Basketball, Listed

A dedication to basketball history, catalogued and presented in convenient list form.

Spreading it around: 17 great play makers who were not point guards

From point forwards to pass-happy centers to combo guards to whatever Boris Diaw was, the following is a compendium of the most significant non-point guard play makers in NBA history.

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1) Larry Bird

Not only is it a point (pun intended) of contention as to who was the original point forward, it’s also debatable as to which coach unleashed the prototype and even as to who coined the phrase itself. There’s a solid case to be made for Bird, who utilized his uncanny instincts to average 6.3 assists per game in his career. But he would likely grate at the suggestion. When Bird self-identified as a point forward in 1989, it was meant positively. With the Celtics struggling early in the ’89-’90 season, Bird dropped 50 points in a Boston win over the Hawks. But several coaches and teammates trash talked their star player to the media, leading Bird to impetuously focus almost solely on passing for a few games. When asked about it in an interview, Bird sarcastically called himself a “point forward” and added “I just do what the coaches tell me.” A lie if we’ve ever heard one.

2) Paul Pressey
3) Marques Johnson

Beyond Larry Bird, Pressey and Johnson deserve credit as the origin of the point forward species. They both adopted the role mainly out of necessity, as the ’80s Mavericks lacked play making skills in the back court. Their starting point guard was Sidney Moncrief, who was a sort of polar opposite of a point forward, something akin to a “power guard.” Coach Don Nelson thus refocused his run-and-gun offense around his skilled forwards as the fulcrum, and history was made. This freed up Moncrief as a defensive demon, shooting guard Ricky Pierce as a long distance threat, and centers like Randy Breuer as rim protectors and essentially offensive decoys. Labelled “Nellie Ball,” the system never carried the Mavericks to the NBA Finals but they did overachieve annually with it, reaching the Conference Finals in 1983, 1984, and 1986.

4) Wes Unseld

It’s one thing to be a great outlet passer but another to be a true play maker. Unseld was both, transforming the outlet pass into an art form that transcended the play. His passes were not just an occasional offensive starter on fast breaks, but an absolute catalyst for an entire offensive system that carried the Bullets to four NBA Finals in Unseld’s 12-year career. Just looking at Unseld’s career stats you’d rightfully assume that rebounding was his major forte, but all you have to do is read quotes from the legends who played with him, against him, and after him to understand how much his passing ability changed the game. Probably the most telling came from Red Auerbach, who called Unseld the greatest outlet passer he’d ever seen. This is especially high praise from a guy who coached Bill Russell for so many years.

5) Ralph Sampson

Like a giant dog that jumps into your lap thinking it’s just a puppy, the lanky, gargantuan Sampson always seemed to play like a point guard trapped in a center’s body. The 7’4″ big man mixed interior dominance with long range shooting and effective open court dribbling. He found a perfect situation for those skills on the Rockets, playing as an oversized power forward alongside traditional center Hakeem Olajuwon and non-traditional point guard John Lucas. An open-minded coach could have let Sampson loose as a play maker but the conservative Bill Fitch was unwilling to open up the offense. He preferred to rely on swing men Lewis Lloyd and Robert Reid to make plays. By the time Sampson was allowed to more fully embrace his play making side, knee injuries had sapped most of his athleticism, forcing him into traditional plodding center roles with the Warriors and Kings.

6) John Havlicek
7) Bill Russell

Following Bob Cousy’s 1963 retirement, the Celtics won seven more championships in the ensuing 13 seasons despite never having a great play maker at point guard. This was mostly thanks to Russell and Havlicek. Russell had incredible court vision, dribbling, and passing skills for a center, while Havlicek was an elite ball handler and offensive jump-starter. Russell actually finished second on the Celtics in assists per game in eight different seasons, and was the team leader in ’66-’67. Meanwhile, Havlicek led Boston in assists for five straight seasons starting in ’67-’68, during which time the team transitioned from defensive specialist K.C. Jones to high scoring Jo Jo White at point guard. Havlicek’s peak as a point forward came in ’70-’71, when he averaged 28.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game.

8) Jeff Hornacek

For most, the default imagery of Hornacek is of a pure shooting guard in his later years with Utah, nimbly navigating his way around screens to find space for open jump shots. But early in his career Hornacek was an accomplished play maker, often trading off ball-handling duties with Kevin Johnson in the Phoenix back court. In fact, when Hornacek was dealt to Philadelphia in 1992 as part of the Charles Barkley trade, Sixers coach Doug Moe tried to convert him into a full-time point guard. The experiment didn’t last long as Moe was quickly fired and Hornacek was then traded to Utah. Always a thoughtful player who knew how to adapt to systems, Hornacek sensed that his long-range shooting would be his most usable asset in the back court with John Stockton, and enjoyed a late-career renaissance even as his assist stats sharply declined.

