The NBA has had more stars than we fans know what to do with. Consequently, perennial all-stars, champions, and fan favorites eventually get lost in the shuffle of history. It would take a novel to encapsulate the legacies of every forgotten star and by the time the novel is finished there would be a new batch that needs talked about. But what about the stars who were never really seen as stars in their era?
Those are the guys we are going to focus on today, specifically the guards. There will be another article to come on the under appreciated forwards and centers of the ’80’s.
The criteria to be included in this list is that the players could not have made more than one All-Star team. Coming in at honorable mention for the guards are: Darrell Griffith, Rickey Green, Sleepy Floyd, Ray Williams, and Ricky Pierce. Without further ado though, let’s get into the five most under appreciated stars of the 80’s.
Johnny Moore
Johnny Moore was an elite floor general and had great instincts on defense. He ran the show for some very talented San Antonio Spurs teams in the early 80s. His teams made the playoffs in four of his first five seasons which included back-to-back trips to the conference finals where they would be defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers both times.
The best player comparison for him is Rajon Rondo. Let’s start with their regular season numbers. Between the ’82-’83 to ’85-’86 seasons, Moore would average 12 points, 9.7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Compare that to Rondo’s prime numbers of 12.3 points, 10.7 assists, and 2.0 steals per game and you can see where their strengths overlap. The major difference, however, was that Rondo made four All-Star teams and an All-NBA team during his prime while Moore never made either team.
Neither was very accurate from three-point territory but each was capable from mid-range when it was was needed. Speaking of when it’s needed, playoff Johnny Moore was just as much of a real thing as playoff Rondo. In the team’s second trip to the conference finals, Moore averaged 22.5 points, 14.6 assists, and 2.5 steals throughout their run.
Between the pass first mentality, reluctance to shoot the three, great defensive instincts, ability to reach a new gear in the playoffs, and a rivalry with the Lakers, these two are practically clones. Oddly enough, one of Rondo’s listed nicknames on basketball-reference.com is Johnny.
Through and through these two players played the same game but received very different recognition for their greatness and it’s a shame because Johnny Moore was the real deal!
Derek Harper
Consistently an above average scorer, shooter, playmaker, and defender; this was Derek Harper. Over a seven year prime with the Dallas Mavericks, Harper averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Those are numbers worthy of an All-Star selection on any given year as long as they are contributing to a winning team.
Harper isn’t alone in the sense that these type of numbers never translated into All-Star selections. His 21st century archetype, Mike Conley, has also never made an All-Star team despite similar prime numbers of 17.8 points, 5.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. Each have made at least one all-defensive team and are respectable three-point shooters with Harper and Conley shooting 35.5% and 37.3%, respectively during their prime seasons.
Although Harper’s Mavericks would reach the postseason six times, only three of those years were during his prime. There was one season where they were true contenders though, and that was in the ’87-’88 season when they took the Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals. Further embodying his model of consistency, Harper put up 17.1 points and 7.7 assists per game in the series on 35.3% shooting from deep.
Outside of Dallas, Derek Harper is far from a household name and rather is just someone who the casual fan may vaguely remember hearing about. Within the organization, however, he is a legend who holds the franchise record for assists and steals and has his No. 12 jersey retired.
Dale Ellis
Simply put, Dale Ellis was born in the wrong era. He was a phenomenal shooter who took just 3.5 threes per game for his career which he hit at a 40.3% clip. His prime only lasted four years and was spent with the Seattle SuperSonics.
Long range sniper for the SuperSonics? I’m sure this would sound familiar even if you didn’t know anything about Dale Ellis.
Ray Allen gives you the best idea of what Ellis would have looked like in the 2000s era. Of course just one more decade into the future and each guy would be taking even more threes if they were currently playing.
