[editor's note, by Pradamaster] Bumping this up again, because tomorrow's the last day to vote. As it stands now, Kevin Porter is the odd man out. Please, please, rank your players and sign up if you have yet to do so.
[editor's note, by Pradamaster] I'm bumping this post back to the top, not only because I want to remind everyone in this community to participate, but also so that those clicking here from SLAM Online also get a chance to sound off. It's too late for anyone to add an additional name to this list, but if you want to question why it's these guys, by all means, sign up and voice your thoughts.
Thanks to everyone who provided suggestions for narrowing down our top 20 list, whether through commenting or through e-mail. I've eliminated everyone who wasn't suggested (Gus Williams, Pervis Ellison, John Williams) or was suggested only once (goodbye Rex Chapman, Archie Clark, Mitch Kupcheck, Gheorghe Muresan, Caron Butler, Michael Adams, Tom Gugliotta, Greg Ballard, and Mike Riordan). That leaves the following, in alphabetical order, with the person writing the article.
- Gilbert Arenas -- JakeTheSnake (he has no choice)
- Walt Bellamy
- Phil Chenier
- Bobby Dandridge
- Kevin Grevey
- Elvin Hayes
- Juwan Howard -- LoDawg31
- Antawn Jamison
- Gus Johnson
- Michael Jordan -- Pradamaster (this is the one I really want to do)
- Bernard King
- Kevin Loughery
- Jeff Malone -- hotplate
- Moses Malone
- Jack Marin
- Earl Monroe
- Kevin Porter
- Jeff Ruland
- Rod Strickland -- SP Yup (if he makes it)
- Wes Unseld
- Chris Webber -- kdp922
As you can see, there are 21 names for 20 spots. One of these guys has to be the final cut. I'm attaching a poll here allowing you all to vote on who that final cut should be, so channel your inner head coach and make the tough choice by clicking "entry link."
Once you do that, use the comments section to rank your personal top 20 (using only these 21 names. -Pradamaster). This step is very important, because it determines, ultimately, what the order will be. A first-place vote is worth 20, a second-place vote 19, and all the way down the line. Once this step is finished, the order will be determined by who finishes with the 20 most points, so please be sure to rank all 20 players.
By Friday, we should have our list. I'll stop the voting at that point, and I'll list the guys that made the cut (but not the order, although you can figure that out). I'll then ask for any volunteers to contribute articles (hotplate already submitted one for Jeff Malone, so he's taken). You can use any style you wish, but I ask that you try as best as possible to make them personal in some way. If you have memories of a particular player, I think you should mention them instead of just listing numbers.
Sound good? Be sure to list your order in the comments section, and thanks to everyone who's contributing in any way.
Update [2007-7-30 14:14:41 by Pradamaster]: A couple of people have brought up the concern that they can't rank players fairly because many played before they were born. I admire this foresight into recognizing your own biases, but I don't think this should stop anyone. Because I'm only 20 years old, I haven't seen many of these guys on the list, but I ranked them anyway. Obviously, seeing a player in person is the best way to evaluate someone, but it's not the only way. If you're concerned that you'll overrate the players you've seen, don't worry, because I think we have a number of users here that saw the 70s-era teams play in person. If we're trying to get the pulse of the Bullets Forever community with this list, it only makes sense for as many people as possible to post their rankings.