To celebrate the league's 75th anniversary, the NBA released a list of the 76 (as a result of a tie) greatest players in league history during opening week of the 2021-22 season.
The list, which was voted on by a panel of media, current and former players, coaches, general managers and team executives, featured all 50 players who made the league's last anniversary team. The remaining 26 spots were made up almost entirely of players who have come along since, from Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant to Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
You can see the full list here.
NBA 75: Key takeaways | Best reactions | Who's next?
As part of the celebration, our NBA.com Global Staff decided to hold a special draft using players who made the NBA 75 team. We're not ranking the 76 greatest players in NBA history, rather using the incredible player pool to construct the super teams of all super teams.
Eight members of our staff participated in the exercise. We did a snake draft, so the draft order flipped after each round.
Here are the results.
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NBA 75 fantasy draft
| Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 | Round 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benyam Kidane, NBA Australia | 1. Michael Jordan | 16. Julius Erving | 17. Allen Iverson | 32. Dirk Nowitzki | 33. Patrick Ewing | 48. Ray Allen | 49. Carmelo Anthony | 64. Damian Lillard | 65. Nate Thurmond | |
| Nacho Losilla, NBA Spain | 2. LeBron James | 15. Hakeem Olajuwon | 18. Kevin Garnett | 31. Chris Paul | 34. Clyde Drexler | 47. Elvin Hayes | 50. Reggie Miller | 63. Jason Kidd | 66. James Worthy | |
| Scott Rafferty, NBA Canada | 3. Shaquille O'Neal | 14. Kawhi Leonard | 19. Scottie Pippen | 30. John Stockton | 35. Dwyane Wade | 46. Gary Payton | 51. Paul Pierce | 62. Wes Unseld | 67. Robert Parish | |
| Carlan Gay, NBA Global | 4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 13. Kobe Bryant | 20. Walt Frazier | 29. James Harden | 36. Charles Barkley | 45. Dominique Wilkins | 52. Nate Archibald | 61. Dennis Rodman | 68. Paul Arizin | |
| Sergio Rabinal, NBA Spain | 5. Larry Bird | 12. Karl Malone | 21. Steve Nash | 28. Moses Malone | 37. John Havlicek | 44. Earl Monroe | 53. Willis Reed | 60. Dave Bing | 69. Dolph Schayes | 76. Lenny Wilkens |
| Alex Novick, NBA Global | 6. Magic Johnson | 11. Bill Russell | 22. Oscar Robertson | 27. George Gervin | 38. David Robinson | 43. Hal Greer | 54. Bob McAdoo | 59. Dave DeBusschere | 70. Sam Jones | 75. Jerry Lucas |
| Leandro Fernández, NBA Argentina | 7. Wilt Chamberlain | 10. Stephen Curry | 23. Giannis Antetokounmpo | 26. Rick Barry | 39. Pete Maravich | 42. George Mikan | 55. Bob Pettit | 58. Kevin McHale | 71. Russell Westbrook | 74. Bill Sharman |
| Juan Estevez, NBA Argentina | 8. Kevin Durant | 9. Tim Duncan | 24. Jerry West | 25. Elgin Baylor | 40. Isiah Thomas | 41. Bill Walton | 56. Bob Cousy | 57. Anthony Davis | 72. Billy Cunningham | 73. Dave Cowens |
Key takeaways
Some thoughts that came to mind when the draft was going on...
- No surprise that Jordan (1) and LeBron (2) were off the board with the first two picks
- A frontcourt of LeBron (2), Olajuwon (15) and Garnett (18) is terrifyingly versatile on both ends
- A trio of Leonard (14), Pippen (19) and Payton (46) might be impossible to score against
- There's no shortage of scoring between Abdul-Jabbar (4), Bryant (13) and Harden (29)
- Related: Rodman (61) might challenge Chamberlain's single-season rebounding record playing next to Bryant and Harden
- Also related: Frazier (20) and Harden (29) would make for quite the fashion duo
- It only feels right that Malone (12) still gets a point guard to run pick-and-rolls with in Nash (21)
- All but two teams (Kidane, Rabinal) had their starting center by the end of the second round
- Chamberlain (7), Curry (10), Antetokounmpo (23) and Maravich (39) on the same team would lead to a lot of highlights
- Westbrook (71) fell further than expected
- This is a pretty incredible list of players
Full rosters
Benyam Kidane (@BenyamKidane)
PG: Allen Iverson, Damian Lillard
SG: Michael Jordan, Ray Allen
SF: Julius Erving, Carmelo Anthony
PF: Dirk Nowitzki
C: Patrick Ewing, Nate Thurmond
Nacho Losilla (@Losilla_)
PG: Chris Paul, Jason Kidd
SG: Clyde Drexler, Reggie Miller
SF: LeBron James, James Worthy
PF: Kevin Garnett, Elvin Hayes
C: Hakeem Olajuwon
Scott Rafferty (@crabdribbles)
PG: John Stockton, Gary Payton
SG: Dwyane Wade
SF: Kawhi Leonard, Paul Pierce
PF: Scottie Pippen
C: Shaquille O'Neal, Wes Unseld, Robert Parish
Carlan Gay (@TheCarlanGay)
PG: Walt Frazier, Nate Archibald
SG: James Harden
SF: Kobe Bryant, Dominique Wilkins, Paul Arizin
PF: Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman
C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Sergio Rabinal (@S_Rabinal)
PG: Steve Nash, Dave Bing, Lenny Wilkens
SG: John Havlicek, Earl Monroe
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Karl Malone, Dolph Schayes
C: Moses Malone, Willis Reed
Alex Novick (@ANov_SN)
PG: Magic Johnson
SG: Oscar Robertson, Hall Greer, Sam Jones
SF: George Gervin
PF: Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas
C: Bill Russell, David Robinson, Bob McAdoo
Leandro Fernández (@FernandezLea)
PG: Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook
SG: Pete Maravich, Bill Sharman
SF: Rick Barry
PF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin McHale, Bob Pettit
C: Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan
Juan Estevez (@JuanEstevez90)
PG: Isiah Thomas, Bob Cousy
SG: Jerry West
SF: Elgin Baylor, Billy Cunningham
PF: Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis
C: Tim Duncan, Bill Walton, Dave Cowens
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