| 03 November 2010
The Washington Wizards, last on the list of Top 5 players for each and every franchise. And it's a pretty good team to finish on. It's kinda sad to see a once proud Championship franchise fallen so low, long gone are the days of yore when they won a title.
Still... poignant that this goes up on the day that John Wall lead the Wiz to their first victory of the season, and what a game he had. Perhaps their future seems a little brighter now...
But now, time for reflection: the 5 greatest Wizards of all time.
5. Gus Johnson - 5× NBA All-Star, 4× All-NBA Second Team, 2× All-NBA Defense Team... Gus Johnson lead the Bullets to their first ever Finals appearance. He averaged a double/double for 8 straight seasons with the Bullets.
4. Vernon Earl Monroe - Whilst Earl the Pearl is better known for being a Knick, he had better seasons statistically whilst at the Bullets.
Monroe once responded to a question ("Why are you so difficult to stop?"): "The thing is, I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball, and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either."
The original sports "Black Jesus", Monroe modernized guard play - no look passes, double-clutch and spin moves - that was all Earl.
3. Walter Jones Bellamy - Walt Bellamy had one the best Rookie seasons in the history of the NBA. 31.6 points per, and 19.0 rebounds - also leading the NBA in FG% for that season. In his 4 years as a Bullet, Bellamy averaged - AVERAGED - 27.6ppg/16.6 rpg across 327 games. Guy was a beast.
2. Westley Sissel Unseld - Whilst Elvin Hayes achieved more statistically, it's truly Wes Unseld that was key in turning Baltimore into a winning franchise.
He quite literally exploded into the NBA, averaging 13.8 ppg and 18.2 rpg - All Star, Rookie of the Year, and MVP (one of only two to ever win both - Wilt Chamberlain being the other). In his first 5 seasons with the then Bullets, Unseld never averaged worse than 12.5/15.9.
1. Elvin Ernest Hayes - Hayes' resume at Baltimore/Washington is quite impressive. Eight All-Star selections, All-NBA 1st and 2nd Team three times each and a pair of All-Defensive 2nd Team selections - nothing to be sneezed at.
But more importantly, with Wes Unseld the Big E brought a championship to Washington, a city not well known for prowess on the field of play.
And that concludes the lists of top 5 players for each franchise. In the next few days, I'll post a summary linking to each and every one.
