50 states, 100 NBA players: We select the best from New York to Hawaii (2024)

Who are the best and second-best NBA players of all time from all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands?

This article will tell you — and may also infuriate you.

Let the debates begin. And believe us, some of these debates are agonizing. Consider the confounding case of Louisiana. Six Hall of Famers grew up in the Bayou State: Joe Dumars, Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, Robert Parish, Bob Pettit and Willis Reed. Who was the greatest NBA player among them? That’s a relatively easy question. Who was the second-greatest player? That’s an excruciating question.

Part of what made this endeavor so difficult was figuring out where players grew up. Birthplaces don’t necessarily tell us where a person is from. Oscar Robertson, for instance, was born in Tennessee, but his family moved to Indianapolis when he was a toddler. So we consider him a Hoosier. In some cases, players moved from one state to another late in high school. For example, Kevin Garnett was raised in South Carolina but completed his final year of high school in Chicago. We regard Garnett as a South Carolinian.

Here is our methodology:

• As we indicated with our Robertson and Garnett examples, we determined players’ home states on a case-by-case basis. The website Basketball Reference provided two indispensable resources that gave us a head start: a state-by-state list of birthplaces and a state-by-state list of high-school graduation locations. From there, we did additional research, relying on players’ bios and archived news articles. In the cases of one current player and one former player who were born in Maine, we asked them ourselves.

• We did not include players’ high-school, AAU or college accomplishments in any of our evaluations. Comparing a player who played in the 1950s to a present-day player is difficult enough. Comparing their college performances would’ve added another variable to the mix.

• We also did not include players’ ABA or overseas careers in our evaluations. In some instances, as in the case of Moses Malone, we may mention a player’s non-NBA pro career, but that’s done merely for biographical purposes.

• How, exactly, do we define the “greatest” or “best” player from a particular state? If it were based solely on how many championships people won or the number of All-NBA teams a player made, there would have been little difficulty at all to this exercise. We attempted to consider everything, including titles won, individual awards, point totals and contributions to the sport. In the end, our choices are made by our gut feelings but buffeted by facts. You no doubt will disagree with our choices. That’s great because that’s where the fun begins.

• We choose a winner and a runner-up for each state, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We also listed honorable mentions in alphabetical order; in a few cases, the honorable mentions are listed because of their overall fame, not necessarily because of their achievements.

• Obviously, this project only covers American players. By limiting this piece to the U.S., we understand that we’re omitting a huge portion of the NBA’s history. So not to worry: In a future piece, we will identify the best players from every additional country. We just thought a piece that included American and international players would be too unwieldy.

So let’s get to the list. And when you disagree with our choices, please let us know in the comments section below.

Alabama

Winner: Charles Barkley, who grew up in Leeds, Ala., just east of Birmingham, dominated throughout most of his 16-year pro career. Utterly charismatic, “The Round Mound of Rebound” became a celebrated TV pitchman, declaring on a Nike commercial, “I am not a role model.” Well, on the court, he was a role model, especially for shorter basketball players. Fresh off an appearance with the original Dream Team, Barkley was named the league MVP for the 1992-93 season and led the Phoenix Suns to the Western Conference title. He averaged at least 20.0 points per game in 11 seasons and at least 10.0 rebounds every year but his rookie season. He was closer to 6 foot 4 than he was to his listed height of 6 foot 6, and his dominance on the boards, despite playing against much taller players, is a testament to his smarts and his tenacity. “Sir Charles” was named one of the 50 greatest players in league history in 1996.

Runner-up:Ben Wallace won the Defensive Player of the Year Award four times and was named second- or third-team All-NBA a total of five times. He ranks as one of the greatest undrafted players in league history, perhaps even the greatest. He was a key cog in the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons’ NBA title run, averaging 10.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game that postseason.

Honorable mention:DeMarcus Cousins, Robert Horry, Larry Kenon, Chuck Person, Andrew Toney.

Alaska

Winner: Carlos Boozer was born on a military base in West Germany, but he was raised in Juneau. The power forward played 13 NBA seasons, suiting up for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers. A two-time All-Star, Boozer averaged 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game over his career.

Runner-up: Mario Chalmers is the only player in NBA history who was born in Alaska, per Basketball-Reference. A 6-foot-2 point guard, Chalmers grew up in Anchorage. He won two NBA championships as a member of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 Miami Heat.

Honorable mention: Trajan Langdon.

Arizona

Winner: Sean Elliott made two All-Star teams as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. He also started every regular-season game and every playoff game for the 1998-99 Spurs as they won their first NBA championship in franchise history. A 6-foot-8 wing, Elliott ranks eighth in Spurs franchise history in career points. Elliott was born and raised in Tucson.

Runner-up: Two-time NBA All-Star Lafayette “Fat” Lever moved from Arkansas to Tucson whenhe was in elementary school. He developed into a 6-foot-3 guard who stuffed stat sheets. Best known for his six seasons as a member of the Doug Moe-coached Denver Nuggets, Lever piled up triple-doubles at an astounding rate for a player of his era, recording 16 of them during the 1986-87 season. He finished with 43 career triple-doubles, the 10th-highest total in NBA history.

Honorable mention: Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson.

Arkansas

Winner: Scottie Pippen is best known as Michael Jordan’s sidekick, winning six titles with the Chicago Bulls as Jordan’s teammate, but Pippen earned acclaim in his own right. A 6-foot-8 wing, Pippen made seven All-NBA first, second or third teams. He also was named a first-team NBA All-Defensive player eight times. Pippen was a member of the original Dream Team in 1992 and also was part of Team USA’s gold-medal-winning team in 1996. In ’96, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in league history. Pippen was born in Hamburg, Ark., and attended high school there.

Runner-up: Sidney Moncrief, who was raised in Little Rock, is one of the most underrated players of the 1980s. A 6-foot-3 guard, he was the best all-around player on good Milwaukee Bucks teams that almost always lost in the playoffs to Julius Erving’s Philadelphia 76ers or Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics. Moncrief made the All-NBA first or second teams for five consecutive years and the NBA All-Defensive first team for four straight seasons.

Honorable mention: Michael Cage, Joe Barry Carroll, Derek Fisher, Caldwell Jones, Joe Johnson.

California

Winner: Bill Russell ranks among the sport’s all-time greats.

Russell was born in Louisiana, but in his early childhood, his family moved cross-country to Oakland, Calif., where he attended McClymonds High.

He won five NBA MVP awards, dominating games with his rebounding and shot blocking. Just how great was he? He averaged 22.5 rebounds per game — not just for one season, but for his entire pro career.

His Celtics teams won 11 NBA championships, including eight consecutive titles from 1959 to 1966. The first Black head coach in NBA history, he guided Boston to championships as a player-coach during the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons.

