I proposed this question in the NBA chat: Who is the best player ever with under 5000 career points?

 

You may immediately think about Hall of Famers who famously weren't good at scoring, like Ben Wallace and Dennis Rodman, but both of them actually finished with close to 6000 points. Many guys you likely associate with being non-scorers have crossed the 5000-point barrier. Rudy Gobert currently has over 10K career points, Tony Allen has over 6500, and Draymond Green has over 8000. Because of this, they are not members of the Under 5K Club, NBA players with less than 5000 career points; there's lots of room.

 

This comes down to the paradoxical fact that 5000 points is simultaneously not a hard milestone for some players to reach and rare at the same time. There have been over 5000 players to play in the NBA, and only 992 have scored 5000 points or more in their careers, with more on their way. Which brings me to a major caveat: only non-active players are eligible for the Under 5K Club.

 

Wemby currently has under 5000 career points, but he is obviously going to pass that threshold very soon, so putting him in the Under 5K Club feels wrong. Therefore, a player must be retired to be eligible.

 

That leaves us with a few thousand players to pick from. Out of that entire group, I have managed to identify 6 players who have earned a chance in the Under 5K GOAT debate, and they each fall into a category. I will use them to craft an Under 5K Mount Rushmore before providing the case for each one as the Under 5K GOAT. Let's start with the most basic type:

You can rack up 5000 points by playing 834 games and averaging 6 points per game. However, nobody gets to that many games by only averaging 6 points; there has to be much more that makes it worth keeping a player around. This category rewards the most reliable of reliable role players.

Nate McMillan spent 12 years as a player, all with the Seattle Supersonics. He was originally Seattle's starting point guard, but quickly reverted to a backup when Gary Payton arrived. He remained Payton's backup until 1998, when he retired, and has since become a pretty good coach. As a matter of fact, McMillan is the only man in NBA history to play 10+ years and coach 5+ years with the same team.

He finished his career with averages of 5.9 points, 4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Obviously, McMillan was not an elite scorer. He never averaged more than 8 points in a season, and his shooting percentage was never better than 48%. But as I alluded to earlier, McMillan was much more than a mediocre scorer. His career averages should immediately make it obvious that McMillan was a jack-of-all-trades.

 

His unique profile gives him some of the wildest statistical feats:

 

He holds the record for most assists without any points scored in a playoff game with 16, which he put up in Game 6 of the 1987 Western Conference semi-finals to help Seattle advance to the Conference Final. Those Sonics are the last team with a losing record to make it to the conference finals, and McMillan was the starting point guard.

 

He was the first player ever to record a 25+ assist game with less than 10 points. He did it in his rookie year with a stat line of 8 points, 8 rebounds and 25 assists, along with 6 blocks(!) Rajon Rondo is the only player to do it since.

 

He is one of very few guards in NBA history to have multiple games with 8+ offensive rebounds.

 

He might be the only player in NBA history with more career assists than career points

He has the most assists out of anyone in the Under 5K Club by a huge margin (1000 more than 2nd) and averaged an impressive amount of rebounds for a point guard (a 6'5" point guard, but still). He currently ranks 57th all-time in rebounds for a point guard, and he jumps into the top 50 if we remove active players. McMillan is also top 50 in career steals among all players, not just point guards, which brings us to the most important component of McMillan's game: his defence.

Even though he was often overshadowed by The Glove, he still earned praise for his defence. He received votes for DPOY in 1988, 1994, and 1995 while also making the All-Defensive 2nd Team in 94 and 95, making him the only bench player in NBA history to make an All-Defensive team. The numbers back this up. Nate McMillan boasts the 2nd-highest Defensive Box Plus/Minus of any guard in NBA history (at least 10K minutes). If you don't understand that metric, just know that Alex Caruso is currently in 3rd place in that all-time ranking.

If that's too nerdy, then we can just look at steals per 100 possessions; McMillan is top 5 there and top 15 in blocks. There is a real argument that Nate McMillan is the most underrated defender in NBA history, with some even arguing McMillan was just as good defensively as GP.

 

With all that being said, some of you may point out that, because McMillan was a backup, he was generally facing weaker competition, especially since the best defender at his position was on his team, all valid points. However, when considering his case as the best Under 5K Club player ever, it is very strong. He has a strong argument as both the best playmaker and defender in the club, which makes his case almost undeniable. There is only 1 other player that matches McMillan in this category.

There are only 4 players in the Under 5K Club who also accumulated 18K minutes in their career. Nate McMillan is one of them; the other 3 are a variety of defensive specialists from different eras. All of them are worthy of this spot, but when I dug into their careers, one quickly became my favourite.

 

Charles 'Bo' Outlaw went undrafted in 1993, yet managed to catch on with the Clippers in 94. He turned that opportunity into a 15-year career in which he averaged 5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1 steal, and 1.3 blocks. Among the Under 5K Club, he ranks 4th in total points, 4th in blocked shots and 13th in total rebounds (5th in offensive rebounds). Those stats may immediately give his role away; just remember this man stood 6'8" and weighed 210 lbs (95 kg).

