Few cities in America have the passion and spirit for basketball quite like Atlanta. From Pete Maravich to Dominique Wilkins, the culture that is Atlanta basketball runs deep and has helped the city produce some of the best talent in the world. Here are the top five basketball players from Atlanta of all time.
- Walt Frazier
Walt “Clyde” Frazier is one of the smoothest basketball players of all time. The diminutive point guard was known as one of the best defensive players of his generation, as well as one of the coolest people.
He moved with grace but played with tenacity; as he came up at David Tobias Howard High School in Atlanta, he learned to play basketball on dirt because that was all the all-black school had at the time during segregation. He grinded his way through South Illinois and then became a legend for the New York Knicks.
His accolades speak for themselves: two-time NBA champion, four-time All-NBA First Team selection, and seven-time All-NBA Defensive Team selection. Frazier will always be remembered as one of the best to lace them up.
- Dwight Howard
In his prime, nobody was more dominant than “Superman.” Drafted first overall straight out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Howard came into the league fresh off being Gatorade’s Athlete of the Year and McDonald’s All-American MVP. He didn’t disappoint in the league either.
The Magic soared to the top of the Eastern Conference with a roster built around Howard’s skill set on offense and defense. He was a rim-running big man and distributor from the post, while they funneled players into his lane, and he was the best rim protector in basketball. His aerial ability generated fame for his Slam Dunk Champion accolades, and he was the first player in NBA history to win three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards.
After a solid season in Houston, Howard’s career began to fizzle out a little bit, but it’s clear that his peak was as one of the most dominant players of his generation.
- Shareef Abdur-Raheem
Shareef Abdur-Raheem was one of the best high school basketball players ever, winning Mr. Georgia Basketball two years in a row, before he enrolled at the University of California-Berkeley.
Abdur-Raheem had one of the best seasons for a freshman in college basketball, averaging 21 points and 8.5 rebounds per game as he won PAC-10 Player of the Year and also made Third Team All-American.
He carved out a solid 12-year career in the NBA, including an All-Star Game appearance in 2002. He was ahead of his time, as his inside-out scoring game would’ve been perfect for the modern NBA, but we never realized the full potential of Abdur-Raheem, as chronic knee injuries forced him to retire.
- Dale Ellis
Another player ahead of his time, Dale Ellis was one of the first prolific 3-point shooters in NBA history. The 3-point line was brought in for the 1979 season, and when Ellis entered the league in 1983, many players hadn’t practiced shooting from that distance, making it useless for a lot of players.
But the Marietta product was a career 40% shooter from three, and he found his role in the league by knocking down the shot from long distances, as he played in the league for 17 seasons, averaging over 15 points a game. Many players have since caught up to him, as the 3-point shot is now a staple in basketball, but when Ellis retired, he was second all-time in 3-pointers, a trailblazer to the modern game of basketball.
- Mike Mitchell
Mitchell was a prolific scorer and just edges out Josh Smith and Horace Grant for the final spot on the list. (World B. Free was born in Atlanta, but lived mostly in New York, so he was not included). Mitchell lit it up for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs while also having his number retired at the University of Auburn.
Mitchell was special on offense, and for four years he and George “Ice Man” Gervin created one of the best wing combinations in the league, leading the Spurs to the Western Conference Finals in 1983 before losing to the Lakers.
Written by: Kyle Grondin