Runner-up: While Russell was the clear choice as California’s best NBA player, the competition for second place was ridiculously crowded. Bill Walton would have the edge if college achievements were considered, but they weren’t. He was dominant early in his pro career, leading Portland to the 1976-77 title and winning the MVP award the next season, but injuries prevented him from sustaining that level of play.

Paul Pierce leads all Californians in total points. Paul Silas ranks second behind Russell in total rebounds. And Reggie Miller leads in 3-pointers made.

But Jason Kidd receives our runner-up vote because of his well-rounded play and his longevity. Kidd was a prototypical point guard, and he ranks second in league history in career assists (12,091). He was a first-team All-NBA selection five times and a first- or second-team All-Defensive team selection nine times. He was the starting point guard on the Dallas Mavericks’ 2010-11 championship team.

Honorable mention: Don Barksdale, Paul George, Gail Goodrich, Alex Hannum, James Harden, Dennis Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Marques Johnson, K.C. Jones, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Reggie Miller, Gary Payton, Paul Pierce, Jim Pollard, Bill Sharman, Klay Thompson, Kiki VanDeWeghe, Bill Walton, Russell Westbrook, Paul Westphal, Sidney Wicks, Jamaal Wilkes, George Yardley.

Colorado

Winner: A natural leader and an all-around player, Chauncey Billups was the glue who held the superb Detroit Pistons teams of the early 2000s together. Nicknamed “Mr. Big Shot,” Billups was the starting point guard for the Pistons teams that won the NBA Finals in 2004 and narrowly lost the NBA Finals in 2005. Billups made five consecutive All-Star teams, beginning with the 2005-06 season, and twice was named a second-team All-Defensive selection. Billups was born and raised in Denver.

Runner-up:Micheal Ray Richardson’s career is one of wasted potential. A gifted point guard, Richardson made four All-Star teams before the league banned him in 1986 for violations of the league’s drug policy. During his all-too-short eight-year career, Richardson averaged 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game. Born in Texas, Richardson grew up in Denver.

Honorable mention: Scott Wedman.

Connecticut

Winner: Guard Calvin Murphy never let his small size stop him from making a big impact. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound guard from Norwalk was a dynamic scorer for most of his 13 NBA seasons. Playing for the San Diego and Houston Rockets, Murphy averaged 17.9 points and 4.4 assists. He also made one All-Star team. Murphy may be best known for his outstanding free-throw shooting. As the Rockets’ point guard during their 1980-81 Western Conference championship season, he sank 78 straight foul shots. That season, he also made 95.8 percent of his free throws, which now stands as the second-highest percentage over a full season in NBA history.

Runner-up: Vin Baker, a big who grew up in Old Saybrook, made four All-Star teams in his first five NBA seasons. He was third-team All-NBA in his 1996-97 season with the Milwaukee Bucks and second-team All-NBA in his 1997-98 season with the Seattle SuperSonics.

Honorable mention: Michael Adams, Marcus Camby, Andre Drummond, Rick Mahorn.

Delaware

Winner: Donte DiVincenzo was born in Newark, Del., and graduated high school from Salesianum in Wilmington, Del. Although he’s only in his third season, the Milwaukee Bucks guard is on track to have the longest NBA career of any Delaware native.

Runner-up: Terence Stansbury, a 6-foot-5 swingman who was born in Wilmington and attended high school in Newark, is perhaps best known for his dunking ability. He participated in the All-Star dunk contest three times and finished third each time. He appeared in 192 regular-season NBA games as a member of the Pacers and SuperSonics, and for now, that’s the most games played by anyone who was born and raised in Delaware.

Honorable mention: A.J. English.

District of Columbia

Winner: Elgin Baylor was one of the most influential players in NBA history because he arguably was the league’s first transcendent above-the-rim player. His Lakers teams never won an NBA title, but that hardly diminishes his legacy in our eyes. A 6-foot-5 wing, Baylor averaged 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game during his 14-year career. He was a 10-time first-team All-NBA selection. Baylor was born in D.C. and attended Spingarn High. He’s an all-time great.

Runner-up: Before he became Detroit’s mayor, Dave Bing was a seven-time All-Star who spent most of his career with the Pistons. A 6-foot-3 guard, Bing won the 1967-68 scoring title, averaging 27.1 points per game. He also was a first-team All-NBA selection twice. Like Baylor, he was born in D.C. and graduated from Spingarn.

Honorable mention: Austin Carr, Kermit Washington.

Florida

Winner: The selection of Tracy McGrady over Vince Carter and Artis Gilmore will upset many people. Longevity has its place — and Carter and Gilmore enjoyed longer careers than McGrady did — but McGrady was more dominant than either Carter or Gilmore. (Plus, Gilmore was at his best during his five ABA seasons, and ABA accomplishments aren’t being considered here.)

McGrady, a native of Polk County, made seven All-NBA teams, earning first-team honors during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. He also won two league scoring titles.

Runner-up:Born and raised in Daytona Beach, Vince Carter first earned his most inventive nickname, “Half-Man/Half-Amazing,” because of the high-flying dunks that made him a highlight-reel staple. Remember his incredible performance as he won the All-Star Dunk Contest in 2000 in Oakland, Calif.? Or how about his dunk over French center Frédéric Weis during the 2000 Summer Olympics, which is arguably the greatest in-game dunk of all time? But Carter is just as remarkable for his longevity. He played an NBA-record 22 seasons. As great as he was, Carter made “only” two All-NBA teams, the third team for the 1999-2000 season and the second team for the 2000-01 season.

Honorable mention: Otis Birdsong, Darryl Dawkins, Artis Gilmore, Eddie Johnson, Truck Robinson.

Georgia

Winner: A nostalgic quality pervades Walt Frazier’s NBA career. He was a central figure — perhaps the central figure — on the New York Knicks’ 1969-70 and 1972-73 championship teams, and those star-studded squads have become more and more legendary as the Knicks’ title drought continues. But let’s give Frazier his just due. He was a first-team All-NBA player four times and a second-team selection twice. And although he’s renowned for his scoring and his overall court generalship, he also was a stellar defender, making the NBA All-Defensive First Team seven times.

Runner-up: We acknowledge that Dwight Howard of Atlanta has a worthy claim on the title of best NBA player ever from Georgia. It’s easy to forget now, but Howard was the league’s most dominant center for a five-year stretch as a member of the Orlando Magic. His five first-team All-NBA selections and three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year trophies are proof of how great he was.

Honorable mention: Dale Ellis, Horace Grant, Jeff Malone, Norm Nixon.

