Top-10 NBA careers, former Tar Heel edition
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (BVM) — If you’re a fan of college basketball, you know the story of UNC hoops. Known as one of the country’s most storied programs, coached by legends like Dean Smith and Roy Williams, it has produced loads of NBA players. But where do they stack up after their careers have come to a close? With so many faces having been in so many places, this list breaks down the top 10 all-time NBA players that were once a Tar Heel.
1) Michael Jordan
**This one goes without saying. The undisputed best former Tar Heel, and arguably the best player of all time, goes to MJ. Jordan had all the makings of a superstar the second he left Chapel Hill: the confidence, the athleticism, the marketability, and everything came to fruition. As a six-time NBA champion and a six-time Finals MVP, Jordan proved just how good he was when the going got tough. A five-time NBA MVP, 14-time all-star, nine-time all-NBA first team defense and now a billionaire thanks to his Jordan brand, the Brooklyn native is in a league of his own.
2) Bob McAdoo
**This next guy was getting buckets at UNC long before Michael Jordan rolled around. Best known for his time on the LA Lakers, Bob McAdoo is a two-time NBA champion and even has an NBA MVP under his belt. Though the tail end of his career took place overseas, his NBA production was elite for his time. McAdoo concluded his career with averages of 22.1 points and 9.4 rebounds. For this, the 6-foot-9 big man is a hall of famer.
3) James Worthy
**Worthy is a winner. Plain and simple. He was a champion with Team USA, a champion with the Tar Heels and a three-time NBA champion during his 12-year NBA career, all of which was spent with the Los Angeles Lakers. The reason winning follows wherever he goes is because he always steps it up another level in the postseason. For the better part of his career, all of his postseason averages trumped his regular season numbers, getting the Lakers over the hump.
4) Vince Carter
**Now for one of the more modern day players, a guy who made kids fall in love with the game of basketball and its theatrics, Vince Carter. His name and high-flying dunks are synonymous, but he was more than that. An eight-time all-star, Carter also represented Team USA in international competition, winning two gold medals. Then as his career progressed, Carter was able to transition his game. He became a solid three-point shooter and didn’t have to rely so much on athleticism. For his versatility and highlight reel plays, Carter comes in at No. 4.
5) Brad Daughtery
**All it took for Daughtery was one season in Chapel Hill for NBA scouts to start salivating over his talents. Taken as the overall No. 1 pick in the 1986 NBA Draft, the 7-footer went on to become a five-time all-star and averaged 19 points and 9.5 rebounds for his career. Though he was never able to capture the Larry O’Brien trophy, his number was retired by the Cleveland Cavaliers for his honorable 10-year career spent entirely with them.
6) Billy Cunningham
**Cunningham is one of those guys who played in both the ABA and the NBA, and dominated in both. As an NBA player, Cunningham was a four-time all-star and NBA champion, and his transition to the ABA was seamless as he won ABA MVP. Cunningham finished his career with a double-double average of 21.2 points and 10.4 rebounds.
7) Rasheed Wallace
**Just the presence of Rasheed Wallace struck fear into opposing players, and of course, the refs scheduled to work his games. Wallace holds the single-season NBA record for technicals with 41, always making sure to let the refs know when he thought they missed something. But Wallace wasn’t just all talk. When he joined the Detroit Pistons in 2004, he became a fundamental piece to their puzzle, averaging 13.7 points and 7 rebounds. That season ended in unexpected fashion, with Detroit winning the NBA title over the heavily-favored LA Lakers.
8) Walter Davis
**Davis may have been a journeyman in the NBA, but he lasted 15 seasons and made an impact at every stop along the way. As an instant offensive addition to any team, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 18.9 points per game in his career, becoming a six-time all-star. His family blood runs thick with Tar Heel blue as Walter is actually the uncle of Hubert Davis, a former UNC player himself and now Tar Heels’ head coach.
9) Antawn Jamison
**Drafted one spot ahead of teammate Vince Carter in the 1998 NBA Draft, Jamison was expected to have a successful NBA career, and he did. Though he never won an NBA championship and was never able to stand out like he did as National College Player of the Year in 1998, Jamison accomplished other things. He was a two-time all-star, NBA Sixth Man of the Year and always had a knack for tickling the twine. Jamison ended his career with a scoring average of 18.5 points.
10) Jerry Stackhouse
**Rounding out the list is Stackhouse, the now-Vanderbilt men’s basketball head coach who once averaged just a touch under 30 points per game at 29.8. Another guy who could fill it up, Stackhouse became the 106th player in NBA history to score over 15,000 points. His longevity was key in that process as he played a total of 18 seasons in the NBA.
While UNC has passed along many good NBA players who deserve honorable mention shoutouts for their individual accomplishments (Danny Green, Ty Lawson, Harrison Barnes, Sam Perkins), these ones have the longest list of accolades to date. Though the blue blood school will almost certainly create more players worthy of this list, for now, this is how it stands.
