Top 10 NBA Careers by Former Gophers

[Moses87]

Interesting topic of debate from 2 thru 10, but I don't think Anybody can challenge my choice for #1.


1)Kevin McHale, F, Boston -- 1980-1993 - McHale's number 32 jersey was retired by the Celtics and he was chosen one of the NBA's fifty greatest players and was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. McHale was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
in 1999.

2)Lou Hudson -- 14 year career with 6 NBA All-Star appearences and 17,000 pts....not too shabby but not good enough for the top spot.

3)Mychal Thompson -- 1978-1991 - Former #1 pick by the Trail Blazers in 1978, Thompson went on to win 2 NBA Championships with the Lakers at the end of his career. Scored over 12,000 pts in his pro career.

4)Ray Williams -- 1977-1987 -- Averaged 15 pts per game for his career including 20.9 pts per game in the 79-80 season with the Knicks...he also averaged 6 rebounds and 5 assists that season.

5)Trent Tucker -- 1982-1993-- scored over 6000 pts and got an NBA rule named after him.

6)Jim Peterson -- 1984-1993 -- Had a long and serviceable career, mostly with the Rockets.

7)Randy Breuer -- Scraped out 11 seasons...

8)Voshon Leonard -- Won the NBA's 6th man of the year award and NBA 3 point shooting contest in 2004 -- still listed as a Free Agent according to wikipedia, but I reckon he's played his game.

9)Willi Burton - Played 9 seasons, with 5 teams and averaged 12 pts in his best season...of course will be remembered for his his 53 point barage back in 1994 against the Heat when he played for Philly.

10)Bobby Jackson -- played 12 seasons and won a 6th man award with Sacramento one season.

Others who could make this list soon: Joel Pryzbilla, Chris Humphries.

Others considered: Jim Brewer

[march madness]

I might move Bobby a little higher, he was a major contributor on some playoff teams for Sacremento. If not for the refs Sacremento would've won a championship.

[brucekaupa]

Mark Olberding belongs in the top 10...definitely ahead of Burton.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/olberma01.html

[brucekaupa]

Archie Clark should be in the top 10 also.

Here's a cool little widget:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=minnesota

[Lincoln gopher]

Archie Clark should be in the top 10 also.

Here's a cool little widget:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/friv/colleges.cgi?college=minnesota

Agree with both of your additions, Clark and Olberding, would also have to add Dick Gramaker.

[ofergopher]

This thread reminds me of a related question that I wanted to pose. At the Northwestern game last week one of the trivia questions posed on the Williams Arena scoreboard was: "How many former Minnesota Gophers have been selected to the NBA Hall of Fame?" The responses were: one, five, ten, twenty. My friend and I could only come up with Kevin McHale with absolute certainty. When the correct answer was announced to be five we tried to fill out the list. We figured (correctly, I think) that Johnny Kundla made it as a coach. Beyond that, Lou Hudson seemed like the next best bet. From there we considered most of the rest of the names discussed in this thread and thought they had solid professional careers, but hardly HoF-worthy. We tried to name earlier era players like Garmaker, Mencel, and Kalafat but the closest we could come was Hamline grad Vern Mikkelson.

I tried to find a list of NBA Hall of Famers, and all I can find is the Basketball Hall of Fame (http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers-index/) in Springfield, MA, which in recent years has become almost exclusively an NBA preserve.