Hawaii

Winner: Only one person born and raised in Hawaii has reached the NBA: Red Rocha, a 6-foot-9, 185-pound center appropriately nicknamed “The Thin Man.” Rocha’s pro career spanned from 1947 to ’57, playing for the St. Louis Bombers, Baltimore Bullets, Syracuse Nationals and Fort Wayne Pistons. He made two All-Star squads and teamed with Dolph Schayes, Earl Lloyd, Paul Seymour and Red Kerr to help the Nationals win the 1954-55 NBA title. Rocha was born and raised in Hilo, and after his playing career ended, he coached the Detroit Pistons for three seasons.

The only other person born in Hawaii to play in the NBA is Cedric Ceballos, but he grew up in Southern California.

Idaho

Winner: Steve Hayes, a 7-footer, played five NBA seasons for San Antonio, Detroit, Cleveland, Seattle, Philadelphia and Utah. He appeared in 212 regular-season games, far more than any other player who was born and raised in Idaho. Hayes was born in American Falls and attended high school in Aberdeen.

Some of you from the Pacific Northwest will note that Luke Ridnour was born in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, and played 12 NBA seasons, dwarfing Hayes’ tenure. That’s true. But Ridnour spent most of his youth in Washington.

Runner-up: Andy Toolson, a small forward who attended high school in Twin Falls, played two seasons in the NBA, both with the Utah Jazz.

Honorable mention: Gary Freeman, Dale Wilkinson.

Illinois

Winner: How would 6-foot-10 center George Mikan fare in today’s NBA? We have some doubts. What we do know, however, is that Mikan completely dominated the sport in his prime. Basketball’s first great big man, the Joliet-born Mikan starred for the Minneapolis Lakers, leading them to the Basketball Association of America title in his rookie season in 1948-49. After the BAA merged with the National Basketball League in 1949 to form the NBA, Mikan’s Lakers won four of the next five championships. Known as “Mr. Basketball” and “Mikan the Magnificent,” he won two NBA scoring championships and two NBA rebounding titles. Mikan was named by The Associated Press as the greatest basketball player of the first half of the 20th century. He also was selected as one of the 50 greatest players of the league’s first 50 years.

Runner-up:Isiah Thomas, who grew up in Chicago, was a 6-foot-1 point guard whose toughness and greatness belied his size. Thomas made the Eastern Conference All-Star team in each of his first 12 seasons. He was the best player on the Detroit Pistons’ famed, rugged “Bad Boys” teams that won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and ’90.

Honorable mention: Mark Aguirre, Nat Clifton, Maurice Cheeks, Doug Collins, Anthony Davis, Harry Gallatin, Tim Hardaway, Dan Issel, Red Kerr, Andy Phillip, Derrick Rose, Jack Sikma, Jerry Sloan, Dwyane Wade.

Indiana

Winner: Larry Bird was born in West Baden Springs and grew up in French Lick, and he’s our pick as the greatest NBA player from Indiana. Bird was the most dominant player on one of the most dominant teams of his era. Along with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, Bird is one of only three players to win three consecutive MVP awards. Bird’s Boston Celtics also won three NBA titles. As great as Bird was, he won this honor by a mere whisker.

Runner-up: You can make a convincing case for Oscar Robertson as the greatest NBA player from Indiana. He was born in Tennessee, but his family moved to Indianapolis when he was a year-and-a-half old.

A 6-foot-5 point guard, “The Big O” was the league’s first great big point guard, paving the way for the likes of Magic Johnson. In his second season, Robertson became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double over an entire season, registering 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists per game.

Robertson won his lone MVP award during the 1963-64 season as a member of the Cincinnati Royals but had to wait for postseason success. He won his first, and only, NBA championship as a member of the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks, teaming with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bobby Dandridge.

Honorable mention: Dick Barnett, Louie Dampier, Clyde Lovellette, George McGinnis, Dick Van Arsdale, Tom Van Arsdale.

Iowa

Winner: Forward Harrison Barnes was born and raised in Ames, and his career scoring average of (13.8) points per game leads all Iowans who reached the NBA. Barnes was a member of the Golden State Warriors’ 2014-15 NBA championship team; he averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game that season and started all of the Warriors’ playoff games, averaging 10.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game that postseason. Barnes is still going strong as a member of the Sacramento Kings.

Runner-up: Guard Kirk Hinrich played 13 NBA seasons, 11 of them with the Chicago Bulls. Hinrich, who grew up in Sioux City, averaged 10.9 points and 4.8 assists per game during his career. He also made the 2006-07 All-Defensive Second Team.

Honorable mention: Ricky Davis, Kyle Korver, Raef LaFrentz, Doug McDermott.

Kansas

Winner: Point guard Lucius Allen, of Kansas City, Kan., played 10 NBA seasons for four different franchises. He was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 1970-71 championship team. He averaged 13.4 points and 4.5 assists per game during his career.

Runner-up: Big man Antoine Carr, who grew up in Wichita, played 16 NBA seasons, the longest NBA career of anyone who graduated from a Kansas high school.

Honorable mention: Larry Drew, Earl Watson.

Kentucky

Winner: Dave Cowens, who was born and raised in Newport, on the other side of the Ohio River from Cincinnati, played 11 seasons, all but his final year coming with Boston after the Celtics selected him fourth overall in 1970. With the Celtics, he won the 1973-74 and 1975-76 championships. He was named league MVP in 1973, only his third season, which saw him average 20.5 points, 16.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists. The 6-foot-9 center earned a reputation as a fiery and relentless competitor. He finished his career averaging 17.6 points, 13.6 rebounds. 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals in 766 regular-season appearances.

Runner-up: The second overall pick by the Baltimore Bullets in 1968, Wes Unseld became the second player in NBA history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same year, joining Wilt Chamberlain. A five-time All-Star, Unseld won the 1977-78 championship with the Washington Bullets, earning Finals MVP honors. Unseld grew up in Louisville.

Honorable mention: Joe Fulks, Cliff Hagan, Allan Houston, Frank Ramsey, Arnie Risen, Rajon Rondo.

Louisiana

Does any state have more all-time great NBA players per capita than Louisiana does?

Winner: Karl Malone, who is from Summerfield, ranks as one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history and leads Louisiana’s remarkable group of high achievers. A perennial All-NBA selection and a two-time league MVP, Malone ranks second on the career scoring list, with 36,928 career points. What is often forgotten is that he was a standout on defense, too, making the All-Defensive First Team three straight seasons. The only legitimate knock on Malone is that he never won the NBA title. He did, however, win Olympic gold medals as a member of the 1992 Dream Team and in ’96.

