ROBERT PARISH

14.5 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.5 BPG

• Golden State Warriors 1976 – 1980
• Boston Celtics 1980 – 1994
• Charlotte Hornets 1994 – 1996
• Chicago Bulls 1996 – 1997

“The Chief,” Robert Parish holds the title for the league leader when it comes to games played. He was the first player of the NBA to reach 21 years of playing the game of basketball for the NBA and tallied around 1,611 total games throughout his career. To give us some comparison, LeBron James, who is known for having less significant career-altering injuries and still actively playing the game only has around 1300 games under his name. From the looks of things, he seemed to be not interested in taking full advantage of his medical insurance policy while he was still actively playing the game.

DENNIS RODMAN

7.3 PPG, 13.1 RPG

• Detroit Pistons 1986 – 1993
• San Antonio Spurs 1993 – 1995
• Chicago Bulls 1995 – 1998
• Los Angeles Lakers 1999
• Dallas Mavericks 2000

Dennis Rodman may not be the most flashy player we have seen on the hardwood with his offensive skill set but he proved to his fans and critics that offense is always never the only defining stats of the game. He rose to fame with his pesky defense and by playing mind games with his opponents and crawling under their skin. He also showed relentless effort on the boards grabbing multiple rebounding titles over the course of his career. His investments to the game paid off and he was rewarded with five NBA championships.

ALONZO MOURNING

17.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.8 BPG

• Charlotte Hornets 1992 – 1995
• Miami Heat 1995 – 2003, 2005 – 2008
• New Jersey Nets 2003 – 2004

Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball consistently produces Hall of Famer big men throughout the years and one of these Hall of Fame big men was Alonzo Mourning. He pretty much followed the footsteps of fellow Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing and Dikembe Mutombo in that conversation. He pretty much holds the credit for the heats to become a consistent contender during the 90s up until the late 2000s. He was also part of the 2006 championship team alongside O’neal and Wade.

EARL MONROE

18.8 PPG, 3.9 APG

• Baltimore Bullets 1967 – 1971
• New York Knicks 1971 – 1980

Earl “The Pearl” Monroe was one of the top players in the league during the 70s. He was the high-scoring guard drafted by the Baltimore Bullets as the second overall pick of the 1967 NBA Draft Class. After spending a couple of years with his original team, he was traded with the Knicks but faced a big shadow of doubt from his critics about the style of play he and his teammate in New York would produce. Their big investments towards Monroe paid off and the tandem of Frazier-Monroe became an iconic backcourts in the league and arguably one of the best in history while earning the 1973 NBA title.

PAU GASOL

17.0 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.6 BPG

• Memphis Grizzlies 2001 – 2008
• Los Angeles Lakers 2008 – 2014
• Chicago Bulls 2014 – 2016
• San Antonio Spurs 2016 – 2019
• Milwaukee Bucks 2019

The big man from Spain consistently showed that he’s pretty much effective on both ends of the court. Pau Gasol was a key part of the success of the Los Angeles Lakers for their championship runs during the late 2000s. He showed graceful touch around the block and got points down the paint using both hands. Now that he’s not playing in the league, maybe it is the right time for him to pursue a degree in medicine just like he wanted when he was young.

DAVE COWENS

17.6 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 3.8 APG

• Boston Celtics 1970 – 1980
• Milwaukee Bucks 1982 – 1983

Dave Cowen’s heyday was his time with the Boston Celtics, where he won two championship rings, the league’s MVP award and the Rookie of the Year award. He was a key figure of the Celtic’s 1972-1973 run that set the franchise season of 68-14 win-loss record. Despite their heroic season run, they still got eliminated in the Lost East Conf Finals but they got their sweet revenge the following year. He pretty much earned huge success in the following years and he didn’t have to face any threats of going into bankruptcy.

ALEX ENGLISH

21.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.6 APG

• Milwaukee Bucks 1976-78
• Indiana Pacers 1978-80
• Denver Nuggets 1980-90
• Dallas Mavericks 1990-91

Alex English was one of the top-scoring wing players of the 70s and 80s, even in the early part of the 90s, he showed that he still has plenty of gas left in his tank. He set the league on fire with his high-scoring pace and led the Denver Nuggets in a nine-year playoff berth. Over the course of his career, he managed to grab more than 20,000 points in fifteen seasons. Now that’s an unbelievable feat that can only be matched by his fellow Hall of Famer Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant.

PETE MARAVICH

24.2 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 5.4 APG

• Atlanta Hawks 1970 – 1974
• New Orleans Jazz 1974 – 1979
• Utah Jazz 1979 – 1980
• Boston Celtics 1980

Pete Maravich was one of the most exciting players to watch in the early era of the NBA. He was like playing chess while his opponents were playing checkers and that’s a pale comparison on how advanced his game was during his time. His insane ball-handling skills and unfathomable passing gave birth to how modern players use fancy tricks to let their teammates score the basket. We also have to give credit to his scoring game and he was one of the most effective scorers of his time. A career and achievements truly worth of getting into the hall of fame!

BERNARD KING

22.5 PPG, 3.3 APG, 5.8 RPG

• New Jersey Nets 1977 – 1979, 1993
• Utah Jazz 1979 – 1980
• Golden State Warriors 1980 – 1982
• New York Knicks 1982 – 1987
• Washington Bullets 1987 – 1993

Bernard King can be ranked as one of the best small forwards in the game history with all of the achievements and stats he gathered while he was playing the game. He played fourteen seasons in the league for a couple of teams but he consistently showed to his fans and critics that he was a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the court. If he only didn’t get himself injured and if modern medical insurance coverage were a thing that time, he could probably get more accolades for himself.

TONY PARKER

15.5 PPG, 5.6 APG

• San Antonio Spurs 2001 – 2018
• Charlotte Hornets 2018 – 2019

The French superstar Tony Parker was one of the significant players for the title run of the San Antonio Spurs during the 2000s. He showed great effectiveness as their primary point guard during these campaigns as a floor general, he delivered with tremendous efficiency. He helped Tim Duncan and the Spurs with their four NBA titles and was named the Finals MVP in 2007. What’s interesting is that, during the NBA Lockout in 2011, he went on to play with ASVEL, a French basketball team and he pretty much shouldered all the expenses including his insurance worth $250,000 quarterly just to play the game of basketball.