A Finals MVP and one of just two players to win league MVP as a rookie, he is the face of the Wizards (Bullets) franchise, spending his entire playing career with the team and then later stints as the franchise’s head coach, general manager, and vice president
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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.
Better luck next time, kid: 19 greatest rookie performances that didn’t earn Rookie of the Year
Winning the Rookie of the Year award has kick started numerous legendary NBA careers but for these 19 players, their astonishing first year performance wasn’t enough to take home hardware.
Hollow trophies: 14 early playoff exits by reigning league MVPs
The reigning MVP has led their team to the NBA or ABA championship 26 times in the history of the two leagues. But in these 15 examples, the ultimate regular season honor was sullied by subsequent postseason disappointment. Can Nikola Jokic avoid a similar fate in 2021?
Fraudulent voting: 20 controversial NBA league MVP decisions
As is bound to be the case whenever humans are making objective decisions based on subjective criteria, the NBA MVP winners have not always made sense in retrospect. Sometimes, they don’t even make sense as they’re being awarded. These are the 20 most notable cases.
In memoriam: 20 prominent basketball people who passed away in 2020
It was an unfortunately robust year for deaths in the basketball community, as we lost the most impactful commissioner in NBA history, a Jazz coaching legend, a Bullets MVP and Finals MVP, a Harlem Globetrotters icon, two NCAA championship coaches (and two others that reached the Final Four), two playing/coaching luminaries in the Celtics organization, and, of course, Kobe and Gianna.
Reign of terror: 19 disastrous tenures from NBA general managers
Unconscionable signings, lopsided trades, unexplainable draft picks, and perplexing personnel decisions are the hallmarks of the eras detailed below, where a general manager put together a performance so dreadful, they arguably set the franchise back years of development.
Costs of being the boss: 13 Hall of Fame players who struggled as coaches
With their playing career often fueled by singular talent and ruthless competitiveness, these legendary players found those traits to be mostly a deterrent in their subsequent attempts at coaching in the NBA.
Second in the draft, first in our hearts: 21 greatest second overall picks in the NBA Draft
The best players don’t always go #1, and sometimes the overlooked guys picked #2 have the last laugh. Here is a list of the 22 second overall picks who had the best NBA careers.