Best NBA Player from every Power 5 School

Best NBA player who played for North Carolina Tar Heels — Michael Jordan

• 6X NBA Champion
• 5X MVP
• 14X All-Star

This was not a hard choice. Michael Jordan is still most people’s GOAT — one of the most electric athletes to ever set foot on a basketball court, and undeniably the pinnacle of North Carolina’s storied history.

Jordan’s resume is virtually untouched — six-time champion, six-time Finals MVP, 14-time All-Star, five-time MVP, 1985 Rookie of the Year, nine All-Defense nods. The list goes on. He three-peated twice, never losing in the NBA Finals. Jordan was not only a 10-time scoring champ, but also one of the best defensive guards in league history. He stands alone in the history books.

At UNC, Jordan averaged 17.7 points and 5.0 rebounds across three seasons. He won the NCAA championship in 1982 and was named consensus national player of the year in 1984. Jordan was ACC Rookie of the Year in ‘82, then made All-ACC first team the two years afterward. He has been winning from the very beginning.

Runner-up: Billy Cunningham — A champion in 1967 and the league MVP in 1973, Cunningham is a legend in his own right. He made five All-Star appearances between Philadelphia and Carolina, and is a member of the Hall of Fame. 

Best NBA player who played for Northwestern Wildcats — Don Adams

The list of NBA products from Northwestern is slim. Don Adams spent eight years in the NBA, but missed the entirety of his “eighth” season to injury. He was never spectacular, peaking at 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as a rookie. He bounced around frequently, never spending two full seasons with a franchise.

Adams’ longest stint came with Detroit, where he played 195 games and averaged 28.1 minutes per contest. At 6-foot-6, Adams made his living at small forward. He made three playoff appearances over the course of his career.

In three seasons with Northwestern’s varsity team, Adams put up strong numbers — 15.0 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, though he only shot 42.1 percent from the field.

Runner-up: Billy McKinney — A steady hand at point guard, McKinney spent the best years of his career in Kansas City and Denver in the 80s.