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30 NBA players true basketball fans will never forget
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- 30 NBA players true basketball fans will never forget
Imagn Images | Photo Illustration by Michael Castillo
Sometimes, you just have to sit around naming guys. "Oh, remember (insert NBA player)," "Oh yeah, he was great." It's something to do with your friends while sharing an appetizer, your colleagues instead of doing work or your significant other if you want them not to like you anymore. That is, in essence, what we are doing here. These are players for the true NBA sickos, the people who we'll need to defend from the encroaching jaws of historical forgetfulness.
Not all of these guys are total no names -you'll see the first name on this list is someone we all know, and like any team we have some stars, some role players and some end of bench guys. But most of these guys are far from household names, and this list is a request from me to you to now allow these glorious NBA careers to fade off into obscurity. I thank you for your help.
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1. Jrue Holiday: 76ers, Pelicans, Bucks, Celtics, Trail Blazers
You may be thinking "I'm not going to forget about Jrue Holiday!" and I'm sure you won't. Holiday is the captain of this team, our first option when we are all collectively asked who the number one player is we must ensure NBA history doesn't forget about. This spot on the list is a call to action, a directive that you must not allow Holiday to be forgotten or worse, disrespected.
Jrue Holiday has been an All-Star twice. He's never made an All-NBA team. He's never won a Defensive Player of the Year award; his basketball reference will make him look like a great defender on a bunch of solid teams who was a pretty average scorer. But that's not even close to enough context; at his heights, Holiday was an elite scorer, creator and suffocating defender -but he was also a master of support roles to help his team win titles, and neither Boston or Milwaukee does so without him.
Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
2. Isaiah Thomas: Kings, Suns, Celtics, Cavaliers, Lakers, Nuggets, Wizards, Pelicans, Mavericks, Hornets
Prime IT was so good it didn't even make any sense. He was 5'9" and it was a real 5'9", but he had such an understanding of angles around the rim and such an ability to create space with his unique jump that seemed to carve through air. Essentially a two-year supernova and fifth in MVP voting in 2017, injuries derailed his career as he never quite got that signature playoff run. Boston was rather cutthroat, trading him for Kyrie Irving despite his sterling performance.
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His peak also coincided with peak Game of Thrones popularity, l eading to the nickname "King in the Fourth ," which is objectively awesome. This was also the era of "Game of Zones" on Bleacher Report, a tremendous animated series that was just coming onto the scene and in which IT featured heavily.
3. Rodney Hood: Jazz, Cavaliers, Trail Blazers, Raptors, Bucks, Clippers
I used to joke with my friends that Rodney Hood was the ultimate mediocre shooting guard: he could shoot ... but like, not really. He could score ... but like, not enough. He was on a really incredible number of teams for a guy who didn't even play into his 30s, but I promise that late-2010s Rodney Hood was making things happen.
Between 2016 and 2019, Hood played 44 playoff games in three years! He was never starting but he was always out there getting between 15 and 25 minutes per game, and I always remember him hooping on my TV during the postseason in that era. It was strange to see, because he was always on a different team ... like he was somehow getting lost and nobody realized it.
Chicago Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
4. Nikola Mirotic: Bulls, Pelicans, Bucks
Round about 2015, Nikola Mirotic was maybe going to be the next thing ... for like 15 minutes. It didn't pan out, but there was a lot of excitement about the Euroleague hooper who finished second in ROY voting and could shoot threes from anywhere with size. It was great in theory, it just didn't actually happen.
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That's not to say he didn't have his moment. He had a great beard, and he was also a shockingly big part of that fun 2018 Pelicans team with Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis that took a game off the death lineup Warriors in the second round. In that one win, Mirotic scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Not bad.
