Guides / Decade guides

The 1970s: two leagues, eight champions and the skyhook

By the 99OVR editorial team at Sameer Studios

The 1970s split the sport in two: an established NBA of bruising centers and a rival ABA of dunks, three-pointers and a red, white and blue ball. In 99OVR it is the second hard-mode decade, and the most lopsided one.

Two leagues, one talent pool

For most of the decade, professional basketball ran on two tracks. The ABA, founded in 1967, played with a red, white and blue ball, a three-point line and a looser, faster style, and it bid against the NBA for players with real money. Many of the era’s most exciting talents spent their early pro years there. When the leagues merged in 1976, four ABA teams — the Nets, Nuggets, Pacers and Spurs — joined the NBA, and Julius Erving, George Gervin, David Thompson and Artis Gilmore became NBA stars almost overnight.

College basketball, meanwhile, banned the dunk from 1967 to 1976, a rule widely read as aimed at Lew Alcindor. The player who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished the decade with the most reliable shot in the sport anyway: the skyhook. The ABA answered with spectacle. Its 1976 All-Star Game staged the first slam dunk contest, won by Erving with a takeoff from the free-throw line.

The NBA did not adopt the three-point line until 1979–80, so for almost the whole decade a 25-footer in the established league counted the same as a layup. Several cards carry the ABA in their stat line — Erving, George McGinnis, Gilmore, Dan Issel, Louie Dampier — and the best of them, Erving above all, bring the handles and hang time the older league had not budgeted for.

Eight champions in ten seasons

After Boston’s decade of control, the 1970s were wide open. The Knicks won in 1970 and 1973, the Bucks in 1971 with Kareem and Oscar Robertson, the Lakers in 1972 after a 33-game winning streak, and the Celtics in 1974 and 1976. Then came four different franchises in four years: the Warriors, Trail Blazers, Bullets and SuperSonics. Kareem was the decade’s dominant individual, with five MVP awards, yet he won only one title in it.

Parity spread the talent around, and the pool reflects it. Instead of one dynasty’s supporting cast, the 1970s cards come from all over: Bill Walton’s short Portland peak, Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes in Washington, Dennis Johnson in Seattle, Rick Barry’s Golden State title run, and the ABA’s stars. Expect specialists from many teams rather than one roster’s worth of role players.

The decade also changed what a stat line can tell you. Blocks and steals became official in 1973–74, so 1970s cards start to show defensive numbers — Don Buse’s steals, Caldwell Jones’s and Walton’s blocks — and Nate Thurmond’s card records the first official quadruple-double, in 1974. If you learned to read 1960s cards for missing defense, the 70s give some of it back.

Jackpots and deserts

No decade swings harder from round to round. Measured against the same position in every other decade, the 1970s deal some of the best dozens in the game and some of the worst.

The jackpots. Center Defense is the deepest pool of its kind anywhere in 99OVR: Walton, Thurmond, Kareem, Gilmore, Unseld and Caldwell Jones, plus Elvin Hayes and Dave Cowens from the power forward side, with more than half the center pool a genuine stopper. Small forward Finishing is the richest small forward finishing pool in the game, led by Erving, Adrian Dantley, Gervin and Thompson. And point guards are loaded on Handles and Playmaking: Pete Maravich, Earl Monroe, Nate Archibald, Kevin Porter and Ernie DiGregorio.

The deserts. Point guard Finishing has the weakest top end of any point guard pool; no 1970s point guard is a top finisher. Small forward Defense is Bobby Jones or a long drop to Havlicek and Erving. Erving is the only forward with a real handle, and the center pool is short on athletes — the undersized Cowens rates as the most athletic of them.

The skyhook rule. Kareem’s signature shot counts as Finishing, not Jumpshot, and most 1970s bigs cannot shoot from distance at all. The exceptions are Bob McAdoo, a big man with a genuine jumper in his MVP season, and Bob Lanier’s left-handed touch. Guards and wings are the reverse: shooters are plentiful, from Gervin and Lou Hudson to Calvin Murphy and “Downtown” Fred Brown.

Position by position

A quick read for when the reel lands. “Pays” means the 1970s dozen at that position is usually strong for the round; “hurts” means it is usually a re-spin candidate if the round matters to your build.

