No. 32 - Artis Gilmore

The Artis Gilmore of the Kentucky Colonels was the best center ever in the ABA and one of the best big men ever. The Artis Gilmore of the NBA was a solid, all-star center rarely surrounded by enough talent to make a dent in the playoffs.

The combination of the two puts Gilmore in my all-time top 35 and ahead of such centers as Patrick Ewing, Dwight Howard and Dave Cowens. That may drive some Ewing fans nuts, but if you look at the ABA Gilmore on YouTube, you see a surprisingly nimble big man who could hit 15-foot, face-up jumpers and range all over the floor to block shots and grab rebounds. Gilmore was 27 when the ABA and NBA merged and he continued to be a major force for his first three seasons with the Chicago Bulls.

In his first three years in the NBA, Gilmore averaged 18.6, 22.9 and 23.7 points per game and 13.0, 13.1 and 12.7 rebounds per game – and he was durable. He played every single game for his first eight seasons.

Unfortunately for the A-Train, when the NBA-ABA merger talks became critical – both leagues were losing money in 1975-1976 – Chicago had the No. 1 pick in any dispersal draft and was threatening to block any deal unless they got Artis. Kentucky’s ownership chose to fold rather than block the merger – a shrewd deal by John Y. Brown because he ended up getting ownership in the Boston Celtics.

That meant Gilmore went from one of the ABA’s flagship franchises to a team whose second best player was Mickey Johnson. In six seasons in Chicago, Gilmore was picked for four all-star games, but the Bulls made the playoffs just twice in that span.

It wasn’t until 1982-1983, when Gilmore was traded to the San Antonio Spurs that his reputation was resurrected. That season, Gilmore teamed up with George Gervin to lead the Spurs to the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, there the Spurs fell to the Magic Johnson-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in six games. After a poor first game in that series, Gilmore averaged 22.4 points and 15 rebounds in the final five games, while shooting 61.5 percent. Gilmore was an all-star that season in San Antonio and he was effective enough to be picked again in 1985-1986 when he was 36 years old.

The advanced stats show that Gilmore was clearly more dominant in the ABA. His top two seasons in PER and three of his top four came with Kentucky (26.6, 24.1 and 23.5). His best five win share seasons all came with Kentucky. His three best box +/- and VORP seasons were in the ABA.

His NBA numbers were still solid though. He had PERs above 20.0 in seven of his 12 seasons. He had 10.0 win shares or more in eight. He led the NBA in field goal percentage four straight seasons. The NBA Artis Gilmore was still top 100. He just wasn’t the young, athletic big man who teamed up with Dan Issel to terrorize the ABA.

Artis Gilmore bio info
Career	1971-1988
Games	1,329
Points	18.8
Rebounds	12.3
Assists	2.3
FG Pct.	58.2%
All-Star games	11
ABA MVPs	0
ABA titles	1
Playoff seasons	11
Playoff games	100
Points	17.7
Rebounds	12.7
Assists	2.3
FG Pct.	56.1%
Hall of Fame	2011

Top 100 rankings
	Points	Top 100 ranking
1-year	337.80	49th
5-year	1,524.19	33rd
10-year	2,613.66	37th
Career	3,380.45	39th

               

Artis Gilmore at his peak
1971-1972	Gilmore	Top 5	Points
PER	26.6	25.83
Win Shares	19.8	18.13
Box +/-	NA	NA
VORP	NA	NA
Total Advanced Stats	46.4	43.96	105.55
Playoff PER	21.7	24.34
Win Shares	1.0	2.88
Box +/-	NA	NA
VORP	NA	NA
Total Advanced Stats	22.7	27.21	83.41
Reg. Season Win %	80.95		80.95
Playoff Win %	33.33		33.33
MVP Voting (75 points)	30/43		52.33
Playoff MVP (25 points)	0		0
Total Score (95%)			337.80

               

Gilmore’s 10 greatest seasons
1971-1972	337.80
1974-1975	333.98
1972-1973	298.73
1973-1974	282.37
1975-1976	271.32
1982-1983	270.93
1980-1981	253.09
1976-1977	236.02
1984-1985	188.42
1977-1978	141.01

Career winning percentage
	W	L	Pct.
Regular Season	724	615	54.07%
Playoffs	51	49	51.00%