5. Marcin Gortat: Magic, Suns, Wizards, Clippers
Gortat was the kind of 2010s center we loved: never shot threes, wasn't really that efficient, wasn't anything special as a rim protector, but just kinda ... had a presence in the paint that you had to respect. We don't really have Marcin Gortats anymore, a sort of institutional center that just exists year after year for slightly unclear reasons with moderate effectiveness. It was an interesting time.
In five full seasons on the Wizards, he missed eight total games. Every time you watched Washington for half a decade, there he was. His relationship with his teammates wasn't always easy, and he got a reputation as a bit of a hardo. The Polish Hammer was not someone to be messed with, but he could be counted on to show up. And the last competent stretch of Wizards basketball ended when he left.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Jae Crowder | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
6. Jae Crowder: Mavericks, Celtics, Cavaliers, Jazz, Grizzlies, Heat, Suns, Bucks, Kings
2023 Jae Crowder = five second-round picks. That is the fundamental axiom of NBA math. In 2023, when the Bucks were mid-destroying themselves trying to placate Giannis Antetokounmpo, they traded five seconds for Crowder in one of the funniest transactions of my lifetime, thereby setting my mental level for the value of a second-round pick. He was under 40 percent from the field that season, 9 points per game, solid defender, that's five second-round picks.
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Crowder had a nice career and played in over 100 playoff games, basically averaging 10 points for every team in the known universe for 13 years and making tens of millions of dollars doing it. That's all you can really ask for as an NBA role player, and he also had awesome hair and wore number 99, two nice bonuses.
7. Michael Porter Jr.: Nuggets, Nets
The first curveball of the list since there's so much more of MPJ's career to go, but there's already so much about him we need to make sure we don't forget about. He's an insanely talented scorer who has won a championship and made hundreds of millions of dollars and yet the NBA doesn't really know what to do with him. He's just ... on the Brooklyn Nets. Waiting, menacingly.
I could see a world where MPJ bounces around to terrible team after terrible team scoring in bunches, dealing with injuries and vibing his way to a prolific scoring career without ever being in another big spot. I could also see a contender talking themselves into him and everyone immediately holding their breath; we may have heard the last of MPJ, even though he's only 27 and might be in the league for eight more years. If we haven't, I'm ready for anything.
Boston Celtics guard Mike Conley | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
8. Mike Conley: Grizzlies, Jazz, Timberwolves, Celtics
In 2021, Mike Conley was named to the All-Star team as a replacement for the injured Devin Booker, ending his 14-year run as probably the best player never to be an All-Star. This launched the highly intellectual and very worthwhile discussion: would you rather just be an All-Star or be the best player never to be an All-Star?
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In Conley's case, I think just being the All-Star is worth it, because now he can be introduced as "NBA All-Star Mike Conley!" at all future social events, a marked improvement from "NBA All-Defensive Second-Team Mike Conley!" I feel for CJ McCollum, who has never been an All-Star and whose crowning achievement will lead him to be introduced as "NBA Most Improved Player CJ McCollum!"
9. Terrence Ross: Raptors, Magic, Suns
If you win a dunk contest, I'm going to remember you, and Terrence Ross was one of those players you could tell actually enjoyed dunking. He never quite lived up to his eighth overall pick billing, and while he had some nice moments on the Toronto Raptors (like winning the dunk contest) he just wasn't an efficient player.
However, Ross put together a cool second act on the Orlando Magic and turned himself into a solid sixth man. Two of those teams made the playoffs, and while we often forget those first-round exit squads, those runs can matter to people and player from those cities; plus, Ross was an NBA 2K beast back in the day, always one of the best dunkers.
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
10. Harrison Barnes: Warriors, Mavericks, Kings, Spurs
After he signed a mammoth contract with the Dallas Mavericks and was replaced by Kevin freaking Durant on the Golden State Warriors, I think Barnes' career has gone about as well as anyone could have hoped. He may finally be reaching the end of the road, but Barnes has been a solid forward for almost 15 years and has been a cool part of this young Spurs team as the only real older player.
