NBA 25th Anniversary Team

Selections

List of 25th Anniversary Team players, sorted by position and vote received.

• F Bob Pettit
• F Dolph Schayes
• F Paul Arizin
• F Joe Fulks
• C Bill Russell
• C George Mikan
• G Bob Cousy
• G Bill Sharman
• G Bob Davies
• G Sam Jones
• Coach Red Auerbach

Russell was the only unanimous selection to the team. Furthermore, all nominees of the 25th Anniversary Team besides Feerick and Zaslofky have also been inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 1980, only four players of the 25th Anniversary Team were selected to the NBA 35th Anniversary Team (Pettit, Cousy, Russell, and Mikan). However, along with them, four other players of this team (Arizin, Jones, Schayes, Sharman) were selected as part of the NBA 50 Greatest Players of All-Time in 1996 and the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021.

Selection process

A panel selected 25 nominees from all eligible players, made up from 10 Forwards, 10 Guards, and 5 Centers. Then every NBA player that had been named All NBA 1st Team up to that time gave his vote. The four top voted forwards, two top voted centers, and four top voted guards made the team.

Eligibility requirements

To be eligible as a nominee, a player must (by 1971):

1. have completed his career, and
2. have been named All-NBA Team at least once.

Selection panels

Red Auerbach, Ned Irish, Eddie Gottlieb, Haskell Cohen, Danny Biasone, Lester Harrison, Fred Zollner, Ben Kerner, Fred Schaus, and Bob Feerick.

Nominees

List of nominees, sorted by position, last name (players denoted with an asterisk had been inducted into the Basketball Hall Of Fame), and career years.

Forwards

• Paul Arizin*, 1950–1962
• Joe Fulks*, 1946–1954
• Harry Gallatin*, 1948–1958
• Tom Gola*, 1955–1966
• Vern Mikkelsen*, 1949–1959
• Bob Pettit*, 1954–1965
• Jim Pollard*, 1947–1955
• Tom Heinsohn*, 1956–1965
• Dolph Schayes*, 1948–1964
• George Yardley*, 1953–1960

Centers

• Neil Johnston*, 1951–1959
• Ed Macauley*, 1949–1959
• George Mikan*, 1946–1954, 1955–1956
• Bill Russell*, 1956–1969
• Maurice Stokes*, 1955–1958

Guards

• Richie Guerin*, 1956–1970
• Bob Cousy*, 1950–1963, 1969–1970
• Bob Davies*, 1946–1955
• Bob Feerick, 1945–1950
• Sam Jones*, 1957–1969
• Slater Martin*, 1949–1960
• Dick McGuire*, 1949–1960
• Bill Sharman*, 1950–1961
• Bobby Wanzer*, 1947–1957
• Max Zaslofsky, 1946–1956

References

;General

• NBA.com – This Date in History – December 11, 1971
• APBR.org – NBA Silver Anniversary Team (1971)

;Specific

References

1. Irving, Kyle. (August 26, 2021). "NBA 75: Which active players could join the list of all-time greats?". Sporting News.
2. (October 23, 2021). "Everything you need to know about the NBA's 75th Anniversary Season".
3. (January 11, 1971). "Bill Russell Is Unmanimous Pick On Silver Anniversary Squad". The Evening Standard.