The #1 criteria that I think trumps all the others as a way to evaluate a great basketball player is DOMINANCE. What does that mean and what does that look like? It is very hard if not impossible to compare players from one era with another. But it is possible to recognize those elite players that were the best, those who dominated the league and players, in each era. I think you will better understand dominance after you read these excerpts from my book.

My first encounter with a dominate player was my sophomore year in high school. We played one of the best high school teams in the state of Illinois. They were ranked in the top 10 at a time when Il only had ONE classification for all schools. The McLeansboro  Foxes had a 6’5″ player named Jerry Sloan, the second best player in the state. Sloan played at a level that very few high school players ever rise to. He scored 35 points against us and didn’t even play the last quarter. He signed a scholarship to play at the University of Illinois but transferred to Evansville University and became a two-time All-American.  He played for the Chicago Bulls for 10 years, made 2 all-star teams, 4 all-defensive teams, and had his jersey retired as “The Original Bull”. He was elected into the Hall of Fame as a NBA coach. He was dominate.

As a high school coach in Florida for nine years we played against a lot of D1 players but one those players was head and shoulders above the others. We played a team from Auburndale that had a player named Tracy McGrady. McGrady hardly even broke a sweat and had 30 points at half-time. We had a 6’3″ D1 guard that had no chance against him. Sitting on the bench watching this kid destroy us I made the comment that he should be playing in college. McGrady went straight to the NBA out of prep school. He was dominant.

While at Oral Roberts University we played Illinois State University during the same period that Doug Collins played. Doug was a great scorer and scored 30 points or more against us every time we played them. He was always in the top 3 in the nation in scoring during his collegiate career. He became an All-American and was the first overall draft pick for the Philadelphia 76ers. He played for 8 years in the NBA and averaged 18 points a game for his career. He was a four-time NBA All-Star. We had our own dominate player in Richard Fuqua. Richard was a 6’3″ guard with unlimited range and scoring ability. He was second in the country one year with a 33 point average and third another year with a 31 point per game average. Richard scored 40 points in the first round of the NIT in New York when we beat Memphis State be 20 points. He was also an All-American. Both of these players were dominate.