"Here are the Best Basketball Players from Each U.S. State"

[J_Dee]

The best basketball players from each U.S. state, per 12Up (a site I know nothing about -- I just saw this article on a social media platform).

How many do you know? I got North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Indiana and Michigan, and Ohio -- the easy ones. I did not get Kentucky correct; we've produced a ton of players.

Which do you disagree with?

Spoiler

Shaq was born in New Jersey, not Texas. Then he lived in Germany, and then Texas.

"I know hate is a strong word, but growing up in Newark, New Jersey, where it's predominantly all African-America, and then we moved to West Germany, and I was like, 'What the [heck] is this?' And then when I came here and saw my first Spanish guy, I was like, 'I don't know where I'm at.'" -- Shaq

 

[Catapult]

Any list of Ky players that doesn't include Dwight Smith is at once faulty. He was better than his brother Greg and Clem Haskins.

 

[Kats meow]

My Jr high school math teacher had to guard Dave Cowens in a high school game. He said it was embarrassing.
I think I would have chosen Unseld or Griffith.

 

[Marine_In_VA]

My Jr high school math teacher had to guard Dave Cowens in a high school game. He said it was embarrassing.
I think I would have chosen Unseld or Griffith.

Haven't looked at the list yet, but Winston Bennett was pretty good too.

 

[DreadLox]

Dave Cowens is a surprising choice for Kentucky. I'd forgotten the MVP. I'd have gone for Wes Unseld. Also MVP.

 

[BlueBomb]

Haven't looked at the list yet, but Winston Bennett was pretty good too.

I went to a UK basketball camp with Bennett. I was on his 3-on-3 team. He was a scary dude.

He was 6'8" but about 7'1" with the high school fro. No joke.

 

[J_Dee]

Jr high school math teacher had to guard Dave Cowens in a high school game. He said it was embarrassing.
I think I would have chosen Unseld or Griffith.

Between Cowens and Unseld -- just based on stats alone, I'd give the edge to Cowens, but just barely. That 7 to 2 All-NBA gap makes the difference to me.

Unseld (Louisville):

Spoiler

13 seasons, 984 games

Points: 10,624 (10.8 PPG)
Rebounds: 13,769 (14.0 RPG)
Assists: 3,822 (3.9 APG)
.509 FG%, .633 FT%

16.0 PER, 110.1 WS

1 x NBA champion (1978)
1 x NBA Finals MVP (1978)
1 x NBA Most Valuable Player (1969)
5 x NBA All-Star (1969, 1971–1973, 1975)
1 x All-NBA First Team (1969)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1969)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1969)
NBA rebounding leader (1975)
NBA Anniversary Team (50th, 75th)
No. 41 retired by the Wizards
Hall of Fame

After Unseld's retirement in 1981, he moved into a front office position with the Bullets, where he served as vice president for six years before being named head coach in 1988. He resigned following the 1994 season with a 202–345 record (.369). Unseld became the Bullets' general manager in 1996 (they were renamed to the Wizards in 1997) and served in that role for seven years. He guided the team to the playoffs once during his tenure as general manager.

Unseld's wife, Connie, opened Unselds School in 1979. A coed private school located in southwest Baltimore, it has a daycare program, nursery school and a kindergarten-to-eighth grade curriculum. Connie and daughter Kimberly served as teachers at the school. Unseld worked as an office manager and head basketball coach. He was the godfather of Cleveland Cavaliers all-star forward, Kevin Love, as Kevin's father Stan Love was a teammate of Unseld's on the Baltimore Bullets. His son, Wes Unseld Jr., is a coach in the NBA who became the head coach of the Wizards in 2021.

.

