A very underrated yet very talented power forward comes in at 59. Maurice Lucas may surprise a lot of casual fans with his appearance on this list. But Lucas was one of the games greatest defenders and a fantastic rebounded. He is often overshadowed by other players he played with however. Lucas attended Marquette University for three seasons. He was averaged 29 points and 17 rebounds on the freshman squad before being promoted to varsity for the last two years. In total Lucas appeared in 60 games for Marquette and averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds. He was drafted both by the Chicago Bulls of the NBA and the Spirits of St Louis of the ABA. He decided to join the Spirits rather than the Bulls because the pay was better. Lucas had a very good rookie year averaging 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Lucas improved his second year but was amongst the players on the Spirits roster who were afraid that the team’s new owners where planning on moving the franchise. Lucas requested and received a trade to the Kentucky Colonels where he played out the remainder of his second season averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds. Lucas’s fears proved true, shortly before the end of the season the Spirits announced that they would relocate to Salt Lake City, but the relocation never happened because the ABA disbanded taking the Spirits and Colonels with them.

The Portland Trailblazers acquired Lucas in the ABA dispersal draft and paired him with big man Bill Walton. Lucas had one of his best seasons in 1977 averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds and making his first all-star team. The Blazers would also go on and win their only NBA title that season.

Lucas played with the Blazers for another season and a half before being traded to New Jersey. He found success with the Nets but his numbered dipped quite a bit. He played a season and a half there before being sent to the Knicks.

He played on season with the Knicks before he was traded to Phoenix for Truck Robinson. His stop with the Suns which lasted three years marked the beginning of the end for Robinson who’s numbers really began to decline and by his third year in Phoenix he was averaging just 13 points and 9 rebounds.

The Suns traded Lucas to the LA Lakers where he backed up AC Green for a season, but he was unable to make the roster the following season and was waived. The Seattle Sonics claimed him off waivers and he played there for a season before finally returning to Portland for his last NBA season.

In total Lucas appeared in 1021 games and averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds. He was a 5 time NBA all-star, two time all-defensive team player and one time all NBA. He has yet to be elected to the hall of fame.

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