Franchise Kings of the NBA: Eastern Conference

Dick Raphael. Getty Images.

The NBA did the right thing last week by honoring Bill Russell by retiring his #6 across the entire league. They will also have every player wear a patch and all of the courts in the NBA will have his number displayed as well. The Boston Celtics said they also have plans to celebrate Russell and they should. With apologies to Larry Bird, Russell was the most important player in Celtics history. He was their Franchise King. I thought it might be an interesting exercise to look at the other Franchise Kings for teams in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta Hawks

Being a kid of the 80's and 90's, I was hoping it would be Dominique Wilkins but it's Bob Pettit. Petit brought the St. Louis Hawks to two NBA Finals and won one in 1958. He also won a couple scoring titles and went to the All-Star Game every year of his 11 year career (all with the Hawks). Along with Bob Cousy, Pettit (at age 89) is one of the last great NBA players of the 1950's that is still alive.

Now, if you're only talking about the Hawks since they got to Atlanta, then I think it is Wilkins. An incredible scorer, The Human Highlight Reel only won one scoring title (1985-86) because he played during Michael Jordan's prime. He finished 2nd three times.

Boston Celtics

No suspense here as I already said it would be Bill Russell, who is the greatest champion in team sports history. One thing I found unusual looking at the numbers was Paul Pierce has more win shares with the Celtics than John Havlicek and he's only seven behind Larry Bird? I'm too young for Havlicek but I did catch the end of Bird's career and that seems too wildly overrate Pierce's career. 

I should add if we were talking about most important person in team history, that would be Red Auerbach. He was the General Manager (and often head coach) for every title the team won except for the 2008 championship. 

Brooklyn Nets

Ugh. This is a tough one and the pickings are pretty slim. Basketball Reference says based on Win Shares, it should be Buck Williams who did play eight years with the Nets and averaged a double double but those teams were lousy. Julius Erving has the best seasons but Dr. J was only a Net for three seasons and he was going up against ABA teams. So I am going to go with Jason Kidd. He played parts of seven seasons with the Nets and when the franchise had its greatest success, Kidd was the team's best player. Not only did he lead the Nets to two NBA Finals (in a watered down Eastern Conference but it still counts), he led the NBA in Assists Per Game twice as a member of the Nets.

Chicago Bulls

Michael Jordan.

Charlotte Hornets

This is a franchise that has never made it out of the 2nd round. I know Kemba Walker and Gerald Wallace were better players for the Hornets if you look at how long they were they played in Charlotte for and maybe this is the nostalgia speaking but I'm going with Larry Johnson. I would have rather picked Alonzo Mourning from that same era but he was only a Hornet for three seasons. "Grandmama" really was the face of those Hornets teams of the 1990's which were fun to watch. To be honest, whoever is the best player on the first great Hornets team will be the Franchise King whenever that day comes.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Despite leaving the team twice, it's Lebron James by a mile.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons have had titles won in two different eras but the Bad Boys teams that repeated in 1989 and 1990 dominated the NBA. The best player on those teams was Isiah Thomas. I was stunned to see that both Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer had more win shares than Isiah but there is no question, he was the most important player on the court during that run. You could also make a case for Bob Lanier who was a seven time All-Star for the Pistons but those 1970's Pistons teams couldn't get out of the second round.

Indiana Pacers

It's Reggie Miller and it's not close. The Pacers have won three ABA titles as a franchise but since joining the NBA in 1977, they've lost an NBA Finals but also have lost an amazing seven Eastern Conference Finals. They are always competitive but never great.

Miami Heat

Obviously it's Dwyane Wade. I was surprised to see that Lebron James had more win shares than Alonzo Mourning considering LBJ wasn't in Miami very long…but I shouldn't have been. I probably have way too much affinity for Mourning but he really was such a great player before his kidney issues and various knee injuries ended his peak. 

Milwaukee Bucks

The right answer is probably Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but let's run with the future and say Giannis Antetokounmpo. They've each won one title but it seems that when people think of Kareem now, they think of him as a Laker first which is fair. He spent 14 seasons in L.A. and only six in Milwaukee. Giannis is only 27, already has nine seasons with the Bucks and signed for at least two more seasons.

Bettmann. Getty Images.

New York Knicks

The best player is Patrick Ewing but the most important player is probably Walt Frazier. Along with Willis Reed (who is another player who could be considered for Franchise King), Frazier helped the Knicks win their two titles in the early 1970's. I'm pretty torn on this one. I was too young to watch either Frazier or Reed play and if Ewing had won a title, I would have said him. 

Orlando Magic

I want it to be Shaquille O'Neal so badly but it's Dwight Howard. Both got the Magic to the NBA Finals but they lost. But Howard was in Orlando for 8 years and Shaq was only there for half of that. Imagine if Shaq had stayed in Orlando? Would he have won a title? Penny Hardaway was mostly healthy the first season Shaq was gone but even with Shaq, that Magic team wasn't getting past the Bulls. He got hurt the next year so it likely would have taken at least a couple years for the Magic but obviously the Lakers dynasty wouldn't have happened so maybe the door would have been open for them to at least win one?

Philadelphia 76ers

It's not a surprise that a franchise that had so much success for the first half of their existence presents a few different option. The answer is Julius Erving but you can make a great case for Dolph Schayes, Charles Barkley or Hal Greer. Wilt Chamberlain would be the answer if he was in Philly for more than 277 games.

Erving played 11 seasons with the 76ers and before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird entered the league, he was the most exciting player in basketball. He brought Philadelphia to four NBA Finals before finally winning one in 1983.

Focus On Sport. Getty Images.

Toronto Raptors

Chris Bosh and Vince Carter were more talented and Kawhi Leonard is the main reason the Raptors won their title but the Franchise King for the Raptors is Kyle Lowry. Lowry was a Raptor for nine seasons and went to six All-Star teams with them. He's not a terrible option at all for such a recent expansion team. Since Lowry was traded to the Heat last year, the only active Franchise King still with his team is the Greek Freak.

Washington Wizards

Wes Unseld was the face of the Baltimore/Washington Bullets for decades. This was both good and bad. Unseld was one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history and helped get the Bullets to their four NBA Finals appearances (winning in 1978). That was the good. 

Unseld coached the Bullets for six years which led to only one playoff appearance. A couple years later, he became the General Manager of the team. He served in that role for seven seasons which also only led to one playoff appearance. Unseld passed away in 2020 at the age of 74 but his presence is still felt with the team. Unseld's son is now the head coach of the Wizards.