Runner-up:Bob Pettit, aka “The Bombardier from Baton Rouge,” isn’t well known to the current generations of NBA fans, but he was one of the sport’s most dominant players from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. He was a first-team All-NBA selection in each of his first 10 NBA seasons, and he won the league MVP award twice and the league scoring championship twice. A 6-foot-9 big, Petit won his lone title as the centerpiece of the 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks.

Honorable mention: Joe Dumars, Elvin Hayes, Bob Love, Robert Parish, Willis Reed.

Maine

Only two people who were born in Maine ever reached the NBA as players: former New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic forward Jeff Turner and current Miami Heat swingman Duncan Robinson. But Turner and Robinson don’t consider themselves Mainers.

Turner’s dad was stationed at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, and the Turner family moved to Florida when Turner was 1.

Robinson moved from Maine to New Hampshire when he was 8, and Robinson said he regards himself as a New Hampshirite, not a Mainer.

So we apologize to everyone from Maine: By our methodology, Maine has never had an NBA player of its own.

Maryland

Winner: Kevin Durant was born in Washington, D.C., but he was raised in neighboring Prince George’s County, Md. He has earned a spot on the All-NBA First Team six times, won four scoring titles and was a member of the Golden State Warriors’ 2016-17 and 2017-18 NBA championship teams. He also won the league MVP award for the 2013-14 season.

Runner-up: Carmelo Anthony was born in New York City, but he moved to Baltimore as a child. He also attended high school in Maryland before he transferred to Oak Hill Academy in Virginia for his senior year.

Anthony narrowly wins the runner-up spot over Adrian Dantley, who was born in D.C. but grew up in Maryland. The decision agonized us. Both players were outstanding scorers in their primes, with Dantley capturing two league scoring titles with the Utah Jazz and Anthony winning the scoring title once with the New York Knicks.

NBA championships would’ve served as a tiebreaker, but Dantley never won an NBA title. He was traded from the “Bad Boy” Pistons during the 1988-89 season, the year the Pistons finally broke through to win the championship. Anthony, now 36, hasn’t won a title.

Ultimately, we’re picking Anthony because he made the All-NBA second or third teams a total of six times. Dantley earned two All-NBA second-team selections.

Anthony also has scored 26,918 career points — 3,741 more than Dantley, who finished with 23,177 points.

Honorable mention: Sam Cassell, Adrian Dantley, Steve Francis, Reggie Lewis, Gene Shue.

Massachusetts

Winner: Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica, but he immigrated to the United States when he was 12, joining his family in Cambridge, Mass. A 7-foot center, Ewing was one of the best players of his generation, an 11-time All-Star, six-time second-team All-NBA player and one-time first-team All-NBA player. Ewing also was a member of the 1992 Dream Team.

Runner-up: Guard Jimmy Walker made All-Star appearances during the 1969-70 and 1971-72 seasons as a member of the Detroit Pistons. He averaged 16.7 points during his nine-year career. Though born in Amherst, Va., Walker grew up in the Boston area. Outside of New England, Walker perhaps is best known as the father of former NBA player Jalen Rose.

We know that Bill Laimbeer was born in Boston, but the four-time All-Star and two-time champion was raised primarily in Illinois and California.

Honorable mention: Dana Barros.

Michigan

Winner: Magic Johnson, who grew up in Lansing, is one of the game’s all-time greats. One of his biggest contributions is that he proved a 6-foot-9 player could excel at point guard, and he was a brilliant passer and floor general. He ranks fifth on the career assists list, with 10,141. With charisma to spare and a magnetic personality, he was the heart and soul of the dominant “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers teams of the 1980s, leading the Lakers to five titles. Johnson won three NBA MVPs over a four-year span.

Runner-up: Born and raised in Detroit, George Gervin starred in both the ABA and NBA, but he makes this list for his NBA achievements alone. “Iceman” won four NBA scoring titles as a member of the San Antonio Spurs, and he was a first-team All-NBA player five times. Gervin’s signature shot was the finger roll, and we defy you to name anyone, past or present, whose finger roll was more graceful than Gervin’s.

Honorable mention: Archie Clark, Derrick Coleman, Dave DeBusschere, Draymond Green, Glen Rice, Rudy Tomjanovich, Chet Walker, Chris Webber.

Minnesota

Winner: Barrel-chested power forward Kevin McHale joined Boston Celtics teammates Larry Bird and Robert Parrish to form the most dominant frontcourts in NBA history. Born and raised in Hibbing, in the northeastern part of the state, McHale made seven Eastern Conference All-Star teams and made the All-Defensive First or Second Team a total of six times. The Celtics won three NBA titles during McHale’s 13-year tenure with the team.

Runner-up: Vern Mikkelsen, a power forward raised in Askov, was a second-team All-NBA player four times. Teaming with George Mikan and Jim Pollard, his Minneapolis Lakers won four NBA titles in the early 1950s.

Honorable mention: Dick Garmaker, Mark Olberding.

Mississippi

Winner: Spencer Haywood is often thought of as a Michigander, but he, in fact, was born in Mississippi and lived in The Magnolia State until his early teens. Haywood, a 6-foot-8 big man, spent the first five seasons of his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics, earning two first-team All-NBA nods and two second-team All-NBA nods. He made perhaps his biggest contribution off the court. In 1971, he sued the league, challenging a rule that said a player could not enter the NBA Draft until four years after his high school class graduated.

Runner-up: Antonio McDyess, from Quitman, Miss., played 15 NBA seasons, making third-team All-NBA during the 1998-99 season. A physical power forward, he averaged 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game during his career.

Honorable mention: Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Lindsey Hunter, Al Jefferson, Sam Lacey, Purvis Short, Slick Watts.

Missouri

Winner: St. Louis native Ed Macauley played most of his pro career in the 1950s, and his accomplishments are not well known to present-day basketball fans. But he was a dominant player in his day. A 6-foot-8 big, he played for the St. Louis Bombers, Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks, earning three first-team All-NBA selections and one second-team All-NBA selection. He won his only NBA title as a member of the 1957-58 Hawks.

Runner-up: This was a tough call that asked us to select between two accomplished players from the past and two up-and-coming players of the present.

Jo Jo White, who was born and raised in St. Louis, is our runner-up. He became a key figure on the Boston Celtics’ 1973-74 and 1975-76 NBA championship teams. He was selected to seven All-Star teams, all consecutively. He also made the All-NBA Second Team twice.

Bill Bradley was born and raised in Crystal City, Mo., and he was a member of the New York Knicks’ star-studded NBA 1969-70 and 1972-73 championship teams. But as good as Bradley was, he made just one All-Star team. He was a dominant player at Princeton, leading the Tigers once to the Final Four, but college accomplishments don’t factor in this analysis.

