NBA 75 draft: Creating the super teams of all super teams using the 75 greatest players of all time

Scott Rafferty

NBA 75 draft: Creating the super teams of all super teams using the 75 greatest players of all time image

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.

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

Pete Maravich (New Orleans Jazz), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Los Angeles Lakers)

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

Hakeem Olajuwon David Robinson

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

Michael Jordan Kobe Bryant

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

Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns), Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks)

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

Kevin Durant looks on at Russell Westbrook guarding Stephen Curry

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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Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.