On Wednesday, ESPN unveiled their next chapter in the much-maligned #NBARank series, this time ranking the league’s most influential players ever.
“We asked our panel to choose the players who have influenced the game most, both on and off the court: the real game-changers,” explains ESPN.
As a result, eight members of the Kings organization, including former and current players and ownership, earned spots on the list.
Here’s how members of the ESPN panel — TV, radio, ESPN.com, The Undefeated and ESPN the Magazine — voted on the Kings.
92. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
“Long before NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeled in 2016, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf caused a stir in 1996 when he refused to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner." He was suspended by the NBA for one game before he agreed to protest silently, while standing, during the anthem.”
Asked about his protest, Abdul-Rauf called the American flag a ‘symbol of oppression, of tyranny. I'm a Muslim first and a Muslim last. My duty is to my creator, not to nationalistic ideology.’”
91. Nate “Tiny” Archibald
“Nate "Tiny" Archibald set the standard for modern point guards when he made the leap from New York playground legend to superstardom -- his ability to control a game with whirling athleticism and passing was otherworldly in his day. In his majestic 1972-73 season, he became the only player to officially lead the NBA in scoring and assists, with 34 points and 11 assists in 46 minutes per game”
83. Maurice Stokes/Jack Twyman
“Stokes was the game's first point-forward, finishing in the top three of RPG and APG two straight seasons. The sweet-shooting Twyman, meanwhile, was the first player (along with Wilt Chamberlain) to average more than 30 points a game.
Their strongest link, however, came when Stokes was paralyzed following a head injury near the end of the 1957-58 season. Twyman became Stokes' legal guardian, paid for his medical care and used Stokes' injury as a rallying cry for NBA players seeking medical insurance and pensions from ownership.”
51. Chris Webber
“Webber's place on this list can be traced back to the Fab Five -- the trendsetting Michigan freshmen who crashed the college basketball scene in 1991. Playing with swagger in baggy shorts and black socks, Webber, Jalen Rose and their teammates went to two NCAA finals and set a tone that remains part of the game today.
While the Fab Five was famous for its style, it was Webber's play in the NBA that made him a potential Hall of Famer. He finished his career averaging better than 20 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game, and his passing skills laid the groundwork for a generation of versatile big men.”
33. Vince Carter
“Perhaps the greatest, most creative dunker ever and the pacesetter for every aerial artist of the past two decades, Carter was born to throw down on the big stage. At the 2000 Olympics, his shocking leap of faith over Frederic Weis of France further grew the legend that had taken root earlier that year at the Slam Dunk contest, where he reinvented the art form with an unprecedented series of dunks -- the reverse windmill 360 and the elbow in the rim among them.
Far more than a dunker, Carter's skill set is so well-rounded that he's still going -- and dunking -- at age 41, making him the oldest perimeter player in NBA history to play continuously.”
17. Shaquille O’ Neal
“Far more than a dunker, Carter's skill set is so well-rounded that he's still going -- and dunking -- at age 41, making him the oldest perimeter player in NBA history to play continuously.
His agility and ability at his size made every team lust for a player like Shaq, even with his memorably poor free throw shooting and occasional brushes with teammates. Ultimately, O'Neal's three consecutive titles and Finals MVPs demonstrated that he reached a level of inside devastation that might never be seen again in an NBA evolving away from interior play.”
7. Oscar Robertson
"The triple-double. That's always where you start with Robertson. He had 181 triple-doubles in his career, an NBA record. Over the course of his first five seasons, he averaged 30.3 points, 10.6 assists and 10.4 rebounds, numbers that seem absurd now.
That clause's annihilation and the free agency that sprung from its ashes now shapes the modern economic and labor structure of the NBA. LeBron James' decision, ESPN's coverage of every summer's free-agent bonanza, and the NBA's own promotion of blockbuster signings and trades depended on Robertson's steadfast refusal to accept the unfair status quo."