He spent time with the Clippers, Magic, Suns and a very brief stop in Memphis, being beloved everywhere he went for his great work ethic. Although he never made any all-defensive teams, Bo did receive DPOY votes in 3 seasons (1996, 1998, and 2000) and 6MOY votes in 1997. He was also respected across the league, even when he was first coming into his own.

 

In 1997, his last year with the Clippers, he had a run-in with future Hall of Famer (and noted horrible human being) Karl Malone. After battling for a loose ball with Stockton, Malone elbowed Bo in the face. The Mailman showed respect for Bo in post-game interviews, but played dumb when asked if he saw Stockton and Bo fighting for the ball. Bo then gave a quote that perfectly summarizes his career:

 

"I’m an Outlaw everywhere I go, that’s my name,” Outlaw said. “But to me I’m just a player trying to help my team." "If you want something done, ask me, and I’ll go do it."

Ironically, despite having the last name Outlaw, he was beloved by every team he played for. With the Clippers, he was seen as a heartwarming underdog story who worked hard for everything he got. Then he joined the Orlando Magic and became a fan-favourite. At a time when Orlando was losing all their superstars, he was a bright spot as a do-everything type defender and player. He was one of the faces of the "Heart and Hustle" era and remains a popular player in Orlando to this day.

Shortly after the Magic acquired Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill, they traded Bo to the Suns. He continued his schtick and was well-liked in Phoenix for it, but as the team got better, he saw fewer minutes and was eventually traded to the Grizzlies, only for Memphis to release him the very next year and let him sign back in Phoenix. He was on some of the 7-seconds-or-less teams, but mainly at the end of the bench as injuries held him back. The Suns chose not to re-sign him, and he spent his final 3 years on the rising Magic while playing just 75 games total.

 

He was a relentless competitor, yet managed to remain affable away from the court. The best story that demonstrates this is when Bo Outlaw got his first triple-double. On April 17th, 1998, Outlaw scored 25 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished 10 assists in perhaps the best game of his career in a win over the New Jersey Nets. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to help the team make the playoffs, but reporters were eager to ask how Bo felt about his first career triple-double. His response:

 

"What’s that, some kind of hamburger?"

Why did he get this spot over the other contenders? Versatility. Bo may have been slightly ahead of his time as someone who was capable of defending both the perimeter and paint very well. Among guys of his height and shorter, Bo ranks 5th all-time in blocked shots, just behind Julius Erving and Shawn Marion. His 855 steals rank 83rd among players his height or taller. That may not sound impressive, but Bo Outlaw is 1 of just 39 players ever to rack up 1000 block and 850 steals in their career. Of those 39, he has the fewest minutes played. I hope it is clear why I really like this guy.

The analytics certainly agree with me. Defensive Box Plus/Minus says he was the best defender in 2000 with a 3.6. For context, that is the same DBPM that Ausar Thompson had this past season when he finished 3rd in DPOY voting. If we look at careers with at least 500 games played, he ranks 13th in DBPM, just behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Ben Wallace. I'm not saying he should've won DPOY, nor am I suggesting Outlaw is on the level of Hakeem and Big Ben. What I am saying is the analytics paint a picture of someone who, while appreciated in his time, may have been even better than they realized.

 

Combining his on-court impact with his strong character as a human being made him my choice for the other nominee for the Under 5K GOAT in the Ol' Reliable category.

 

Before I give my verdict, I would like to pass along honourable mentions:

Thabo Sefolosha was very close to taking Bo Outlaw's spot. He actually has the most points in the Under 5K Club with 4994. He spent most of his career as a defence-first guy with occasional bursts of offence with the OKC Thunder and Atlanta Hawks, masquerading as a 3-and-D player on really good teams. However, his numbers show he was a kinda-3-and-D guy. He had some good shooting years and just as many awful shooting years. That inconsistency kept him from contention and relegated him to an honourable mention.

George Johnson forced himself into contention thanks to his championship ring, his MVP vote and leading the NBA in blocks 3 separate times (1978, 81 and 82). It also helped that he leads the Under 5K Club in both total rebounds and blocks. On the surface, he seems like a no-brainer, but looking just a little closer at his MVP vote exposes cracks. George Johnson received multiple MVP votes while averaging 5 points, 7 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game. He was a good defender and made the All-Defensive 2nd Team, but come on!

 

To be fair to Johnson, he was a valuable role player on the 1975 Warriors as the backup center. He also became a good free-throw shooter after Rick Barry taught him how to shoot free throws underhand. Unfortunately, his ability to fill his role was not enough to become the top contender for the Under 5K GOAT.

 

VERDICT

It is Nate McMillan. He is easily the best contender from this group. The most steady and reliable role player, with the best skill set. It is no wonder how he became a good head coach. When I first started looking into this, McMillan seemed like the obvious choice for the Under 5K GOAT, but more research has made it clear that is not the case. He'll have to go against the best choices in the other categories.

 

Read Part 2 for the next group of nominees, the Tragic Tales