Legendary New York Knicks center, Willis Reed is a proud Grambling State University alum and Bernice, La. native (Photo Credit: AP Photo/File).
The Pelican State’s Best
The state of Louisiana is known more for producing great talent on the football field than on the basketball court.
While the New Orleans Pelicans continue to make an imprint on the state, the New Orleans Saints and LSU football teams are worshipped like gods in the Pelican State.
Nevertheless, the state has produced some great basketball talent as well.
Even some of the best college basketball players of all time have come to the state to play on the hardwood like Pete Maravich, Chris Jackson (Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf), Shaquille O’Neal and Ben Simmons.
While the aforementioned LSU Tigers were not born and/or raised in Louisiana, many of the best NBA players of all time were raised in “The Boot” as the locals call it because the state resembles a boot on the United States map.
So, in honor of some of the best basketball players from a traditionally football state, RegalMag.com presents its All-Time, All-Louisiana NBA team, complete with starters and reserves.
Check out RegalMag’s list, and let the publication know what it got right and what it got wrong.
All stats are via Basketball-Reference.com.
PPG is for points per game.
RPG is for rebounds per game.
And APG is for assists per game.
Starters
Small Forward—Bob Love (Bastrop, La.): NBA career stats: 17.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG and 1.4 APG (played from 1966-1977 for the Cincinnati Royals, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, New York Nets and Seattle Supersonics)
Power Forward—Karl Malone (Summerfield, La.): NBA career stats: 25.0 PPG, 10.1 RPG and 3.6 APG (played from 1985-2004 for the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers)
Center—Bill Russell (Monroe, La.): NBA career stats: 15.1 PPG, 22.5 RPG and 4.3 APG (played from 1956-1969 for the Boston Celtics)
Shooting Guard—Joe Dumars (Natchitoches, La.): NBA career stats: 16.1 PPG, 2.2 RPG and 4.5 APG (played from 1985-1999 for the Detroit Pistons)
Point Guard—Avery Johnson (New Orleans): NBA career stats: 8.4 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 5.5 APG (played from 1988-2004 for the Seattle Supersonics, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks)
Reserves
Center—Willis Reed (Bernice, La.): NBA career stats: 18.7 PPG, 12.9 RPG and 1.8 APG (played from 1964-1974 for the New York Knicks)
Power Forward—Elvin Hayes (Rayville, La.): NBA career stats: 21.0 PPG, 12.5 RPG and 1.8 APG (played from 1968-1984 for the San Diego/Houston Rockets and Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets)
Power Forward—Bob Pettit (Baton Rouge, La.): NBA career stats: 26.4 PPG, 16.2 RPG and 3.0 APG (played from 1954-1965 for the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks)
Small Forward—Orlando Woolridge (Bernice, La.): NBA career stats: 16.0 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 1.9 APG (played from 1981-1994 for the Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers)
Power Forward—Paul Millsap (Monroe, La.): NBA career stats: 14.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 2.3 APG (played from 2006-present for Utah Jazz, Atlanta Hawks and Denver Nuggets)
Point/Shooting Guard—Don Chaney (Baton Rouge, La.): NBA/ABA career stats: 8.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG and 2.2 APG (played from 1968-1980 for the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Spirits of St. Louis)
Shooting Guard—Bobby Phills (Baton Rouge, La.) NBA career stats: 11.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 2.7 APG (played from 1991-2000 for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets)
Center—Robert Parish (Shreveport, La.) NBA career stats: 14.5 PPG, 9.1 RPG and 1.4 APG (played from 1976-1997 for the Golden State Warriors, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls)
Small Forward—Calvin Natt (Bastrop, La.) NBA career stats: 17.2 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.2 APG (played from 1979-1990 for the New Jersey Nets, Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers)
Center—Greg Monroe (Harvey, La.) NBA career stats: 13.9 PPG, 8.7 RPG and 2.3 APG (played from 2010-present for the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns)
