USC Basketball: Ranking The Top 5 All-Time NBA/ABA Trojans
Many a big name hoops prospect has made their way through the hallowed halls of Galen Center (and before that Pan-Pacific Auditorium and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena).
Although many former USC Trojans have thrived at the NBA level, we're making a top five list of the all-time best, so difficult choices have to be made (sorry, Nikola Vucevic and Taj Gibson).
Let's unpack the best USC-to-NBA men's hoops studs in the history of the program. 47 players in all have taken the leap thus far, but with Drew Peterson now on an Exhibit 10 training camp deal with the Heat, it seems possible that number will change soon enough. Isaiah Collier, Boogie Ellis and Bronny James could all take the leap in 2024, too.
Two USC men's basketball alums have made the Hall of Fame as players (both are on this list), while Alex Hannum was inducted as a coach. It seems a third could be well on his way.
5. Mack Calvin
A 6' point guard out of Pomona, Calvin parlayed a First-Team All-Pac-8 stint at USC (following a two-year run at Long Beach Community College from 1965-67) into an 11-season career spent with in the ABA and NBA.
Calvin's most productive seasons were logged in the ABA. He was named a five-time ABA All-Star, three-time All-ABA First Teamer and one-time All-ABA Second Teamer while playing for the Los Angeles Stars, Floridians, Carolina Cougars, Denver Nuggets (pre-ABA/NBA merger), and Virginia Squires before hopping over to the NBA. While with the ABA, he averaged 19.9 points, 5.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals.
He didn't have equivalent levels of output while with the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs (post-merger), Denver Nuggets (post-merger), Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers, but he earns the fifth spot here thanks to his terrific ABA run.
4. Gus Williams
Williams, a 6'2" combo guard out of Mount Vernon, enjoyed a prolific run with the Trojans, which included being named a consensus All-American Second Teamer and All-Pac-8 First Teamer. His No. 10 jersey was eventually retired, but it would be un-retired for the second-best Trojan ever, per our list (and again this summer for incoming forward transfer DJ Rodman).
In an 11-year career, the 6'2" Williams became a critical role player on several contending Golden State Warriors and Seattle SuperSonics clubs from 1975-1984. He won his lone NBA championship with Seattle in 1979. It was during the second half of his Sonics run that Williams really took off. He was an All-NBA Second Teamer in 1980, an All-NBA First Teamer and the NBA Comeback Player of the Year in 1982, and a two-time All-Star in 1982 and 1983. Williams' No. 1 jersey was eventually hung in the rafters by Seattle.
He wrapped up his pro career with stints on the Washington Bullets and Atlanta Hawks from 1984-87.
Across 825 regular season bouts, Williams boasts NBA averages of 17.1 points while shooting 46.1% from the floor and 75.6% from the foul line, 5.6 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per.
3. Paul Westphal
The Torrance native was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Pac-8 Teamer while with the Trojans from 1969-1972. For his trouble, the 6'4" shooting guard's No. 25 jersey was eventually retired.
During a 12-year Hall of Fame pro career, Westphal suited up for was a five-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA Team selection (including three All-NBA First Teams), and a champion while a role player for the Boston Celtics in 1974.
He boasted career averages of 15.6 points, 4.4 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 swipes a night in 823 games, while playing for the Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics, and New York Knicks.
2. DeMar DeRozan
Deebo has had a fascinating NBA run. He first emerged as a fiery scorer with the Toronto Raptors, and along with Villanova alum Kyle Lowry he helped power several solid Toronto clubs deep into the Eastern Conference playoffs, if never to the Finals. The 6'6" swingman was flipped to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, and Toronto instantly went on to win the franchise's first-ever championship, which temporarily damaged DeRozan's reputation in the league.
Though he may not be the two-way behemoth Leonard is (DeRozan has never been a particularly adept defender or a consistent three-point shooter), his midrange mastery has transformed him into one of the league's most prolific scorers, and since joining the Chicago Bulls in 2021 DeRozan has reestablishing his standing among his peers. He's not Kawhi Leonard, and his limitations as a defender may impede him from being the single-best player on a championship team, but DeMar DeRozan is still a probable Hall of Fame talent at this point.
Across a 14-year pro career, he boasts regular season averages of 21 points on .468/.291/.840 shooting splits, 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He has been named to six All-Star teams and three All-NBA rosters, and the 33-year-old may not be done racking up accolades just yet. His place in Springfield now seems all but assured.
1. Bill Sharman
Sharman, a 6'1" shooting guard, won four NBA titles alongside Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, K.C. Johnson and the rest of the star-studded Boston Celtics in 1957 and from 1959-1961. He was an eight-time All-Star, a seven-time All-NBA honoree (meaning he numbered among the best 15 players in the league seven times, a pretty good metric of relative ability), and the 1954-55 All-Star Game MVP while with Boston. Across 711 regular season contests in 11 NBA seasons, Sharman averaged 17.8 points on 42.6% shooting from the floor and 88.3% shooting from the charity stripe (those numbers were some of the most efficient for a guard to date at that point), 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists a night.
Would a peak DeRozan beat a peak Sharman, if the Celtics legend were transported to 2023? Absolutely, assuming Sharman wasn't modernized with a current workout regimen and diet. But Sharman's play relative to his peers, during a briefer career, was better than DeRozan's relative to his. We're grading on a curve here. For now, at least, but let's see how DDR, still "just" 33, performs for the rest of his 30s.
Sharman made the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to their first title in LA circa 1972. He was also the team's GM and president during the Showtime run of the 1980s, winning five additional championships while constructing rosters loaded with all-time talent, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy.
