All time Unique Team

[Neurotic Guy]

Don Nelson -- never seen anyone before or since shoot a free throw like him.  And at about 90%.

[Redz]

The Ainge rarity made me look up a list of others who have played in both MLB & NBA (or a predecessor league)

Dave DeBusschere, Mark Hendrickson, Danny Ainge, Gene Conley, Ron Reed, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Cotton Nash, Frank Baumholtz, Dick Ricketts and Chuck Connors.

[hardlyyardley]

Danny Ainge.   The only player to play MLB before coming to the NBA. 

Charlie Ward.  The only Heisman winner to play in the NBA.

Bill Bradley.  The only politician I can think of that played in the NBA.

Alaa Abdelnaby.  I think the only player with the initials AA.  Could be wrong though.


before ainge....bill sharman, gene conley, chuck connors(the rifleman) and maybe dick groat

 besides...bill bradley....tom mcmillan...congress (nc or nc st  and i believe washington)

besides abdelnaby.....anthony (tony) allen

[Redz]

Alaa Abdelnaby.  I think the only player with the initials AA.  Could be wrong though.


besides abdelnaby.....anthony (tony) allen

Alvin Adams!

Akeem Abdul-Aziz (does triple-A count?)

Arnold Auerbach?

[MaxwellSmart]

Vin Baker also had those same AA initials somewhere.

[brownbagger]

Bob Macadoo was probably the first big man at 6'9" that  scored from the perimeter as good as any

2guard or 3.I think he open the door for the big man having more than a post up game or play in the

paint.Another unique quality about Macadoo is he is the first  player i know of thats been named to

  50th Greatest Player in both the NBA and Europro league.He was named in'96 to the NBA greatest,

and 2008 to the Euro league.

[brownbagger]

Manute Bol. Yup

Muggsy Bogues. Nope, Ses Tyrone Lue

Spud Webb. Nope, See Nate Robinson

Pete Marovich.  Nope, See Harlem Globe Trotters

Oscar Robertson.  Nope, See Magic Johnson

Charles Barkley.  Yup

Larry Bird.  Yup

Magic Johnson. Nope, See Oscar Robertson

Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  Yup

Rick Barry. Yup

Dennis Rodman. Nope, See Reggie Evans

George Gervin. Nope, See Julius Erving

Manu Ginoboli. Nope, See Anderson Varejao

------------------------

Great list by the way - I think in some cases uniqueness is confused for quality.

Reggie Evans is no Dennis Rodman, but they play a very similar game. Dennis is just much, Much, MUCH better at it. Same goes for the Muggsy and Spud comments.

Thanks for the compliment.  However Tyrone Lue is officially listed at 6'0" while Muggsy is 9 inches shorter at 5'3".   Pete added his flair in actual games while the Globetrotters games did not count.   I think that makes both of these guys a little more unique.  Maybe Magic and Oscar a little too similar.  Gervin is known for his finger rolls and had a very unique style.  Dr J wasn't really a similar player.  Maybe is Evans is a very very very poor man's Rodman however you could say Barkley had some poor man's out there like Larry Johnson however once you start including everyone's poor man's you start negating alot of people on this list.  I don't see the comparison with Ginoboli or Varejao other than they are from the same country. 

How about these unique players or some people have decided to include unique personalities or unique circumstances. 

Danny Ainge.   The only player to play MLB before coming to the NBA. 

Charlie Ward.  The only Heisman winner to play in the NBA.

Bill Bradley.  The only politician I can think of that played in the NBA.

Alaa Abdelnaby.  I think the only player with the initials AA.  Could be wrong though.

Dikembe Mutombo.  I have to include him as I love the guy.  In 1999 one of 20 winners to receive the president's service awards, the nation's highest honor for volunteer service.  I think he is the only player to ever receive this .  Athletes donate money but nowhere close to Dikembe.  He personally donated somewhere in the vicinity of 20 million of his own money to his native country.

Addul-Rauf formerly known as Chris Jackson refusing to stand up for "the star-Spangled Banner".

Darryl Dawkins.  known for naming his dunks.  Chocolate thunder, Rim Wrecker, the Go-Rilla, the Look out Below, the Yo Mama and few more. 

Rafer Alston The only And1 player to play in the NBA.

Another unique circumstances i find about D.Ainge is he played in the finals with 3 different teams

throughout his career,Boston,Portland and the Suns.He  always seems to be near winning situations.To me that

says a lot about his character.

[tenn_smoothie]

hell of an interesting topic - how you leave bill russell out is beyond me. he is actually the most unique player in history - with the way he played the game and the way he won & won & won.............. the greatest winner of all time in any sport, hands down. college, olympics & the pros.

[JBcat]

The Ainge rarity made me look up a list of others who have played in both MLB & NBA (or a predecessor league)

Dave DeBusschere, Mark Hendrickson, Danny Ainge, Gene Conley, Ron Reed, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Cotton Nash, Frank Baumholtz, Dick Ricketts and Chuck Connors.

wow.  When I looked this up I only found Ainge.  Must have been Celtics only fact   Actually I do now recall Mark Hendrickson played for the 76rs and I think and then went to pitch for the Rays.  DeBusschere maybe pitched briefly?