Yeh i agree, the brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt was almost automatic from the 3 point line...
He could have caused some impact in the Nba.
I think he had some invititains but he decided to continue to play in Europe.
Easy Question (and there really is no other answer that is valid)
Earl "The Goat" Manigault
The streetball legend was just 6'2", but he would grab dollars and quarters off of the top of the backboard. He once reverse dunked 36 times in a row to win a $60 bet. It is rumored that he had a 52-inch vertical leap. He was also a deadly long range shooter.
When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar got his number retired at the Forum, he was asked who the greatest player he ever played against was. His reply? Earl "The Goat" Manigault.
i thought of posting the goat too but i wanted to give marques some love
i only heard of the goat and never saw him live...
but i have heard of that famous double dunk (he would dunk it and catch it with the other hand while still in the air and dunk it again)
anyone have any clips of goat doing that? or anyone else double dunking?
Unfortunately, I've never seen any clips of The Goat playing in his prime. I'm not sure if there is footage out there or not. I have seen clips of him shooting around and dunking in his older years. He could still dunk not long before he died. His jumper also had flawless form.
Earl Manigault (all-time playground legend)
Bob Kurland (the only player of his era that could almost match )
Herman Knowings (see Manigault)
Joe Hammond (see Manigault)
Marques Haynes (among the greatest dribblers ever)
Len Bias (Rip...)
Bob Morse (He could play good NBA ball, legendary European career)
Calvin Lane (Not really, but in today's NBA, his colossal dimensions would make him a good center even without knowing basketball)
Best Internationals never to play in the NBA:
Dejan Bodiroga (all-around forward, very high bball IQ)
Crezimir Cosic (came close to signing with the Lakers as a backup to Kareem)
Sergei Belov (plenty of international titles, called "the European Jerry West")
Oscar Schmidt (all-time great scorer and shooter)
Drazen Dalipagic (same. Came close to the Celtics. Red Auerbach wanted him to succeed Havlicek)
Nikos Galis (all-time great scorer and passer)
Manuel Raga Navarro (called by many the best non-American of the 70's)
Earl Manigault (all-time playground legend)
Bob Kurland (the only player of his era that could almost match )
Herman Knowings (see Manigault)
Joe Hammond (see Manigault)
Marques Haynes (among the greatest dribblers ever)
Len Bias (Rip...)
Bob Morse (He could play good NBA ball, legendary European career)
Calvin Lane (Not really, but in today's NBA, his colossal dimensions would make him a good center even without knowing basketball)
Best Internationals never to play in the NBA:
Dejan Bodiroga (all-around forward, very high bball IQ)
Crezimir Cosic (came close to signing with the Lakers as a backup to Kareem)
Sergei Belov (plenty of international titles, called "the European Jerry West")
Oscar Schmidt (all-time great scorer and shooter)
Drazen Dalipagic (same. Came close to the Celtics. Red Auerbach wanted him to succeed Havlicek)
Nikos Galis (all-time great scorer and passer)
Manuel Raga Navarro (called by many the best non-American of the 70's)
psileas dropping knowledge like a madman. you're good, pal. i've never heard of a lot of these folks.
psileas dropping knowledge like a madman. you're good, pal. i've never heard of a lot of these folks.
Some of these guys only played in the NCAA (some not even there), so most Americans don't know them. :)
BTW, Calvin Lane isn't a basketball player, but he could be, esp. in today's NBA. We're talking about sheer size here...
Quote:
yeah but if you put Manigault and Hammond, you got to put Pee Wee Kirkland.
There's a good number of legend streetballers who supposedly could play great NBA ball. I just gave a few celebrity names...But you can add Lewis Lloyd, Fly Williams, Kirkland, Harris (I can't remember his name, he was a Chicago legend)
Some of these guys only played in the NCAA (some not even there), so most Americans don't know them. :)
BTW, Calvin Lane isn't a basketball player, but he could be, esp. in today's NBA. We're talking about sheer size here...
A lot of players could be basketball players.
Sheer size is just a cute label. Try describing what he could be doing in the NBA besides being big. As fans we've saw guys with sheer size before that amounted to a laughing stock. Priest Lauderdale.
Sheer size is just a cute label. Try describing what he could be doing in the NBA besides being big. As fans we've saw guys with sheer size before that amounted to a laughing stock. Priest Lauderdale.
...and that's why I wrote "not really", I was half joking (after all,I've been telling that size doesn't matter for years to kids who say that "Wilt was just big." :) ).
BTW, Priest was another disappointment. At least he had a few good years outside the NBA. I didn't follow him in his NBA years and don't know why he falied that badly, while centers less dominant in Europe did a much better job.
I don't know anything about the playground legends so I don't really know how good they could have been, no opinion really.
Best foreign player never to play in the NBA in the last years is hands down Dejan Bodiroga.
Another name I'm going to throw in the discussion is italian Dino Meneghin, dude was tough as nails and won everything in Europe. Named best european player EVER in 1991 (don't know if that's official though )
...and that's why I wrote "not really", I was half joking (after all,I've been telling that size doesn't matter for years to kids who say that "Wilt was just big." :) ).
BTW, Priest was another disappointment. At least he had a few good years outside the NBA. I didn't follow him in his NBA years and don't know why he falied that badly, while centers less dominant in Europe did a much better job.
He was just slow as mollasses. Very methodical lookin in the NBA.
Re: the greatest player NOT to play in the nba
