With NBA teams jockeying for playoff position, the 2010 season is quickly coming to an end. Before they settle in seeding and give out awards, I will share the bottom half of the top ten NBA players of the last decade.
#6 Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat comes in sixth for a few reasons. At 6’4″ tall, he’s far from the tallest player on this list. He’s actually the third shortest. But when driving to the basket, he’s one of the most unstoppable guards in the league. He finishes strong at the rim and gets to the free throw line with great consistency. His career averages of 25.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists aren’t too shabby either. After entering the league in 2003 with a draft class that included Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh, Wade was the first of them to win an NBA Championship. After dominating the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals, Wade was awarded with his first-ever Finals MVP trophy. In his seven years in the league, Dwayne Wade has established himself as one of the NBA elite, and won a championship.
#7 Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is the third player of the top ten to be drafted directly from high school (Farragut Academy). He is also the third player on the list with a double-double career average of 19.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. The 6’11” forward spent his first 12 seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was the centerpiece of the franchise for many years, but never had much success in the playoffs until he was traded to the Boston Celtics before the 2007-2008 season. He became a vital part of the Celtics’ new “Big Three” along with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. With his leadership on the defensive end, he collected the Defensive Player of the Year award on his way to his first NBA Championship.
#8 Dirk Nowitzki, of the Dallas Mavericks, is the best 7-foot shooter in the history of the game. The German-born power forward has career averages of 22.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2006, when they lost in six games to the Miami Heat. In 2007, he won his first-ever MVP award. He may not have the hardware in championships that others on the list have, but his impact on the game cannot be disputed. He stretches defenses with his deadly shooting ability. He can draw defenders his height out of the paint and force subject them to his drives or his jumpers. He can take smaller defenders into the post and abuse them at will. There will never be another Larry Bird, but Dirk Nowitzki is one of the only players today who raises eyebrows when he misses a jump shot.
#9 Allen Iverson is not playing this season and it’s likely that his overall career is over, but that does nothing to diminish the fact that at only 6 feet tall, he impacted the game like no other player of that stature. He was lightening-quick and nearly unguardable. Despite his height, Iverson was fearless, and always seemed to be finishing in the paint among the trees, often taking several bumps per game. Drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1997, he lead them to a Finals appearance and won the MVP trophy in 2001. Since the 2007 season, he has made stops in Denver, Detroit and Memphis. Iverson boasts career averages of 26.7 points and 6.2 assists per game, and is likely a lock for the Hall of Fame when he is eligible.
#10 Carmelo Anthony, of the Denver Nuggets, doesn’t have any of the professional hardware in the form of titles or MVP awards, but he does have one of the most diverse offensive skill-sets that the game has ever seen. What he does have that no other player on this list has is an NCAA Championship from 2003 when, as a freshman phenom, he led the Syracuse Orangemen to their first national title. As a professional, he has averaged 24.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. He is one of the toughest one-on-one covers in the NBA, with his physical play down low along with his range and shooting touch. He is the centerpiece of a Denver Nuggets franchise on the verge of becoming one of the elite squads in the league.
Fill Out Your Brackets: It’s March Madness! Whether you fill out one bracket sheet or 20, March Madness is officially underway. Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke are all No. 1 seeds heading into this year’s tourna¬ment. When filling out your bracket, it’s a good idea to pick a few upsets here and there. The matchups between four and 13 seeds always seem to yield at least one upset each year. Your Sports Editor’s pick to win it all this year are the Kansas Jayhawks.