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His career really could have gone south for Barnes after he decamped Golden State before the dynasty really began and because he was the seventh pick in the draft, but he's carved out a nice spot in NBA history: Oh Harrison Barnes, I liked Harrison Barnes. Feels exactly right.
11. Trevor Ariza: Knicks, Magic, Lakers, Rockets, Hornets, Wizards, Suns, Kings, Trail Blazers, Heat
Ariza is like some weird darkest timeline version of Robert Horry's career. He bounced around the league his first few years before playing a serious role on the 2009 Los Angeles Lakers championship team, becoming one of the first true three-and-D players of the modern NBA. He kicked around a couple more teams and generally seemed to be having a nice career.
Ariza's real peak (and perhaps his nadir as well) came during his second stint on the Houston Rockets. He was a huge part of those James Harden squads, and the 2018 Western Conference Finals saw Ariza infamously go 0-9 from three in Game 7 as the Rockets missed 27 straight threes. That was the closest anyone ever came to beating the Death Lineup Warriors, and Ariza was right in the middle of it.
Toronto Raptors forward Amir Johnson | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
12. Amir Johnson: Pistons, Raptors, Celtics, 76ers
Another one of the Marcin Gortatesque institutional big men, Johnson started 485 games in his career despite never averaging more than 10 points per game or more than seven rebounds. But he was just ... there, hanging out, on the Toronto Raptors, for like ... seven years, starting every game. This really was just a different era.
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I'll personally remember Johnson as an unbelievably underwhelming power forward on the Isaiah Thomas Celtics teams of 2016 and 2017. I never understood what he did, but he was literally always the starter. Sometimes, you don't have to be flashy or even particularly effective to play 14 years in the NBA. You just have to persist.
13. Roy Hibbert: Pacers, Lakers, Hornets, Nuggets
Hey, this is a two-time All-Star you're talking about here, one of the central figures of the somewhat-short-lived Heat/Pacers rivalry. But Hibbert is an interesting case in that he rose to prominence as one of the NBA's best defenders and then fell to total irrelevance just as quickly. I'll always remember a big cover feature on him in Sports Illustrated with the headline "STRAIGHT UP" and a big photo of him blocking LeBron James.
In the NBA, you usually have to be able to do at least two things to stay on the court. Hibbert could always defend, but he had to be able to score for his career to continue. He was a shockingly bad rebounder for his size and couldn't shoot whatsoever. Nevertheless, there was a notable period of time when "is Roy Hibbert the best defender in the NBA?" was a real thing we talked about.
Orlando Magic forward Al-Farouq Aminu | USA TODAY Sports
14. Al-Farouq Aminu: Clippers, Hornets/Pelicans, Mavericks, Trail Blazers, Magic, Bulls
I am using this list as a vehicle to promote long-forgotten teams that were cool while they were happening, and one of those teams was the 2016 Portland Trail Blazers. That was the CJ McCollum Most Improved Player year, the Damian Lillard MVP-candidate breakout year, and man it's not their fault they ran into the Golden State Warriors! I really liked that team, and let me tell you: Al-Farouq Aminu was the third-best player on it.
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That might say more about that Blazers team than it does about Aminu, but I always liked his game and how he used his wingspan in lieu of major athleticism. He was a nice defender in his time too. These are the kinds of guys we need these lists for!
15. Gerald Green: Celtics, Timberwolves, Rockets, Mavericks, Nets, Pacers, Suns, Heat, Rockets
When I said I'd remember you for dunk contests, this is the poster child for that rule. A tremendous natural athlete but someone who always struggled to impact winning, Green is perhaps best known for his two dunk contest wins back when those things actually mattered. He was also one of the five players traded to the Timberwolves from Boston for Kevin Garnett.
Green played in Europe for a time, but eventually made it back to the NBA and pieced together a career worth remembering. He was never particularly good, but he did improve enough as a shooter to justify getting run on a couple solid teams. Like a few guys on this list, he was on a Harden Rockets team and an Isaiah Thomas Celtics team -you might be able to tell which teams I watched as a kid.
