, rebound, and guard fours and fives.

Next up: The Charlotte Bobcats.

Top 10 Toronto Raptors

Back in 1995, David Stern decided that what Canada really needed was two bad basketball teams. One was the Raptors. Their only moment of relevance to date has been the Vince Carter years.

Requirements: Five seasons and 5,000 minutes; or fewer seasons and 7,000 minutes.

10. Andrea Bargnani
Forward / Center, 2007-
This is a #1 pick? Bargnani doesn't rebound or defend, he just jacks up jump shots, and hurts a team far more than someone like Steve Novak. Because you expect Novak to suck at everything besides making threes, so you play him 15-20 minutes off the bench. Bargnani starts and plays 30-35.

9. Damon Stoudamire
Point Guard, 1996-1998
Stoudamire put up big numbers for some truly woeful teams. He was the 1996 Rookie of the Year, and was even a little better in '97, averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 assists.

8. Anthony Parker
Shooting Guard, 2007-2009
Two interesting facts about Anthony Parker. His sister is WNBA star Candace Parker, and before he came to the Raptors, he was a former first-round pick who had washed out of the league, and become the Michael Jordan of Israel.

7. Alvin Williams
Guard, 1998-2006
Williams's career was all but ended by a knee injury at age 29-- he played exactly three NBA games afterwards. Before the injury, he was a Rodney Stuckey type-- an adequate combo guard with no outstanding skills.

6. Doug Christie
Shooting Guard, 1996-2000
Christie's career took off when the Knicks traded him to Toronto. He averaged a career-high 16.5 points for the '98 Raps, and was pretty good defensively, too.

5. Morris Peterson
Small Forward, 2001-2007
Here we have a SF whose career shooting percentage is .418, and who once averaged 16 ppg. It sucks to be a Raptors fan. You never get anything nice to root for, so you fool yourself into thinking guys like Mo Pete can play.

4. Antonio Davis
Forward / Center, 2000-2003, 2006
Davis was liberated from the Pacers' bench in exchange for the rights to Jonathan Bender (The Raptors win a trade for once!). He made the All-Star team in 2001, and put up a 13-10 that year.

3. Jose Calderon
Point Guard, 2006-
Calderon is a sort of Steve Nash Lite. He can't defend, but he's an excellent shooter and distributor. Calderon played in 68 games in 2009, and missed *three* free throws, setting a single-season record (151-154 FT, .981%).

2. Vince Carter
Guard / Forward, 1999-2004
Carter averaged 27.6 ppg in 2001, and led the Raptors to their only appearance in the second round of the playoffs. The Raptors and Carter failed to build on this momentum-- Carter suffered some nagging leg injuries that cost him 70 games over the next 3 seasons, and some of his explosiveness. When the Raptors traded him to New Jersey, all they could get in return were 3 washed-up players, 2 late first-round picks, and a partridge in a pear tree.

1. Chris Bosh
Power Forward, 2004-2010
Bosh comes out barely ahead, for playing a half-season more than Carter, and staying a little healthier. He had three 20-10 seasons, led the Raps to two playoff appearances, and then took his talents to South Beach.

Next up: The Memphis / Vancouver Grizzlies.

Top 15 Orlando Magic

The Magic entered the league in 1990, and have had two runs of relevancy that both ended with their franchise center bolting to the Lakers. Shaq and Penny Hardaway led the Magic to the '95 Finals, and Dwight Howard led them to the '09 Finals, but they lost both times. The Magic have made the playoffs in 14 of the last 19 seasons, which is pretty good work for an expansion team. Feel free to contrast that with the Timberwolves, who we discussed yesterday.

Requirements: Five seasons and 5,000 minutes; or fewer seasons and 7,000 minutes.

15. J.J. Redick
Shooting Guard, 2007-
Redick didn't play much his first two years, but since then he's given the Magic competent play off the bench. He makes jump shots, and he has a surprisingly good passing game.

14. Grant Hill
Small Forward, 2001-2007
The lesson here is "don't sign a guy who just badly broke his ankle to a huge free agent deal." Hill played 47 games total in his first 4 years in Orlando, though he did average 19.7 points in a mostly-healthy 2005.