Bradley Beal and Jayson Tatum also grew up in St. Louis, and they are superb players now, a time when players are more skilled and more athletic than they were in Macauley’s and White’s eras. But our decisions for this piece primarily are based on what players accomplished in the context of their times. Beal has not made an All-NBA team yet in his career, while Tatum was a third-team All-NBA player in one of his prior three seasons. Before their playing days are done, Beal and Tatum very easily could eclipse Macauley and White. They just haven’t gotten there yet.

Honorable mention: Bradley Beal, Bill Bradley, Jayson Tatum.

Montana

Winner: Larry Krystkowiak, a 6-foot-9 power forward born and raised in Missoula, was in the NBA for 10 seasons. The 1988-89 season was his best season. Playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, “Special K” started a career-high 77 games and averaged career highs of 12.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Runner-up:Frontcourt player Ed Kalafat, who grew up in Anaconda, Mont., played in 209 regular-season games for the Minneapolis Lakers in the mid-1950s.

Honorable mention: Josh Huestis.

Nebraska

Winner: A 6-foot-8 forward from Omaha, Bob Boozer was the first non-territorial pick of the 1959 draft by the Cincinnati Royals. He played for six franchises over his 11 seasons, winning the championship alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Bobby Dandridge and the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971, his final season. Over a three-year stint with the Chicago Bulls, Boozer averaged 20.4 points and 8.7 rebounds, earning a 1967-68 All-Star selection, his second season in a Bulls uniform.

Runner-up: Ron Boone, a guard who went to high school in Omaha, played only five seasons in the NBA after spending his first eight professional seasons in the ABA. Over 379 career NBA games, Boone averaged 13.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

Honorable mention: Mike McGee, Erick Strickland.

Nevada

Winner: Born in Kansas but raised in Las Vegas, Lionel Hollins was a starting guard on the Portland Trail Blazers’ 1976-77 championship team, its third-leading scorer behind Maurice Lucas and Bill Walton. One year later, Hollins was named an All-Star, finishing with a career-high 15.9-point scoring average. Hollins also was named to the All-Defensive First Team in 1978, as well as the All-Defensive Second Team in 1979. He played 10 seasons before getting into coaching.

Runner-up: The 12th overall pick in 1991, Greg Anthony, a point guard from Las Vegas, played his first four seasons with the New York Knicks before finishing his career as a journeyman who played for five franchises in his final seven seasons.

Honorable mention: C.J. Watson.

New Hampshire

Winner: A second-round pick in 2003, Matt Bonner established himself as a lethal weapon with his sharpshooting off the bench. The 6-10 forward, nicknamed the “Red Rocket,” gave opponents matchup problems thanks to his 3-point shooting ability at his size. Bonner, who played the final 10 of his 12 seasons in San Antonio, won two championships with San Antonio, in 2007 and ’14. During the 2010-11 season, Bonner led the league in 3-point percentage at 45.7 percent. Bonner was born and raised in Concord, N.H.

Runner-up: Duncan Robinson moved to New Hampshire when he was 8, and he traveled a winding road to NBA success. After going undrafted in 2018, Robinson spent most of his rookie season in the NBA G League before a breakout 2019-20 season in which he ranked fourth among all players in 3-point percentage at 44.6 percent.

Honorable mention: None.

New Jersey

Winner: Several places can call Shaquille O’Neal their own. Born in Newark, O’Neal spent the first 10 years of his life in the northern New Jersey city before his family moved to an army base in West Germany and later to Texas. O’Neal’s basketball greatness is clear. He won four NBA titles, was the 1999-00 MVP and was selected to 15 All-Star teams. He ranks eighth all-time in points.

Runner-up: Rick Barry was a prodigious scorer who divvied up his time between the NBA and ABA. The 6-foot-7 swingman averaged 25.6 points per game for the San Francisco Warriors and Golden State Warriors over eight seasons. He led the 1974-75 Warriors to the NBA title, winning Finals MVP honors. Barry shot his free throws underhanded, making 89.9 percent of them, the fourth-highest percentage in NBA history. Barry was born in Elizabeth, N.J., and attended Roselle Park High.

Honorable mention: Tom Heinsohn, Kyrie Irving.

New Mexico

Winner: Bill “The Train” Bridges played 13 NBA seasons, most of them for the Hawks, who moved from St. Louis to Atlanta during his tenure with the team. Bridges, a forward, averaged 11.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game over his entire NBA career. He completed his final season (1974-75) with the Golden State Warriors, who went on to win the NBA title. Bridges was born and raised in Hobbs, N.M.

Runner-up:Chick Halbert, a center who attended high school in House, N.M., began his pro career in the Basketball Association of America in 1946. He played two NBA seasons.

Honorable mention: None.

New York

Winner: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA MVP awards, more than anyone else, even more than Michael Jordan or Bill Russell. Abdul-Jabbar also owns one of the sport’s most cherished records; he scored 38,387 career regular-season points, the highest total in league history. He also was named to the All-Defensive First or Second Teams 11 times. He made the All-NBA First Team 10 times and the All-NBA Second Team five times.

But he was a winner, too. He captured his first NBA title as a member of the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks and five more with the Showtime era Lakers.

Born in New York City as Lew Alcindor, he dominated high-school competition as a towering center at Power Memorial Academy in Manhattan. Abdul-Jabbar also possessed perhaps the sport’s most unstoppable go-to scoring move: the unblockable, graceful skyhook.

Runner-up: Julius Erving remains one of the most electrifying players in league history. Although Dr. J soared to prominence in the ABA for his rim-rattling dunks, he’s on this list for his NBA achievements. He reached the NBA Finals four times with the Philadelphia 76ers and finally won the title in 1983. The Larry Bird-Magic Johnson rivalry receives a lot of credit for popularizing pro basketball, but Erving’s contributions in growing the league should not be underestimated. Erving was born and raised on Long Island.

Honorable mention: Tiny Archibald, Carl Braun, Bob Cousy, Billy Cunningham, Richie Guerin, Connie Hawkins, Bernard King, Bob Lanier, Chris Mullin, Dolph Schayes, Charlie Scott, Lenny Wilkens.

North Carolina

Winner: Widely considered the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan forever will be the standard by which all the greats are measured. He led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, going 6-0 in the Finals and never allowing any of his championship rounds to reach a Game 7. During the 1987-88 season, he became the first player to win league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. A 10-time scoring champ, Jordan’s 32,292 career points rank him fifth on the all-time scoring list. The five-time MVP — and six-time Finals MVP — also led the league in steals three times, was a nine-time All-NBA Defensive First Team selection, the 1985 Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star Dunk Contest champion. Though born in Brooklyn, “His Airness” grew up in Wilmington, N.C.

