The All-Time Roster Of NBA Players From Philadelphia

Last week we looked at what each of the current Philadelphia Sports teams would look like if they could only use local players. This means no Bryce Harper, no Jalen Hurts, no Carter Hart, and no Joel Embiid. Only athletes from Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. For some of the teams, like the Eagles, it went somewhat well. But other teams, like the Phillies, had a really tough time fielding a competitive roster. But now that we have looked at the active rosters, what about the Al-Time rosters?

Philadelphia has a rich basketball history. When we put together the Sixers roster of active guys from Philly and the surrounding areas, it had mixed results. They were not the worst team, but they had the makings of a 7th seed. But if we look at NBA history, a lot of great players have come from our area.

For the active rosters, we included the guys from the surrounding areas. And with the All-Time roster, we will do the same thing. But specifically for the NBA, there was not much to work for with South Jersey and Delaware. So it ended up just being the best players from Philly and its surrounding area because I didn't find anyone from Jersey or Delaware better than these guys.

The team, as expected, is pretty damn good. Including two guys each with a case for being one of the best players of all time. They are lacking size off the bench, which could be a problem. But thankfully they have a Center who played 48 minutes a night back in his day. So they should be able to survive not having a big guy off the bench. And with two guys in the top 10 for points in NBA history, this team would put up some crooked numbers.

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe has quite the NBA resume. Hall of Famer, 4-time All-Star, NBA Champion, a member of the 75th Anniversary Team, and Rookie of the Year, just to name a few of his accolades. He was more of a shooting guard, but you are not going to supplant the next guy as the team's shooting guard. Instead, he moves over to Point Guard. Is he the ideal facilitator? No. But this team won't exactly need that with the players they have. So instead you just get another elite scorer onto the court

When you think of Basketball players from Philly, you think of Kobe. He is one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, and led his team to 5 NBA Finals wins. From coming up playing at Lower Merion, to dominating an entire era of the NBA, Kobe is a legend. He may have played his pro basketball in LA, but he will always be part of Philly too. As evident by how he celebrated the Eagles' first Super Bowl.

Known as "Pitching Paul", Arizin is not exactly a household name anymore, given he played his basketball in the 50s. But he was among the most dominant players from that era. He won 2 scoring titles, made 4 All-NBA Teams, won a Championship with the Philadelphia Warriors, and eventually got inducted into the Hall of Fame. He scored at least 20 points a game in every year of his career except his rookie season.

Would he have a hard time defending in the modern era? Yes. It is hard to compare that era to this era because the game is just so different and players are just bigger, stronger, and faster. But the team doesn't actually have to play, and Paul is worthy of giving mention to given everything he accomplished in the league. He also got to do it all in Philly, even if it was for the wrong team that eventually left Philly.

We have lots of scoring on this team, so it's time to also add some great defensive players. Wallace had a Defensive Rating of just over 100 in his career. Rudy Gobert had the lowest Defensive rating in the NBA last year at 103. It's a different era with more scoring, but it goes to show the caliber of defense Wallace brought to the table. He was no slouch on offense either. He is the only player on this starting 5 that is not yet in the Hall of Fame. But he does have a decent case. And even if he never does make it, he is still a fantastic player and among the best Power Forwards of his era.

Many people will still argue Wilt is the best player of All-Time. And with the stats he put up, there is certainly an argument to be made. Wilt was so dominant in his time, they had to change a ton of NBA rules just to even the playing field. You could argue he had more impact on changing the game than anyone in NBA history. Kobe was always at his best when paired with an elite big man, whether it be Shaq or later Pau Gasol. But imagine Kobe playing with Wilt.

Rasheed was not the only Philly representation on the Pistons team that won it all in 2004. Because Coatsville native Rip Hamilton was there too. For this team, he would bring scoring and shooting off the bench. Rip led all scorers for that Pistons team in the playoffs in 2004.

We already talked about Kyle Lowry when we did the All-Time roster for active guys from the area. The difference is in this case you get Lowry in his prime. Lowry has made 6 All-Star teams, 1 All-NBA team, and won it all with the Raptors in 2019. Not a bad guy to have coming off of your bench.

Like with Lowry, we already talked about Bridges when we made the active team of guys from the area. He would bring All-NBA Caliber defense, and some scoring, off the bench. He was the star for the active team, but on a team of Hall of Famers here, he would be one hell of a role player.

If Tom Gola was a player in today's game, Sixers fans would probably love him. He had the nickname Mr. All-Around because he played an all-around style of game. Which is exactly the type of player Philly fans love. Again, as we said with Paul Arizin, it's hard to compare that era in the 50s to the modern game. I don't know if Tom would be good if he played today. But he is a Hall of Famer from Philly, so he deserved a shoutout here. So the namesake for La Salle's Basketball arena makes the team.

We can't talk Philly basketball and leave out St. Joe's Jameer Nelson. In 2004 Nelson helped lead St Joes to the Elite 8 for the first time since 1981. He has a very strong case for being the best player in the school's history. He went on to have a solid NBA career too, mostly playing with the Magic. He is not a Super Star or Hall of Famer like other guys on this list. But he is more than deserving of a place on the All-Time Philly team.

You can't make one of these lists and leave McKie off. Mckie may not have had as prolific of an NBA career as the rest of this team. But he was a solid player and won 6th Man of the Year. He was also a star while at Temple alongside Eddie Jones. And he has been around Philadelphia basketball longer than anyone else here. He played in College here, coached in College here, played in the pros, and coached in the pros here. How many other guys can say they did that in any Basketball city? That is deserving of the 11th roster spot.