Los Angeles Clippers center Serge Ibaka | USA TODAY Sports
16. Serge Ibaka: Thunder, Magic, Raptors, Clippers, Bucks
You're talking to a big Serge Ibaka fan right here. The legacy of every player in the NBA can be doubted for one reason or another, but Iblocka has tremendous credentials that I will not see doubted nor forgotten. Early Thunder Ibaka was a force to be reckoned with, a legitimately transcendent shot blocker who averaged over 3.0 blocks per game twice, a bonkers number. The fact that he never won a DPOY is beyond me, and someone more plugged in than me will need to explain why Tyson Chandler's 1.4 blocks were better than Ibaka's 3.7 in 2012. Whatever.
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Ibaka then managed a spectacular pivot on the Toronto Raptors, and when I tell you that he was epic off the bench in their 2019 championship run I'm not kidding. It was nice to see Ibaka get a ring after the rest of that Thunder crew had torn each other apart trying to chase them.
17. Marcus Smart: Celtics, Grizzlies, Wizards, Lakers, Rockets
Speaking of absolutely epic defenders, Marcus Smart, my hometown Boston hero though never necessarily one of my personal favorite players; I always felt Smart was playing down to his opponents, trying to muck up the game in a way that was both detrimental to them and him. He was a talented player, the sixth overall pick in the draft for a reason. But he always seemed determined to do something big rather than do something well. He was sometimes as maddening as he was fun to root for.
Smart was, however, an undeniable competitor and an electric perimeter defender -they don't just give out DPOYs. I just always felt like there could have been something else to his game, that he could have been a real point guard that could shoot threes and run an offense. Instead, he's shot sub-40 percent from the field for his career and was never an especially great passer. I loved Marcus, and I wanted more.
Utah Jazz guard Patty Mills | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
18. Patty Mills: Trail Blazers, Spurs, Nets, Hawks, Heat, Jazz Clippers
I'm not saying Patty Mills is in the role player hall of fame, but do you know how good you need to be in your role to play 16 years and only start 112 games? Mills was coming off the bench for basically his entire career and looked great doing it. He was on nearly a decade of excellent Spurs teams and always found his way into the rotation, would play 20 minutes per game, took three shots, hit all his free throws and scored nine points. Clockwork.
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You have to respect this type of player. He was never a starter, was never going to be one, but really figured out his role on a good team and made so much more money than he would have otherwise because of it. You think ambitious, shot-chucking Patty Mills signs a four-year, $48 million deal with the Spurs at any point? Get out of here.
19. Jose Calderon: Raptors, Pistons, Mavericks, Knicks, Lakers, Hawks, Cavaliers
Ya'll aren't ready for this Jose Calderon theory: the 14 years of Jose Calderon were the first coming of Luke Kennard. Boom.
Two excellent 3-point shooters, people fans constantly talk themselves into because of their 3-point shooting yet are perpetually unable to handle sufficient shot volume to turn those percentages into glorious output.
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It's not actually that great a comparison, because Calderon was an actual point guard and a really good passer in his day. Kennard is much more of a catch-and-shoot player who basically doesn't pass, and the two play in very different leagues. But Calderon's shooting ability was novel for his age, and I think he may have been deployed differently if he came on the scene later.
Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
20. Dante Exum: Jazz, Cavaliers, Mavericks
My first memory of Dante Exum was from NBA 2K15 MyCareer mode, as my created player had a conversation with Exum in-game and said "I get it, you're the million-dollar rookie, I'm the thousand-dollar rookie," and Exum was a total jerk about it. I still to this day do not understand why they made Dante Exum the antagonist of NBA 2K15.