Runner-up: Stephen Curry’s legacy as the greatest shooter of all time already has been cemented. He’s approximately 300 made 3-pointers shy of overtaking Ray Allen for first place on the all-time list and making it official. Curry’s ability to shoot from really long range, whether on the catch or off the bounce, challenged conventional thinking and transformed the game by ushering in a new style of play. Curry was born in Akron, Ohio, but he grew up primarily in Charlotte.

Honorable mention: Walt Bellamy, Walter Davis, Lou Hudson, Bobby Jones, Sam Jones, Bob McAdoo, Chris Paul, Charlie Scott, David Thompson, Dominique Wilkins, Buck Williams, James Worthy.

North Dakota

Winner: Before he became an 11-time championship-winning coach, Phil Jackson was a wiry-but-rugged forward, a second-round pick in 1967 who spent the first 10 of his 12 seasons with the New York Knicks. Jackson was a member of the Knicks’ 1969-70 and 1972-73 championship teams (but he did not play during the 1969-70 season due to spinal surgery). In arguably his best season in 1974-75, he averaged 10.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.3 minutes per game. Jackson spent his final two seasons with the New Jersey Nets.

Runner-up: Glenn Hansen played three NBA seasons after being selected in the second round (31st overall) of the 1975 draft. The 6-4 guard enjoyed his best season as a rookie, averaging 6.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and one assist over 66 games. He appeared in only 46 games in his final two seasons. Hansen was born in Devils Lake, N.D., and went to high school in Grand Forks.

Honorable mention: Les Jepsen.

Ohio

Winner: Call him the G.O.A.T, “King James” or The Chosen One. Either way, LeBron James has a legacy that is entrenched as one of the greatest the game has ever seen. A proud native of Akron, Ohio, James entered the league with more hype than any other player in history. Somehow, he exceeded it all, doing so amid round-the-clock scrutiny given the rise of the social media era. James has four championships (and counting?), he’s a 16-time All-NBA selection and a six-time All-Defensive selection. He also has won four MVP awards.

James sits third on the all-time scoring list, eighth on the all-time assists list, 13th in steals, 43rd in rebounding, fifth in career triple-doubles and seventh in minutes played. And at 36, he’s still going strong.

Runner-up: In his 16-year career, all with Boston, John Havlicek was an eight-time champion, a 13-time All-Star, 11-time All-NBA selection and eight-time NBA All-Defensive honoree. Nicknamed “Hondo,” Havlicek appeared in 1,270 games and averaged 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists.

Honorable mention: Wayne Embry, Gus Johnson, Neil Johnston, Jerry Lucas, Nate Thurmond.

Oklahoma

Winner: The first overall pick in 2009, Blake Griffin is a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA Team selection (three second-team and two third-team honors). He took home both Rookie of the Year and the slam dunk contest crown in 2011. The 6-foot-9 power forward became must-see TV for his high-flying dunks, which turned the Los Angeles Clippers into a highlight factory affectionately referred to as “Lob City.” Griffin’s mix of size, athleticism and skills as a ballhandler, passer and, later in his career, shooter made him one of the dominant big men of his era. He holds career averages of 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Griffin was born in Oklahoma City and attended high school in Edmond, just outside Oklahoma City.

Runner-up: Mark Price, who was born in Bartlesville, Okla., was a four-time All-NBA selection, including a first-team honor for the 1992-93 season, and a four-time All-Star. He led the league in free-throw percentage three times and is one of eight members of the prestigious “50-40-90 club,” having made 52.6 percent of his field-goal attempts, 44.1 percent of his 3-point tries and 90.1 percent of his free throws during the 1988-89 season.

Honorable mention:Alvan Adams, John Starks, Wayman Tisdale, Trae Young.

Oregon

Winner: Kevin Love, who grew up in Lake Oswego, Ore., was the fifth overall pick in 2008 and started his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He won the 2010-11 Most Improved Player Award after he averaged 20.2 points, a league-best 15.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his third season. That season would be the first of his five All-Star selections. In 2016, Love teamed with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to help the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA title. Love transformed his physique and his style of play early in his career, morphing from a heavier-set interior presence into a svelte sharpshooter. He also developed a reputation as one of the best outlet passers in league history, routinely dropping full-court dimes.

Runner-up: A.C. Green, who was born and raised in Portland, gets the nod here largely because today’s load management era reinforces how incredible his NBA record 1,192 consecutive games played streak is. He played 16 years and missed only three contests, all in his second season. Green also won three championships with the Lakers, was named an All-Star during the 1989-90 season and an All-Defensive Second-Team selection for the 1988-89 season.

Honorable mention: Danny Ainge, Terrell Brandon, Damon Stoudamire.

Pennsylvania

Winner: The statistical output Wilt Chamberlain consistently amassed is often hard to fathom. The 7-foot-1 Philadelphia center so thoroughly dominated his competition his name is plastered all over the NBA record books. He led the league in scoring seven times, averaging a staggering 50.4 points in 1961-62, his third season. He owns the top-four scoring averages for a single season and five of the top six.

It was that 1961-62 season that Chamberlain crafted his famous 100-point game, which came on March 2, 1962, against the New York Knicks. Also during that 1961-62 season, Chamberlain averaged a record 48.5 minutes per game. He led the league in minutes per game in nine seasons and holds the top-seven spots on the category’s all-time list. Chamberlain also led the league in rebounding in 11 of his 14 seasons, averaging 27.0 and 27.2 during his first two seasons. In the 1967-68 season, his 702 assists also led all players.

Chamberlain was a two-time champion — in 1967 with the Philadelphia 76ers and in 1972 with the Los Angeles Lakers — a four-time MVP, a 13-time All-Star and a 10-time All-NBA First-Team or Second-Team selection.

Runner-up: With 33,643 points, Kobe Bryant ranks fourth all-time in scoring. He led the league in back-to-back seasons, averaging 35.4 points during the 2005-06 season and 31.6 points in 2006-07.

A five-time champion, Bryant played all 20 of his seasons with the Lakers, winning back-to-back Finals MVPs in 2009 and ’10, as well as his lone regular-season MVP in 2007-08. He was an 18-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA First-, Second- or Third-Team selection, a 12-time NBA All-Defensive First- or Second-Team selection and the 1997 dunk contest winner.

Bryant was born in Philadelphia, spent a large portion of his childhood in Italy (where his dad played professionally) and returned to Pennsylvania when he was 13.

Honorable mention: Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, Richard Hamilton, Kyle Lowry, Maurice Lucas, Earl Monroe, Jameer Nelson, Guy Rodgers, Jack Twyman, Norm Van Lier, Rasheed Wallace.