13. Scott Skiles
Point Guard, 1990-1994
You have to love expansion team stat inflation. It worked for Skiles-- 17 points and 8 assists for the '91 Magic. Who were all those assists to? Skiles was also the team's leading scorer.

12. Bo Outlaw
Forward, 1998-2001, 2006-2008
Outlaw's game was dunks and defense. He was an unusual player-- a 6-8 stringbean who could play all three frontcourt spots. Also a notoriously terrible free throw shooter-- 52% career.

11. Dennis Scott
Small Forward, 1991-1997
Scott made 267 threes in 1996, while also averaging 17 ppg. Like many other three point bombers, he let this get to his head a little, he put on some weight, and then Shaq left in free agency and the open looks weren't so open anymore. Four years later, Scott was a 37%-shooting bench scrub in Vancouver.

10. Jameer Nelson
Point Guard, 2005-
Nelson's career averages are 12 points and 5 assists. This is pretty ordinary stuff, sort of the Famous Ray's Pizza of point guard stats. He can hit the three ball, and he runs a good pick and roll with Dwight Howard... oh, wait. Not anymore.

9. Darrell Armstrong
Point Guard, 1995-2003
Armstrong went undrafted, and didn't get serious minutes for the Magic until he was 28. He went on to have a surprisingly good career, taking over the point-guard duties after Penny Hardaway left, and averaging a 15-4-7 in 2001.

8. Hedo Turkoglu
Small Forward, 2005-2009, 2011-
Hedo's career year was a 19-5-5 in 2008, and for a little while, he was a reliable crunch time scorer. He always had a good on-court rapport with Dwight Howard, which was why the Magic traded to get him back a year and a half after letting him walk.

7. Nick Anderson
Guard / Forward, 1990-1999
Anderson was the Magic's first draft pick, and he developed into a two-way guard who could defend the other team's best wing scorer, while chipping in 15-19 points a night. He missed some crucial free throws in the first game of the '95 Finals, and never really recovered.

6. Rashard Lewis
Forward, 2008-2010
While the contract the Magic gave Lewis can only be described as irrational exuberance, Lewis did give them two strong seasons, including 2009, when he outplayed LeBron James in the conference finals. A few years and some chronic knee pain later, he was exchanged to the Wizards for the equally washed-up Gilbert Arenas.

5. Horace Grant
Power Forward, 1995-1999, 2002-2003
Grant left his best years in Chicago, but still had enough left to help the Magic make the Finals in 1995. Grant gave them 12 points, 9 boards, and 57% shooting.

4. Penny Hardaway
Guard, 1994-1999
Hardaway's career was a riches-to-rags story-- he started out as the best big point guard since Magic, and ended up as a shooting guard with bad knees who couldn't shoot. His best years came in Orlando, including a 21-4-7 in 1996.

3. Tracy McGrady
Small Forward, 2001-2004
T-Mac won two scoring titles in 4 years in Orlando, and scored a career-high 32.1 ppg in 2003. You have to wonder what could have been-- supposedly, the Magic came pretty close to signing Tim Duncan instead of Grant Hill; and then they included Ben Wallace in the sign-and-trade for Hill.

2. Shaquille O'Neal
Center, 1993-1996
The Big Aristotle left for L.A. after only 4 seasons. He was Rookie of the Year in '93, and won a scoring title and led the team to the Finals in '95. And then he was gone, and it would be back to mediocrity as usual, until...

1. Dwight Howard
Center, 2005-2012
This will be a sore subject in Orlando for years to come, especially now, as angry season-ticket holders are paying to see Nikola Vucevic instead of Howard. Three-time defensive player of the year, four-time rebounding champ, nemesis of Stan Van Gundy, guy who clearly doesn't understand how a "player option" works.

Next up: The Toronto Raptors.

Top 15 Minnesota Timberwolves

What do we have here? A team that entered the league in 1990, and has never made the playoffs without Kevin Garnett. A trip to the Western conference finals in 2004 was this franchise's high point.

Requirements: Five seasons and 5,000 minutes; or fewer seasons and 7,000 minutes.

15. Trenton Hassell
Shooting Guard, 2004-2007
Hassell belongs to the subset of defensive stoppers who don't really stop anyone: "I knew Keith Bogans. You, sir, are no Keith Bogans."

