The 1960s: giants, set shots and box scores that lie

How the game was played

Nothing about the 1960s was slow. The 24-second shot clock had been in place since 1954, possessions were short, shooting percentages were low by modern standards, and every miss became another rebound to fight over. The jump shot was taking over from the two-handed set shot, but not everywhere.

There was no three-point line: the ABA introduced one in 1967, and the NBA held out until 1979. Zone defense was illegal and hand-checking was not, so every possession was physical man-to-man. Before the 1964–65 season the lane was widened from twelve feet to sixteen, a change widely tied to Wilt Chamberlain.

It was a small league, too, with fewer than ten teams in each of the decade’s first six seasons. Stars met constantly, talent piled up on a few rosters, and players were listed simply as guards, forwards or centers. That is why so many 1960s cards carry two position tags and can be dealt in either neighboring pool.

Boston, the giants and everyone else

The decade belonged to the Celtics. With Bill Russell at center they won eleven titles in thirteen seasons from 1957 to 1969, eight in a row, and in 1966 Russell became player-coach, the league’s first Black head coach. Boston won with defense and the fast break, which is why its role players matter here: K.C. Jones and Tom Sanders barely scored, and both are elite defenders in 99OVR.

Everyone else ran into Boston. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points in 1961–62, scored 100 in a game that March, later led the league in assists, and won with the 1967 76ers, the decade’s only non-Boston champion. Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double that same season. Jerry West and Elgin Baylor’s Lakers lost to the Celtics in the Finals six times; West was named the first Finals MVP in 1969, in defeat.

The result is a pool with a steep top. Wilt, Russell, Oscar, West, Baylor and Havlicek are excellent at several skills at once, and most of the rest are specialists. The question in a 1960s round is rarely “who is good?” and usually “is this the round to spend him?”

Why 1960s box scores lie

A 1960s box-score clue misleads in two predictable ways. The first is pace: so many shots and misses inflated scoring and rebounding everywhere. Jerry Lucas’s 20.0 RPG looks like a leaper, but his athleticism here is ordinary and his real value is a big man’s jump shot. Walt Bellamy’s rookie scoring looks like a complete offensive game, but it was earned at the rim.

The second is missing data. The NBA did not record blocks or steals until 1973–74, so no 1960s line can tell you who the stoppers were. K.C. Jones shows 7.4 PPG and Tom Sanders 9.6 PPG; both sit at or near the top of their position pools on defense. In Ball Knowledge, with names alone, history does all the work.

The rough rule: scoring lines point at Finishing more often than Jumpshot, rebounding lines point at nothing in particular, and defense is invisible until you know the names. The general method is in how to read a roster.

The six skills in a 1960s dozen

Jumpshot

Concentrated in the shooting guards (Sam Jones and his bank shot, Hal Greer, Dick Barnett), Jerry West, and forwards Rick Barry and Paul Arizin. Most bigs can barely shoot, and Wilt in this round is the decade’s classic trap: the points were real, but they came at the rim.

Handles

The scarcest skill. It lives in a few guards — Oscar, Archie Clark, Guy Rodgers, Walt Frazier, Dave Bing — and fades fast after that. Centers are grim.

Finishing

Plentiful, because the sport ran through the paint. Wilt is the ceiling, Baylor and Bellamy are next, and forwards like Bailey Howell and Gus Johnson give every frontcourt run an option. Surprisingly, Russell is one of the weaker finishing centers.

Playmaking

Brilliant at the top, empty underneath. Oscar and Guy Rodgers are among the best passers in the whole game and Lenny Wilkens is close behind, but outside the guards and a couple of wings it falls off a cliff. Among centers, Russell edges Wilt.

Defense

The richest resource, with more elite options than any other skill. Russell is the best defender in the pool, and the point guards — K.C. Jones, Frazier, West, Al Attles — form the best defensive point guard group of any decade on average.

Athleticism

Wilt and Russell again, then Baylor and Gus Johnson. The sleepers are Havlicek, whose endless running counts here, and Johnny Green, who could jump out of the gym and could not shoot.

Position by position

Point guards. Oscar and West can win almost any round, so timing them is the main decision. Behind West, Jumpshot thins out fast.

Shooting guards. The shooting pool. Sam Jones, Greer, Barnett, Don Ohl and Cazzie Russell mean Jumpshot nearly always has a real answer.

Small forwards. Baylor for Finishing and Athleticism, Barry and Arizin for Jumpshot, Sanders and Dave DeBusschere for Defense. Handles and Playmaking depend on Havlicek, Baylor or Barry being in your dozen.

Power forwards. The real hard mode. No power forward pool in any decade is as thin at the top in Jumpshot, Handles and Playmaking, though Finishing, Defense and Athleticism hold up.

Centers. Wilt, Russell and Thurmond make Defense and Athleticism the best rounds to draw, and Jumpshot means Jerry Lucas or the seven-footer Mel Counts. Handles and Playmaking are ugly, but a center build weights them least.

Hard mode, by the numbers

The 1960s only appear in positional runs, where they and the 1970s are each weighted at roughly one landing in ten, against about one in six for every later decade. Over six rounds that still adds up: roughly half of all positional runs land here at least once.

Hard mode costs OVR, not grades. Grades are ranked against the dozen you were dealt, so the best shooter in a weak 1960s dozen still grades well while his raw rating drags the build down. The ALL-TIME, SOLID or ROUGH badge on the landing card averages that dozen at the round’s skill, which is why a center can see ALL-TIME on Defense and “womp womp” on Handles. The full pipeline is on the scoring page.

With sixteen or seventeen players per position, any given player turns up in about three dozens out of four, so this pool rewards memorizing. Eight of its players — Frazier, Wilkens, Havlicek, Barry, Chet Walker, Happy Hairston, Willis Reed and Thurmond — also have 1970s cards, and stealing either version spends both.

Drafting from the 1960s

Players worth knowing

K.C. Jones

Eight rings, almost no scoring, and the best defender in the 1960s point guard pool. He is the steal most players miss in a guard run’s Defense round.

Tom Sanders

A role player’s box score hiding one of the decade’s best forward defenders. In a small forward Defense round he is the answer the stat line will not give you.

Guy Rodgers

One of the finest passers in the whole game and one of the worst shooters in his own pool. Take him for Playmaking and never let the name pull you toward Jumpshot.

Archie Clark

Shake and Bake had a crossover before the move had a name, and only Oscar out-handles him in the decade. A quiet name that wins the Handles round.

Jerry Lucas

Twenty rebounds a night reads like a leaper, but his athleticism is ordinary. His real value is the best jump shot among 1960s bigs, in both frontcourt pools.

Johnny Green

One of the decade’s great leapers and a non-shooter. Steal his Athleticism in a frontcourt run and leave everything else alone.

Wilt Chamberlain

At or near the top of the pool in Finishing, Defense and Athleticism. The jumpshot round is the trap: the 50-point season came at the rim, and his jumper is middling even among centers.

Walt Bellamy

A rookie scoring line that reads like a complete scorer, but the points were finishing. Second only to Wilt at the rim among centers, and a poor choice in any round that asks him to shoot or handle.

On the Best Player wheel

The Best Player wheel starts in the 1970s, so the 1960s appear only in positional runs. Choose a position in Classic or Budget and the decade reel can land here.

The 1960s positional pool

Positional runs deal twelve players at random from the chosen position’s pool when the decade reel lands on the 1960s. These are all 56 players who can appear, with the box-score clue from their roster card and the note shown beside it on wider screens. Players listed at two positions can be dealt in either pool. Skill ratings stay hidden until your verdict.