We all the know the greatness of prime Ray Allen but even he doesn’t quite stack up with Ellis’ prime numbers. Compare Allen’s 23.3 points, 4.1 assists, 44.9% field goal percentage, and 40.2% three-point percentage to his predecessor’s 25.6 points, 2.4 assists, 50.5% field goal percentage, and 41.2% three point percentage and you can see the only category where Allen beats him is in playmaking. Their accolades would beg to differ, however. Allen finished his career as a 10-time All-Star as opposed to Ellis’ single All-Star appearance.
The Ellis-led Sonics had their best playoff run after they finished with an uninspiring 39-43 record and a seventh seed in the playoffs. Miraculously, they rattled off upset after upset to reach the conference finals where their run would hit a screeching halt as they were swept at the hands of the Lakers.
Ellis made his lone All-Star and All-NBA third team selections in the ’88-’89 season where he averaged 27.5 points per game. His only other accolade would be winning the Most Improved Player award after being traded from the Mavericks to the Sonics. Between those seasons he saw his minutes increase from 15.1 per game to a whopping 37.5 and his scoring from 7.1 to a scorching 24.9 per game.
World B. Free
(Born Lloyd Bernard Free)
World B. Free had a long prime of eight years which included stints with the Clippers, Warriors, and Cavaliers. Over these years he would accrue averages of 24.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. He would do so on solid efficiency of 45.9% from the field and 34.5% from deep over these years.
Free fell brutality victim to being on losing teams. While he would make the postseason five times in his career, only one of those seasons were in his prime. In his lone prime playoff appearance with the Cavs he certainly showed out by posting 26.3 points and 7.8 assists as his team fell in four games to the Boston Celtics.
He made the All-NBA second team in the ’78-’79 season which would be his only All-NBA selection. It’s important to note that there were only two All-NBA teams until the ’88-’89 season when it expanded to three teams. Free’s only All-Star appearance would come the following season when he made it next to impossible to leave him off by averaging 30.2 points per game which would trail only George Gervin that season.
There’s not much else to say about his playing career. His numbers speak for themself and prove that he was an unbelievable talent who just never had the supporting cast around him to win. His name, however, garners some more attention.
Born as Lloyd B. Free, his name change was simply changing Lloyd to World. This wasn’t a new name for him though because it had been his nickname growing up in New York. In an interview, Free talks about how nicknames were given to the hoopers in New York that had a real chance to make the NBA. His “All-World” nickname came from the 360 dunks he would do while only being in junior high. He ultimately decided to make the official name change as a statement of peace in a time of much political and social tension in the country.
The name change was met with jabs from opposing players and even refusal from a Mavericks announcer to say he new name. Free would end up dropping a season high 40 points on the Mavericks a few years after his name change, proving that the adversity he met only elevated his game.
Eddie Johnson
There are two Eddie Johnsons who have played in the NBA and both had impressive careers that actually overlapped for six seasons. The Johnson we’re talking about spent his best seven years playing for the Kings and Suns. Over this time period he would average 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game on 48.4% shooting from the field.
Johnson would manage to do this despite only playing over 31 minutes per game in three seasons and primarily coming off the bench in three of his prime years. He would receive the Sixth Man of the Year award in the ’88-’89 season after scoring 21.5 points in 29.2 minutes per game and just seven starts.
Playoff success was a rarity for Johnson as it was for most players on our list. For some reason, most of these players had one season where they broke through to the Western Conference Finals only to be beaten by the Lakers who basically owned the West in the ’80s. When it was the Suns turn to take on the Lakers in the ’89 WCF, Johnson struggled badly to find his rhythm off the bench. He shot just 32.8% from the field to score 11.5 points per game in a sweep that favored the Lakers.
Though he never led a team to much success, Johnson consistently put up very respectable numbers so it’s surprising he never found his way onto an All-Star team in a few of the seasons where his teams were around a .500 record.
That wraps up my list for under appreciated stars of the ’80s who were never really stars because like I said, they were under appreciated. Another article will be coming soon on the most underrated forwards and centers of the same decade. Feel free to leave comments about the picks you liked or didn’t like and suggestions for who you want to be included in the forward/center list.
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