Lakers News: Are There Two Laker Big Men Snubbed from NBA's Best 75 List?

Did the NBA snub a few players?

NBA finally released all 75 names on the list of their 75 best players in NBA history. The Lakers had 18 names on the list, some of whom are retired legends with a few still active on the current Lakers team. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and Carmelo Anthony were all included on the list.

Laker fans could not help themselves but point out a few names who could possibly be on there but weren't.

Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard

Pau Gasol has 114.1 WS (win shares) compared to Bill Sharman's 82.8 win share scores. I am sorry to pick on Sharman, but Kevin McHale, George Mikan, Hal Greer, Bob McAdoo, and even the great John Havlicek have lower WS scores than Pau Gasol. Gasol also has more total points than all those players not named Havlicek. The argument for Gasol is not Laker exclusive. There are a lot of players on the list that appear as 'legacy adds' more than merit. Some of this is fair. The game changes, so a certain amount of players with inferior statistics in comparison to the modern players has some element of fairness to it. 

For the argument about Howard, just repeat the last paragraph but add this: For the better part of nearly a decade, the NBA was terrified to go into the paint if Howard was playing. He was a 3 time defensive player of the year but could have won it a few more times. He's also an 8-time all-star, 7-time all-defensive team, (1st and 2nd) 5-time rebound champion, 2-time blocks leader, is 11th all-time in total rebounds, 13th all-time in blocks, and a champion.

This laundry list of accolades should honestly make Howard an easy selection. It is only because he has played a large portion of his career as a role player that he was not selected, and frankly that's unfair. Plenty of 'legacy adds' on the list whose entire career was smaller than Howard's and they were still chosen.

The Lakers aren't short of representation on the list. With 18 players, that is easily the most. The argument for Gasol and especially Howard still deserves to be made, though.