Top 5 Greatest NBA Players of the 1950s

The NBA was formed in 1947, but it would not be until the 1950s when an identity began to form. The decade saw the implementation of the shot clock which tremendously overhauled the format and style of the game of basketball, and the game’s earliest stars began to emerge.

Centers and forwards were the dominating positions, as they led the league in scoring throughout the 1950s, winning championships left and right. Big men were key, and without them, teams struggled to survive. The following are the five greatest NBA players of the 1950s decade.

5 Larry Foust

Foust averaged a double-double per game throughout the 1950s

One of the greatest centers of the 1950s decade was Larry Foust. With nicknames such as “Long” and “The Big One,” his talent spoke for himself. He played the majority of his career with the Fort Worth Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons ), and earned eight All-Star appearances through the 1950s.

Foust led the league in shooting percentage in 1955, averaging 48.7 percent from the field. While he never won a championship, he still graced the league and the court with his offense, averaging a double-double of 14.6 points and 10.6 rebounds per game through the 1950s. Foust was a true force of the game that helped creep the game of basketball closer to the big stage.

4 Ed Macauley

Macauley brought offense to an era previously lacking it

Ed Macauley bounced around between the Boston Celtics and St. Louis Hawks (now the Atlanta Hawks ), two of the league’s juggernauts during the 1950s. He was always on competitive teams, which sharpened his skills.

Macauley’s career spanned the entire decade, as he debuted in the 1949-50 season and retired in 1959. He made seven straight All-Star appearances between 1951 and 1957 and led the league in shooting percentage in 1954 when he averaged 48.6 percent.

Macauley consistently averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in an era where offense was still on the back burner. His career culminated in 1958 when he won his first and only championship with the Hawks — the franchise’s only title to date.

3 Bill Sharman

Sharman dominated the league in free throws and won four titles

As there was no three-point line in the NBA until 1979, scoring in the 1950s was done primarily through standard field goal shots and free throws. Perhaps no player was better at free throws during that decade than Bill Sharman, as he led the league in that category seven times throughout his career.

Like Ed Macauley, Sharman’s career primarily spanned the 1950s, as he made his debut in 1950, though his final two seasons occurred in the 1960s. Almost all of his success came in the 1950s, however, as he made eight straight All-Star appearances from 1952 to 1959, and he would go on to win four titles in his career, two of those coming in 1957 and 1959.

2 George Mikan

Mikan was the greatest player of the first half of the 1950s

While Mikan was one of the most talented players in the early days of the league, he did not play his entire career in the 1950s. Rather, he played the early portion of his career in the 1940s and retired in 1956. But he was still arguably the greatest NBA player in the 1950s when he was on the court.

The 6-foot-10 Mikan graced the league with his rebounding and shot-blocking ability, but lit up the court offensively, averaging nearly 30 points per game (28.3) in 1949, unheard of for the time.

Mikan remained a staple of the Lakers’ success, culminating in the franchise’s first dynasty when he led them to winning titles in 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1954. There is no doubt that Mikan was the greatest player of the first half of the 1950s.

1 Bob Pettit

Pettit was the greatest player of the second half of the 1950s

When George Mikan retired in 1956, the league was just getting introduced to Bob Pettit. Pettit made his NBA debut in 1954 when he immediately won Rookie of the Year. Pettit introduced offense to the league never before seen, averaging 20.4 points in his first year and then 25.7 the year after.

Pettit consistently averaged 25 points per game throughout the 1950s decade, including 29.2 in 1959. Amazingly, he was an All-Star for all eleven seasons of his NBA career which ended in 1965. He won the 1958 NBA Finals with Ed Macauley and the Hawks, the peak of a legend and the greatest NBA player of the second half of the 1950s.

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