14. Doug West
Guard / Forward, 1990-1998
West's claim to fame is averaging 19.3 points for the 19-win '93 Wolves, the last coaching stop of Jimmy "Not the Singing Brakeman" Rodgers.

13. Rasho Nesterovic
Center, 1999-2003
Nesterovic averaged a career-high 11.2 ppg in his last year in Minnesota. He was a big stiff who walked into a rebound or blocked shot every now and then.

12. Tony Campbell
Small Forward, 1990-1992
Campbell's Law: Any reasonably talented scoring forward on a terrible team can average 20 points per game. Campbell did it twice.

11. Anthony Peeler
Shooting Guard, 1998-2003
Peeler served as a three-point chucking bench guard on some of the better Wolves teams. He averaged a 16-7-3 in a first-round knockout in 1998...

10. Pooh Richardson
Point Guard, 1990-1992
Pooh was the Wolves' first lottery pick (the next two would be Felton Spencer and Luc Longley). He averaged 17 points and 9 assists in his second season, and was dealt to the Pacers after year three.

9. Micheal Williams
Point Guard, 1993-1998
Williams had two good seasons for the Wolves, including 15 points and 8 assists in '93. Foot injuries wrecked his career-- he only played 37 games after age 28.

8. Christian Laettner
Power Forward, 1993-1996
Laettner spent three and a half years in basketball hell (I don't know how else to describe the Isaiah Rider years in Minnesota), before the Wolves panic-traded him to Atlanta for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb.

7. Sam Mitchell
Forward, 1990-1992, 1996-2002
Mitchell proved Campbell's Law (see above) with a 14-6 for the '91 Wolves. Interestingly, he returned for a productive run as a bench player on the Kevin Garnett teams. Other than Garnett, Mitchell has played the most minutes in a Wolves uniform.

6. Al Jefferson
Center / Forward, 2008-2010
Jefferson headlined the package the Wolves got for Kevin Garnett. He averaged a 21-11 in his first season in Minny, tore his ACL midway through his second, and got traded for Kosta Koufos and two first-rounders after his third. Hey, anytime you can turn a future Hall of Famer into Kosta Koufos, you gotta do it.

5. Tom Gugliotta
Power Forward, 1995-1998
"Googs" had his career year in Minnesota, averaging a 20-8-4 in 1997. The Wolves let him go, and signed Joe Smith, after the 1998 season. Gugliotta was injury-prone and ineffective for most of the rest of his career, while Smith was typically mediocre, and then the Wolves signed him to an illegal under-the-table contract extension that ended up costing them multiple draft picks.

4. Terrell Brandon
Point Guard, 1999-2002
Brandon had a few good years for the Wolves, including a 17-point, 8-assist effort in 2000. Brandon blew out his knee during the 2002 season, which had the unexpected benefit of resurrecting Chauncey Billups's career. The Wolves, being the slightly snakebitten franchise they are, let Billups walk, and the starting job devolved onto Troy Hudson. Ouch.

3. Wally Szczerbiak
Small Forward, 2000-2006
Szczerbiak and Gugliotta were both Long Island high school stars who ended up playing in Minnesota, of all places. Szczerbiak was a terrific shooter (.485/.406/.860 career) who was the #2 or #3 scorer on the best Wolves teams to date.

2. Kevin Love
Power Forward, 2009-
The future of the Wolves franchise is coming off of a season where he put up a 26-13 and made almost two threes per game. My only qualms about Love so far are that he's not a very good defender, and he's not very durable-- he's missed 42 games over the last 3 seasons, and is currently out with a broken hand. Other than that-- holy shit. Dude can play.

1. Kevin Garnett
Power Forward, 1996-2007
If not for Garnett, you'd probably be hearing about the Las Vegas Timberwolves, or the Virginia Beach Timberwolves, or something like that. Garnett evolved from a skinny high-schooler into a monster on both sides of the ball. In 2004, he averaged a 24-13-5 with 178 blocks and 120 steals, dragging a team whose only other good player was Sam Cassell within two wins of the Finals. This was only a little better than a typical Kevin Garnett season-- he averaged a 20-10-4 or better in his last *nine* seasons in Minnesota. Mention that next time someone says he's overrated.

Next up: The Orlando Magic.