Wow he had a beautiful hook shot, almost looks like Kareem's Skyhook. This guy was a beast in the paint and a Lefty; which makes him even tougher to guard.
As a fan of the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics & the San Antonio Spurs, you were lucky to have been able to get a talent the likes of Artis "The A-Train" Gilmore, for example on your roster. Coming from a guy who was born in early-1989 & knowing that Artis "The A-Train" Gilmore literally first played in the NBA long before I was even born, I would not only consider him one of my all-time favorite players to have played before my time, I would most certainly put him in the highest regard as far as centers go due to his playing career & tireless work ethic.
MY favorite center of all time! He just defined that position better than most in his heyday. In terms of raw physical strength, only Chamberlain and maybe Sabonis could top him and he was quite mobile for his size too in his younger days. Was fundamentally sound on the boards as well as defending the paint. Pretty much was the playoff MVP of that 1975 ABA Kentucky Colonels championship squad, he just flat-out dominated that season. Ranked 5th ALL-TIME in career FG percentage in pro-basketball last time I checked. Once you got him the ball within five feet of the rim, he was usually money in the bank. Damn shame it took him so long to make the HoF, but I'm just glad he was finally able to. Should've been 1st-ballot all the way...
Artis is #3 in all-time NBA FG% and #2 in all-time ABA FG%, but the ABA was faster and took more shots than the NBA, so all the ABA FG%s are lower - so he's at #6 combined. Even though he barely shot any 3 pointers in his career, because of the sheer number of free throws he took and being solid at them, he is the #1 all-time NBA player in true shooting percentage. Other surprising stats - he is #10 all-time in win shares across both leagues (ahead of both Shaq and Kobe), but also #10 in offensive win shares and #11 in defensive win shares. There are only 5 players with the durability and strength both ways to be top 10 in both - Kareem, Wilt, Malone, Duncan and Garnett. He didn't get a ton of assists, so he's "only" a top 50 in player efficiency (though #3 in the ABA) but he's top 30 in points and top 25 in rebounding. He is #32 in overall career value over replacement, right between Russell Westbook and Steph Curry. He was an all-time great and if you prioritize longevity, winning games, and defense and value the ABA he might be top 10 all-time - certainly underrated now as one of the top players of his era and maybe the best player in the ABA.
Sabonis was strong but even at his strongest, he's still way weaker than Wilt or Artis. Sabonis however was probably the most skilled big man in basketball. He can shoot and pass like a guard. He even had great handles as well while being a great rebounder and defender in his prime. Prime Sabonis had no weaknesses and can literally do everything.
Definitely underrated in comparison to the all time great publicized NBA Centers. No doubt a super strong Man who commanded respect. Dominate rebounder and skilled offensive player in the history of the game.
I do know Gilmore, Issel, and Dampier were on that championship team. It's a shame the NBA didn't take the Colonels during the merger. They could have taken on any NBA team.
@@brianarbenz7206 Sadly, disbanding the Colonels was part of his personal plan to join the NBA but with a different franchise. He ended up being the principal owner of the Buffalo Braves and then the Boston Celtics, the most famous franchise in NBA history. He was a very clever and shred businessman. Still, all ABA fans (myself included) can never forgive him for preventing the Colonels from joining the NBA.
You called it. Colonels were smokin' ! Huge mistake by the league. The problem was that there were no other teams were viable. NBA needed a even number. I was a ABA fanatic. Watched games on TV. the young people, under 50 yo , don't realize their were TWO pro leagues to follow. In high school all the fellas were into the ABA. Doc didn't become top player until really his last 1-2 years ; maybe not even then. You had a YOUNG Malone, Skywalker, McGinnis, Gilmore, Horse( Issel) and maybe the baddest dude the Iceman. All these cats were the best in any league and PROVED after the merger for years
@@Wixom2200 You are so right about the ability of the ABA's young players. Glad to hear that so many of your high school friends were ABA fans. In all fairness, I think the blame for the Colonels not being part of the merger rests with Mr. Brown. He was a very calculating businessman. When they won an ABA title he felt he fulfilled his promise to the fans. Eventually became majority owner of the NBA Buffalo Braves and, be sure you are sitting down, the Boston Celtics! As a big ABA fan, I believe you would love Terry Pluto's book Loose Balls. Terrific account of the league from beginning to end. Also - "Kentucky Colonels - The real story of a team left behind" by West and Gardner. Finally, the HBO special about the ABA. You may already have these three but if not, try to obtain and enjoy.
