Originally Published: August 21, 2009
Scoop Jackson lists the greatest basketball players ever to come out of Chicago
Scoop Jackson lists the greatest basketball players ever to come out of Chicago
By Scoop JacksonChicago's All-Time Best Basketball Players
Scoop Jackson put together his list of the Top 13 basketball players to come out of the Chicago area.
| Mark Aguirre | He had one of the greatest college careers in NCAA history. Put DePaul University back on the national map. Got Ray Meyer into the Basketball Hall of Fame (no disrespect to George Mikan). He won a city championship at Westinghouse; averaged 20 points in the NBA and has two NBA rings. He may be the greatest pure scorer in the history of Chicago. |
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| Quinn Buckner | Laid the blueprint for all players coming out of the city to follow. Put south-suburban high school ball on the map and gave it credibility. One of only three players -- Magic Johnson, Jerry Lucas are the others -- to win championships in high school, college and the NBA, and to also win Olympic gold. One of the greatest floor leaders in basketball history. |
| Terry Cummings | The Scottie Pippen to Aguirre's Michael Jordan. He was the NBA rookie of the year; the No. 2 Pick in the 1982 draft and a two-time NBA All-Star. A beast at Carver High and an All-American at DePaul, he averaged 16.4 points and 7.3 rebounds for almost 20 seasons in the NBA. |
| Kevin Garnett | He's hard to claim, but you know how we do it. He spent one year in Chicago, but the general belief (and this validates the claiming) is that if KG had not come to Chicago, he would not have become the player he is today. He came here with skills, we gave him the drive, heart and will to become a league MVP and holder of a championship. |
| Tim Hardaway | The "Little Fella" from Carver was first team All-NBA and a five-time NBA All Star. Inventor of the killer-crossover, he averaged 17.6 points and 8.2 assists for 13 years in the league. Retired with almost the same points and assists averages as Nate Archibald. |
| Billy Harris | Unarguably one of the two greatest street ball players (Fly Williams of Brooklyn, N.Y. is the other) ever. Talk to the people of Chicago and they speak of "The Kid" the way today's kids speak about Jordan. I watched him at 50 years old drop 25 points on D-1 players in a pro-am game. If he had an NBA career, he would have been No. 1 on this list. |
| George Mikan | The "Big Fella" was the game's first legit superstar. He was named NCAA player of the year twice while at DePaul, and was also a three-time All-American. He won NBA scoring and rebounding titles and was voted the Greatest Player in the First Half Century of the NBA. Read that last line again. Read no more. |
| Candace Parker | Think not? "Oh, but she's a she," you say. OK, go there and here's what you'll have to answer to: high school national player of the year -- twice; NCAA national player of the year; Final Four MVP; NCAA national championship and WNBA Rookie of the Year and MVP (same season). She has the chance to go down as the greatest woman's basketball player of all time ! She's so decorated, Oprah's interior designer pal Nate Berkus couldn't remodel her. Parker has the chance to be the Michael Jordan of the women's game. |
| Derrick Rose | At 11 years old, he was being discussed as possibly the best we'll ever see come from Chicago. Lived past the hype. He won two state championships and was one shot away from winning the national championship in his only year at Memphis (although the wins from that season have been vacated). He was the first pick in the 2008 NBA Draft and was the rookie of the year. He has done more in a shorter amount of time than anyone else on this list. And he's only just begun. |
| Cazzie Russell | Another Carver High school prodigy, Russell took Michigan to back-to-back Final Fours. He averaged 30 points in 1966 and was the college player of the year. He was the first pick in the '66 draft and won an NBA championship with the New York Knicks during his 12-year NBA career. But the real deal on what makes Cazzie one of the city's best ever are the stories you hear of the games he played against the likes of Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor up at Nat King Cole Park. Those games alone would have put him on this list. |
| Isiah Thomas | Widely considered the best to come from Chicago concrete. Two world championships; NBA Finals MVP; NBA Top 50 all-time nod; two-time All-Star game MVP; one of the three best point guards of all time behind Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson. |
| Dwyane Wade | He is Robbins' finest. Currently in a battle with Isiah Thomas for the "Best Player From Chi" crown. No stats necessary. You know who he is. |
| *Ben Wilson | He was killed in 1984 before his senior season at Simeon. The city never got the chance to see him reach his potential. But it would be wrong to do such a list and not include him. |
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