Puerto Rico

Winner: Puerto Rico couldn’t ask for a better representative than J.J. Barea, whose toughness on the court and benevolence off it embodies so much about the island of just more than 3 million people. Barea defied the odds with a 14-year playing career despite his 5-foot-10 stature and going undrafted out of Northeastern in 2006. Barea was a key reserve on the 2010-11 champion Dallas Mavericks. He appeared in 831 career games, averaging 8.9 points and 3.9 assists in 19.6 minutes per game.

Runner-up:Carlos Arroyo played for seven franchises over nine seasons. In his best season of 2003-04, he averaged a career-high 12.6 points and 5.0 while appearing in 71 games, all starts, for the Utah Jazz.

Honorable mention:Ramón Rivas.

Rhode Island

Winner: After he was selected third overall by the Buffalo Braves in 1973, Ernie DiGregorio of North Providence won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award with averages of 15.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and a league-leading 8.2 assists. He once dished 25 assists in a game that season, which remains tied for the rookie record for assists in a game. DiGregorio also led the league in free-throw percentage at 90.2 percent that season, and he also led the league in his fourth season, when he shot 94.5 percent from the foul line. DiGregorio’s five-year career included stops in Boston and with the Los Angeles Lakers. He appeared in 312 career games, averaging 9.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists. He shot 90.2 percent from the free-throw line on 511 career attempts.

Runner-up:A Providence native and college teammate of DiGregorio’s, Marvin Barnes played four NBA seasons after two seasons starring for the Spirits of St. Louis of the ABA. Before joining the ABA, Barnes was the second overall pick of the 1974 draft, behind top pick Bill Walton. He appeared in 171 NBA games with Detroit, Buffalo, Boston and the San Diego Clippers.

Barnes’ off-the-court troubles started early in his basketball journey, earning him the nickname “Bad News,” and followed him throughout. His troubles, which included drug use, cut short his career. The 6-foot-8 power forward averaged 9.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks during his NBA career.

Honorable mention: Tom Garrick, Joe Hassett.

South Carolina

Winner: From the time he was a scrawny, teenaged rookie looking to prove himself after turning pro out of high school, Kevin Garnett was fearless and ferocious. Those qualities made the 1995 fifth overall pick an electrifying franchise player for the Timberwolves throughout his first 12 seasons. He led the Wolves to eight straight postseason appearances, including the 2004 Western Conference finals, a year in which he won the regular-season MVP award. Garnett led the league in rebounds per game for four consecutive seasons.

Following his trade to Boston in 2007, Garnett teamed with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to lead the Celtics to the 2007-08 NBA championship. He is a 15-time All-Star, a nine-time All-NBA selection and the 2007-08 Defensive Player of the Year. He played 21 seasons, finishing with the Timberwolves, logged the fourth-most minutes all-time (50,418) and the seventh-most games (1,462).

Garnett was born in Greenville and attended a high school in Mauldin through his junior year before moving to Chicago for his senior year.

Runner-up: Alex English played 15 seasons, 10 1/2 of them with the Denver Nuggets. The Columbia native was an eight-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA Second-Team selection and the league’s leading scorer in 1982-83. His teams made the playoffs in 10 of his 15 seasons.

Honorable mention: Ray Allen, Pete Maravich, Larry Nance, Jermaine O’Neal, Zion Williamson.

South Dakota

Winner: Mike Miller, a native of Mitchell, S.D., and the fifth overall pick in 2000, stuck around 17 seasons, winning back-to-back championships with the Miami Heat in 2011-12 and 2012-13. Miller won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 2001, Sixth Man of the Year in 2005-06 and finished his career as one of the league’s all-time greatest shooters. His 40.6 percent career 3-point percentage ranks 26th on the all-time list, while his 1,590 made 3-pointers rank him 30th all-time.

Runner-up: Eric Piatkowski, the 15th overall pick in 1994, enjoyed a 14-year career, spending his first nine seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers and serving primarily as a sharpshooting reserve. For his career, Piatkowski made 39.9 percent of his 3s. Though born in Steubenville, Ohio, Piatkowski went to high school in Rapid City, S.D.

Honorable mention:Jared Reiner.

Tennessee

Winner: Bailey Howell was the third-leading scorer on the 1967-68 Celtics’ championship team and the second-leading scorer on Boston’s championship team the next season. The second overall pick in 1959 played 12 seasons, with stops in Detroit, Baltimore and Philadelphia as well. Howell, a six-time All-Star forward, averaged 18.7 points and 9.9 rebounds over 950 career games. In 1997, the Middleton, Tenn., native was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Runner-up: Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway will forever be remembered as one of the game’s greatest “What ifs?” after knee injuries derailed his career. As a member of the Orlando Magic, Hardaway earned All-NBA First-Team honors in his second and third seasons, an All-NBA Third-Team selection in his fourth season and was on track to become one of the game’s all-time great point guards. He persevered through health-related hardships to play 14 seasons, but he was never the same in his final 10. The Memphis native, however, always will be synonymous with basketball in the city and Tennessee.

Honorable mention: Corey Brewer, Tony Delk, Clyde Lee, Elliott Perry, Lorenzen Wright.

Texas

Winner: Clyde “The Glide” Drexler, as he is affectionately known thanks to his high-flying dunks, played 15 seasons for Houston and Portland, winning a championship with the Rockets in 1995 as the team’s second-leading scorer behind Hakeem Olajuwon. Drexler averaged 20.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.0 steals for his career. He made 10 All-Star teams and earned All-NBA First-Team honors for his 1991-92 season, the same year he finished second to Michael Jordan in MVP voting. Drexler also was a member of the prestigious 1992 Dream Team that won gold at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He appeared in 1,086 career games, and his No. 22 is retired in Portland and Houston.

Runner-up: The fourth overall pick in the star-studded 2003 draft class, Chris Bosh played 13 seasons with Toronto and Miami, helping LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat win back-to-back championships in 2012 and ’13. He was an 11-time All-Star and averaged 19.6 points and 8.5 rebounds over his career before health issues cut short his career at 31, ultimately forcing him to retire.

Honorable mention: Mookie Blaylock, Rashard Lewis, Kenyon Martin, Dennis Rodman, Deron Williams.

U.S. Virgin Islands

Winner: Many consider Tim Duncan the greatest power forward to ever play. Duncan was the unassuming superstar for the San Antonio Spurs for 19 seasons, helping them to five championships. He was a two-time league MVP, a 15-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection and a 15-time All-Defensive Team honoree. He also won NBA Rookie of the Year for the 1997-98 season after he was the top overall pick in ’97.

Duncan’s no-frills style of play earned him the nickname “The Big Fundamental,” but he was virtually unstoppable, a terror at both ends. He averaged at least 20.0 points and at least 11.0 rebounds in each of his first eight seasons. He finished his career with averages of 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 blocks. His 251 playoff games are the third-most in NBA history, trailing only LeBron James (260) and Derek Fisher (259).