9) Maurice Stokes

It’s unfortunate that so much of his tragically brief career will never be witnessed on video, because by all accounts Stokes was ahead of his time as a play making big man. Like a burlier version of Magic Johnson, Stokes would often grab a rebound on one end and then kickstart the fast break on the other. In Stokes’ three NBA seasons, he finished eighth, third, and third respectively in assists per game in the league, peaking with 6.4 per game in ’57-’58. During that same span, the 6’7″ power forward also won a rebounding title and was an elite paint defender. Stokes was likely to continue improving in all facets of his game, but suffered permanent brain damage due to hitting his head on the court during the game, causing him to be paralyzed from the neck down. He was forced to retire after just three seasons and eventually passed away at the age of 36.

“It’s arguable that if [Arvydas] Sabonis had come to the U.S. in the late ’80s he would have gone down as the greatest passing center of all time.”

10) Boris Diaw

Some players just have to be seen to be believed, and that’s why we should all thank our personal deities that we were alive to witness Diaw. Officially listed at 6’9″ and a laugh-stifling 250 pounds, Diaw had the physique of a walrus, the grace of a ballerina and the court vision of a savant. His first NBA team, Atlanta, tried to pigeonhole him into a shooting guard spot but Diaw was unleashed in Phoenix. He played all five positions, settling in mostly as a point forward, and even occasionally backed up Steve Nash at point guard, deftly manning the “seven seconds or less” offense. After eventually joining the Spurs, Diaw became a linchpin of their creative motion offense under coach Gregg Popovich, spurring the team with his deceptively athletic drives to the basket freeing up long range shooters, especially during their ’13-’14 title run.

11) Chris Webber
12) Vlade Divac

Though they came to Kings from completely different cultural backgrounds, Webber and Divac had strikingly similar styles of play. Both were big men with a deft jump shooting touch and ability to run the offense with a preternatural passing ability. One more thing they had in common was being saddled early in their career by the traditional post-playing big man archetype. Divac joined a Lakers team in 1989 that was more interested in replacing the recently retired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the low post than in adding another play maker to supplement Magic Johnson. As for Webber, he clashed with the usually innovative Don Nelson on the Warriors, then floundered for years in an unimaginative Bullets offense. They thrived together in Rick Adelman’s system of back-door cuts and quick reads, turning the Kings into must-see television from 1998 to 2004.

13) Rick Barry

Barry as selfish gunner is a narrative most people associate with the prickly star’s career but he was also praised considerably and regularly by teammates and coaches for his play making. After winning the scoring title with the Warriors in ’66-’67, then spending five years on sabbatical in the ABA, Barry came back to San Francisco with a renewed passion for sharing the ball. As those Warriors teams struggled to find a consistent option at point guard, Barry led the team in both scoring and assists for six straight seasons, including their championship run in ’74-’75. In a later career stop with the Rockets, Barry expanded his play making even further and arguably became patient zero for point forwards. Houston coach Tom Nissalke passed on the point forward philosophy to his replacement Del Harris, who later refined and perfected it as an assistant to Don Nelson on the ’80s Mavericks.

14) Cliff Hagan

Decades before the term “point forward” had even been uttered, Hagan was tinkering with the idea. In his prime, he was simultaneously St. Louis’ second best play maker, second best scorer, and second best rebounder. Despite playing at small forward for the Hawks, Hagan finished top 10 in the NBA in assists for four straight seasons, peaking at 4.9 per game in ’60-’61. He was filling a play making void during that span, between the legendary point guard Slater Martin retiring and Lenny Wilkens getting drafted. After spending 10 years with the Hawks and playing in four Finals, Hagan found a second act with the Dallas Chaparrals of the ABA in ’67-’68. The then 36-year-old player-coach led his team in assists that season, and was named to the nascent league’s first All-Star Game.

15) Scottie Pippen
16) LeBron James

Players like Paul Pressey proved a point forward didn’t need be the offensive focal point and Larry Bird that play maker and scorer could be a combined role. Pippen and James were like the evolutions of those prototypes. While James always has been and always will be relied upon as the top scoring threat for his team, Pippen was free to thrive at the point forward spot. Tex Winter’s triangle offense called for guards who could cut and shoot, creating an role for Pippen as a ball handler and offensive catalyst. He led the Bulls in assists in all six of their title seasons and continued the point forward role in later stops with the Blazers and Rockets. As for James, he’s never been able to fulfill a point forward role in total, as aside from his first season in Miami he has always been required to bear the bulk of the scoring load. But LeBron’s court vision and passing sixth sense have always engendered sentiment that he is the heir apparent the modern point forward project that Pippen elevated.

17) Arvydas Sabonis

There are so many “what ifs” associated with Sabonis’ career but it’s perhaps his incredible play making ability that induces the most lamentation of possibilities. First drafted by the Blazers in 1986, Sabonis didn’t reach the NBA until a decade later due largely to U.S.-Soviet relations. There’s no doubt Sabonis was still a fine player when he finally joined the NBA in 1995, but one can only imagine how well his high-post style could have meshed with the early ’90s Portland teams, with their athletic wings Clyde Drexler and Jerome Kersey. While Sabonis had lost most of his athleticism by the mid ’90s due to injuries and overuse, his innate passing skills were still a thing of beauty and his wraparound pass became a signature of the Blazers offense. Another great passing center Bill Walton said it best when he referred to Sabonis in his prime as the equivalent of a 7″4′ Larry Bird.

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