NBA 25th Anniversary Team

The NBA 25th Anniversary Team was announced on 11 December 1971 to celebrate the 25-year existence of BAA/NBA. This team was meant to be an All-NBA Team for that period. Up until that time, All-NBA Teams only consisted of 2 teams (First and Second), so this Team also only consists of 2 teams/10 players (4 Forwards, 2 Centers, and 4 Guards). The list excluded players who were still playing in the NBA, such as Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West.

Selection process

A panel selected 25 nominees from all eligible players, made up from 10 Forwards, 10 Guards, and 5 Centers. Then every NBA player that had been named All NBA 1st Team up to that time gave his vote. The four top voted forwards, two top voted centers, and four top voted guards made the team.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible as a nominee, a player must (by 1971):

  1. have completed his career, and
  2. have been named All-NBA Team at least once.

Selection panels

Red Auerbach, Ned Irish, Eddie Gottlieb, Haskell Cohen, Danny Biasone, Lester Harrison, Fred Zollner, Ben Kerner, Fred Schaus, and Bob Feerick.

Nominees

List of nominees, sorted by position, and last name (players denoted with an asterisk had been inducted into Basketball Hall Of Fame).

Name Career Years

Forwards

Centers

Guards

NBA 25th Anniversary Team

List of 25th Anniversary Team players, sorted by position and vote received.

Bill Russell was the only unanimous selection to the team. Furthermore, all nominees of the 25th Anniversary Team besides Feerick and Zaslofky have also been inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame.

In 1980, only four players of the 25th Anniversary Team were selected into NBA 35th Anniversary Team (Pettit, Cousy, Russell, and Mikan). However, along with them, four other players of this team (Arizin, Jones, Schayes, Sharman) were selected into NBA 50 Greatest Players of All-Time in 1996.

Some of the 25th Anniversary Team players and nominees appear on NBA Live video game series (since 2000) as players of NBA Live Legend All-Stars Teams (50's All-Stars or 60's All-Stars).

References
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