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He had a really rough career following that, sustaining injury after injury and never once finding his footing, even heading over to Europe after once being the fifth pick in the draft. However, in 2023, Exum was back in the NBA on the Mavericks, and 10 years into his career, got his moment in the sun. For the month of December, Exum was tremendous, scoring in bunches including 23 and 26-point games as Dallas made their way to the NBA Finals. Exum didn't do much in the playoffs, but it was really cool to see him have his moment after all these years.
21. Bogdan Bogdanovic: Kings, Hawks, Clippers
Now comes the business part of the list. Bogdan Bogdanovic is on here to remind everyone that he was the younger of the two Bogdanovices and that they are not related in any way. Bogdan is Serbian, Bojan is Croatian, there is absolutely no relationship between the Bogdonavices other than they are both named Bogdanovic. That's not a player to remember, but it's a thing to remember. Please remember this.
As for Bogdan, I think he was a solid if not actually good player in his time (which is technically still happening). I'm going to have a hard time convincing people of this, but there was a two-year NBA media trend where everyone thought Bogdan Bogdanovic was the missing piece for every contender. It's really uncanny to remember; Bogdan was fake-traded to the Nuggets so many times I'm shocked he was never actually on the Nuggets.
New York Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect
22. Bojan Bogdanovic: Nets, Wizards, Pacers, Jazz, Pistons, Knicks
Now for the second Bogdanovic. I think Bojan was better than Bogdan, to the point where I think Bojan was actually good and probably a bit underrated. He was never on any splashy teams other than those Utah teams that didn't work out around 2018-2019, but Bojan was a legitimately good scorer in his day. He wasn't 50-40-90, but he was ... 46-39-85, which is like the idea of 50-40-90.
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Because Bojan retired before he could be fake-traded to every team in the league, I think he's become historically underrated. He was a major piece of Pacers and Jazz teams for a whole half decade and is worth the attention of the true NBA fans among us.
23. Nerlens Noel: 76ers, Mavericks, Thunder, Knicks Pistons, Nets
Business item number two: mid-2010s Philadelphia 76ers centers. This is an absolutely critical thing for any sicko NBA fan to understand, because the pre-Joel Embiid era was dotted with so many random highly drafted centers you won't even believe it. The first of this squad was Nerlens Noel, so we shall begin there.
After being selected sixth in the 2013 draft, Noel played on two process 76ers teams, logging 30 minutes per game and went 18-64 and 10-72 before departing. That is what we in the biz call rough -no wonder Noel struggled, since he was introduced to the NBA on a team openly trying to lose. But he began the endless cycle of top-10 pick 76ers centers, one that continues to this day; we shall remember him for that.
Philadelphia 76ers center Jahlil Okafor | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
24. Jahlil Okafor: 76ers, Nets, Pelicans, Pistons, Pacers
We shall also remember Jahlil Okafor for his contributions to the 76ers highly drafted center pantheon, as he (like Noel) had a solid rookie campaign and then it was just so over. Okafor cut his teeth scoring 17.5 ppg on the 2015-16 76ers, also known as the team that went 10-72 to tank for Ben Simmons. Okafor just wasn't presented with a situation in which to thrive, but he shall live forever in The Process museum, wherever that winds up opening.
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Other legends I'd like in The Process Museum: Tony Wroten, Robert Covington, Michael Carter-Williams and Luc Mbah a Moute. Iconic group.
25. Courtney Lee: Magic, Nets, Rockets, Celtics, Grizzlies, Hornets, Knicks, Mavericks
Lee is an icon of the 2010s mediocre shooting guard world. He played for a ton of teams, none of them for that many years, hung around the league forever and packed it up having made lots of money and had an nice career. He was on a couple of fun teams, namely the 2009 Magic and the 2015 Grizzlies, the latter of which was probably his peak.
He also owns a weird little record: he made 45 consecutive free throws in 2018 while on the New York Knicks, their franchise record. If I were Courtney Lee right now, I'd try to cash in on all this Knicks hype and see if I can get some kind of Instagram shoutout for my achievement. Maybe pose with Mitchell Robinson shooting free throws as a gag... ah, he's on the Celtics now. Missed opportunity.
