The NBA is turning 75, and to celebrate, the league will announce its anniversary team naming the top 75 players of all-time. The list will be unveiled over three nights beginning next Tuesday. That coincides with TNT’s opening night doubleheader featuring the Brooklyn Nets against the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, immediately followed by Lakers/Warriors at 10:30 ET.
TNT studio analysts Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith will handle the series’ first installment Tuesday, October 19th, with responsibilities shifting to ESPN Wednesday at 3 PM ET on NBA Today, presented by host Malika Andrews. The finale will precede Thursday night’s Mavericks/Hawks game on TNT.
During the NBA’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1996, the league held a similar event in New York City honoring the 50 greatest players of all-time highlighted by Celtics great Larry Bird, all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 11-time champion Bill Russell and the incomparable Michael Jordan, who, at that point, was still in the midst of a Hall-of-Fame career that brought him six titles, five MVPs and the recognition and celebrity status that comes from being both a global and cultural phenomenon.
The list will obviously feature many of the same names and faces that comprised the previous anniversary squad in ‘96, but plenty of newcomers as well with LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Dwyane Wade and Steve Nash all locks for inclusion in the top 75.
In a press release, the NBA named Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Clyde Drexler, Bob Pettit and Dirk Nowitzki as new league ambassadors with each representing their respective eras throughout this year’s anniversary festivities.
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