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NBA: All-Time Face of the Franchise


worcat

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Sure you can. Mike Schmidt was not well liked by the fan base when he played (and even when he retired) but nobody would argue he was the face. It's not something you get to vote on.

FWIW now, he's made a lot of amends and is very well received. He's thought of a lot better now than when he played.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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Some of these are my own opinions, but I'll give it a go...

Atlanta Hawks - Dominique Wilkins

Boston Celtics - Bill Russell

Brooklyn Nets - Deron Williams

Charlotte Bobcats - Gerald Wallace

Charlotte Hornets - Muggsy Bogues

Chicago Bulls - Michael Jordan

Cleveland Cavaliers - LeBron James

Dallas Mavericks - Dirk Nowitzki

Denver Nuggets - Carmelo Anthony

Detroit Pistons - Isiah Thomas

Golden State Warriors - Chris Mullin

Houston Rockets - Hakeem Olajuwon

Indiana Pacers - Reggie Miller

LA Clippers - Blake Griffin

LA Lakers - Magic Johnson

Memphis Grizzlies - Zach Randolph

Miami Heat - Dwayne Wade

Milwaukee Bucks - Oscar Robertson

Minnesota Timberwolves - Kevin Garnett

New Jersey Nets - Julius Erving

New Orleans Hornets - Chris Paul

New Orleans Pelicans - Anthony Davis

New York Knicks - Walt Frazier

Oklahoma City Thunder - Kevin Durant

Orlando Magic - Penny Hardaway

Philadelphia Sixers - Allen Iverson

Phoenix Suns - Steve Nash

Portland Trail Blazers - Clyde Drexler

Sacramento Kings - Chris Webber

San Antonio Spurs - Tim Duncan

Seattle Supersonics - Gary Payton

Toronto Raptors - Vince Carter

Utah Jazz - Karl Malone/John Stockton

Vancouver Grizzlies - Bryant Reeves

Washington Bullets - Wes Unseld

Washington Wizards - Gilbert Arenas

Tradition is the foundation of innovation, and not the enemy.

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Minneapolis Lakers: George Mikan

Syracuse Nationals: Either Dolph Schayes or Earl Lloyd

Seattle Supersonics: Shawn Kemp

Celtics: Bill Russell

Lakers: Magic Johnson

Knicks: Walt Frazier

Bulls: Michael Jordan

Bullets: Wes Unseld

Kings: Chris Webber

Hornets: Muggsy Bogues

Pelicans: Anthony Davis

76ers: Dr. J

Spurs: Tim Duncan

Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki

Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Sydney Moncrief

T-Wolves: Kevin Garnett

Magic: Very hard to pick because I am not sure who stayed with Orlando the longest

Heat: Alonzo Mourning

Cavs: Brad Daugherty

Pistons: Joe Dumars

Nets: Jason Kidd

Hawks: Dominique Wilkins

Blazers: Clyde Drexler

Clippers: Blake Griffin

Suns: Dan Majerle

Jazz: Malone and Stockton

Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon

Pacers: Reggie Miller

Raptors: Vince Carter

Grizzlies: Marc Gasol

Nuggets: Alex English

Warriors: Rick Barry

Thunder: Kevin Durant

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How is it not Penny Hardaway for the Magic? Or some combo of Penny and Lil' Penny?

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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Minneapolis Lakers: George Mikan

Syracuse Nationals: Either Dolph Schayes or Earl Lloyd

Seattle Supersonics: Shawn Kemp

Celtics: Bill Russell

Lakers: Magic Johnson

Knicks: Walt Frazier

Bulls: Michael Jordan

Bullets: Wes Unseld

Kings: Chris Webber

Hornets: Muggsy Bogues

Pelicans: Anthony Davis

76ers: Dr. J

Spurs: Tim Duncan

Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki

Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Sydney Moncrief

T-Wolves: Kevin Garnett

Magic: Very hard to pick because I am not sure who stayed with Orlando the longest

Heat: Alonzo Mourning

Cavs: Brad Daugherty

Pistons: Joe Dumars

Nets: Jason Kidd

Hawks: Dominique Wilkins

Blazers: Clyde Drexler

Clippers: Blake Griffin

Suns: Dan Majerle

Jazz: Malone and Stockton

Rockets: Hakeem Olajuwon

Pacers: Reggie Miller

Raptors: Vince Carter

Grizzlies: Marc Gasol

Nuggets: Alex English

Warriors: Rick Barry

Thunder: Kevin Durant

No way. He's only played 2 years and the team has been a bottom feeder.

New Orleans is either Chris Paul, David West, or Baron Davis.

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For the New Orleans franchise, strictly taking into account with the Pelicans rebrand, I thought about Anthony Davis as the face of the team. Certainly, right now he is, but overall, Chris Paul has to be the face of New Orleans basketball.

I'm not going to do a full list, but I'll list my differences so I repeat the ones I agree with...

Celtics: It's hard to choose a definitive face because you can make a good case for each player--Russell, Havlicek, Bird, Pierce; but if we were to choose non-players (thus kinda going against the spirit of the thread), without question it's Red Auerbach.

Magic: You could go with Penny, McGrady, or Dwight as the face of the franchise, or to a lesser extent, Nick Anderson or Darrell Armstrong, since both of those guys played longer for the Magic than the first three mentioned (and Anderson ended-up as the Magic's all-time leader scorer upon retirement, since surpassed by Howard). However, when you think about the guy who put Orlando on the NBA map, and who was their first superstar player--it's Shaquille O'Neal.

Clippers: Blake Griffin, in my opinion, is the definite face of this franchise...he's been the lynchpin to leading the Clips to relevance and popularity, and I don't think Chris Paul OKs the trade from New Orleans if not for Griffin's presence. Again, if I could use the example above for the Celtics, as a non-player, Ralph Lawler is the face of the Clippers, much like Vin Scully is the face (and the voice) of the Dodgers. Lawler has been with the team for over thirty-five years, and has been only consistently-good thing about watching Clipper games all these years. He, Al McCoy in Phoenix, and George Blaha in Detroit are the last old school-type of play-by-play announcers still around in the NBA. Yeah, I know Marv Albert is still around, he hasn't worked for a team for a few years (last with the Nets in '11)

Lakers: Again like with the Celtics, it's a bit hard to choose a face of the Lakers--West, Baylor, Abdul-Jabbar, O'Neal, Bryant among others, but when you think about the impact that he made for the Laker franchise (and the NBA as a whole), I think of Magic Johnson as the face of Lakers. The Lakers were pretty much a middle-of-the-road team prior to Magic's arrival, and he helped them become a decade-long title contender pretty much right away. He still identified with the Lakers even though he no longer has an active role in the organization.

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Chris Paul is the face of the current run of New Orleans in the NBA. The face of 'New Orleans basketball' as a nebulous concept though is Pete Maravich

1 hour ago, BringBackTheVet said:

sorry sweetie, but I don't suck minor-league d

CCSLC Post of the day September 3rd 2012

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