Houston Rockets guard Corey Brewer | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
26. Corey Brewer: Wolves, Mavericks, Nuggets, Rockets, Lakers, Thunder, 76ers, Kings
It just never quite happened for Brewer in the NBA, who was one of Billy Donovan's University of Florida players who won back-to-back NCAA championships with the same starting lineup. He had a few solid years here and there but didn't really live up to the hype of his seventh overall pick billing.
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But he was also ... always around. Guys like Brewer seem who manage 15-20 minutes for over a decade even if they aren't ever going to be the elite player they were drafted as are weirdly memorable to me. Because they might just have a moment, like Game 6 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals. Brewer scored 15 of his 19 points for the Rockets to beat the Clippers in the fourth quarter in one of the most shocking comebacks in recent memory. It's one of the worst losses in Clippers history. And it was all thanks ... to Corey Brewer.
27. Goran Dragic: Suns, Rockets, Heat, Raptors, Nets, Bulls, Bucks
It's pretty rare that the best season of a guy's career comes when he's 31, but that's actually what happened with Goran Dragic. On a really weird Heat team that somehow made the playoffs a few times, Dragic was the legitimate first option and, despite making an All-Star team, was widely regarded as underrated and maybe could make an impact on a contender. And then that Heat team ... was a contender (in the Bubble), and Dragic was a big part of it.
Mentally, I have Dragic in the same bucket as many other guys on this list, but I think he might even be a level above them. He's wasn't just solid, he may have actually been good -he was 16th in MVP voting in 2014. They don't just give away MVP votes.
Sacramento Kings guard Jeremy Lamb | USA TODAY Sports
28. Jeremy Lamb: Thunder, Hornets, Pacers, Kings
Jeremy Lamb is a classic archetype of shooting guard: you think he's a good shooter, but he really wasn't that good of a shooter. He was a decent shooting guard that kicked around the league for a decade and was another one of those NBA 2K MyTeam players from back in the day.
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But Lamb will always have this shot. One of the most iconic shots of the decade, so dumbfounding it lives on in my head forever. Very few players have a shot that I will always remember, even fewer of them from players that I don't even think were particularly good ... but two of those guys are named Jeremy L ... last names Lamb and Lin. Huh.
29. Doug McDermott: Bulls, Thunder, Knicks, Mavericks, Pacers, Spurs, Kings
Dougie McBuckets may finally be done in the NBA after his latest one-year contract expired, but what a career it was. $80 million earned, over 40 percent from three in his career, just solid role player numbers all around for 12 entire years. He started only 97 games.
McDermott is legitimately one of the greatest college basketball players of all time, and even after 12 years in the Association his time as a Creighton Bluejay is probably still his legacy. Lots of amazing college players can't hack it in the NBA, but McDermott did hack it ... as an excellent role player. That's not a bad thing at all.
Sacramento Kings forward Kent Bazemore | USA TODAY Sports
30. Kent Bazemore: Warriors, Lakers, Hawks, Trail Blazers, Kings
I tried everything to find this old Sportscenter Top 10 play of Kent Bazemore stripping Chris Paul (I think it was Chris Paul) and getting a dunk, but I couldn't find it. In any case, I always enjoyed Bazemore's game; he had this gangly swag to him, a very unearned confidence but one that was still pretty cool when you watched him play. Crazy wingspan, a pretty good energy-shot blocker burdened unfairly by his lack of size. He really should have been six inches taller and been a center. What could have been.
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In lieu of that exact highlight, here's a 17-minute Kent Bazemore highlight tape that I found on YouTube. If you made it all the way through this article, I imagine you're the kind of person that might enjoy a 17-minute Kent Bazemore highlight tape; don't all thank me at once.
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This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as 30 NBA players true basketball fans will never forget .