Runner-up: Raja Bell went from being undrafted in 1999 to an essential role player who bounced between six franchises over a dozen years. His mix of perimeter defense, 3-point shooting and toughness endeared him to teammates and made him a pest for opponents.

Honorable mention: None.

Utah

Winner: Four-time All-Star Tom Chambers was born and raised in Ogden, Utah, but his family moved to Colorado between his sophom*ore and junior years of high school. Chambers was at his best during his tenures with the Seattle SuperSonics and Phoenix Suns. During the 1992-93 season, he helped the Charles Barkley- and Kevin Johnson-led Suns reach the NBA Finals, where they lost to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in six games. Chambers made the All-NBA Second Team twice.

Runner-up: Shawn Bradley, the second overall pick in the 1993 draft, finished his career as one of the best shot blockers in league history. The 7-foot-6 center ranks 15th on the all-time blocks list, sandwiched between Ben Wallace and Manute Bol, with 2,119 blocked shots. During the 1996-97 season, Bradley led the league with 3.7 blocks per game, and in 2000-01 he led the league in total blocks, with 228.

Honorable mention: Travis Knight, Fred Roberts, Danny Vranes.

Vermont

Brooklyn Nets guard Bruce Brown spent his final two years of high school at Vermont Academy, but he was born in Boston and raised in the Boston area.

That leaves Vermont with no one who ever reached the NBA.

Virginia

Winner: Moses Malone, a Petersburg native, became the first modern player to go directly from high school to the pros when he joined the ABA’s Utah Stars for the 1974-75 season. After two years in the ABA, Malone played 19 seasons in the NBA following the merger. He was a three-time league MVP and is still the only player in NBA history to win consecutive MVPs for different franchises, capturing the honor in Houston in 1981-82 and Philadelphia in 1982-83. In his first season in Philadelphia, Malone led the Sixers to 65 wins and the 1982-83 championship and was named to the All-Defensive First Team. He was a 12-time All-Star selection, earned eight All-NBA selections (four first teams and four second teams) and led the league in rebounding six times. His No. 2 is retired in Philadelphia, and his No. 24 jersey is retired in Houston.

Runner-up: Few players have impacted the game more on and off the court than Allen Iverson. He remains a cultural icon for his on-court fearlessness belying his wiry 6-foot frame and for how he stayed true to himself despite rising from humble beginnings and morphing into an international superstar. A.I., nicknamed “The Answer,” led the league in scoring four times and paced all players in minutes seven times, averaging an eye-popping 41.1 for his career, the fourth-most in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson. The 11-time All-Star led the Sixers to the 2001 NBA Finals and was named league MVP for the 2000-01 season.

Honorable mention: Bobby Dandridge, Grant Hill, Alonzo Mourning, David Robinson.

Washington

Winner: John Stockton was born in Spokane and attended high school and college in the eastern Washington city. A 10-time NBA All-Star and a member of the original Dream Team, Stockton holds the NBA career record for total assists with 15,806. He also holds the league record for assists per game in a single season with 14.5 in 1989-90. He also was durable, playing in all 82 games in 16 seasons.

Stockton played his entire pro career for the Utah Jazz. His selection here is an easy choice. He’s the only person born in Washington to reach the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame primarily for accomplishments as an NBA player.

Runner-up:When we think about Brandon Roy, it’s impossible not to wonder what he could have been if knee issues hadn’t shortened his career. The Seattle native made three All-Star teams in his first four seasons. He gets the nod here based on quality, not the quantity of games he played.

Honorable mention: Jamal Crawford.

West Virginia

Winner: Jerry West is affectionately known as “The Logo” because it’s his silhouette that was employed in the NBA’s iconic emblem in 1969. The second overall pick in 1960, West played all 14 of his seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, winning one championship during the 1971-72 season and being named an All-Star each season. He was the NBA Finals MVP in 1969, the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1972, led the league in scoring during the 1969-70 season and paced all players in assists in 1971-72. West was a 10-time All-NBA First-Team selection, a two-time All-NBA Second-Team member, was named to the All-NBA Defensive First Team four times and the All-NBA Defensive Second Team once. For his career, West averaged 27.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists over 932 games. His No. 44 is retired by the Lakers.

Runner-up:Hal Greer, a guard from Huntington, W.Va., played 15 seasons for the Syracuse Nationals and Philadelphia 76ers. He won a championship with the Sixers in 1966-67, ranking second on the team in scoring behind Wilt Chamberlain. Greer also was a 10-time All-Star, winning the All-Star MVP in 1968. His No. 15 is retired by the Sixers.

Honorable mention: Rodney “Hot Rod” Hundley, O.J. Mayo, Rod Thorn, Jason Williams.

Wisconsin

Winner: Latrell Sprewell, who was born and raised in Milwaukee, is still the most prolific NBA scorer the state has produced. The 24th overall pick by Golden State in 1992, Sprewell played 13 seasons with the Warriors, New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves. He was a four-time All-Star who averaged 18.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals over his 913-game career. Sprewell was an All-NBA First-Team selection in his second season, when he appeared in all 82 games, led the league in minutes at 43.1 per game, was named an All-Star for the first time and captured All-NBA Defensive Second-Team honors. In his first season with the Knicks in 1998-99, he helped New York become the first and still the only team in NBA history to journey to the NBA Finals as an eighth seed.

Runner-up:The 24th overall pick in the 1985 draft, Terry Porter of Milwaukee enjoyed a 17-year career, making the postseason all but one season. He was named an All-Star twice and has his No. 30 retired in Portland.

Honorable mention: Fred Brown, Caron Butler, Jim Chones, Devin Harris, Don Kojis, John Johnson, Wesley Matthews, Nick Van Exel.

Wyoming

Winner: James Johnson, who was born and raised in Cheyenne, leads an unsurprisingly short list of players from the state. After attending Wake Forest, he was drafted 16th by the Chicago Bulls in 2009 and is still going strong with the Dallas Mavericks in his 12th season. Johnson has played for seven franchises, serving mostly as a key reserve supplying defense and toughness. So far, he’s averaged 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 661 games. While his career is short on gaudy stats and personal accolades, Johnson’s longevity is remarkable and is what makes him the greatest NBA player from Wyoming.

Runner-up: Kenny Sailors was the best of the bunch when Wyoming was a bit of a pro basketball hotbed in the late 1940s and early ’50s, playing five seasons in the BAA and NBA for seven different franchises and averaging 12.6 points for his career. He is credited with ushering in a new shooting technique now known as the jump shot.

Honorable mention: Vern Gardner.

(Illustration by John Bradford: Photos by Getty Images and NBAE)