Position	Pays	Hurts	Names to look for
Point guard	Handles, Playmaking, Defense	Finishing	Maravich, Archibald, Frazier, Norm Van Lier, Don Buse
Shooting guard	Jumpshot, Athleticism	Finishing beyond Gervin and Thompson	Gervin, Fred Brown, Lou Hudson, Thompson, Randy Smith
Small forward	Finishing, Athleticism, Jumpshot	Defense, Playmaking	Erving, Rick Barry, Dantley, Marques Johnson, Bobby Jones
Power forward	Finishing, Defense, Athleticism	Handles, Playmaking	McAdoo, Cowens, Hayes, George McGinnis, Bobby Jones
Center	Defense, Finishing	Handles, Athleticism	Kareem, Walton, Thurmond, Gilmore, Unseld

Two cross-position notes. Combo guards like Frazier, Maravich, Buse and Dennis Johnson sit in both guard pools, so shooting guard runs can still find elite defense and passing. And Bobby Jones appears in both forward pools, which makes him the decade’s most important defensive card for any forward run.

On both wheels

The 1970s are the only hard-mode decade that shows up on both wheels. In positional runs they share the 1960s’ low weight, about one landing in ten, and each position pool holds seventeen players, so a dozen shows you most of it. Learn the pool once and it pays off for good.

On the Best Player wheel the decade is rarer still. Only two franchises carry a 1970s slot: the Bucks, built on Kareem and Oscar’s 1971 champions, and the Bullets, whose 1978 title team brings Hayes, Unseld and Bob Dandridge, with Earl Monroe and Kevin Porter elsewhere on the all-decade roster. Most Best Player runs never see either. A team re-spin keeps the decade, so re-spinning the team from one 1970s landing can only take you to the other; a decade re-spin keeps the franchise and jumps to another of its decades.

The decade overlaps both neighbors, too. Eight players carry over from the 1960s and eight more continue into the 1980s, including Kareem, Walton, Dennis Johnson and Dantley. A player can only be stolen once per run, so a 1970s steal spends his other card as well — and the cards differ. The 1970s Kareem and Walton are the better defenders; the 1980s Dennis Johnson is the same stopper with a steadier jumper and more passing.

Drafting from the 1970s

Don’t look for Kareem in the jumpshot round

The skyhook is Finishing, where Kareem tops the entire pool. In a center run, a 1970s Jumpshot landing belongs to McAdoo first, then Lanier and Dan Issel; in a power forward run, Jamaal Wilkes and Bobby Dandridge replace Lanier as the backups. Spending Kareem on Jumpshot wastes the best finisher in the decade on a middling shot.

Never spin away from center Defense

The defensive side carries half the weight of a center’s OVR, and the 1970s center pool is the deepest defensive dozen the game deals. If the reel lands here in round five, you are usually choosing between Hall of Famers. Keep your one decade re-spin for a round that actually needs it.

Spend Pistol the first time he fits

Pete Maravich is elite at Jumpshot, Handles and Playmaking, and the temptation is to hold him for the round where he is best. Don’t. The 1970s land on any particular later round only about one time in ten, so the Maravich you pass on is usually the Maravich you never see again. The same goes for Erving, a top answer in Handles, Finishing and Athleticism.

Let point guard Finishing go

The 1970s point guard pool is weak at the rim, but a point guard build leans on shot creation and playmaking far more than rim pressure. Take the best of a thin dozen, collect the grade, and save your re-spin for a bad Jumpshot or Playmaking landing, which costs a guard far more. The positional builds guide has the full weighting.

Players worth knowing

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The best finisher of the decade and an elite defender, but the jumpshot round is a trap: the skyhook counts as Finishing, and several 1970s bigs out-shoot him from the perimeter.
Julius Erving: Famous for flight, and he delivers in Finishing and Athleticism. The surprise is Handles, where he is the only forward in the decade with a guard’s dribble. His jumper is the trap.
Bobby Jones: A quiet scoring line hiding the best forward defender of the decade. He sits in both forward pools, so any forward run should know his name before round five.
Don Buse: Led the league in assists and steals in the same season and is still easy to overlook. An elite Defense answer in either guard pool, with real Playmaking behind it.
Bob McAdoo: The rare 1970s big who can actually shoot. In a center or power forward Jumpshot round he is the first name to look for.
Wes Unseld: An MVP whose note says he never scored, and the card agrees: weak Finishing for a center. Take him for Playmaking, where only Walton passes better among centers, or for Defense.
Dave Cowens: The undersized redhead is the most athletic of the 1970s centers and a strong defender, a useful answer when the famous centers come up short in the Athleticism round.
Truck Robinson: A rebounding-title line that looks like a frontcourt cornerstone, but he is never special at anything here. Fine depth, never the obvious pick.

