With any list comes the immediate discussion point of snubs.
The NBA 75 team is no exception, with social media instantly set alight with opinions on who should have made the list.
Narrowing the greats of the game down to 75 is a difficult task, but let’s take a look at a few of the names that were suprising omissions.
Dwight Howard
Dwight was a flat out snub.
Before his role playing days, Howard was one of the dominant forces in the league, particularly during his eight seasons with the Orlando Magic.
An 8-time All-Star, 8-time All-NBA player, 3-time Defensive Player of the Year and NBA champion in 2020, Howard felt like he was an automatic selection before the team was announced.
Pau Gasol
The recently retired Gasol missed out on the NBA 75 team in one of the bigger surprises.
A vital piece in two championship teams alongside Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers, Gasol was also a 6-time All-Star and 4-time All-NBA player.
A skill scorer and distributor, Gasol was one of the more influential international players of the era.
Vince Carter
Over 25,000 career points and he is on the short list with Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players to top that point mark to go with 4,500 assists, 800 blocks and 500 3-pointers.
Perhaps the fact he played in only one Conference Finals worked against him here.
A long and spectacular career still left VC on the outside looking in.
Dikembe Mutombo
Four Defensive Player of the Year awards leaves Mutombo tied with Ben Wallace for the most in league history.
Mutombo never finished higher than 13th in MVP voting but he was an 8-time All-Star, 6-time All-Defensive player and 3-time All-NBA.
Tony Parker
I had Parker in my 75. Four All-NBA selections, four championships and a Finals MVP, Parker finished fifth in MVP voting in 2012.
Parker was a star piece of the San Antonio dynasty and delivered in big moments across multiple postseason runs. I thought this Spurs group deserved a second player from their run and Parker should have been the man.
Tracy McGrady
Unfortunately injuries cut short T-Mac’s peak, but boy was he incredible at his best.
McGrady still managed to finish with seven All-NBA selections, seven All-Stars and one Most Improved Player award.
In 2002-03, McGrady averaged 32.1 points per game with the Orlando Magic, which was just one of his two scoring titles.
Yao Ming
Teammates with McGrady in Houston, Yao Ming also saw his career cut short with injury.
Yao was a five-time All-NBA representative. He did fail to reach the 10,000 point plateau and never finished higher than 12th in MVP voting, but he was dominant when he was in the league and such a major part of the story of the league.
I felt he would be voted in for his legacy in the game.
Penny Hardaway
Hardaway felt like he was on the fringe. Another player who was limited by injuries in the back end of his career, Hardaway formed one half of the can’t miss duo in Orlando with Shaquille O’Neal during the mid 90’s.
An All-Star in four straight seasons during the stretch with the Magic, Hardaway was also a 3-time All-NBA player.
Alex English
Given that all 50 members from the NBA’s 50th Anniversary team made it to the 75, it was always going to be tough for English to work his way in among the stars that have emerged in the last quarter century.
English now sits 20th on the all-time scorers list. Back when the NBA announced their NBA 50 team he was 7th. He’s unlucky to miss out there’s no doubt.