Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Walton and Patrick Ewing made the list. Connie Hawkins, David Thompson, Dominique Wilkins and Bob Lanier didn't.
Let the debate begin.Marking the 50th anniversary of the NBA, the league held a press conference Tuesday at the same hotel where its original charter was signed in 1946. The occasion was the announcement of the results of a poll to choose the top 50 players in NBA history.
Utah Jazz players Karl Malone and John Stockton were each selected to the list.
The choices were made without regard for position by a panel of 50 current and former players, coaches, general managers, team executives and media.
It includes 11 active players and 16 others who retired in the 1980s or '90s. Six of the 50 spent time in the ABA, and two others were in the National Basketball League, which merged with the 3-year-old Basketball Association of America in 1949 and eventually was renamed the NBA.
As a group, the 50 players accumulated 107 NBA championships, 49 Most Valuable Player awards, 17 Rookie of the Year honors, 447 All-Star selections and 36 scoring titles.
Vote totals were not released, and the 50 players were announced alphabetically rather than being ranked.
"We've had an extraordinary array of extraordinary athletes come through the doors of the NBA over the past 50 years," commissioner David Stern said. "Had some of them played before the type of global audience that we have now, the world would have an extraordinarily different opinion of them."
Speaking of opinions, most avid basketball fans have one regarding who the best player of all was. Five players who can make a stake to that claim - Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan and Julius Erving - were on hand for the announcement, and diplomatically ducked that particular question.
"I don't think there is one," Russell opined. "Nobody could ever play better than Oscar. Period. There are guys who could tie Oscar, but not beat him. Same thing with Bird, Magic, Jordan, Mikan, (Bob) Pettit. To say who was the best player is impossible."
Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a March 2, 1962 game and averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds that season, has heard the topic discussed countless times.
"Personally, I'm a bit tired of the question. It's up to the fans to decide who in their opinion is the best player," Chamberlain said.
Perhaps the most surprising name on the list was O'Neal, who has been in the league only four years and whose teams have been swept from the playoffs the past three seasons.
Also an iffy choice was Walton, who played more than 60 games only three times during a 14-year, injury-riddled career.
Other active players on the list were Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson.
The others on the list are: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nate Archibald, Paul Arizin, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Dave Bing, Larry Bird, Chamberlain, Bob Cousy, Dave Cowens, Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere, Erving, Walt Frazier, George Gervin, Hal Greer, John Havlicek, Elvin Hayes, Magic Johnson, Sam Jones, Jerry Lucas, Moses Malone, Pete Maravich, Kevin McHale, Mikan, Earl Monroe, Pettit, Willis Reed, Robertson, Russell, Dolph Schayes, Bill Sharman, Isiah Thomas, Nate Thurmond, Wes Unseld, Bill Walton, Jerry West, Lenny Wilkens and James Worthy.
"It'd be a (heck) of a thing to pick a starting five out of that group," Mikan said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
NBA's 50 greatest
The 50 greatest players in NBA history, announced by the league on Tuesday:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, center
Nate Archibald, guard
Paul Arizin, forward-guard
Charles Barkley, forward
Rick Barry, forward
Elgin Baylor, forward
Dave Bing, guard
Larry Bird, forward
Wilt Chamberlain, center
Bob Cousy, guard
Dave Cowens, center
Billy Cunningham, forward
Dave DeBusschere, forward
Clyde Drexler, guard
Julius Erving, forward
Patrick Ewing, center
Walt Frazier, guard
George Gervin, guard
Hal Greer, guard
John Havlicek, forward-guard
Elvin Hayes, forward-center
Magic Johnson, guard
Sam Jones, guard
Michael Jordan, guard
Jerry Lucas, forward-center
Karl Malone, forward
Moses Malone, center
Pete Maravich, guard
Kevin McHale, forward
George Mikan, center
Earl Monroe, guard
Hakeem Olajuwon, center
Shaquille O'Neal, center
Robert Parish, center
Bob Pettit, forward-center
Scottie Pippen, forward
Willis Reed, center
Oscar Robertson, guard
David Robinson, center
Bill Russell, center
Dolph Schayes, forward-center
Bill Sharman, guard
John Stockton, guard
Isiah Thomas, guard
Nate Thurmond, center-forward
Wes Unseld, center-forward
Bill Walton, center
Jerry West, guard
Lenny Wilkens, guard
James Worthy, forward