On the Best Player wheel

When the franchise reel lands on one of these teams in the 1970s, the roster you read is the whole franchise across the decade, not a single season. The team that earned the slot is listed first; the rest of the roster is everyone else who played for the franchise in those ten years.

1970s Bucks · All-time · 66 players

1971 Bucks: Kareem and the Big O. 66 wins, one sweep, zero drama. Headliners: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge, Jon McGlocklin, Greg Smith.

1970s Bullets · Solid · 59 players

1978 Bullets: The Fat Lady sang. Nobody picked them and they won it. Headliners: Elvin Hayes, Bob Dandridge, Mitch Kupchak, Kevin Grevey, Phil Chenier.

See every franchise on the wheel →

The 1970s positional pool

Positional runs deal twelve players at random from the chosen position’s pool when the decade reel lands on the 1970s. 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.

Point guards

Walt FrazierPG / SG: 23.2 PPG · 7.0 APG · ClydeStole the ball in Game 7 and the mink coat in every other frame.
Pete MaravichPG / SG: 31.1 PPG · scoring title, 1977Pistol did things nobody asked for and nobody forgot. Defense was optional.
Nate ArchibaldPG: 34.0 PPG · 11.4 APGTiny led the league in points and assists in the same season. Nobody has since.
Jo Jo WhitePG / SG: 18.1 PPG · 488 straight gamesTwo rings, one triple-overtime masterpiece, zero nights off.
Norm Van LierPG: 11.9 PPG · 6.5 APGStormin' Norman took the charge before the charge was invented.
Don BusePG / SG: 8.5 APG · 3.5 SPG, led bothLed the NBA in assists and steals the same year and nobody noticed.
Calvin MurphyPG: 25.6 PPG · 92% FT · 5'9"Smallest man in the building and the last one you wanted to foul.
Gail GoodrichPG / SG: 25.9 PPG on the 33-game streakLeft-handed leading scorer on the winningest team ever assembled.
Earl MonroePG / SG: 20.7 PPG · Black JesusPlayground spin move in a league that had no scouting report for it.
Randy SmithPG / SG: 21.8 PPG · 906 straight gamesIron man out of Buffalo State. Never sat, never slowed down.
Kevin PorterPG: 13.4 APG · single-season recordSet an assist record that stood a decade. Also led the league in turnovers. Fair trade.
Dennis JohnsonPG / SG: 15.9 PPG · 1979 Finals MVPWent 0-for-14 in a Finals game one year and won the whole thing the next.
Slick WattsPG: 13.0 PPG · 8.1 APG · 3.2 SPGHeadband, shaved head, led the league in steals and assists. Seattle never got over it.
Lenny WilkensPG: 17.7 PPG · 9.1 APGRan the offense while coaching the team. Both jobs, same paycheck.
Ernie DiGregorioPG: 15.2 PPG · 8.2 APG · 1974 ROYErnie D threw passes nobody could catch and guarded nobody at all.
Louie DampierPG / SG: 794 ABA threes · 4.5 APGThe all-time ABA leader in everything, playing a shot the NBA hadn't approved yet.
Quinn BucknerPG: 1976 Olympic gold · 2.0 SPGWon at every level. Made the shot only when the shot clock made him.

Shooting guards

George GervinSG / SF: 27.2 PPG · scoring title, 1978The Iceman clinched a scoring title with 63 in a half. Nothing showed on his face.
David ThompsonSG / SF: 27.2 PPG · 73 in the finaleSkywalker. A 44-inch vertical in Converse and a scoring title lost by two points.
Phil ChenierSG: 21.9 PPG · hardship draftLeft Cal early, arrived in Washington already finished as a shooter.
Lou HudsonSG / SF: 26.8 PPG · Sweet LouSix straight All-Star years in Atlanta. Ask anyone under 40 who he was.
World B. FreeSG: 28.8 PPG · All-WorldLegally changed his name to World. Then shot like he owned it.
Doug CollinsSG: 20.8 PPG · first pick, 1973Made the free throws that beat the Soviets. The refs disagreed.
John HavlicekSG / SF: 28.9 PPG · 9.0 RPG · 7.5 APGHondo never stopped moving for sixteen years. The lungs were the talent.
Fred BrownSG: 23.1 PPG · DowntownNamed for where he shot from, in a league with no reward for it.