@@trapezemusic Yes I did read a part of Loose Balls on line. So many teams like the Floridians with those fine ball girls. I'm up on Brown and the Buffalo /Boston connection. Don't forget too he was married to that fox Phyliss George . Did she die? Nice lady though. Don't forget another great very underated player: Louie Dampier. That dude was always firing 3s. I also believe he is the alltime ABA career points scorer. You know this league. Hat's off to you!! Ttyl " Remember the ABA!"
It’s amazing to see how thin Artis was here with the colonels. Athletic and strong. A true force. As he got a little older he gained a lot more muscle , and was unstoppable if he got ball down low. I think he was a more physical player then Chamberlain. Wilt despite his strength and size , played a lot with finess. Artis would plow you if he got ball down low , or you came at him. He was unselfish , and didn’t shoot near as much as Wilt and Kareem. He didn’t have stats if wilt and Kareem , but he truly was an elite center.
@aznhobodownthastreet .... only Artis and Dwight howard can get their heads at the rim for big men? What happened to Blake Griffin, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, Shaq in his prime, etc?
The ABA was an alternative pro league that challenged the NBA in the 60s and 70s. Like a lot of the older pro sports leagues, the NBA was conservative (and slow to fully racially integrate - supposedly it had secret limits on the number of Black players on teams well into the 60s), so by the mid-60s there was a sense it wasn't really fulfilling basketball's full potential. Every sports league that tries to be "the fun one" - like the XFL, for example - is trying to be the ABA. The ABA stood for a lot of the things people currently love about basketball that the NBA didn't really have yet - a flashy sense of style, fast, explosive play, 3-point shots, a Slam Dunk contest - the "money ball" at the end of every rack in a 3-point contest is an ABA ball as tribute, and the classic image of an ABA player is a guy with an Afro dunking a red-white-and-blue ball to funk music - sort of like taking as much of the marketing feel of the Harlem Globetrotters as you can get but also having it be pro basketball on a top-tier level. It also took top-level pro basketball to second and third-tier cities that the NBA wouldn't set up teams in. The ABA merged with the NBA in 1976, while the NBA was expanding and adding a lot of teams - like the American and National league in baseball, the AFL and NFL in football, or the NHL and WHA in hockey - the Nuggets, Pacers, Nets and Spurs were all originally ABA teams that became NBA teams. But the NBA team most associated with the ABA is the Philadelphia 76ers - they signed first one and then another of the best ABA players after the merger and went to the Finals 4 times (winning once), with those guys together also winning 4 MVP awards for their various teams - Julius Erving a.k.a. Dr. J and Moses Malone. You can also throw in ABA/NBA all-star and all-defense power forward Bobby Jones, who is in the Hall of Fame and was also on that team. The 76ers team with Dr. J and Moses on it is a legit candidate for the best NBA squad of all time, and excluding Artis was really a best-of-the-best of ABA talent. Honestly the main reason Artis is so underrated is probably because whenever everybody thinks ABA they think Dr. J. and the Sixers - it helps that the Sixers colors were the same colors as the ABA ball. So the ABA was the second league while it was in operation, but it was legit, and it became part of the DNA and the legacy of the NBA. You can see the natural successor and fulfillment of the ABA/NBA fusion, perhaps, as Magic Johnson and the showtime Lakers. The excellence and traditions represented by Kareem along with the style and creativity the NBA was not the biggest fan of back in the 50s and 60s. That's not to say ABA players actually were all more creative and fun than NBA players - it turned out they were mostly the same when they played in the same league - just that the feel was different.
@@jamesfernandez3627 iove artis gilmore, he playedike a modern lefty wilt but with a hook shot, playing in the aba might hurt him not getting used the nba earlier, he blocked the skyhook was not afraid of jabbar
@aznhobodownthastreet well shaq could get his head that high, and mind you he's the same height as Artis. It probably just seems less impressive cause he LOOKS taller than him.
BRING EFFING NBA BACK THIS SEASON!!! JEEZZ.. YA'LL OWNERS, COMMISSIONERS AND PLAYERS ARE RICH ALREADY AND ARE STILL GREEDY. Just accept the cut that's needed and rules that has to be placed. Obviously the teams aren't balanced, atleast 8 teams are beast with allstar players and the rest of the team pretty much suck no matter how hard they play. .. every superstar player wants a ring, They get together -.- SMH We can't be stuck with just GOLF. lols haha