Cowens (Newport):

Spoiler

11 seasons, 766 games

Points: 13,516 (17.6 PPG)
Rebounds: 10,444 (13.6 RPG)
Assists: 2,910 (3.8 APG)
.460 FG%, .783 FT%

17.0 PER, 86.3 WS

2 x NBA champion (1974, 1976)
1 x NBA Most Valuable Player (1973)
8 x NBA All-Star (1972–1978, 1980)
1 x NBA All-Star Game MVP (1973)
3 x All-NBA Second Team (1973, 1975, 1976)
1 x NBA All-Defensive First Team (1976)
2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1975, 1980)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1971)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1971)
NBA Anniversary Team (50th, 75th)
No. 18 retired by the Celtics
Hall of Fame

During his NBA career, Cowens averaged a double-double of 17.6 points and 13.6 rebounds. with 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 766 career NBA games. Cowens was selected to eight All-Star Games, was named to the All-NBA Second Team three times, and was named to the All-NBA Defensive First Team in 1976 and All-NBA Defensive Second Team in 1973 and 1980. He was a member of the Celtics' 1974 and 1976 NBA Championship teams.

Cowens' playing credo was all-out intensity at both ends of the court, a style that never wavered during his 11-year NBA career. "He was quick, fast, strong and skilled, and played hard," Knicks Hall of Fame center Willis Reed said of Cowens.

Cowens was the fourth center in NBA history to average five assists per game in a single season, joining Wilt Chamberlain, former Celtic center, Bill Russell, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. His career average is 3.8 assists per game.[citation needed] As of the end of the 2018–19 season, Cowens ranked 27th overall for most point-rebound-assist triple-doubles by a center in NBA history.

As evidence to his all-around ability, only five other players (Scottie Pippen, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić have led their teams in all five major statistical categories for a season: points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. He accomplished the feat in the 1977–78 season, averaging 18.6 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 0.9 blocks and 1.3 steals as Boston finished 32–50.

In 1996, Cowens was honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team. In October 2021, Cowens was again honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. To commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Cowens as the 57th greatest player in NBA history.

"No one ever did more for the Celtics than Dave did," said John Havlicek of his Celtic teammate.

.

 

[DreadLox]

Between Cowens and Unseld -- just based on stats alone, I'd give the edge to Cowens, but just barely. That 7 to 2 All-NBA gap makes the difference to me.

Unseld (Louisville):

Spoiler

13 seasons, 984 games

Points: 10,624 (10.8 PPG)
Rebounds: 13,769 (14.0 RPG)
Assists: 3,822 (3.9 APG)
.509 FG%, .633 FT%

16.0 PER, 110.1 WS

1 x NBA champion (1978)
1 x NBA Finals MVP (1978)
1 x NBA Most Valuable Player (1969)
5 x NBA All-Star (1969, 1971–1973, 1975)
1 x All-NBA First Team (1969)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1969)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1969)
NBA rebounding leader (1975)
NBA Anniversary Team (50th, 75th)
No. 41 retired by the Wizards
Hall of Fame

Cowens (Newport):

Spoiler

11 seasons, 766 games

Points: 13,516 (17.6 PPG)
Rebounds: 10,444 (13.6 RPG)
Assists: 2,910 (3.8 APG)
.460 FG%, .783 FT%

17.0 PER, 86.3 WS

2 x NBA champion (1974, 1976)
1 x NBA Most Valuable Player (1973)
8 x NBA All-Star (1972–1978, 1980)
1 x NBA All-Star Game MVP (1973)
3 x All-NBA Second Team (1973, 1975, 1976)
1 x NBA All-Defensive First Team (1976)
2× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1975, 1980)
NBA Rookie of the Year (1971)
NBA All-Rookie Team (1971)
NBA Anniversary Team (50th, 75th)
No. 18 retired by the Celtics
Hall of Fame

Thanks. You make a very good case for Cowens.

 

[Marine_In_VA]

I went to a UK basketball camp with Bennett. I was on his 3-on-3 team. He was a scary dude.

He was 6'8" but about 7'1" with the high school fro. No joke.

He grew up right down the street from my grandma, but I didn't even know that til he went to UK.

 

[UKBrassowTipIN]

Yeah I thought it would have been unseld, wasn't aware dave cowens was from KY

 

[katwest]

Any list of Ky players that doesn't include Dwight Smith is at once faulty. He was better than his brother Greg and Clem Haskins.

Dwight and Greg Smith were the two best ever to come out of Caldwell County.