Small forwards

Julius ErvingSF / PF: 29.3 PPG · 11.0 RPG, ABADr. J took off from the foul line and dragged the whole league into the air with him.
Rick BarrySF: 30.6 PPG · 90% FT underhandShot granny-style, insulted everyone, made every free throw. Priorities in order.
Jamaal WilkesSF / PF: 17.7 PPG · SilkThe ugliest release in the league and the softest results.
Bobby JonesSF / PF: 15.1 PPG · 60% FGGuarded the other team's best player every night for a decade and never fouled out of the conversation.
Bobby DandridgeSF / PF: 21.5 PPG · two rings, two teamsWon a title next to Kareem, then another as the first option. Still not in the building.
Chet WalkerSF / PF: 22.0 PPG · Chet the JetDrew fouls like rent was due. Seven All-Star trips, zero highlights preserved.
Sidney WicksSF / PF: 24.5 PPG · 11.5 RPG · 1972 ROYRookie of the Year with four straight All-Star nods, then a long argument with everyone.
George McGinnisSF / PF: 29.8 PPG · 14.3 RPG, ABAPalmed the ball with one hand and shot it that way too. Co-MVP anyway.
Spencer HaywoodSF / PF: 29.2 PPG · 12.9 RPGSued the NBA for the right to be there at 21 and won. The league still owes him.
Marques JohnsonSF: 25.6 PPG · 7.5 RPGPoint forward in Milwaukee before the phrase existed.
Adrian DantleySF: 20.3 PPG · 1977 ROYSix-five, built low, lived at the foul line. Never once dunked when a pivot would do.
Rudy TomjanovichSF: 24.5 PPG · five All-Star yearsRemembered for the punch he took. Should be remembered for the jumper.
Billy KnightSF: 26.6 PPG · 52% FGScored 26 a night in Indiana and got exactly one All-Star nod for it.

Power forwards

Elvin HayesPF / C: 21.4 PPG · 18.1 RPGThe Big E's turnaround came from the same spot every time. Still nobody stopped it.
Bob McAdooPF / C: 34.5 PPG · 14.1 RPG · 1975 MVPA seven-footer with a jumpshot in 1975. The league filed it under witchcraft.
Dave CowensPF / C: 20.5 PPG · 16.2 RPG · 1973 MVPUndersized redhead who drove a cab in the offseason and dove on every loose ball in season.
Truck RobinsonPF / C: 22.7 PPG · 15.7 RPGLed the league in rebounds the year the league stopped caring about rebounds.
Maurice LucasPF / C: 16.4 PPG · 9.2 RPGThe Enforcer. Portland's title run started when he took a swing at Darryl Dawkins.
Paul SilasPF / C: 10.6 PPG · 12.3 RPGScored nothing, boxed out everything, has three rings on two coasts.
Happy HairstonPF: 13.1 PPG · 13.1 RPGRebounded so Wilt could stand still. Thirty-three straight wins agreed with the plan.
Jack SikmaPF / C: 15.6 PPG · 12.4 RPGBlond perm, reverse pivot, a jumper no other center was allowed to have.
Dan IsselPF / C: 30.6 PPG · ABA Rookie of the YearThe Horse ran the floor for fifteen years and missed nine games doing it.

Centers

Kareem Abdul-JabbarC: 34.8 PPG · 16.6 RPG · 1972 MVPThe skyhook was unblockable for twenty years. Nobody else ever bothered learning it.
Bill WaltonC: 18.6 PPG · 14.4 RPG · 3.2 BPGPassed like a point guard, defended like a wall, and had feet made of glass.
Artis GilmoreC: 23.8 PPG · 17.8 RPG, ABAThe A-Train. Highest field goal percentage in history and the afro to match.
Bob LanierC: 22.5 PPG · 13.3 RPG · size 22Left-handed touch out to eighteen feet on a body that kept betraying him.
Wes UnseldC: 10.8 PPG · 14.0 RPGNever scored. Won MVP as a rookie anyway. The outlet pass was the offense.
Nate ThurmondC: first quadruple-double, 197422, 14, 13 and 12 blocks. Then he went home and said nothing about it.
Willis ReedC: 21.7 PPG · 13.9 RPG · 1970 MVPLimped out of the tunnel, hit two jumpers, never needed to score again.
Clifford RayC: 9.4 PPG · 9.5 RPGSet the screens that won Golden State a title. Later pulled a hook out of a dolphin's stomach. Both true.
Caldwell JonesC: 9.6 PPG · 2.9 BPGBlocked shots for four different leagues' worth of teams and never averaged a headline.