FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991)


FIBA's 50 Greatest Players , or 50 Greatest FIBA Players , is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball competition, as selected in 1991, by FIBA's official monthly magazine publication, FIBA Basket.

History

Background

In June 1991, FIBA organised the Jubilee Game, between the European Select Team and the Balkan Select team in Piraeus, Greece, in order to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the sport of basketball. A few months earlier, the monthly magazine FIBA Basket, the Federation's official publication, was issued for first time.

Process

The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the sport of basketball, by James Naismith. FIBA had a group of international basketball experts, composed mainly of international basketball coaches, vote for the 50 greatest players list. Each expert voter was tasked with picking 25 players. The voting was tallied as, 25 points for a 1st place vote, 24 points for a 2nd place vote, and so on. There were 51 players selected, as a result of a tie in the vote totals. Players from all over the world were considered to be eligible for the voting, including NBA players.
Five European players that had played in the NBA up to that time made the list. However, no U.S.A. NBA players made the list, because they were not competing in major FIBA-organized tournaments until the 1992 Summer Olympics. Nonetheless, 5 players with U.S.A. citizenship that played in leagues other than the NBA, did make the list.
The voting results were published in the FIBA Basket monthly magazine, which was in circulation from 1991, until the end of the 20th century.

List of inductees

Key:
InducteeNationalityPos.AchievementsRef.

C

SG-
SG-
PF/C-
SG/SF-
PG-
Stepas Butautas
-
PG-

C-
C-

SF-

PG-

SG-

C
C-
SG
SG-
SG/PG-
C-

SG-
SG/SF/PF-

PF-

C-

PF/C-

 SF/PF-
PF/C-
PF/C-

 SG-
SF-
C/PF-
PG-
C-
C-
SF/PF-

PG-

C/PF-
C-

SF-
PF-

SG/PG-

PF-
SG/SF-
SF-

C-
SF-
SG/SF-

C-

 PG-
SG-

PF/C-

PF/C-

By nationality

  • Player nationalities were selected by the national team eligibility of each player. Total is more than 50 because players of the former Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and the USSR are listed for multiple federations.
CountryPlayer
12
10
7
5
5
4
4
4
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

FIBA's 50 Greatest All-Time Players (1991) Top 10 Vote Results

This is a list of the Top10 players as published on the FIBA Basket magazine in 1991.
RankPlayerCountryVote Total
1.Sergei Belov311
2.Dražen Petrović280
3.Arvydas Sabonis277
4.Krešimir Ćosić273
5.Toni Kukoč264
6.Nikos Galis251
7.Radivoj Korać246
8.Dino Meneghin221
9.Dražen Dalipagić209
10.Oscar Schmidt205

Other FIBA Basket awards

FIBA European League Player of the Year

FIBA Europe's select expert committee voted every year for the FIBA European League Player of the Year award, or FIBA European League POY. The award was for Europe's best player during the professional club season of the European top-tier level EuroLeague. At that time, the EuroLeague was still organized by FIBA, and it was officially known as the FIBA European League, or its shortened name, the "FIBA EuroLeague". The winner of each year's award was announced in FIBA's official monthly magazine, FIBA Basket.
BronzeMember of the FIBA Hall of Fame.
SilverMember of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
GoldMember of both the FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Player Denotes the number of times the player has been named MVP.

YearPositionPlayer of the YearTeam
1993C