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Ranking of the best basketball players in Chicago Bleacher report

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    Dwyane WadeNick Wass / Associated Press

    Chaired by the future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, Chicago has produced some of the best players in NBA history.

    Those who qualify exactly as “from Chicago” are subjective, given the large metropolitan area. Furthermore, the number of years spent in the region is also important. Kevin Garnett, for example, lived in South Carolina for most of his life, but then moved in and played his final year of high school in Chicago. This is not enough for inclusion.

    Your opinion on location and duration can vary and is fine. Our focus is on players who spent high school years in Chicago, especially those who grew up in the area.

    There is a place, though, I know we can agree: Naperville is not Chicago.

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    Brandon Dill / Associated Press

    Eddie Johnson, SF: While bouncing in the league for 17 seasons, Johnson accumulates 16 points and four rebounds per game. He received the sixth prize of the year 1988-89. Johnson was born in Chicago and traveled to Westinghouse in East Garfield Park.

    Tony Allen, SG: The Grindfather has demanded respect during his 14-year career due to an exceptional defense. Allen, who attended Crane High School, scored an average of 1.4 steals and made six All-Defensive teams, including three first teams.

    Michael Finley, SG: Finley, a two-time All-Star, scored 15.7 points per game and celebrated an NBA title in a 15-year career. He went to Proviso East to Maywood.

    Derrick Rose, PG: If it weren’t for an ACL injury that changed his career during the 2012 playoffs, Rose could have been much higher on the list. In his first four seasons, he won Rookie of the Year and an MVP championship while making three All-Star appearances. However, he averaged 18.8 points and 5.6 assists per game for 11 years.

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    Mark Aguirre, Eddie Johnson’s high school teammate in Westinghouse, wasted no time in emerging as a protagonist in the NBA.

    The Dallas Mavericks used choice no. 1 of the 1981 draft on DePaul forward. Aguirre has accumulated 24.6 points per game in over seven seasons for the Mavs, earning three All-Star trips. Dallas traded him for the Detroit Pistons in February 1989.

    Aguirre played a key role on the Pistons while celebrating back-to-back titles, averaging 12.9 points per game during his time in Detroit. Aguirre, who spent his last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, ranks 68th in the history of the league with 18,458 career points.

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    Born in Chicago, Terry Cummings went to Carver High School and stayed local for college in DePaul.

    During his first decade in the NBA, Cummings accumulated 21.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. He won Rookie of the Year in 1982-83 and appeared in two All-Star teams.

    Unfortunately, a knee injury derailed his career.

    In a 1992 retreat game in Ada Park, Cummings tore the ACL and the MCL in his right knee. He played eight more NBA seasons, but never made it 10 points per game again. However, he is 53rd in career points (19,460) and 59th in rebounds (8,630).

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    The face behind the killer crossover, Tim Hardaway lived in Chicago until he attended UTEP. Hardaway’s NBA trip took him to the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, with brief end of career stops on Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.

    Hardaway averaged 17.7 points, 8.2 assists and 1.6 thefts per game in his 13-year career. Only five players in the history of the league have matched those combined scores, for basketball reference.

    Along with five All-Star appearances, Hardaway has earned five All-NBA honorsincluding a nod to the first team in 1996-97.

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    Similar to Hardawayalthough about a decade earlierMo Cheeks grew up in Windy City and headed to Texas for college. He graduated from DuSable High School and then played for West Texas State University (which is now known as West Texas A&M).

    Cheeks spent 11 seasons with the 76er from Philadelphia, earning four All-Star accolades and laying the foundation for a career in the Hall of Fame. Overall, he played 15 years in the NBA and scored 11.1 points, 6.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

    The point guard landed on five straight All-Defensive teams in the mid-1980s, boasting four honors for the first team in that span of time. Cheeks is fifth in NBA history with 2,310 thefts.

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    Associated Press

    George Mikan didn’t have a long NBA career, but the Hall of Fame center enjoyed an extraordinarily productive one.

    Known for its thick glasses, the DePaul product dominated with 23.1 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Mikan has made six All-NBA teams, secured four All-Star selections and led the Minneapolis Lakers to five championships in just seven seasons.

    “He literally brought the championship,” said Mikan’s Hall of Fame guard Bob Cousy, according to the Chicago TribuneBill Jauss. “It gave us recognition and acceptance when we were at the bottom of the totem pole in professional sports. People came to see it as much as they came to see the game.”

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    Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press

    Not even a decade in his NBA career, Anthony Davis is clearly tending towards a conclusion of the Hall of Fame.

    Davis went to the Perspectives Charter School in Chicago, signed with Kentucky and heard his name first named in the 2012 NBA draft. The Brow thrived in seven seasons on the New Orleans Hornets / Pelicans, emerging as an elite top scorer and defensive power.

    Now on the Los Angeles Lakers, Davis is looking for an NBA title for his impressive resume. So far he has averaged 24.0 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game in his eight seasons.

    Davis is an All-Star seven times with three appearances in both the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.

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    Born and raised in Chicago, Isiah Thomas changed the NBA for short boys.

    Listed, perhaps generously, at 6’1 “, the longtime Pistons star has accumulated 19.2 points and 9.3 assists per game. Thomas has made the All-Star team in 12 consecutive seasons, missing only in his last year, and appeared in five All-NBA teams in the mid-1980s.

    Thomas helped Detroit win NBA titles in 1989 and 1990, taking home the MVP honors of the finals in 1990. He entered the Hall of Fame as a member of the 2000 class.

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    Nick Wass / Associated Press

    Dwyane Wade lived in Oak Lawnthe south side of Chicagobefore going to Marquette for college. There, he brought together one of the most memorable shows in the NCAA tournament and brought the program to the Final Four in 2003.

    He then joined Heat and enjoyed a spectacular 13-year term. Along the way, D-Wade earned 12 All-Star trips, eight All-NBA honors, three All-Defensive moorings and won three NBA titlesone before the arrival of LeBron James, two with him.

    Wade returned to Chicago in 2016 and spent a season with the Bulls, ending his career in the Cleveland Cavaliers and Heat again.

    He received a ceremonial All-Star invitation with longtime Dallas star Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki in 2019. If eligible in a few years, Wade will enter the Hall of Fame. He collected 22.0 points, 5.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game in 16 seasons.

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